The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Council denies request to consider zone change

By Steve Enders

Neighborhood preservation is high on the priority list for one Sunnyvale group, which is arguing that a hotel built on El Camino Real would do nothing to enhance their adjacent neighborhood.

In a last-ditch effort to prevent the hotel from being built, the Washington Park Neighborhood Association on Jan. 13 asked the City Council to study the possibility of changing the zoning of the lot from commercial to single-family residential.

The council, however, decided not to initiate that study. The council's action finalized a September decision that allowed the development to proceed.

Right now Sunnyvale Auto Center, Pee Wee's Pizza and a vacant house sit on the disputed land. Pee Wee's, its owner says, has been a family-run business on the site since 1958, and it stands to be razed if the hotel is built.

The argument, however, surrounds the possibility of developer John Vidovich building a three-story hotel on the property, which lies between W. El Camino Real and Olive Avenue.

The WPNA doesn't want a hotel built there and says that because housing in Sunnyvale is at a premium, the landowner would not stand to lose money because upscale houses could be built on the lot.

Also, WPNA chairwoman Jean McLaughlin said, the project will lower the value of homes across the street from the proposed site.

"That property is unique," McLaughlin said. "Less than 15 feet will separate the houses from the hotel."

Other nearby homeowners are worried that the hotel will block sunlight into their homes and provide views into their yards.

McLaughlin said that the developer has not yet addressed the hotel's garbage storage, parking and loading space, all expected to be located at the rear of the hotel, near the houses.

The lot has been the center of dispute for a long time. The WPNA believes a fruit stand once stood on the site, which made it necessary for the city to zone the property for commercial use.

According to city planner Trudy Ryan, the site has been zoned commercial since about 1965.

Back then, the WPNA argues, the city probably didn't intend for a hotel to be built there just because the lot was zoned commercial.

According to city reports, plans to construct a large building on the lot date back to 1979. Other businesses have since been established on the land, but plans to build on the site since then have all fallen through.

But in September 1997, when Vidovich filed an application to build a hotel, the city gave him the green light on the condition that he build a three-story hotel instead of a larger one.

Vidovich says the council's recent decision falls in line with what it originally decided back in September.

"El Camino is a unique street. It's the lifeblood of the city as far as commercial activity goes," he said. "The council has already protected the neighborhood by limiting the site to three stories."

To the dismay of the neighbors, the council agreed and passed the motion 6-1, but not before urging the two groups to work together on the matter.

Mayor Jim Roberts said, "I think we have to be aware that the property owner has rights here, and what's wrong to do is to try to protect one group's rights by denying someone else theirs.

"I hope this will allow the developer to work with you all in making this happen."

Developer Vidovich said after the meeting, "I just want everyone to be happy, and I want to do a first-class job for the city of Sunnyvale. I have complete respect for staff [of the city] and respect for the neighborhood."

[ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ]

This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 21, 1998.
©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.