By LESTER CHANG
The Sunnyvale City Council on Dec. 17 approved plans aimed at bringing more commercial businesses into north Sunnyvale-- a key concern among residents who have sought improved consumer services for a decade.
The council instructed the city staff to work with a consultant to study ways to encourage commercial uses in the area and to look at how to best use a 7.2-acre site on N. Fair Oaks Avenue.
The parcel is one site that has been identified by the city as having great economic potential.
The staff was also instructed to get in touch with large commercial businesses to find out what would motivate them to set up shop in the area.
The action is long overdue, said Ray Kiddy, a member of the city's Housing and Human Services Commission, and Timothy Risch, a longtime resident.
"This situation has existed at least 10 years," Risch said. "But I think it is wonderful that the city is now paying attention."
Kiddy said there aren't enough large pieces of land in north Sunnyvale for big stores. A better idea would be to put small businesses and offices on the parcels, he said.
Of the 78 vacant parcels in the area, 92 percent are less than two acres in size, city officials said. Five acres and more would be needed for larger commercial centers, they said.
Businesses have not moved into the area because they believe it can't accommodate additional retail and commercial development, according to a city report. As a result, businesses have located in other parts of Sunnyvale.
That situation inconveniences north Sunnyvale residents because they have to drive out of the area to buy goods they can't get in their neighborhoods. The area also lacks bookstores and cafés, city staff members said.
North Sunnyvale has 14 neighborhood commercial and retail areas, including one that houses a Price/Costco store, but none has a major drugstore, officials said.
By comparison, south Sunnyvale is served by nine commercial shopping centers with grocery stores, eight of which include drugstores.
Officials believe a major drugstore and grocery store could be the catalyst that could spur more business interest in the north side of town.
The remodeling of two shopping centers in the area would also help, officials said.
If businesses haven't moved into the area in the past, they might be persuaded to consider doing so in the future, the report suggests.
Only 30 percent of the city's 126,000 live in the affected section, but the area will experience significant growth by end of the year 2000, the report said.
By that year, the area could have as many as 45,000 residents, up from about 38,000 in 1990, according to the Association of Bay Area Governments.
By comparison, south Sunnyvale, which has the largest pocket of residents, will increase from 88,547 to about 90,000 by the turn of the century.
The growth in north Sunnyvale would be tied to housing development, officials said.
North Sunnyvale also is home to some of the biggest employers, including Lockheed Martin Space Center, Moffett Industrial Park and Advanced Micro Devices.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 25, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.