"This plan does not align with what the citizens see for our downtown," said Melinda Hamilton at the meeting. "We agree wholeheartedly that something needs to be done—no question about that. What's needed is a dialogue to realign the city's plan with the citizens' vision for downtown."

Hamilton is president of Friends of Sunnyvale, a grass-roots organization that mobilized in April, soon after the council approved the plan and the environmental impact report process.

Hamilton's group, which has protested the proposed density and high-rise buildings in the city's plan, has designed two alternative plans that call for more open space, pedestrian-friendly retail areas and buildings no taller than 46 feet—four stories high.

"We were pretty shocked at the density of the city's plan," said Paul Reed, a landscape architect, at the meeting.

Several other residents spoke in agreement with Hamilton and Reed.

Bill Weaver and Tom Carrig said most people in their neighborhoods do not like the city's plan because it calls for too much density.

Most redevelopment is done without citizens' input, said Ed Rast, a San Jose resident, at the meeting.

"Redevelopment is all about power and taxpayers' money," Rast said at the meeting. "It takes away money from other important areas, like education."

Hamilton said several downtown residents have approached her group and would like to see elements of their plan incorporated into the city's plan, especially to reduce building height and density.

"This plan is not pedestrian-friendly—it's more like a pedestrian's nightmare," she said at the meeting.

To further emphasize its resolve, the group launched a petition drive on Oct. 2 in opposition to the city's urban design plan and is collecting signatures to put three initiatives on the ballot for the November 2003 elections. The initiatives call for limiting the use of eminent domain in development, restricting the height of buildings in the downtown area to 46 feet and requiring voter approval for redevelopment projects.

"We're hoping to make a change in the city's charter," Hamilton said. "We have until March to collect 6,000 signatures."

The ballot initiatives are a way to ensure that Sunnyvale residents have some input in their community's future, she said. Hamilton and her supporters also disapprove of the manner in which this plan came about.

"The downtown stakeholders committee was not representative of the downtown community," Hamilton said. "One of my friends wanted to be on the committee but was turned down by the city."

She said there were only five Sunnyvale residents on the 28-member committee. The rest of the committee was made up of mostly business owners—most of them not Sunnyvale residents, she said.

Suzi Blackman, president and CEO of the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce, disagreed with Hamilton.

"Eighty percent of my Chamber board not only have businesses in Sunnyvale but they live in the city, too," Blackman said. "I don't think this group realizes the commitment that the businesses have to the Sunnyvale community."

Debbie Owens, chairwoman of the Chamber board, spoke of the importance of businesses to the downtown community. She said at the meeting that more businesses would mean more revenue for the city.

"Sales tax must be generated to help this plan survive," Owens said.

The process of redeveloping the downtown area should not be stopped, Blackman said. Although the business community approves of the city's plan, it is not finalized yet. The city has to move forward with a plan that will be economically feasible, she added.

Jerry Keyser, an economic consultant hired by the city, discussed economic feasibility in some depth at the city's downtown plan discussion meeting on Nov. 14. Developers often take into account elements of real-estate economics that will support lucrative developments, he said. The optimum feasibility level for income would be 70 feet or four stories tall for high-rise buildings, he said.

At the Nov. 14 meeting, residents voiced their disapproval of the eight-story apartment buildings—a current option for the Town & Country Village area and the high-rise buildings along Mathilda Avenue.

"This neighborhood cannot handle all this density," said Scott Strayer at the meeting. "The three Mozart buildings are enormous—just think about similar buildings all along Mathilda."

Cynthia Schwenke said she moved from Mountain View to Sunnyvale and bought a home one block from Washington Park. About 2,000 housing units are planned for the downtown area, which would have a tremendous impact on facilities in the neighborhood, she said.

"I don't see any social infrastructure being planned to support all the density and housing," Schwenke said at the meeting.

City officials discussed specific elements of the city's plan—streetscapes, street patterns and protecting neighborhoods and small businesses—at the Nov. 14 meeting. According to Robert Paternoster, director of community development, the Town Center Mall would probably be under redevelopment first. The city is exploring several ways of providing assistance to small businesses both in the mall and in Town & Country during the redevelopment process. There will be more public meetings and discussions about the downtown plan, he said.

However, Hamilton said she wonders about the benefits of such meetings if the city refuses to listen to its citizens.

"I cannot imagine that some council members would want to leave a legacy behind that would ignore the desires of their constituents," Hamilton said after the Nov. 18 meeting.