The Sunnyvale Planning Commission unanimously approved Centex's plan of 55 single-family homes arranged in a horseshoe opening onto Alberta Avenue. The lot is now home to 68 mobile home spaces, but only five or six tenants.

The item is set to go before the Sunnyvale City Council on Oct. 25, and if approved there, Centex can move into the permits and planning phase of the project.

The original commission report called for a modification to Centex's plans, removing two homes from the project in favor of more parking.

But the commission voted to return the number to the original 55. They decided that the additional parking was not as important as more houses because each home has a two-car garage and space for two more cars on their driveways.

"In this case, I'm going to go with home ownership," said Commissioner Jim Fussell. "It's what takes priority in my mind."

Centex Project Manager Jeff Jacobs said the process--from their first partnership with space owner Dubrovnik Properties, LLC to the commission's approval--has been a long one, with many changes to plans and twists along the way.

They spent much of the year working with the residents of the park to move them out, so they could redevelop it.

As part of the Conversion Impact Report completed around May 13, Centex agreed to pay residents a minimum of $22,500 for their units. However, if a unit was appraised higher, Centex paid the higher amount. In addition, every resident received $2,765 in relocation benefits to cover rent, deposits and moving costs. There were also additional benefits for moving out early, which--at one point-- raised the relocation benefits for homeowners to more than $8,000. The bonus has diminished over time, but Jacobs said he is still confident that the remaining residents will move out before the Feb. 1 deadline.

Jacobs said there were probably 20 different attempts to come up with a viable housing plan for the lot, one that would benefit Centex and at the same time meet the community's approval. One plan even called for almost 90 housing units, arranged in buildings of six or seven units each. Jacobs said those plans were scrapped because they knew it would not be acceptable to the surrounding neighbors.

In the end, they settled on the less profitable but more acceptable 55 units.

"We think this is an alternative that is going to be good for the city and good for Centex."

Commissioner David Simons acknowledged the compromise, and said that this does seem like the best alternative to the high-density housing that is popping up around the South Bay.

Jacobs said that if Centex can get their plans and permit applications in before the holiday season, they could be working by this upcoming summer.