The Sunnyvale Sun

News

Land deal will add hundreds of homes to San Miguel

By Stephen Baxter

City lawmakers last week weighed broad housing needs against pleas from some San Miguel neighborhood residents to scale back two developments near Duane Avenue and Lawrence Expressway. The council paved the way for the building of approximately 540 homes.

The Riding Group plans to construct 242 townhomes on 13 acres near Duane Avenue and De Guigne Drive that Advanced Micro Devices Inc. no longer needs. Taylor Woodrow Homes plans to build roughly 300 townhomes and condominiums on about 7 acres next to Lawrence Expressway, but the city will consider further details on that project this spring.

Sean Morley, a partner with the Riding Group, told the city council the development would add millions in city property taxes, and the site's proximity to shops, parks and schools made it good change from an industrial use. He said the project will fit well with the neighborhood.

"It is truly good, smart growth," he added.

Many San Miguel residents aren't as convinced about the Taylor Woodrow project.

Members of 161 households signed a petition that opposed details of the project, including building heights, the number of houses and the distance from the street to the proposed houses. Neighbors were unable to secure changes to the plans that were initially presented to them in meetings last year.

Tara Martin-Milius, leader of the San Miguel Neighborhood Association, helped collect the signatures.

"We got none of the mediation that we were asking for, so I'm disappointed," she said. At least two homeowners on Duane Court are considering selling their homes.

Phil Mader of Taylor Woodrow said the buildings' heights had been scaled back a few stories from earlier plans, and that the firm tried to work with the neighbors and the city.

Some neighbors said they worried Duane Court would become dangerously congested with cars during the morning commute, but a traffic study indicated it would be safe. Residents were particularly concerned with the left turn from Duane Court to Duane Avenue toward Lawrence Expressway.

Meanwhile, housing advocates such as Nancy Tivol spoke in favor of the projects, although she asked the council to include more below-market-rate houses.

"Everybody knows that affordable housing is becoming an oxymoron," she said. Tivol is the executive director of Sunnyvale Community Services, a nonprofit agency that aims to end homelessness and help seniors remain independent.

Other housing advocates also spoke in favor of the developments.

In a 4-3 council vote, some land that had been marked to change to residential west of De Guigne Drive remained zoned for industrial.

Councilman Chris Moylan pressed to rezone more land for housing to balance the office buildings it approved.

"The city has acknowledged that Sunnyvale's jobs-to-housing ratio is too high, and we could improve that ratio by limiting industrial development or by increasing the housing supply, or both. Unfortunately, we seem to be doing neither," he said.

Councilman John Howe indicated he sympathized with the San Miguel neighbors' concerns about building new houses taller than the mainly one-story houses in the neighborhood.

"We're doing everything we can with landscaping and now with traffic" to address the problem, Howe said.

Representatives from Taylor Woodrow Homes and the Riding Group said pile-driving, which is loud, would not be done.

Benjamin Picard, the deputy superintendent of schools for the Sunnyvale School District, said the schools could handle students from the hundreds of new homes on the AMD site. A district study showed perhaps 25 to 30 more students would attend San Miguel Elementary School and Columbia Middle School.

Space is available in both schools, and Picard said he appreciated Ken Riding and the Riding Group working closely with the district.

Construction could start on the AMD site as early as fall.

Some neighborhood landowners said they expected property values to rise with the new houses, but some said they had seen enough construction and noise, especially from Lawrence Expressway's growth. Elizabeth Morin of San Tomas Street was one of them.

"My home is not an investment; it is my home, and I should be able to live in it with peace and quiet," she said.