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City OKs affordable housing near WG
Evans Lane complex intended for city's lower-paid workers
By Kate Carter
San Jose is paving the way for the construction of an affordable-housing development just east of Willow Glen, and nearby neighbors are supporting the plan that is already helping improve their community.
The city council on Feb. 19 approved rezoning to allow the construction of a 240-unit, multi-family residential complex on a 6.21-acre site at 1848 Evans Lane, just south of the intersection of Almaden Expressway and Highway 87. The development would replace the existing Expressway Self Storage and RV and Boat Storage facilities north of the Willow Glen Mobile Estates.
The council also approved providing the project developer, Community Home Builders and Associates, with a variable low-interest loan of up to about $19 million for acquisition, predevelopment and construction, and a nearly $3 million grant. The loan will be paid back to the city's Redevelopment Agency using rent income from low- and moderately-low-income apartments, said Tom MacRostie, acting deputy director of housing. The grant will cover extremely low-income apartments, whose rent doesn't generate revenue, he said.
City project manager Alison Hicks said San Jose supports the project because of its need for more affordable housing. In addition, the proposed development is located near the Curtner Light Rail station, making it a good use of traffic-corridor land, she said.
The proposed development is located in an area undergoing transition from light industrial uses to more residential ones. The city is looking to draft a General Plan amendment to make its long-term plan for the area residential.
Mark Lazzarini, president and CEO of the nonprofit Community Home Builders, said the development is intended to house San Jose's workers who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford San Jose housing. The complex will attract families who earn 30 percent or less of the area's median income, based on household size, which are families who generally make between $20,000 and $62,000 a year.
"That is a pretty good range of people; it makes up a good portion of the workforce," Lazzarini said. "In this area, median incomes are among the highest."
He said the development's likely occupants will be teachers, retail and service workers, police officers, firefighters and others. He also said his organization is working with firefighters and police to explore an idea of making some of the units available to officers who commute from long distances and work several days in a row.
The project has received support from the Norman Y. Mineta International Institute for Surface Transportation Policy Studies, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, state Assemblyman Manny Diaz, San Jose Unified School District Superintendent Linda Murray and the Association of Active and Retired Firefighters and Police Officers.
Initially, however, residents at the adjacent mobile home park, which consists of 90 one- and two-bedroom homes, weren't as enthusiastic. At a Dec. 19 community meeting, neighbors expressed concern about traffic the new development would create. The complex's only access point is from Evans Lane, which is only accessible from Canoas Gardens Avenue. Residents said there is already speeding along the roads, which are relatively unlit and have no sidewalks.
Traffic studies found that the development wouldn't create excessive traffic congestion in the area, and District 6 City Councilman Ken Yeager's office worked with the Department of Transportation to establish some traffic calming on the streets, including red striping, new speed limit signs and a possible new stop sign, aide Rick Crosetti said.
In addition, the developer agreed to build a sidewalk along the east side of Evans Lane and Canoas Gardens Avenue and install more streetlights, in conjunction with the new project.
The neighbors, who had at first opposed the project, later sent the planning commission and city council a letter expressing their support.
Mobile Estates property manager Geri Nave, who represents the residents, was out of town and unavailable for comment.
The project consists of four pedestal buildings running north to south, with parking beneath and between buildings and along Highway 87. The northernmost building is four stories; the rest are three stories with two-story elements along the boundary with the mobile home park.
The complex is planned to consist of 83 one-bedroom units, 83 two-bedroom units and 73 three-bedroom units. It will include 449 parking stalls, about 30 more than required, and 66,340 square feet of open space, about 4,000 more than required, which includes individual balconies for each unit and common open space, including a pool, and courtyards inside the two northernmost buildings, against the mobile home park, against Highway 87 and between the two center buildings.
The developer, city and county are trying to locate the owner of a frontage road that separates the proposed development from Almaden Expressway. When they do, Lazzarini said, he would like to include that land in the development as additional parking and open space.
Hicks said some of the biggest concerns about the development included noise pollution, due to its proximity to Highway 87 and Almaden Expressway, and its location in the Guadalupe River's 100-year floodplain.
To mitigate the noise, the developer will increase the height of the soundwall along Highway 87 and extend an existing noise barrier along Evans Lane to the intersection of Almaden Expressway and Highway 87. Windows and building materials will be sound-absorbent and the building will be internally ventilated so occupants do not have to open their windows.
In addition, the northernmost building, which is nearest to Highway 87, will have a hallway along the highway and rooms on the opposite side, to cushion some of the noise.
The site's floodplain location would prevent it from having underground parking, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations. However, the developer will raise the site's ground level by 5 feet, 1 foot above the floodplain.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
