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District 9 is holding Hacienda Gardens meeting
Discussion set to include possible new development
By Kate Carter
District 9 San Jose City Council officials have invited Hacienda Gardens shopping center business owners and nearby residents to a meeting this week to discuss a change in San Jose city policy that would permit a residential development there.
The shopping center, on the northwest and southwest corners of Meridian and Foxworthy avenues, is the subject of two General Plan amendments to be reviewed by the San Jose Planning Department and San Jose City Council in August. The proposed amendments would change the city's land-use policy for those areas from neighborhood-commercial uses to residential uses.
About 9.5 acres of the center north of Foxworthy Avenue--not including the PW Market or the Chevron gas station--would become high-density residential and allow the construction of between 25 and 50 single-family units per acre. About 2.7 acres along Yucca Avenue between Foxworthy and Hillsdale avenues would also become high-density residential, with between 3,000 and 9,000 square feet for retail use. The amendments would make it possible to build a three- to four-story development for more than 400 units on the two sites.
The Aug. 2 community meeting at 7 p.m. at the Church of the Chimes, 1447 Bryan Ave., is the first held by the council office but the second meeting for the community. Neighbors, concerned about increased traffic and crime in the neighborhood, met last month to discuss the proposed amendments and strategize how to influence them.
KT Properties President Kenneth Tersini, spokesman for the property owner, Garrett Rajkovich, said that his representative will also be at the meeting. He said, while the owner and developer aren't yet sure how the site could change, they are interested in making an appealing and attractive development that doesn't negatively affect the nearby neighborhoods.
"You're always going to have a conflict when you build something new next to something old," Tersini said. "Generally, by the time you're done, your enemies have turned into your friends."
He said a new development could also include retail space on the north side of Foxworthy and that some of the existing businesses there could possibly remain.
But City Planner Mike Mena said the application on file now is only for high-density residential north of Foxworthy Avenue. If they were to change the General Plan amendment application, he said, the process would be delayed until after this summer.
Tersini said the space is appropriate for a high-density, market-rate residential development and that its impact on the neighbors will be minimal, and if anything, positive.
"This is a premium location," he said. "This is a great piece of property. It can accommodate increased density. The site is large enough to do it and do it correctly."
Tersini said the shopping center needs to be updated and modified, as its shops are no longer doing as well as in the past. A mixed-use development would be the only way to attract and sustain high-quality stores on the large site, he said, such as the Rite Aid drugstore and the Albertson's grocery store that could be renovated.
"They're one of the driving forces behind the revitalization effort," Tersini said of the two existing stores south of Foxworthy. "The center is 40 years old, and it's worn out. It's outdated. There's been a shift in how people live and how people shop. This sort of thing will become far more common."
Businesses owners on the north side of Foxworthy Avenue said they are afraid they could be forced out if the general amendment for that site passes and plans for a residential development are approved. Mena said it would take at least three years before that process could be completed and new construction could begin. But some stores aren't waiting that long to look for a new place to go.
Paul Sakasegawa, manager of Berean Christian Store, 2841 Meridian Ave., said staff at the chain store's headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, have told him to start looking for a new location in a nearby area.
"They don't want us to move far," he said. "We're a part of the community, and we have been for years."
The store, one of 21 Berean stores in the United States and eight in California, has been in that location for more than 20 years, Sakasegawa said. He said the advantage of the location is the business has been there a long time. "It's not the best location--we're right in the middle of a neighborhood," he said. "But we like our location. If we don't have to move, we won't move."
Sakasegawa, like other business owners and nearby residents, said he favors just renovating the shopping center, but recognizes the city's need for more housing.
Richard Kuhlman, general manager of Marie Callender's restaurant, 2831 Meridian Ave., also said he would like to see the center get a facelift.
Kuhlman said many of his customers have told him they oppose the change.
"They like the way the neighborhood is," he said. "Most of our customers are older, and they like things the way they are."
However, the restaurant owner, Ron Garald, is already looking at other locations, even though the business has been there more than 20 years, according to Kuhlman.
Store owners on the south side of Foxworthy Avenue are hoping their businesses will be able to remain in the retail space of a new mixed-use development.
Sang Ngo, owner of Hacienda Liquor and Wine, 3075 Meridian Ave., said he wants to remain in the center, where he's been for more than 10 years.
"This is my living; this is my family business," he said. "We hope to be able to stay."
Jessica Kettmann, owner of Kettmann's School Uniforms, 3177 Meridian Ave., said she supports a renovation at the center.
"It is nice to see something positive happen in this area," she said. "I'm just hoping that I can be included in this remodel."
Fiacro Ruiz, owner of Anita's Fine Jewelry, 3125 Meridian Ave., said his is the oldest independent business--not a chain--in the center, having opened about 20 years ago. He, too, said he wants to remain.
"This shopping center was and still is a neighborhood shopping center," he said. "We would like to keep providing the service to the neighborhood mainly because that's what made me stay in business."
Even if he is able to stay, Ruiz said he is concerned about the quality of a new high-density residential development.
"To me that says low-cost, subsidized housing," he said. "If it's luxurious apartments, not low-income, it will benefit the merchants and neighborhood. I don't want to sound discriminatory. It's just the economy and what's good for business."
Ruiz also said a residential development could create traffic and parking problems and said the center already has problems with the vehicles stored or worked on in the center's parking lot.
Nearby residents have similar concerns about increased traffic and a development that doesn't fit the surrounding neighborhood of mostly single-family homes. Rhonda Nelson and Noel Carpenter are working with neighbors to build a grassroots coalition in favor of scaling back the amendments, if not rejecting them completely.
Nelson said the group had a presence at each of the three community meetings the city held last month to address the approximately 40 General Plan amendments being considered. She said she attended the first meeting on July 9 and brought copies of formal protests to the amendments and petitions with more than 400 signatures.
Nelson said traffic is already congested at the intersection of Meridian and Foxworthy Avenues, especially at peak hours. She also said the city's General Plan restricts high-density housing to areas near freeways, large thoroughfares and public transportation lines.
"We do not fit that definition," Nelson said. "We are going to work our hardest to make them stick to their own definition and their own models."
Mena, the city planner, said city staff consider the Meridian-Foxworthy intersection to be moderately-to-heavily congested with lengthy waits. He said planning department staff would be looking at whether or not a potentially three- to four-story residential development is appropriate at that location when they make their recommendation to the city council.
Mena said he has received several calls from concerned neighbors, as well as those at the community meetings, who have concerns about diminished property values, overburdened water and electrical systems and an increase in crime as a result of a new development. He said the department's positions on the General Plan amendments wouldn't be made public until the staff reports are signed by Planning Director James Derryberry, probably in the first week of August.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
