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City council approves residential complex
Compromise would allow 300 units and small area as a commercial space
By Kate Carter
About 400 residents near the Hacienda Gardens shopping center filled the San Jose City Council chambers Aug. 21 to influence the council's decision on a proposal to replace the aging center with a new retail-residential complex.
After listening to more than 60 individuals concerned about the traffic, pollution and parking problems a high-density apartment complex could create, the council unanimously approved a change in the city's General Plan for a medium-density development with between 3,000 and 97,000 square feet of commercial space.
City Councilman John Diquisto, whose District 9 includes the shopping center on the northwest and southwest sides of the intersection of Meridian and Foxworthy avenues, proposed the decision. He suggested allowing no more than 300 residential units on the approximately 12-acre site, scaling back owner Garrett Rajkovich and developer KT Properties' request for as many as 600 residential units. In a memo to Mayor Ron Gonzales and the rest of the council, Diquisto also proposed creating a committee, which would include residents near the site, to work with the developer on the proposal.
City Councilman Ken Yeager, whose District 6 is just north of the site, acknowledged that the new development could also be detrimental to his residents. The council hearing followed a well-attended San Jose Planning Commission hearing Aug. 8, at which the commission recommended allowing between 80 and 160 residential units on the northern portion of the site, rather than the approximately 240 recommended by the San Jose Planning Department and approved by council.
Some neighbors said they supported the smaller residential amount in the commission's recommendation. But many residents said they preferred to see the existing shopping center revitalized and their local businesses remain rather than have any new residential element at all. But Mark Tersini of KT Properties said, while the developer's goal is to revitalize the center, it would be impossible for businesses alone to be successful on a site of that size.
"It's too large for the community today," Tersini said. "Simply refurbishing the existing center will not work."
Some residents, accused the owner of allowing the approximately 40-year-old center to become run-down to build a more profitable residential complex. Others challenged Diquisto to side with his constituents and suggested that he doesn't care about the neighborhood he will represent only until his term is up at the end of 2002.
Tersini said the proposal could include an expanded Albertson's grocery store as well as some stand-alone buildings for restaurants or businesses. He pointed out that the proposal does not include any change to the PW Market or the Rotten Robbie gas station.
Gary Young, general manager of the Hometown Buffet at the center, said he was informed of the proposal by his customers and didn't receive notification from the city until after the protest period had ended. He said the restaurant was remodeled six months ago at a cost of $100,000 and he is concerned it may have to move before the end of its lease.
Clay Stringham, director of development for the Challenger School on the site, said it invested $1.5 million before 1997 to renovate the former Marshalls department store for classrooms for more than 500 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. He said he only found out about the proposed changes two weeks ago.
"It's very hard to find a place for a school anywhere here," he said. "We will do what we have to do to stay."
Neighbors said they were worried about heights of three and four stories, open space and the appearance of the new development. But Joe Horwedel, acting planning director, said those details and others would be addressed in the planned development zoning process for the project.
Diquisto thanked community leaders Rhonda Hansen and Noel Carpenter for getting their neighbors to work for something better for the area in which Diquisto lives as well.
"This is just the beginning of the process so that something can be built that is acceptable to the community," Diquisto said.
Also at the hearing, the council approved 1.7 acres of the Elks Lodge, on W. Alma Avenue west of Highway 97, to be developed as a 12-story building.
The Elks Lodge, located in Willow Glen and the only lodge in San Jose, plans to relocate from its current location, 444 W. Alma Ave., and sell the property near the Tamien light rail station. The Santa Clara Valley Water District is buying the western portion of the lodge's parking lot, adjacent to the Guadalupe River as part of its flood control and watershed projects along the river.
Elks Lodge members said they wanted to get as much height approved for the site as possible, in order to get more money to build a new lodge. They supported the planning commission's recommendation for a 120-foot-high building on 3 acres, a 90-foot height limit on 1.5 acres and a 65-foot limit on 4.65 acres.
But the planning department recommended the 120-foot limit for only the northeast corner and 65 feet for the rest of the site. The lodge is in District 6, and Yeager recommended approval of the planning department's recommendation, citing concerns about tall buildings near the river and a possible trail there, as well as nearby residences across the railroad tracks to the south.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
