The Willow Glen Resident

Council Watch

Developers zero in on Radio Ave. project once again

Development would be larger than one proposed in 1995

By Cecily Barnes

A Radio Avenue housing development that has been in the works for three years is back--with an even larger project than before. Willow Glen Neighborhood Association president Kris Cunningham says she is surprised that the developer has come back with a project bigger than the one opposed in 1995.

"Neighbors had objected to six homes before, and now they've come in with the idea of putting in a separate road and eight homes," Cunningham said. "Everyone's thinking about maximizing the amount of money they get from a piece of property without thinking about the effect it will have on a piece of property."

In 1994, developer Robert Schwenke proposed replacing two rundown buildings on a half-acre Radio Avenue cul-de-sac with six new homes. WGNA and Radio Avenue neighbors fiercely opposed the project and prevailed when the City Council denied Schwenke's request for a general plan change to allow for higher-density housing.

Now Schwenke is back, asking for eight single-family homes--four on either side of a cul-de-sac off Radio Avenue. And instead of requesting a general plan change to increase the density, Schwenke is taking advantage of a provision in the existing code that allows "really good" developers to build at higher density than is typically allowed.

"There's an alternate-use policy under the general plan which says if you have a density of eight homes to the acre, you could develop at the next-highest density if you had a project that was very well designed," said Carol Hamilton, senior planner in the San Jose Planning Department. "What's allowed under the existing zoning is three homes, and they've applied for a planned development rezoning to allow for eight."

The planning staff has not yet determined if Schwenke's project is "very well designed." According to Hamilton, they will wait until a community meeting has been held to make that decision.

"The first step would be to have a community meeting to get some input from the neighborhood," Hamilton said. "We are going to work with the applicant to set up a community meeting."

Judging from the community's reaction to the previous proposal for six homes, this new plan doesn't seem to stand a good chance.

"It would densify the neighborhood, most certainly," Cunningham said. "We have a concern not just about the project but about how many other old homes will be done away with."

However, Schwenke assures that this eight-home project is actually less dense than the previously proposed six-home development.

"It's actually less density. With the six [homes] the density ended up about 14 units to the acre and now we're down at 12," Schwenke said. "We've added another portion to the site to make this thing a real nice, livable project vs. just going with a single parcel where the units would have been much more cramped."

Schwenke plans to present the project to the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association at its Nov. 12 meeting. He will go before the Planning Commission Nov. 19 and the City Council on Dec. 16.

"We're expecting to start construction in the springtime," Schwenke said.

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