The proposed projects—with a portion of the plan already designed with two 12-story buildings and future designs planning to increase housing density—has residents worried about traffic, aesthetics and lowered property values.

Some residents are also upset that the city's planning department is giving them only 30 days to comment on an environmental study that was made public on June 23.

A pair of San Jose planning commission deputy directors, along with San Jose District 6 City Council member Ken Yeager and District 3 council member Cindy Chavez, hosted public meetings on June 23 and 24 to address community concerns and hear comments about the proposed projects.

The city's approval of the project allows for an increase in building height and greater housing density. The property is planned to be developed on property owned by the Elks Lodge—in Yeager's district—and the Alma Bowl/Sprig Electric site property—located in Chavez's district. Barry Swenson Builder is the developer.

The Tamien Station Area Plan encompasses 140 acres bordered by Willow and Little Orchard streets, Lick and Alma avenues, a portion of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and the Guadalupe River. Highway 87 bisects the area and crosses into part of northern Willow Glen, including the Gardner and Guadalupe-Washington neighborhoods.

The city wants to develop the area into a high-density housing project that can accommodate various income levels, encourage the use of public transportation and make "efficient use and reuse of land," according to the 1995 Tamien Station Area Specific Plan. The Tamien Station area features both a light rail station and a Caltrain station.

As outlined in the city's General Plan 2020, a blueprint for what the city should look like by the year 2020, the city is looking to have high-density communities built near public transportation stations.

Even though the city and developers look to the community for input on projects—primarily by printing fliers and announcing public meetings—some opponents feel the outreach is not reaching far enough and is not timely enough to allow for significant input before major decisions are made.

"One of the main problems we keep having is that you're seeking too small a sample of the community," Alison England, president of the North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, told Deputy Director of Planning Implementation Joseph Horwedel and Chavez at the District 3 public meeting.

Although England lives in North Willow Glen, nearer to the Elks Lodge, she attended the June 24 meeting, which focused on the Alma Bowl site. This is the project that was approved by the city council on April 9, allowing developer Barry Swenson to construct a pair of 120-foot-high housing complexes.

England, one of 60 residents who came to the meeting at the Tamien Day Care Center on Lick Avenue, said she is concerned that these tall buildings will ruin the skyline of what is a residential area.

"This is going to be there for the rest of our lives, and you can't measure that with an environmental impact report," she said during the meeting.

The public meetings were scheduled to educate the community about how the planning department's procedures work, about the General Plan, and how to contact the city with concerns.

But some residents feel their concerns are being heard but not heeded.

"I've been to these public meetings several times before," an audience member told Deputy Director of Planning Services Laurel Prevetti at the June 23 meeting at Galarza Elementary School. "And I can tell you the process hasn't changed since Fiscalini was in office: You seek the public's input, but you come back with larger projects."

Since the Tamien Station Specific Plan was adopted in 1995, it has undergone at least five changes that involved council-approved amendments to General Plan 2020, which itself has undergone 16 changes since 1994.

For the Tamien Station Specific Plan, a citizen task force was created in 1993. The task force consisted of property owners, business owners and residents who held public meetings until January 1995. The city council approved the plan in March 1995. Since then, there have been modifications to the plan, but many residents and neighborhood organizations feel they aren't as involved as they were 10 years ago.

Prevetti and Horwedel, as well as Yeager and Chavez, hoped to rectify that by holding these meetings.

The meetings also came on the heels of the anticipated negative declaration of an environmental impact report, which is the result of a study the city performed to look at how traffic patterns and building heights might affect the area and its surroundings. Copies of the study are available at the Willow Glen Library as well as at the Biblioteca LatinoAmericana and the San Jose Main Library.

Even Yeager and Chavez disagree about the benefits of high-rise residential buildings.

In a statement on building heights that he released at his meeting on June 23, Yeager says, "While I'm supportive of the city's goals [regarding high-density housing], I am not supportive of heights reaching 120 feet or 12 stories in residential areas outside of downtown."

Yeager believes they development is too dense, will increase traffic and will spoil the open space vistas. Chavez, however, contends that high buildings create a safer neighborhood when the area is in close proximity to transit stations, as is the case with the Alma Bowl project. She believes that residents living on higher floors can oversee an area and be witnesses to any crimes.

"All those higher eyes help make the place a safe and bustling place for residents," Chavez said.

Both council members welcome feedback on the Tamien Station project as well as other projects.

Contact Cindy Chavez's office by calling 408.277.5231 or emailing cindy.chavez@ci.sj.ca.us.

Contact Ken Yeager's office by calling 408.277.5166 or emailing ken.yeager@ci.sj.ca.us.

To view permit reports or comment on them, write to the San Jose Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, 801 N. First St., Room 400, San Jose, 95110 or visit http://www.sjpermits.org. The website also allows users to file a formal protest to a project's environmental report for a $50 fee.