The revamped policy, which the San Jose City Council unanimously approved on Sept. 21, now mandates that representatives from neighborhood and homeowners associations be notified by email within 10 days of the filing of a development-project application. Prior to this approval there was no notification requirement.

The council also approved additional changes that pertain to four designations—small, standard, large and controversial development projects—which clarify the methods of outreach to the community.

For example, for small projects such as tree removals or single-family house permits, hearing notices are to be sent within a 300-foot radius. For large development proposals and those deemed potentially "controversial" by the San Jose planning director—those that are more than 50 dwelling units or 60,000 square feet of commercial use—hearing notices must be circulated within 1,000 feet from the proposed development two weeks prior to a San Jose public hearing.

The council unanimously supported the updated policy, after listening to input from the Public Outreach Policy Focus Group that was made up of seven members representing neighborhood and homeowners associations, the city and developers.

San Jose Planning Department Director Stephen Haase said that the decision to revise the policy was made after the city realized that the neighborhoods, particularly the ones identified in the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, needed to become more involved in the development process.

This set into motion the Public Outreach Policy Focus Group, which Haase worked with for more than a year to come up with a notification plan that all sides could support.

"It was unprecedented collaboration in my mind," said Rick DiNapoli, a Public Outreach Policy Focus Group committee member, who is also a developer and the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Infrastructure Committee. "We met for nine months at 7 a.m. every Monday and did two remarkable things: We talked and we listened to the other side."

San Jose Project Area Committee vice chairwoman Autumn Gutierrez said the new policy requires early notification, plain language and translation for large or controversial proposals.

North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association Vice President Harvey Darnell told the city council that the last time he spoke in its chambers he came to oppose the Tamien Place project before the city council voted 10-1 to approve the proposal. But since that time, Darnell said, the city has worked to find a way to bring everyone affected by a specific project to the table before it reaches the public-hearing stage.

"We learned to meet and talk with developers in the community," Darnell said. "Future development will go much smoother."

Willow Glen Neighborhood Association First Vice President and United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County Chairman Ed Rast said that the policy makes the development process more predictable.

"It makes San Jose an example of how the community can work together," Rast said.

However, Pat Saucedo with the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties Silicon Valley Chapter said her organization supports the changes but has some concerns.

Saucedo said that the increased cost and time to alert the community to development proposals may delay the economy's rebound. She added that the city must also be responsible for educating the community on the development process. That, according to Saucedo and District 5 Councilwoman Nora Campos, should include bilingual notification for all projects, whether large or small. And Campos asked if the city could pay for translating the materials where it was unaffordable for a community. Haase said constituents could apply to the city claiming financial hardship to assist neighborhoods in this matter.

District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager said he was pleased to support the public outreach policy because it demonstrates that neighborhood associations and developers don't have to have an adversarial relationship.

San Jose Vice Mayor Pat Dando said she liked the consistency of using plain language to explain projects to residents.

Haase said that rebuilding the department's webpage would also make it easier for residents and developers to navigate and find information about proposed projects.

"This shows that people of goodwill who leave their ego at the door can roll up their sleeves and get things done," DiNapoli said.