On Dec. 8, the planning commission reviewed five appeals to the shopping center's planned development permit, which was approved in November 2004. The developer Mark Tersini plans to transform the aging shopping center into a renovated commercial and residential center with 299 apartments.

For longtime dissenters, the appeal was the last hurrah. Parking and traffic were the most prevalent concerns. But senior planner Mike Enderby said those concerns had been addressed throughout the planning process.

The commission unanimously agreed to uphold the permit voting 6-0 after two hours of discussion. Commissioner Christopher Platten was absent.

Two Yucca avenue residents, Rite-Aid, Cardinal Coffee Shops & Lounges and Hometown Buffet filed formal appeals. Seven residents also spoke before the commission, three of whom favored the new development.

Although the public is usually allotted five minutes to speak before the commission, commissioner Bob Levy limited each speaker to three minutes because of the high number of individuals who wanted to voice their opinion.

Yucca Avenue resident Joe Pottgeiser, one of the project's most vocal protestors, expressed concern over current shopping center owner Garrett Rakjovich. Since he purchased the shopping center in 1997, Pottgeiser said the center has slipped into disrepair.

"We have a slum now," Pottgesier said. "I'm confident that in the future we'll have a new building and we'll have a new slum."

Yucca Avenue neighbor Mark Thomas said that cars from the new development would inevitably park on Yucca Avenue and advocated for residential parking permits for Yucca Avenue residents. Thomas also suggested traffic diverters on Yucca and Foxworthy avenues to avoid cut-through traffic on to Hillsdale Avenue.

Rite-Aid, Hometown Buffet and Cardinal Coffee Shops all stated that the development would interfere with their existing leases that preserve parking spaces.

"Parking is money," said Joseph Durante, lawyer for Cardinal Coffee Shops. "For restaurants, it's a potential loss of income."

Rite-Aid and Hometown Buffet expressed concern that the new development would skew views of their businesses.

But, according to Enderby, the city is not responsible for lease agreements between the shopping center landlords and tenants.

Developer Mark Tersini said he has held several meetings with individual tenants and has elevated Hometown Buffet's front entry in response to its concerns. Tersini said he has also offered to purchase Cardinal Coffee Shops.

The hottest topic, however, was the city's decision to study the traffic impact after the project is completed. As part of the approval process the developer has volunteered to pay $10,000 toward the traffic study.

Jan Botha, a transportation engineering professor at San Jose State University and a Willow Creek Drive resident, questioned the city's logic.

"The city has a strategy to let a problem develop and deal with the solution later," Botha said. "That's the antithesis of planning."

Botha, however, advocated for a traffic study before the project is completed. And he would like it to include the area's peak hour traffic circulation, parking analysis and a solution for parking overflow.

In the same vein, Willow Glen resident Stephen Gomez said that neighborhood traffic is overlooked because the city only measures traffic at signalized intersections. His neighborhood, he said, has been subject to traffic calming measures twice.

"They're already using our neighborhoods as a short cut," Gomez said. "It's not going to stop 299 residents with over 600 cars from cutting through."

Additional improvements such as traffic diverters and curbside parking will be considered one year after the project's completion.

But the District 9 Neighborhood Advisory Committee, which was created to give residents a say in the planning process, said many of these issues were addressed or are not yet ripe for a solution, such as traffic.

"Because the center is not built, conjectures of what will happen is premature," advisory committee member Noel Carpenter said. "We want a high quality development and we want the city to stand by us with the traffic problems."

Commissioner Jim Zito was so impressed with the $10,000 bond offered by the developer for a post-development traffic study that he encouraged the planning department to consider similar measures for future developments. The move would ease traffic expenditures in the general fund and costs to taxpayers, he said.

City Attorney Renee Gurza and Manuel Pineda of the Transportation Department said Tersini's act was extraordinary and a first for the city.

Prior to the project's approval, commissioner Jay James said, "I'm glad everyone came out—those who were for it and those who were against it. I believe once the project is completed, it'll be a benefit for the neighborhood."

The project will begin with the businesses on the south side of Foxworthy Avenue. Residential construction will begin on the north side of Foxworthy and end on the south side. The developer has not projected a completion date.