The developer, Core Development, would like to remove three existing homes at 790 and 800 Malone Road and replace them with nine detached single-family two-story units, ranging in size from 2,731 to 3,860 square feet. Each home will be designed with three to four bedrooms and a two-car garage or tandem parking.

The developer, architect and city representatives met with neighbors at a community meeting on Jan. 5 to discuss the project. Some of residents questioned how the development would maintain the area's natural surroundings because there are several heritage trees on the property, which backs onto the Guadalupe River.

"It's potentially a good project," said Ed Rast, first vice president of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association. But he and fellow neighborhood association board member Hugh Graham were hopeful that the four Deodar cedars that front the property on Malone Road would be preserved, and the distance between the homes and Guadalupe riverbanks would be extended to the standard 100 feet to protect the river.

San Jose city planner Ed Schreiner reassured the residents that the development intends to retain all four heritage trees, and, as a result, the distance to the river decreased. San Jose generally has developments 100 feet away from the river, but the Malone Road project will be only 30 feet away from the bank.

After the meeting, Core Development submitted a negative declaration to the planning department, outlining any environmental impacts the project may have on the property. Schreiner says the department hopes to get the project on the planning commission's Feb. 7 agenda.

Chris Neale with Core Development said the project, if approved, will be a "dramatic improvement to the neighborhood." The riverbanks, he added, will also be in better condition because they will remove old equipment, a shed and non-native plants currently crowding the riverbanks.

Both Rast and the planning department have suggested that the project be reduced from nine to eight units, so that it conforms with housing density in the area. However, Neale said they have already decreased the density and any further reduction wouldn't be financially worthwhile to the developer.

Despite the density concerns, Neale says the development has more than ample parking. Along with the two parking spaces for each home, the project has five parking spaces in the common lot, five on Malone Road and additional room in each driveway for parking.