The city council voted 7-3 on April 19 to rezone the 14.67-acre site from industrial to planned development. Council members Linda LeZotte, Judy Chirco and Forrest Williams voted against the rezoning. San Jose District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager voted for the change. The vote will enable developer KB Home to demolish the 82-year-old buildings on the site and develop the property, which will be called Monte Vista, with 390 single-family homes and a two-acre park.

The property was once the site of the longest-running cannery in San Jose. The cannery operated for 75 years before closing in 2000. Many workers came from the Gardner neighborhood in North Willow Glen.

The triangular site--bordered by Auzerais Avenue, Sunol Street and the Los Gatos Creek--sits in the Burbank/Del Monte area. Willow Glen residents, however, have been following the development just north of the neighborhood for several years.

Representatives from the Willow Glen and North Willow Glen neighborhood associations and Greater Gardner Coalition urged the council to construct apartments or lofts within the existing buildings. Residents also pressed the council to increase the development's distance from the creek because of environmental concerns.

Kevin Christman, chairman of the Greater Gardner Coalition, expressed concern over child safety. Any grade-school children who live in the new development would attend Gardner Academy, he said. To walk from the site to school, students will have to navigate the Bird Avenue overpass at Highway 280, which Christman said is dangerous.

Yeager addressed Christman's concerns by requesting that a safety study of the intersection be added as a condition of approval to the rezoning of the property. The week before, the San Jose Planning Commission had recommended the city council deny the rezoning in favor of using the existing buildings.

In approving the motion, the city council overturned the planning commission's decision and concurred with KB Home's assessment that reusing the buildings would result in a $2.7 million loss because of extensive retrofitting and upgrading of the aging facilities. Preservation Action Council of San Jose representatives disagreed and testified that KB Home could reuse the buildings for housing and make a $22.2 million profit.

San Jose Planning Director Stephen Haase said numerous historic reports crossed his desk; some of the reports stated the buildings were salvageable for the KB Home project, while some which said they were not. Scott Usechek of KB Home said the triangular figuration of the site also limited the amount of housing units they could build, making the construction of new homes a better option.

Alex Marthews, executive director of Preservation Action Council of San Jose, argued that KB Home "didn't think it was worth it" to study reusing the buildings because the city council would not vote for the reuse. Marthews based his statements on emails received through a Freedom of Information Act request, which detailed the planning department's efforts to persuade the developer to consider in-fill housing.

To neighbors involved in the development process, the KB Home development has been a blessing and a curse. Randi Kinman, Burbank/Del Monte Neighborhood Action Committee president, said the neighborhood had hoped to use the old cannery for a community center or a park. The neighborhood lacks a community center or library. City officials, however, told the community groups that the cannery site was too valuable and was needed for in-fill housing.

Harvey Darnell, North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association vice president, commended KB Home for addressing neighborhood concerns in the final design. As a result of working with the community, the Monte Vista development will feature additional on-site parking and increased open space and will be located further from the creek.

The proposed distance to the creek, however, was still not enough for some residents like Darnell, Christman and Willow Glen Neighborhood Association First Vice President Ed Rast. The city recommends 100 feet between the creek and a development to protect the environment, Christman said. The KB Home project will average a 56-foot setback.

Neighbors feared that approving the smaller setback would create a precedent for future developments. The KB Home development is the first large project built near the creek since the 100-foot recommendation was approved several years ago. Haase said the 100-foot setback is merely a recommendation, not a requirement. The KB Home project, he said, will actually increase the existing setback and repair some damage to land near the creek.

It was the preservation issue, however, that lingered with city council members who voted against the rezoning. "This is a real difficult decision for us," LeZotte said. "I know we need housing but I know adaptive reuse would bring us housing."

Chirco, whose husband's family worked in the cannery, agreed with LeZotte. "With all due respect for all the hard work, I am not supporting this motion," she said.