The national developer received its required planned development permit at the Sept. 14 San Jose planning directors' hearing. Toll Brothers plans to build 165 condominiums and 41 two-to three-story townhomes on the 8.76-acre lot near PW Supermarket.

The development, called Willow Glen Paseo, will also feature open spaces such as play areas and a swimming pool. The development will have 468 parking spaces.

San Jose senior planner Rich Buikema recommended approving the permit with several conditions. Toll Brothers must submit a redesign of the townhomes within 60 days so the garages are less visible from the project's entrance. The developer will also be required to provide $250,000 for a new traffic study that will be conducted a year after the project is occupied.

The planners do not anticipate any significant increase in traffic from the development; however, if those findings are incorrect, then $200,000 could be used to install a new traffic signal on Meridian Avenue. The $50,000 balance will be used conduct a traffic study and for additional traffic improvements in the area, Ebrahim Sohrabi, a San Jose public works civil engineer, said.

Larry Goldstein, a District 9 Neighborhood Action Committee member, told the city that its traffic measuring methods are flawed. Traffic studies only focus on intersections with signals.

"What hasn't been taken into account is the neighborhood streets surrounding the project," Goldstein said.

Willow Creek Drive resident Clarence Shuh said the project's two entrances on Meridian and Foxworthy avenues were poorly placed. Both roads, he said, were congested and the project would only worsen cut-through traffic in the area.

However, both Goldstein and Shuh said Toll Brothers' project is a better fit for the neighborhood than Mark Tersini's original plan to build 299 rental apartments. Goldstein said he and his neighbors were pleased with the decreased number of owner-occupied units and looked to Toll Brothers to construct a quality development.