The Cupertino City Council meets tonight, here are the expected points of interest:
If passed, the ordinance will change the Cupertino Municipal Code to allow political signs in the park strip of a public right-of-way only in residential zones following adjacent owner or resident authorization. The new ordinance will also mandate a maximum of two business days for correcting the violation before the sign must be removed, or a $3-per-sign removal fee will be applied.
If approved by the council, the city’s gears will begin to turn in creating a General Plan Amendment designed to “replenish the City’s dwindling commercial and hotel development allocations, reviewing housing opportunities in keeping with the community’s character, and evaluating the community’s goals and objectives on certain opportunity sites within the City, including the Vallco Shopping district.”
Proposals include:
- Increasing the current office allocation in the city of 738,755 square feet by 2 to 3 million square feet.
- Increasing the current commercial allocation in the city of 212,350 square feet by 2 million and adding general commercial zoning to quasi-public building zones at large sites to “provide the potential for additional retail development in the City.”
- Increasing the hotel allocation of 339 units by 1,000 to 1,500 rooms.
- Using the general plan to create “a community vision for the Vallco Shopping District”, stitching together the current "disjointed" plans to develop the adjacent land parcels and parking lots into a single unified development plan.
- Allow the city to evaluate Opportunity Sites on a city-wide level rather than the limited-in-scope, current site-by-site basis.
These proposals are supported by the city’s Chamber of Commerce.
“We have since 2000 noted that the General Plan is not sufficient to address this growth,” wrote Cupertino Chamber of Commerce President John Zirelli in a letter to the council. “We are now reaching a point where our ability to promote any possible future growth will be limited without an amendment of the General Plan.”
The amendment is expected to cost between $1.1 and $1.3 million, with an actual cost to the city of between $750,000 and $950,000 following receipt of $350,000 from Sand Hill Property Company to fund a General Plan Amendment to increase the citywide office allocation.
“Simply put,” the letter continued, “we are running out of square footage in the General Plan. Without the flexibility of more available space, we run the risk of delaying and preventing future projects and developments from taking place in Cupertino. Furthermore, companies are beginning to move out of Cupertino because of the availability of high-quality office and industrial space elsewhere. They will continue to do so without Cupertino offering competing space.”
As always, the meeting will take place at at 6:45 p.m tonight in Cupertino’s Community Hall Council Chamber located at 10350 Torre Avenue.
