San Jose council approves potentially flawed housing development
The contention revolved around a 15 acre housing project that will see 89 homes built at the edge of Guadalupe Creek in the south of the city. The site on which the development will take place is a largely underdeveloped area containing, among other things, an unsightly asphalt car park.
San Jose news media reportedly recently that the city council has voted 8-2 (one councilman, Sam Liccardo, was out of town) in favor of the development, which will be undertaken by Trumark Companies, a California-based residential development company that has also worked on the development of commercial and research complexes.
The new residential housing complex will be called Brookside Estates and is a piece of prime real estate in San Jose for two main reasons, it is located in Aldamen Valley, which is one of the highest rates residential areas in Silicon Valley, and the homes will fall within the Los Gatos Unified School District, which is one of the most sought after school districts in California.
Trumark Companies’ interest in the site was therefore considerable and they easily out-bid a technology company that leases half the office park. That company, which is worth about $240 million and employs 160 people, has indicated it will have to relocate out of San Jose, adding fuel to the debate over whether the housing development in its current form is better in the long run for the local community and the environment.
The environment is the major catalyst of the friction between two influential conservation groups and the city council, which has argued the housing development is for the best.
The San Jose City Council established in the past a policy whereby any development near a body of water, had to be set back an average of 100 feet from the water to protect fragile ecosystems. When Trumark approached the council it asked for an average set back of 47.5 feet, according to San Jose news reports.
Councilwoman Nancy Pyle, representing the area in which the development is to take place, presented a compromise of 72.8 feet, which was accepted by the council and the developers. The Committee for Green Foothills, a grass-roots conservation group and the Audubon Society, a national environmental group that is one of the oldest in the world, resent this decision and insist the project will endanger local wildlife and put unsustainable pressure of habitats that rely on Guadalupe Creek.
The creek is of special importance for it is here at its confluence with Los Alamitos Creek that the Guadalupe River’s mainstream begins. Any threat to the creek, such as pollution or contamination, can therefore became a threat to the entire ecosystem of the river, which encompasses various species of fish and birdlife that support land-based habitat populations in protected parts of the river banks.
The Committee for Green Foothills and the Audubon Society have requested that a full environmental impact report be submitted, but the council rejected their request and told San Jose news media that the housing project was both safe and ultimately beneficial for both the city and its environment.
Trumark Companies have pledged to remove the 2.5 acre car park and rehabilitate the land as a residential park, part of a 3.8 acre natural habitat, which would also provide residents of the city with a public nature trail. Around 700 trees will also be added to the site with the development of the housing complex, which will be comprised of semi-detached townhouses.
The project is expected to be completed in the next two to three years and will be the second large housing development in the area after Campagna was built on the site of a former IBM research complex ten years ago.
Conservationists are concerned that the increasing population density in the area around the creek, and the encroachment of houses to the water, may put in danger already fragile animal populations, such as the Golden Beaver, which was reintroduced to the area after being wiped out by hunting activity.
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San Jose council approves potentially flawed housing development
A housing development in San Jose is becoming increasingly controversial as members of the public have accused the San Jose City Council of violating its own environmental policies with regards to residential developments in the city.
The contention revolved around a 15 acre housing project that will see 89 homes built at the edge of Guadalupe Creek in the south of the city. The site on which the development will take place is a largely underdeveloped area containing, among other things, an unsightly asphalt car park. Read more
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