Mercury News
May 10, 2005

New draft for Coyote Valley
Proposal would ease jobs trigger

By Rodney Foo

A controversial proposal that would relax a longstanding requirement that jobs be created before housing in San Jose's Coyote Valley was brought before task force members Monday.

Mayor Ron Gonzales, who authorized the draft of the proposal along with Councilman Forrest Williams, described the memo as a set of talking points designed to get the task force moving from the planning stage to implementation of a development plan. The draft suggests that instead of economic requirements -- or triggers -- being met to unleash growth, industrial and housing development could be started "by the willing.''

For more than 20 months, the task force has been meeting to create a land use plan for South San Jose's Coyote Valley that will accommodate 50,000 jobs and at least 25,000 homes -- essentially a city the size of Mountain View.

The draft represents a dramatic departure from previous requisites laid down by the city council for Coyote Valley's growth.

"The council recognized from Day One that the triggers would need to be adjusted,'' Gonzales said.

Task force member Steve Speno, a developer whose firm owns more than 600 acres in the valley, reserved judgment on the draft.

"I think it's too early to make decisions on those sorts of things,'' said Speno, who emphasized that costs and types of construction will be dictated by which features -- such as a man-made lake -- are built first in the valley.

Some believe the suggestions put forth by Gonzales and Williams could allow for quicker development, diluting restrictions aimed at creating a community of 75,000 that will be able to independently pay for its share of city services -- such as police, fire and libraries -- without draining San Jose's general fund.

The guidelines in the memo call for the city's budget director to certify that the next phase of development won't siphon the general fund before building permits are issued.

They also suggest that development must occur simultaneously at a 2-to-1 ratio of jobs to housing units; one affordable housing unit must also be built concurrently for every four market-rate dwellings.

Developers who build less than 40 residential units per acre must acquire an undetermined ratio of acres in the semi-agricultural district south of Palm Avenue to the Morgan Hill city limits and maintain that area as a greenbelt buffer zone.

Under the old criteria, adopted by the council in August 2003, residential construction would begin only after 5,000 jobs were created in Coyote Valley. In addition, five-year projections on the city's financial outlook also needed to be stable before building begins. San Jose currently faces a projected $58 million budget shortfall, the fourth consecutive year of deficits because of a lackluster economy.

"Those triggers are there for a reason,'' said Brian Schmidt of the Committee for Green Foothills. "It's to make sure development in Coyote Valley doesn't happen until it's really necessary.''

Schmidt said he was worried that there now appears to be a "rush'' to development "where there is no planning reason for doing that.''

However, Gonzales took a different view.

"I don't know how you make that assumption,'' he said, noting that it could take decades for complete buildout. "I think development will take place in other parts of San Jose long before Coyote Valley.''

Page last updated May 12, 2005 .