San Jose Planning Commission Meeting - September 11, 2024
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San Jose Planning Commission Meeting - September 11, 2024
The San Jose Planning Commission, chaired by Anthony Tordill, met on September 11, 2024, to consider three public hearing items: a four-home subdivision on Ambum Avenue, Kaiser Permanente's replacement hospital, and guiding principles for the redevelopment of the Pleasant Hills Golf Course. The meeting also included public comments on a proposed Costco warehouse at Westgate West, which drew extensive opposition from community members.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (August 28, 2024): Unanimously approved (9-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non-Agendized Public Comment (Costco Project): Multiple speakers from Save West Valley urged the commission to reject the proposed Costco warehouse at Westgate West. Concerns included: safety for 1,500 students at Prospect High School (located 1,000 feet away); 11,000+ daily car trips; insufficient parking (18% fewer spaces than Sunnyvale Costco, on a 33% smaller site); primary entrance on a residential street (Graves Avenue) ; conflict with the city's Envision 2040 General Plan (which designates the site as neighborhood/community commercial); noise and light pollution from a proposed rooftop parking lot; and alcohol sales within 100 feet of homes. A total of 3,900 online petition signatures and 600 in-person signatures were cited. Speakers also noted the project would add to traffic from nearby planned housing and that Costco's own analysis fails to account for sky glow from rooftop LED lights. The group urged the commission to reject the project, or to impose conditions such as closing Graves Avenue entirely, adding a sound wall, permanently banning gas stations and home delivery, and requiring road safety improvements.
- Public Comment on Kaiser Project: Dave Nyberg, a nearby resident and Kaiser member, expressed support after having concerns about tree removal and construction noise addressed by Kaiser representatives.
- Public Comment on Pleasant Hills Guiding Principles: Jonathan Padilla (Evergreen resident) noted traffic congestion on Tully Road and asked for a holistic view of area development; Rigo Gallardo (North Cal Carpenters) urged inclusion of strong labor standards and local hiring; Alex Shore (Catalyze SV) criticized proposed low density (no buildings over three stories on 115 acres) as insufficient for San Jose's housing crisis; Dora Padilla (resident since 1987) expressed distrust due to unmet promises of green space and lack of infrastructure maintenance.
Discussion Items
- Item A – 3464 Ambum Avenue (PDC 22-008, PD 22-021, T22-034): Staff presented a proposal to demolish a single-family home, ADU, and accessory structures and construct four detached single-family residences (5,045–6,200 sq ft) on a 2.59-acre hilltop site in Evergreen. The project meets all objective standards under SB 330. Commissioner Bandal raised neighbor concerns about privacy from a balcony on Lot 1 overlooking adjacent backyards. Staff noted 73-foot setbacks and planned tree buffers. The project applicant thanked staff and had no further presentation. Motion to approve staff recommendation passed 9-0.
- Item B – Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center Replacement (PDC 23-006, PD 23-002, H24-008): Staff presented a 303-bed, six-story, 685,000-square-foot hospital replacement on the existing 39-acre campus in South San Jose, plus a new energy center and parking structure. An EIR found no significant unavoidable impacts. The applicant highlighted the hospital would be all-electric, reduce carbon emissions by 48%, and achieve LEED Gold certification. Discussion included the bed increase from 265 to 303 (private rooms), seismic replacement necessity, and temporary construction trailer. The commission approved (9-0).
- Item C – Pleasant Hills Guiding Principles (PP 24-002): Staff detailed a community engagement process for the defunct Pleasant Hills Golf Course (115 acres), including three rounds of workshops, online surveys, and outreach in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, with a cost of about $200,000. The draft guiding principles reflect community preferences for low- to mid-density housing, neighborhood-serving commercial, substantial open space, and multimodal transportation. Commissioners debated the lack of binding force, fiscal impacts, VMT issues, and adequacy of outreach, particularly to the Black community (Vice Chair Cantrell criticized the absence of targeted outreach or Black consultant participation). Commissioner Young moved to approve with an amendment to language: "accept and consider the Pleasant Hills guiding principles as recommendations from the community." After extensive discussion, the motion passed 6-3.
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar approved 9-0.
- Item A (Ambum Avenue four homes) approved 9-0.
- Item B (Kaiser hospital replacement) approved 9-0.
- Item C (Pleasant Hills Guiding Principles) approved 6-3 (Commissioners Cantrell, Lardnois, and Tordill dissenting; Commissioners Barroso, Bandal, Bickford, Oliverio, Rosario, and Young in favor). The commission's recommendation will go to the City Council.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:33 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. My name is Anthony Tordill, and I am the chair of the Planning Commission. Welcome to this Planning Commission meeting. Please remember to turn off your cell phones. The parking validation machine for the garage under City Hall is located at the rear of the chambers. Following roll call during the summary of hearing procedures, we will review how the public may provide comment during today's session. At this time, please join me in rising for the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you. We'll now move on to roll call. Vice Chair Cantra. Commissioner Barroso. Commissioner Bandal. Here. Here. Commissioner Bickford. Commissioner Lardnois. Commissioner Olivario. Commissioner Rosario. Here. Commissioner Young. Here. Myself here. And that is six in attendance, so we have quorum, and we will proceed. All right, moving on to summary of hearing procedures. If you would like to address the commission, please fill out a speaker card located on the table near the audio visual technician and deposit the completed card in the basket. There are also speaker cards in the back of the chamber and at the side entrance. The procedure for this meeting is as follows. After staff's presentation, applicants and or appellants may make up to a five minute presentation. During public comment period, the chair will call out the names of the submitted speaker cards in the order received for those members of the public who attend in person. As your name is called, line up in front of the microphone at the front of the chamber. Generally, each speaker will be given up to two minutes for public testimony, and speakers using a translator will have up to four minutes. At the discretion of the chair, the time allotted to each speaker may be changed depending on the number of items on the agenda, number of speakers, and other factors. Speakers using a translator will have double the time allotted. After the public testimony, the applicant andor appellant may make closing remarks for up to an additional five minutes. Planning commissioners may ask questions of the speakers. Response to Commissioner questions will not reduce the speaker's time allowance. The public hearing will then be closed, and the planning commission will take action on the item. The planning commission may request staff to respond to the public testimony, ask staff questions, and discuss the item. If you challenge these land use decisions in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at this public hearing or in written correspondence delivered to the city at or prior to the public hearing. The planning commission's action on rezonings, pre-zonings, general plan amendments, and code amendments is only advisory to the city council. The City Council will hold public hearing on these items. Section 20.120.400 of the municipal code provides the procedures for legal protest to the city on conditional to the city council on rezonings and prezonings. The planning commission's action on conditional use permits is appealable to the city council in accordance with section 20.100.220 of the municipal code. Agendas and all staff reports for this meeting may be accessed on the city website. We'll now move on to call to order and orders of the day. Before we begin, I want to remind the planning commission members and members of the public to follow our code of conduct at meetings. This includes commenting on the specific agenda item only and addressing the full body. Public speakers will not engage in a conversation with commissioners or staff. All members of the planning commission, staff, and the public are expected to refrain from abusive language. Repeated failure to comply with the code of conduct, which will disturb, disrupt, or impede the orderly conduct of this meeting, may result in removal from the meeting.
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