OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

San Jose Planning Director Hearing – June 11, 2025

Planning CommissionWednesday, June 11, 2025
BodySan Jose, California
SessionPlanning Commission
DateWednesday, June 11, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

Good morning everyone.

0:04

It's 9 o'clock a.m.

0:05

So we are calling to order the planning director hearing of June 11th, 2025.

0:11

My name is Sylvia Doe and I am the hearing officer for today's agenda on behalf of and delegated by the Director of Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement, Christopher Burton.

0:21

This meeting is being held via Zoom conference call.

0:24

Members of the public may participate by following the instructions listed on page two of the agenda.

0:30

If you would like to provide public comment, you have two methods to do so.

0:35

For participants who joined electronically and have audio input available on their computer or smartphone, they can use the raised hand feature in Zoom during the agenda item they would like to speak to, or click star nine on their phone.

0:49

Remember to keep your raised hand feature on until planning support staff identifies your turn to speak.

0:55

During the meeting, you can also call 408535 3505 or email planning support staff at San Jose CA.gov and identify your name that's listed on Zoom, the phone number that you'll call into Zoom with, and what item or items you would like to comment on.

1:20

All members of the public will remain on mute until the individual identifies they would like to speak and they are unmuted.

1:26

Planning support staff will identify you by name when it is your turn to speak.

1:31

At that time, you will be unmuted and can provide comment for the allotted time.

1:36

If you exceed your allotted time, you may be muted so we can move on to the next speaker.

1:42

Please note the following.

1:52

For those items on the consent calendar, I will ask if anyone wishes to speak on the item.

1:58

If a separate discussion is warranted, I will move the item to the public hearing portion of the agenda.

2:03

If a separate discussion is not needed, the item will remain on the consent calendar for approval.

2:09

For those items listed under public hearing, I will ask staff to provide a brief report.

2:15

The applicant or the representative who wishes to speak on the item will have up to five minutes to speak and should identify themselves by stating their name for the record.

2:25

After the applicant or the representative has spoken, any member of the public who wishes to speak on the item may provide testimony up to two minutes per speaker, either for or against the project.

2:37

If there are many speakers for a project, I may limit public speaking time to one minute so that everyone has a timely opportunity to speak.

2:45

All members of the public should identify their name for the record, although it is not required.

2:50

Following comments from the public, the applicant may make additional remarks for up to two or up to five minutes.

2:57

I will then close the public hearing, and I may ask staff to answer questions, respond to comments made by the applicant or the public, or further discuss the item.

3:06

I will then take action on the item.

3:09

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.

3:23

The planning director's actions on agenda items will be final when the permit is signed and mailed, unless the permit or the environmental clearance determination is appealed.

3:33

The planning director's actions on the permits are appealable in accordance with the requirements of Title 20 of the municipal code.

3:40

The planning director's actions on the environmental review for the permits under the California Environmental Quality Act are separately appealable in accordance with the requirements of Title 21 of the municipal code.

3:52

Before we begin, I want to remind members of the public to follow our code of conduct at meetings.

3:58

This includes commenting on the specific agenda item only.

4:02

Public speakers will not engage in a conversation with the hearing officer or staff.

4:07

The hearing officer, staff, and the public are expected to refrain from abusive language.

4:13

Repeated failure to comply with the code of conduct, which will disturb, disrupt, or impede the orderly conduct of this meeting may result in the removal from the meeting.

4:23

The meeting of the director hearing will now come to order.

4:28

This brings us to the next portion of the agenda, which is number two, deferrals.

4:33

Any items scheduled for hearing this morning for which deferral to a future meeting date is being requested will be removed, will be moved to this portion of the agenda and considered on the matter of appeal.

4:44

I will identify any items to be deferred and ask for comments from the audience.

4:48

If you want to change any of the deferral dates or speak to the question of deferring these or any other items, please use the raised hand feature in Zoom or click star 9 to raise your hand to speak.

5:01

I will now open the public hearing.

5:04

And so far, there are no items proposed for deferral this morning.

5:08

Again, if you wish to speak on the matter of deferral, you can raise your hand or click star nine in Zoom.

5:14

And again, deferrals meaning that you are requesting for any of the two agenda items today to be heard at a later date.

5:23

I'm just going to check to see if there are any members of the public with their hands raised who are requesting deferral.

5:30

I do not see any hands raised.

5:33

So the matter of deferrals is now closed.

5:37

And I will now move on to the third portion of the agenda, which is the consent calendar.

5:43

There will be no separate discussion of individual consent calendar items as they are considered to be routine and will be considered in one action unless an item is moved to the public hearing calendar for separate discussion by the hearing officer.

5:57

The public may comment on the entire consent calendar and any items removed from the consent calendar by the hearing officer.

6:04

If you wish to speak on one of these items, please use the raise hand feature in Zoom or click star nine to raise your hand to speak.

6:12

And this morning we only have one item on the consent calendar.

6:16

This is item 3A, file number SP 25-011, T24-035, and ER24-243.

6:28

This is a special use permit to allow the construction of 36 residential townhome units located at 2820 through 2848 Florence Avenue.

6:39

My understanding is that staff has an update they would like to read into the record for this project.

6:45

Staff.

6:47

Good morning, hearing officer.

6:50

We'll be reading a change to be one of the conditions into the record.

6:58

Yes.

6:58

Thank you, hearing officer.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Land Use█████████████████████████████████████37%
Public Comment██████████████████18%
Procedural██████████████14%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████████████14%
Climate and Environment██████6%
Transportation████4%
Transportation Safety██2%
Parking██2%
Pending Litigation1%
Summary of Proceedings

Planning Director Hearing – June 11, 2025

The Planning Director Hearing for June 11, 2025, was called to order by Hearing Officer Sylvia Doe. The meeting covered a consent calendar item for a 36-unit townhome development and a public hearing for a Chick-fil-A restaurant proposal at 1301 West San Carlos Street. After extensive public comment and deliberation, the hearing officer approved the site development permit with conditions, including retaining an existing building on the property.

Consent Calendar

  • Item 3A (SP 25-011, T24-035, ER24-243): Special use permit for 36 residential townhome units at 2820-2848 Florence Avenue. Staff read a revision to condition of approval #48 regarding soil sampling for residual pesticides. No public comment to remove the item; it was approved as recommended by staff.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Item 4A – Chick-fil-A at 1301 West San Carlos Street: Approximately 139 emails were received, with all but five opposing the project. A change.org petition with over 3,200 signatures also opposed it. During the hearing, several members of the public spoke in opposition:
    • David Moore (District 6 resident): Called the proposal "outrageous" and inconsistent with the urban village vision, displacing local minority-owned businesses.
    • Rachel Kumar (San Jose resident, 20+ years): Urged rejection, noting Chick-fil-A cannot succeed without car traffic and would clog streets.
    • Eric Rice (neighborhood resident): Disappointed the city is not listening; said plan destroys local jobs and violates urban village principles.
    • Greg Ripa: Submitted a letter detailing non-compliance with General Plan and design guidelines; argued the project is parking-lot oriented.
    • John Hwan Vu (District 6 resident): Opposed due to lack of inclusivity, inconsistency with urban village plan, traffic, and loss of existing businesses.
    • Alex Shore (Catalyze SV): Opposed on behalf of 75 projects; stated the project violates General Plan and would set the city backwards.
    • Tom Spilsbury (property owner’s representative): Clarified that Eduardo’s Tacaria is not being displaced by Chick-fil-A; they signed an acknowledgment in 2020 and have been month-to-month since 2023; redevelopment has been the owner’s goal regardless.

Discussion Items

  • Item 4A – Site Development Permit for Chick-fil-A (H24-046, ER24-195): Staff (Jason Lee) presented the proposal: demolition of an existing commercial building and removal of 20 ordinance-sized trees to construct a 5,139 sq ft quick-service restaurant with a covered patio, 29 new trees, sidewalk improvements, and a mural. The project meets zoning and urban village plan requirements. Applicant Christine Cho highlighted economic benefits, jobs, and community investment. Public testimony overwhelmingly opposed. Hearing Officer Sylvia Doe questioned the applicant about retaining the existing building, parking, and building orientation. The applicant offered to reduce parking stalls and consider redesigning the entryway. Staff confirmed that retaining the building had not been evaluated but that circulation could be adjusted.

Key Outcomes

  • Decision on Item 4A: The hearing officer approved the site development permit with modifications. The permit was granted to allow the 5,139 sq ft restaurant and outdoor patio, but with the condition that the existing 3,817 sq ft commercial building be retained, not demolished. The hearing officer directed a site redesign to accommodate both buildings and required the following:
    • The entryway vestibule be redesigned to bring it closer to West San Carlos Street.
    • All windows along West San Carlos and Race Street shall be transparent for pedestrian visibility.
    • Updated conditions of approval: Section 4C corrected to read "UV zone" (not MUC), condition 33B2 updated to 32 off-site replacement trees, and condition 14 clarified for the mural requirement.
    • The applicant expressed willingness to reduce parking stalls and add more landscaping.
  • Consent Calendar: Approved as recommended.
  • Appeal Deadlines: Permit appeals must be filed within 10 calendar days (by June 23, 2025). Environmental determination appeals must be filed by June 16, 2025.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning everyone. It's 9 o'clock a.m. So we are calling to order the planning director hearing of June 11th, 2025. My name is Sylvia Doe and I am the hearing officer for today's agenda on behalf of and delegated by the Director of Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement, Christopher Burton. This meeting is being held via Zoom conference call. Members of the public may participate by following the instructions listed on page two of the agenda. If you would like to provide public comment, you have two methods to do so. For participants who joined electronically and have audio input available on their computer or smartphone, they can use the raised hand feature in Zoom during the agenda item they would like to speak to, or click star nine on their phone. Remember to keep your raised hand feature on until planning support staff identifies your turn to speak. During the meeting, you can also call 408535 3505 or email planning support staff at San Jose CA.gov and identify your name that's listed on Zoom, the phone number that you'll call into Zoom with, and what item or items you would like to comment on. All members of the public will remain on mute until the individual identifies they would like to speak and they are unmuted. Planning support staff will identify you by name when it is your turn to speak. At that time, you will be unmuted and can provide comment for the allotted time. If you exceed your allotted time, you may be muted so we can move on to the next speaker. Please note the following. For those items on the consent calendar, I will ask if anyone wishes to speak on the item. If a separate discussion is warranted, I will move the item to the public hearing portion of the agenda. If a separate discussion is not needed, the item will remain on the consent calendar for approval. For those items listed under public hearing, I will ask staff to provide a brief report. The applicant or the representative who wishes to speak on the item will have up to five minutes to speak and should identify themselves by stating their name for the record. After the applicant or the representative has spoken, any member of the public who wishes to speak on the item may provide testimony up to two minutes per speaker, either for or against the project. If there are many speakers for a project, I may limit public speaking time to one minute so that everyone has a timely opportunity to speak. All members of the public should identify their name for the record, although it is not required. Following comments from the public, the applicant may make additional remarks for up to two or up to five minutes. I will then close the public hearing, and I may ask staff to answer questions, respond to comments made by the applicant or the public, or further discuss the item. I will then take action on 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 director's actions on agenda items will be final when the permit is signed and mailed, unless the permit or the environmental clearance determination is appealed. The planning director's actions on the permits are appealable in accordance with the requirements of Title 20 of the municipal code. The planning director's actions on the environmental review for the permits under the California Environmental Quality Act are separately appealable in accordance with the requirements of Title 21 of the municipal code. Before we begin, I want to remind members of the public to follow our code of conduct at meetings. This includes commenting on the specific agenda item only. Public speakers will not engage in a conversation with the hearing officer or staff. The hearing officer, 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 the removal from the meeting. The meeting of the director hearing will now come to order. This brings us to the next portion of the agenda, which is number two, deferrals. Any items scheduled for hearing this morning for which deferral to a future meeting date is being requested will be removed, will be moved to this portion of the agenda and considered on the matter of appeal. I will identify any items to be deferred and ask for comments from the audience. If you want to change any of the deferral dates or speak to the question of deferring these or any other items, please use the raised hand feature in Zoom or click star 9 to raise your hand to speak. I will now open the public hearing. And so far, there are no items proposed for deferral this morning. Again, if you wish to speak on the matter of deferral, you can raise your hand or click star nine in Zoom. And again, deferrals meaning that you are requesting for any of the two agenda items today to be heard at a later date. I'm just going to check to see if there are any members of the public with their hands raised who are requesting deferral. I do not see any hands raised. So the matter of deferrals is now closed. And I will now move on to the third portion of the agenda, which is the consent calendar. There will be no separate discussion of individual consent calendar items as they are considered to be routine and will be considered in one action unless an item is moved to the public hearing calendar for separate discussion by the hearing officer. The public may comment on the entire consent calendar and any items removed from the consent calendar by the hearing officer.

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