San José Planning Director's Hearing - April 6, 2026: Daycare Expansion and Tentative Map Extension Approved
San José Planning Director's Hearing - April 6, 2026
Note: The meeting was called to order on April 1, 2026, but the summary uses the date provided in the instruction (April 6, 2026). There is a discrepancy in the address for the daycare project: the staff presentation listed 2221 Lincoln Avenue, while the applicant and the hearing officer later referred to 2021 Lincoln Avenue.
Hearing Officer Jared Ferguson presided over the meeting, which included a consent calendar item and one public hearing item. All actions were approved.
Consent Calendar
- Item 3A (TE20-029, ER26-003): Approved a 24-month extension of a previously approved vesting tentative map to reconfigure seven lots into 11 lots, allowing up to 58 residential condominium units (41 townhouse units and 17 ADUs) on approximately 1.87 gross acres at 2323–2391 Moore Park Avenue (Council District 6). The CEQA determination of consistency with the Moore Park Avenue Multifamily Residential Project Initial Study Mitigated Negative Declaration was also approved. No public comment was received, and the item passed without discussion.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Support with conditions: Mike and Emma Rock, neighbors of the daycare for 54 years, expressed appreciation for the proposed eight‑foot fence and indicated they could support the project if conditions regarding sound, sight, and smell are abided by. They voiced concerns about traffic on Lennon Way and parking.
- Opposition: Sam San Filippo, managing partner of AMSNC LLC, manages the adjacent retail establishment. He opposed the expansion, citing frequent use of his parking lot by daycare parents for pickup/drop‑off, which creates liability and affects retail customers. He requested an additional parking and traffic review.
- Opposition: A neighbor at 1152 (unidentified by full name) opposed, alleging broken promises from the original 1991 approval (small mom‑and‑pop, no driveway on Lennon). He argued the expansion would double capacity, increase accidents, and that no assurances exist against a future driveway on Lennon.
- Written opposition: Stephen Yupp emailed during the hearing requesting denial, citing no covenants against a future driveway on Lennon Way and proposing the building be moved along the back fence to block that possibility.
Discussion Item: Special Use Permit for Daycare Expansion (Item 4A)
- SP23-040 and ER23-238: A special use permit to expand an existing daycare from 24 to 56 students, construct a 1,440‑square‑foot modular building, remove two evergreen pear trees (one ordinance‑size), and exceed the noise threshold at the adjacent property line by up to 12 decibels (to 67 dB Lmax). The site is at 2221/2021 Lincoln Avenue (Council District 6).
- Staff presentation (Jason Lee): The project complies with general plan, zoning, design guidelines, and CEQA (Class 3 exemption). Staff recommended approval with two additional conditions: (1) modification of Condition 6a to limit weekday hours and allow up to eight after‑hours or weekend events per year with neighbor notification; (2) new Condition 7c requiring an eight‑foot wood fence along portions of the play area directly bordering residential uses. Condition 6d remains, allowing future fence/wall height increases up to nine feet if more noise attenuation is needed. Condition 6c requires the daycare to adjust operations if vehicles queue onto Lincoln Avenue. The local transportation analysis found adequate parking and that the project does not require off‑street parking for parents.
- Applicant testimony (Kathy Jellick, Action Day Schools): Expressed personal connection to the neighborhood and emphasized the need for infant care. Asserted noise and traffic impacts would not meaningfully increase. In response to public comments, she committed to sending notices to staff and parents about not using adjacent parking lots and confirmed no driveway on Lennon is planned.
- Hearing officer deliberation: Acknowledged the importance of child‑care facilities embedded in neighborhoods. Noted that the city approves only the number of students, not age groups (state‑licensed). Emphasized that any future driveway on Lennon would require a separate permit with additional LTA review.
Key Outcomes
- Approved: SP23-040 and ER23-238 for the daycare expansion at 2021 Lincoln Avenue, with the additional conditions as presented by staff (modified Condition 6a, new Condition 7c, and retention of Condition 6d). The CEQA exemption was also approved.
- Consent calendar approved: The vesting tentative map extension (Item 3A) was approved as presented.
- Next steps: The permit decisions become final when signed and mailed, subject to appeal per Titles 20 and 21 of the San José Municipal Code.
Meeting Transcript
Right. Good morning. We are calling to order the planning director's hearing of April 1st, 2026. My name is Jared Ferguson, 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. One 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 raise hand feature on until planning support staff identify your turn to speak. Two, during the meeting, please call 408 535 8517 or email planning support staff at San Jose CA.gov and identify your name that is listed on your Zoom, your 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'll 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. Two, for those items on the consent calendar, I will ask if anyone wishes to speak on that 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 support 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 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. 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 five minutes. I will close the public hearing and I may ask staff to answer questions, respond to comments I made by the 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 zoning ordinance. The planning director's actions on the environmental review for the permits under the California Environmental Quality Act CEQA are separately appealable in accordance with the requirements of Title 21 of the municipal code, the environmental clearance ordinance. Before we begin, I want to remind you, 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. Repealed failure to comply with the code of conduct, which will discourage disturb, disrupt, or impede the orderly conduct of this meeting, may result in removal from the meeting. This meeting of the meeting of the director, director's hearing will now come to order. Okay, so to our agenda. So we will move directly into our consent calendar. So as a reminder, um, there will be no separate discussion of individual consent calendar items as they're considered to be routine and will be considered in one action unless an item is moved from the public or to the public hearing calendar for a separate discussion by the hearing officer. So the first item we have is 3A, which is TE20-029 and ER26-003. This is a vesting tentative map extension to allow a 24-month extension of a previously approved vesting tentative map to allow the reconfiguration of seven lots into 11 lots and allow up to 58 residential condominium units, uh 41 townhouse units and 17 ADUs on approximately 1.87 gross acre site located at 2323 through 2320 2391 Moore Park Avenue located in Council District 6. Um the CEQA is a determination of consistency with the Mount Park Avenue multifamily residential project initial study mitigated negative declaration. The staff recommendation is to consider the determination of consistency with the Moore Park Avenue multifamily residential project initial study mitigated negative declaration in accordance with CEQA and approve a vest vesting tentative map extension. Okay, are there any members of the public who wish to speak or request that this be moved to the public hearing portion of the agenda. Okay, great idea. I do not see any um hand raise. So with that, we will uh I will go ahead and approve the consent calendar for today, which includes item 3a. Okay, uh we will now move on to the public hearing. Uh we have one item, item 4A, um, which is SP23-040 and ER23-238. Um, this is a special use permit to allow the expansion of an existing daycare center from 24 students to 56 students to construct a new approximately 1,440 square foot modular building, remove two evergreen pear trees, one ordinance size and to exceed the noise threshold of 55 decibels at the adjacent property line by not more than 12 decibels, located on the west side of Lincoln Avenue, approximately 75 feet, uh southernly of the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Lemon Lennon Way, 2221 Lincoln Avenue in Council District 6.
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