San José Planning Director's Hearing – May 15, 2026
San José Planning Director's Hearing – May 15, 2026
Note: The meeting transcript states the hearing was held on May 13, 2026, conflicting with the provided date of May 15, 2026. This summary reflects the content of the transcript.
The Planning Director's Hearing was called to order at 9:00 AM by Hearing Officer Jared Ferguson, acting on behalf of Director Christopher Burton. The meeting covered a consent calendar with three routine permits and one public hearing item.
Consent Calendar
- Items 3A (H25-029, V25-002, ER25-164), 3B (HA18-047-01, ER26-005), and 3C (T25-010, ER25-106) were approved in a single action.
- For item 3C, project manager Jason Lee noted a citation error in the CEQA analysis (incorrectly citing Class 15 instead of Section 15061(b)(3)). The hearing officer acknowledged the correction and approved the consent calendar without any public comments or requests to remove items.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Mark Wu (with wife Ivy), neighbor at 2570 Brokenman Court (downhill from the project site), expressed concerns about the proposed two-story home at 2569 Colnez Court. He noted that the neighbor's land is already 12 feet above his property, and the new second-floor balconies would be 23 feet above his single-story home, creating direct sightlines into his yard and windows. He cited potential noise from cable railings in high winds, smoke from an outdoor kitchen, and unblockable outdoor lighting. He requested five reasonable conditions, including tall trees for privacy. He stated he was not trying to stop the project.
Discussion Items
- Item 4A – Plan Development Permit Amendment (PDA 98-067-04, ER22-202): Proposed construction of a two-story single-family house (5,400 sq ft, 5% FAR) and permitting two existing wooden decks on a 2.46-acre site at 2569 Colnez Court (Council District 8). The site is zoned with R1 standards and was originally entitled for three single-family homes. The project was found consistent with the General Plan, zoning, and outreach policy. CEQA exemption under Section 15303(a).
- Staff (Alex Hughes) presented the project, noting a photometric lighting plan showed downward-facing lights with no spill onto adjoining properties, and a geohazard clearance had been obtained.
- Applicant representative confirmed compliance with all setbacks and height requirements, stated the building is over 200 feet from the neighbor's home, and noted they could not lower the grade. Applicant offered to consider alternative railing materials if the city or a scientific study supported the noise concern.
- Hearing Officer Jared Ferguson asked staff about lighting and noise, then encouraged the applicant to explore alternative railings to address neighbor concerns. He noted that noise and outdoor barbecue smoke are normal neighborhood expectations. No other public speakers.
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar unanimously approved with the noted correction.
- Item 4A was approved (PDA 98-067-04 and ER22-202) with an informal recommendation from the hearing officer that the applicant consider alternative railing options to mitigate potential noise for the neighboring property. No formal conditions were added.
- The hearing concluded shortly after the action on item 4A.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, good morning. It's 9 a.m. So we are calling to order the planning director's hearing for May 13th, 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 for participants who joined electronically and have audio input on their computer or smartphone. They can use the raise 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 hand raised until planning support staff identify your turn to speak. You may also during the meeting call 408 535 8517 or email planning support staff at San Jose CA.gov and identify your name that is listed on 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 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. The hearing procedure and order of input will be as follows. I will identify each project as described on the agenda. 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 the public meeting, I will ask staff to provide a brief report. The applicant or their 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 has spoken, after the applicant or the representatives have 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 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 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 20 of the Municipal Code, the environmental clearance ordinance. 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 items on the agenda. Sorry, excuse me. 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 this code of conduct, which will disrupt disturb or impede the orderly conduct of this meeting may result in removal from this meeting. The meeting of the director, the meeting of the planning director will come to order. Okay. So okay, uh item two is deferrals. Um we do not have any deferrals for this meeting. Um so we'll move to the consent calendar. Just as a reminder again, there will be no specific discussion of individual consent items, as they're 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 they wish to see removed from that consent calendar by the hearing officer. If you wish to speak again you can use the raised hand feature in Zoom or click star nine. So we have three permits uh on the consent calendar three items on the consent calendar we have three A, which is H25-029 V25-002 and ER25-164. And then we have item 3B, which is HA 18-047-01 and ER26-005. And then item 3C which is T25-010 and ER25-106. So for those three items um yes uh Jason.
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