OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

San José Director Hearing – May 26, 2026 (Planning Permits)

Planning CommissionTuesday, May 26, 2026
BodySan Jose, California
SessionPlanning Commission
DateTuesday, May 26, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 21:06
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Enforcement, Christopher Burton.

0:02

The meeting is being held via Zoom conference call.

0:04

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

0:10

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

0:14

For participants who join electronically and have audio input available on the computer or smartphone, they can use the raise hand feature in Zoom during the agenda item they'd like to speak or click star 9 on their phones.

0:25

Remember to keep the raise hand feature on until planning support staff identifies it as your turn to speak.

0:32

Alternatively, during the meeting, please call 408-535-8517 or email planning support staff at San Joseca.gov and identify your name that is listed on Zoom, the phone number, and what item or items you would like to comment on.

0:51

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

0:57

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

1:01

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

1:05

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

1:10

Please note the following.

1:12

The hearing procedure and order of input will be as follows.

1:17

I will identify each item as described on the agenda.

1:22

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

1:27

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

1:32

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

1:37

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

1:43

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.

1:51

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.

2:01

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

2:06

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

2:13

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.

2:21

I will then take an action on the item.

2:23

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.

2:35

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

2:45

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

2:51

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

3:02

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

3:06

This includes commenting on specific agenda items only.

3:10

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

3:15

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

3:20

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

3:28

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

3:34

So the first item is the item of deferrals.

3:38

Any items scheduled for hearing this morning for deferral to the future meeting is being requested.

3:42

We move to this portion of the agenda and considered on the matter of deferral.

3:46

Just want to check is there support staff or staff as anybody have any recommendation to move any items to defer all?

3:56

Because right now there is no items planned for deferral.

3:59

If any request to put an item onto deferral, please raise your hand.

4:08

Okay.

4:10

Seeing none, we have no items for deferral, so the item deferrals is now closed.

4:16

Section three, consent calendar.

4:19

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

4:30

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

4:37

If you wish to speak on one of these items, please use your raise hand feature in Zoom or click star 9 to raise a hand to speak.

4:45

The first item on the consent calendar is item number 3A.

4:48

This is file number PD 25019 and ER25194.

4:54

This is a plan development permit to allow paving landscaping, including the removal of one ordinance size palm tree, the creation of 30 EV truck parking stalls, and 10 train or truck storage stalls with charger plugins, the construction of an approximately 3200 square foot maintenance building, and an approximately 6,420 square foot recycling and trash enclosure on an approximately 6.09 gross acre site located at 4553 to 4653 North First Street.

5:25

The CEQA is an addendum to the mitigated negative declaration for the Elbizo Hotel Project.

5:31

The recommendation is considered the addendum to the mitigated native declaration for the Elbezo Hotel project in accordance with CEQA and to approve a planned development permit.

5:41

Adam number three, actually.

5:45

I'll just go through the consent calendar and then ask if he wants to remove or talk about any of these items.

5:51

Adam number three B.

5:53

This file number H25034 and ER25202.

6:00

This is a site development permit to allow the construction of three seven-foot high manually operated vehicular gates and one seven-foot-high pedestrian gate and the removal of one non-ordinate sized tree and an approximately 5.35 gross acre site located at 80 Great Oaks Boulevard.

6:17

CEQA is exempt pursuant to CEQA guidelines section 15303 for due construction or conversion of small structures.

6:23

The staff recommendation is consider the exemption in accordance with CEQA and approve a site development permit.

6:32

Number three C is file number SPC 26-008 and ER26-044.

6:45

This is a special use permit to allow the demolition of a metal canopy structure that was demolished without the benefit of permits on an approximately 3.5 gross acre site located at 1851 South 7th Street.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing█████████████████████████████████████████████65%
Procedural██████████████20%
Land Use██████████15%
Summary of Proceedings

San José Director Hearing – May 26, 2026

The Director's hearing was convened on May 26, 2026, via Zoom to consider planning permits and environmental determinations. The hearing officer (Christopher Burton) presided. The meeting included a consent calendar with three items and one public hearing item for a major affordable housing development. No deferrals were requested, and no public testimony was offered.

Consent Calendar

  • Item 3A (PD25-034 / ER25-194): Planned development permit for paving, landscaping, removal of one ordinance-size palm tree, creation of 30 EV truck parking stalls, 10 train/truck storage stalls with chargers, a ~3,200 sq ft maintenance building, and a ~6,420 sq ft trash enclosure at 4553–4653 North First Street. Environmental review: addendum to the El Bizo Hotel Mitigated Negative Declaration. Approved.
  • Item 3B (SPC25-034 / ER25-194? Actually file H25034 and ER25202): Site development permit for three 7-foot vehicular gates and one 7-foot pedestrian gate, removal of one non‑ordinance-size tree at 5.35-acre site on Great Oaks Boulevard. CEQA exempt per Section 15301. Approved.
  • Item 3C (SPC26-008 / ER26-044): Special use permit for demolition of a metal canopy (previously demolished without permits) at 1851 South 7th Street. CEQA exempt per Section 15301. Approved.

Public Comments & Testimony

No members of the public requested to speak on any consent calendar or public hearing item. The hearing officer closed the public hearing after no hands were raised.

Discussion Items

Item 4A – 860 West San Carlos Street (H25045 / ER26016)

Staff presented a site development permit for a 100% affordable, seven‑story, 272‑unit multifamily residential building. The project is located on an approximately 2.17‑acre site at the southwest corner of West San Carlos Street and Sunol Street. It includes the removal of 14 trees (9 ordinance‑size, 5 non‑ordinance‑size) and construction of a garage with two levels of parking accessed from the future Swenson Drive. The applicant seeks three state density bonus law concessions and two waivers:

  • Concession 1: Waive ground‑floor private open space/street access requirement for residential units facing a street.
  • Concession 2: Waive high‑quality material requirement on the ground floor facing West San Carlos Street.
  • Concession 3: Waive private open space requirement.
  • Waiver 1: Exceed floor area ratio cap in the Midtown Specific Plan.
  • Waiver 2: Waive street wall recess requirement. Additionally, two citywide design exceptions are requested for the building entrance location and garage entrance flare‑out. The project is 100% affordable: 55 units reserved for very low‑income households (≤50% AMI) and 217 units for low‑income households (≤80% AMI). Staff confirmed the project meets all applicable standards and that an addendum to the Olone Mixed Use Final Environmental Impact Report was prepared, finding no new significant impacts. A community meeting was held on March 30, 2026, with 15 attendees. The hearing officer approved the site development permit and the CEQA addendum.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Calendar Items (3A–3C): Approved in one motion; no public comment.
  • Public Hearing Item 4A: The site development permit for 860 West San Carlos Street (272 affordable units) was approved along with the CEQA addendum. The decision is final unless appealed per Title 20 of the Municipal Code.

The meeting adjourned at 9:21 a.m.

Meeting Transcript

Enforcement, Christopher Burton. The 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'd like to provide public comment, you have two methods to do so. For participants who join electronically and have audio input available on the computer or smartphone, they can use the raise hand feature in Zoom during the agenda item they'd like to speak or click star 9 on their phones. Remember to keep the raise hand feature on until planning support staff identifies it as your turn to speak. Alternatively, during the meeting, please call 408-535-8517 or email planning support staff at San Joseca.gov and identify your name that is listed on Zoom, the phone number, 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 you 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 item as described on the agenda. For those items on the consent calendar, I'll 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. All members of the public should identify their name for the record, although it was 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 an 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 and when the permit is signed and mailed unless the permit or 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 planning director's actions on the environmental review for 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 specific agenda items only. Public speakers will not engage in the 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 content of this meeting may result in removal from the meeting. The meeting of the director hearing will now come to order. So the first item is the item of deferrals. Any items scheduled for hearing this morning for deferral to the future meeting is being requested. We move to this portion of the agenda and considered on the matter of deferral. Just want to check is there support staff or staff as anybody have any recommendation to move any items to defer all? Because right now there is no items planned for deferral. If any request to put an item onto deferral, please raise your hand. Okay. Seeing none, we have no items for deferral, so the item deferrals is now closed. Section three, consent calendar. There will be no separate discussion of individual consent calendar items as they are considered to be routine and will be considered a 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 or and any items removed from the consent calendar by the hearing officer. If you wish to speak on one of these items, please use your raise hand feature in Zoom or click star 9 to raise a hand to speak. The first item on the consent calendar is item number 3A. This is file number PD 25019 and ER25194. This is a plan development permit to allow paving landscaping, including the removal of one ordinance size palm tree, the creation of 30 EV truck parking stalls, and 10 train or truck storage stalls with charger plugins, the construction of an approximately 3200 square foot maintenance building, and an approximately 6,420 square foot recycling and trash enclosure on an approximately 6.09 gross acre site located at 4553 to 4653 North First Street. The CEQA is an addendum to the mitigated negative declaration for the Elbizo Hotel Project.

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