OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

General Plan Four-Year Review Task Force Final Meeting - June 17, 2026

Planning Commission — Wednesday, June 17, 2026
BodySan Jose, California
SessionPlanning Commission
DateWednesday, June 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:50:44
Transcript — Verbatim
2:40

No, no, no.

4:36

Good evening.

4:36

My name is Carlos Rosario, and I am the chair of the Planning Commission and General Plan Task Force.

4:42

Welcome to the eighth and last meeting of the twenty twenty five, twenty twenty-2026 general plan four-year review.

4:48

For this four-year review, the planning commission serves as the task force.

4:52

Please remember to turn off your cell phones.

4:54

The parking validation machine for the parking garage underneath City Hall is located near the entrance.

4:59

Agendas and the sign-up sheet are available in the back as well.

5:03

Anybody would like to get a card.

5:05

We'll start with the roll call.

5:07

Vice Chair Bickford.

5:09

Here.

5:10

Commissioner Barroso.

4:59

Here.

5:13

Commissioner Bondall.

5:14

Here.

5:15

Commissioner Contrell.

5:16

Here.

5:17

Commissioner Cow.

5:18

Here, yeah.

5:19

Commissioner Casey.

5:22

Commissioner Escobar.

5:23

Yeah.

5:24

Commissioner Wynne.

5:26

Commissioner Oliver.

5:28

And Commissioner Young.

5:32

And myself here.

5:35

Please please note that public comment is listed as item number five on the agenda and will take place before task force discussion.

5:41

You can fill out a speaker's card and give it to the technician.

5:45

Each member of the public may address the commission for up to two minutes.

5:48

In response to public comment, the planning commission is limited to the following options.

5:52

Responding to statements made or questions posed by members of the public or requesting staff to report back on a matter at a subsequent meeting.

6:00

With that, I will hand it over to staff to begin the meeting with agenda item number two, the agenda overview.

6:17

Just give us one second to plug the agenda over.

6:20

I can do it, sorry.

6:53

Okay, we're just pulling up the overall agenda, but the first item on the agenda is going to be an update on outreach efforts.

7:01

So we did not create a slide with the agenda on it, just multiple presentations.

7:06

So maybe Michelle, do you do we just want to go into the update on outreach efforts?

7:16

Yeah.

7:18

That's all right.

7:19

Um item number three on our agenda.

7:25

All right.

7:25

Good evening, Commissioners.

7:27

Um, Michelle Flores, planner with SDE.

7:35

So we'll be going over a summary of the outreach for the entire task force process.

7:41

And um, so here we'll start off.

7:43

Um, we have an infographic here that summarizes the outreach that was done for the four-year review.

7:49

Um, so per city.

7:52

Per city council direction um from October through December 2025.

7:57

Staff health meetings with groups representing community partners, housing advocates, and labor groups to share the scope of work and seek input on the four-year review.

8:06

In December of 2025.

8:09

Planning held a virtual community meeting in January.

8:13

Planning staff met with the Office of Racial and Social Equity, ORSC, to review previous four-year review outreach efforts and strategically identify specific areas of outreach that needed were needed for this cycle.

8:26

Um the key takeaway was ensuring that the topics are accessible to community members who are not familiar with the general plan.

8:33

As a result, planning staff created short videos describing the general plan and the four topics.

8:39

The videos were posted on the general plan for your review project and YouTube and were shared across social media platforms.

8:47

Staff held five community meetings, including the four open houses, 16 stakeholder meetings, six neighborhood meetings, three focus group meetings, one with the San Jose for All Advisory Group, and two facilitated in partnership with the disability advocacy consultant.

9:04

Eight task force meetings and five intergovernmental meetings.

9:08

In the in-person open houses, over 800 community members participated, and we received over 422 comments.

9:15

In the virtual open house, we had approximately 400 members participate and 610 comments were received.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████57%
Community Engagement█████████████████21%
Procedural██████████13%
Affordable Housing████5%
Climate and Environment███4%
Summary of Proceedings

General Plan Four-Year Review Task Force Final Meeting - June 17, 2026

This was the eighth and final meeting of the 2025-2026 General Plan Four-Year Review Task Force, chaired by Planning Commissioner Carlos Rosario. The meeting included an outreach summary, recommendations on urban villages and public quasi-public (PQP) lands, environmental review updates, public testimony, and task force discussion. No formal votes were taken; recommendations will be forwarded to the Planning Commission (June 24) and City Council (August 18).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Greg Carlson (Concerned Corey Neighbors) – Supported some proposals but requested consideration of a concept for the Winchester Corridor that balances beautification, housing, and safety without exceeding 45-50 feet.
  • Rob Swerk (VTA Principal Planner) – Supported staff recommendations to defer local transit urban village planning due to SB 79, and supported a voluntary commercial overlay; encouraged expediting remaining unplanned urban villages.
  • Matthew Tinsley (Santa Clara County Office of Education) – Urged expanding permitted uses within PQP to allow compatible community-serving uses (e.g., child care) so school districts can repurpose surplus sites without selling.
  • Maharish Patel (Alpha X Capital) – Supported staff recommendations on urban villages and cautioned against significantly expanding commercial zoning given current market conditions (office vacancies, struggling shopping centers).
  • Josh Ishimitsu (Silicon Valley at Home) – Requested that PQP school and faith lands be allowed to include affordable housing and other community-serving uses (child care, clinics). Cited an 18,000-student enrollment decline in San Jose elementary schools over the past decade and argued that more affordable housing would help keep families.
  • Alex Shore (Catalyze SV) – Thanked staff for listening to community feedback, reiterated the severity of the housing crisis, and encouraged streamlining housing production.

Discussion Items

Outreach Summary (Presented by Michelle Flores)

  • Staff held over 800 in-person open house participants (422 comments), ~400 virtual participants (610 comments), 16 stakeholder meetings, 6 neighborhood meetings, 3 focus groups, and other engagements.
  • Feedback showed support for more housing (especially affordable), mixed-use, transit-oriented development, and complete communities. Concerns included infrastructure capacity, traffic, parking, and neighborhood compatibility.
  • On mixed-use commercial sites, 83% of respondents supported allowing more homes. On Winchester and The Alameda corridors, the community prioritized parking and affordable housing.
  • Missing middle housing received support for expanding options for young adults and seniors, but with concerns about design compatibility and anti-displacement.
  • Urban villages were generally supported as a strategy for walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods.

Urban Village Recommendations (Presented by Cora McNaughton)

  • Regional Transit Urban Villages: One (Blossom Hill Road/Hitachi) recommended for removal from unplanned list due to existing PD zoning.
  • Local Transit Urban Villages: Defer planning for most due to SB 79 (allows residential on commercial within ½ mile of transit). Staff recommended a commercial overlay to incentivize job-generating uses. Some category changes (e.g., Oak Ridge Mall moved to commercial corridor/center; two others moved to neighborhood category).
  • Commercial Corridor & Center: Maintain traditional planning process; move two neighborhood villages (Hamilton Meridian, Cooser Meridian) into this category.
  • Neighborhood Urban Villages: Make targeted land use/zoning changes rather than full plans.
  • Mobile Home Parks: Remove three from urban village boundaries to preserve affordable housing.

Public Quasi-Public (PQP) Lands (Presented by Jared)

  • PQP covers ~15% of developable land (6,700 acres), 45% public schools, 40% government.
  • SB 79 permits residential on PQP within ½ mile of transit at a minimum 30 du/ac; ~30% of PQP is affected, of which 26% is school land (548 acres).
  • Staff recommended against wholesale change but proposed developing a framework to evaluate land use changes on PQP sites, including criteria for adequate community space. The framework would start after August 2026.
  • Task force discussion centered on the tension between preserving public lands and using surplus sites for housing. Commissioners expressed interest in expanding PQP uses (e.g., health clinics by right) and asked for scenario options.

Environmental Review (Presented by Ruth)

  • A supplemental EIR will be required due to increased residential capacity.
  • Updates to the greenhouse gas reduction strategy and transportation analysis policy are needed.
  • Council direction includes: expanding standard permit conditions (e.g., child care centers), expanding construction hours (currently 7am-7pm Mon-Fri), and updating vibration standards for historic resources.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal motions or votes were taken at this meeting.
  • The task force process concluded. The Planning Commission will consider a final recommendation on June 24, 2026, to forward to City Council on August 18, 2026.
  • Staff will prepare a grid of recommendations for the June 24 meeting to facilitate discussion and amendments.
  • Commissioners requested a mid-process update (e.g., a study session) before the December 2027 target, to avoid a long silent period. Staff agreed to consider periodic updates.
  • Commissioners also requested further analysis on PQP scenarios, including pros/cons of different levels of flexibility and potential land swap mechanisms.

Meeting Transcript

No, no, no. Good evening. My name is Carlos Rosario, and I am the chair of the Planning Commission and General Plan Task Force. Welcome to the eighth and last meeting of the twenty twenty five, twenty twenty-2026 general plan four-year review. For this four-year review, the planning commission serves as the task force. Please remember to turn off your cell phones. The parking validation machine for the parking garage underneath City Hall is located near the entrance. Agendas and the sign-up sheet are available in the back as well. Anybody would like to get a card. We'll start with the roll call. Vice Chair Bickford. Here. Commissioner Barroso. Here. Commissioner Bondall. Here. Commissioner Contrell. Here. Commissioner Cow. Here, yeah. Commissioner Casey. Commissioner Escobar. Yeah. Commissioner Wynne. Commissioner Oliver. And Commissioner Young. And myself here. Please please note that public comment is listed as item number five on the agenda and will take place before task force discussion. You can fill out a speaker's card and give it to the technician. Each member of the public may address the commission for up to two minutes. In response to public comment, the planning commission is limited to the following options. Responding to statements made or questions posed by members of the public or requesting staff to report back on a matter at a subsequent meeting. With that, I will hand it over to staff to begin the meeting with agenda item number two, the agenda overview. Just give us one second to plug the agenda over. I can do it, sorry. Okay, we're just pulling up the overall agenda, but the first item on the agenda is going to be an update on outreach efforts. So we did not create a slide with the agenda on it, just multiple presentations. So maybe Michelle, do you do we just want to go into the update on outreach efforts? Yeah. That's all right. Um item number three on our agenda. All right. Good evening, Commissioners. Um, Michelle Flores, planner with SDE. So we'll be going over a summary of the outreach for the entire task force process. And um, so here we'll start off. Um, we have an infographic here that summarizes the outreach that was done for the four-year review. Um, so per city. Per city council direction um from October through December 2025. Staff health meetings with groups representing community partners, housing advocates, and labor groups to share the scope of work and seek input on the four-year review.

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