Note on date discrepancy: The meeting was scheduled for July 31, 2026 per the assignment, but the transcript references a hearing "of July 22nd, 2026" and concludes "for July 26, 2026." This summary proceeds using the provided date, but the discrepancy is noted.
The hearing officer, Sylvia Doe, called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. The consent calendar was approved without discussion. The main item was a public hearing for a site development permit (H25-039) at 470 West San Carlos Street, proposing a 276-unit, 8-story apartment building with 14 very low-income units. The applicant also requested state density bonus waivers and extended Saturday construction hours. After public testimony and staff discussion, the hearing officer approved the permit.
Good morning, everyone. It is 9 o'clock a.m. So we are calling to order the planning director hearing of July 22nd, 2026. 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 9 on their phone. Remember to keep your raised hand feature on until planning support staff identify your turn to speak. During the meeting, you could also call 408 535 8517 or email planning support staff at San Jose CA.gov and identify your name that is 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'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. 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 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 applicants 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 removal from the meeting. This meeting of the director hearing will now come to order. This brings us to the second portion of the agenda, which is deferrals. Any items scheduled for hearing this morning for which deferral to a future meeting date is being requested, will be moved to this portion of the agenda and considered on the matter of deferral. 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. There are no items proposed for deferral this morning. Are there any members of the public who wish to defer any of the items agendized for this morning? And if so, now is the opportunity for you to raise your hand in Zoom or click star nine. Okay, I don't see any hands raised in Zoom. So the matter of deferrals is now closed, and we'll 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. 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. Just a summary of today's consent calendar. There are a few items listed here as shown on your screen. There is item 3A, which is a site development permit, file number H20-048. Again, if any members of the public who would like to speak on this item or any items on the consent calendar, this is your opportunity to raise your hand. There's item 3B, site development permit file number H22-030.