Envision

San José 2040

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GENERAL PLAN

Adopted November 1, 2011 As Amended on August 29, 2025

CITY OF

SAN JOSE

CAPITAL OF SILICON VALLEY

Envision

San José 2040

GENERAL PLAN

Building a City of Great Places

"We are blessed to live in this area with great beauty combined with a robust economy. We must plan carefully for the land remaining under our stewardship so that this good fortune is preserved and enhanced."

E.H. Renzel, Jr., San Jose Mayor 1945-1946 written in the month of his 100¹ birthday, August 2007

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Acknowledgements

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Mayor and City Council

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Chuck Reed, Mayor of San Jose

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Pete Constant, Councilmember District 1

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Ash Kalra, Councilmember District 2

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Sam Liccardo, Councilmember District 3

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Kansen Chu, Councilmember District 4

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Xavier Campos, Councilmember District 5

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Pierluigi Oliverio, Councilmember District 6

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Madison Nguyen, Councilmember District 7

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Rose Herrera, Councilmember District 8

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Donald Rocha, Councilmember District 9

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Nancy Pyle, Councilmember District 10

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Envision Task Force Members

⬚ figure Sam Liccardo, Co-Chair

⬚ figure Jackie Adams

⬚ figure Teresa Alvarado

⬚ figure Shiloh Ballard

⬚ figure Michele Beasley

⬚ figure Judy Chirco

⬚ figure Gary Chronert

⬚ figure Pastor Oscar Dace

⬚ figure Pat Dando

⬚ figure Harvey Darnell

⬚ figure Brian Darrow

⬚ figure Shirley Lewis, Co-Chair

⬚ figure Dave Fadness

⬚ figure Enrique Fernandez

⬚ figure Leslee Hamilton

⬚ figure Sam Ho

⬚ figure Nancy Ianni

⬚ figure Lisa Jensen

⬚ figure Frank Jesse

⬚ figure Matt Kamkar

⬚ figure Charles Lauer

⬚ figure Karl Lee

⬚ figure David Pandori, Vice-Chair

⬚ figure Linda J. LeZotte

⬚ figure Pierluigi Oliverio

⬚ figure Richard Santos

⬚ figure Patricia Sausedo

⬚ figure Erik Schoennauer

⬚ figure Judy Stabile

⬚ figure Neil Struthers

⬚ figure Alofa Talivaa

⬚ figure Michael Van Every

⬚ figure Jim Zito

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Planning Commission

⬚ figure Hope Cahan, Chair

⬚ figure Ed Abelite

⬚ figure Matt Kamkar

⬚ figure Dori L. Yob

⬚ figure Edesa Bit-Badal, Vice Chair

⬚ figure Norman Kline

⬚ figure Christopher Platten

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Envision Community Participants

The following community members participated in at least one of the Task Force and community workshops and meetings. Several thousand additional community members also participated through on-line surveys and an interactive website created for the Envision process.

A. Strawa
Aaron Resendez
Adam Antolin
Adara Beamesdefer
Adrian Flores
Adriana Farkdun
Adriana Farkouh
Aimee Reedy
Al Victors
Alan Wong
Alberto Servin
Alex Chui
Alex Fraser
Alexander Powell
Alexsis Shields
Alice Frazne
Allen Mulch
Alyssa Shelman
Amanda Aldama
Amie Frisch
Amintha Peterson
Amor Santiago
Andre Rivera
Andrew Judaprawira
Andrez Garza
Andy Liu
Angela Kelly
Angelique Guzman
Anil Babbar
Anjee Helstrip-Alvarez
Anna LaFrom
Anna Le
Anna Marcoida-Harshbarger
Anne Stahr
Anne Stauffer
Annie Thomas
Anthony Preader
April Halberstadt
Armor Santiago
Atul Saini
Aurelia Sanchez
Barbara Boone
Barry Witt
Bea Baechle
Beau Slorana
Bertha M. Starks
Betty Brown
Betty Slater
Bill Rankin
Bill Roeder
Bill Sowa
Bill Thomas
Bill Tuttle
Bob Gronachon
Bob Gross
Bob Leininger
Bob Levy
Bob Nunez
Bob Sippel
Bob Walker
Bobbi Hall
Bonnie Mace
Brenda McHenny
Brenda Narayan
Brett Howard
Brian Abbott
Brian Grayson
Brian Schmidt
Brian Ward
Bruce Tichinin
C. Rothschild
Carl Rand
Carlos Babcock
Carlos Barrientos
Carolus Boekana
Carol Ashman
Cary Chien
Casey Junod
Cathleen King
Cathy Novello
Cau Trinh
Cha Larlund
Charles Albert
Charlotte Pizzo
Chet Lockwood
Chris Bui
Chris Franchuck
Chris Hugheseralia
Chris Lepe
Chris Marchese
Chris Truebridge
Christina Matinez
Christine Choi
Christopher Lepe
Chuck Hagenmaier
Chuck Mondave
Clarice Shephard
Claudia Shope
Clyde McMorrow
Conrad Fust
Cooper Kai Tak Cheng
Cora Sandoval
Corinne Winter
Craig Breon
Craig Chivatero
Craig Mann
Craige Edgerton
Cristina Galvan
D. Arant
Dale Osborn
Dan Chapman
Dan Fitzpatrick
Dan Hoang
Daniel Lopretta
Danny Erceg
Danny Garza
Danny Hellevig
Darren Ponce
David Biagian
David Dearborn
David Dickey
David Dudek
David Marsland

David Peterson Davide Vieira Dean Gunderson Debbie Wade Deborah Avant Deborah Carvalho Dennis Lozano Dennis Martin Derrick Williamson Diana Harper Diana King Dolores Gatherwright Don Gagliardi Donald Robinson Doreen Morgan Dorsey Moore Doug Reid Doug Svennson Douglas Nguyen Du Phong Dylan Crutchfield Ed Rast Elaine Curran Elaine Richards Elizabeth Mattson Ellen Finch Ellen Krystal Elliot Sowadsky Elsie Aranda Emily Ray Emy Mendoza Eric Carruthers Eric Ippolilo Eric Lomori Eric Meece Eric Thadaw Erich Winkler Erik Hayden Erin Goodwin-Guerrero Erin Reddy Ernest Guzman Estelle Kadis Eugene Bradley Eve Orton Evelyn Sanchez Floyd Rowe Fran Stewart Frank Barnard Frank Ruiz Frank Sweeney Frank Throckmorton Franzsiska Church Frisel Lon Gary Prideaux George Belhumeur George Chien Gerri Garcia Gerry Hunt Gilbert Sanchez Gopi Nathan Greg Cabrera Greg Henderson Gregory Cabrera Gretchen Laustsen Gustavo Gomez Han Ly Hank Rosendin Hank Rosendin Hannah Crabtree Harold Clay Heather Durham Heinz Bodeker Helen Chapman Helen Garza Helen Johnson Henry Servin Henry Sun Hilary Nixon Hue Tih Nguyen Hugh Graham Hullene Salomon Isidro A. Raymundo Israel Leal Jack Nadeau Jack Knoll Jack Nadeau Jack Wimberly Jackelyn Davis Jackelyn Perez Jacob M. Smith Jaki Phillips James Charles James Fitzpatrick James Harold James Reber James Trader James Williams Jana Clark Jana Lindsay Jane Bierstedt Janice Rombeck Janine Bryant Jean Dresden Jean Marlowe Jeff Krump Jeff Lake Jeff Thayer Jennifer Delugio Jennifer Ralston Jennifer Stearns Jerry Strangis Jessica Aguilar Jessica Gonzalez Jessica Reese Jessica Zenk Jessie Woodyard Jim Boales Jim Carten Jim Foran Jim LaFrom Jim Parker Jim Siebert Joan Bohnett Joan Corsiglia Joan Doss Joanne McFarlin Joe De Simone Joe Head John Beall John Fernandez John Keunett John Leyba John Mitchell John Pang Yu John Ristow

John Schallau John Sie John Urban Jon Schuppert Jonathan Miller Jonathan Sandhu Jonathan Schuppert Jose Hernandez Joseph Hong Joseph Lovelace Joshua Goodwin Joycee Benavides Juan Barroso Judi Henderson Judy Ingols Julie Hutcheson Julie Lam Julie Larson Julie Philips Juliet Eichler June Rono Justin Fried Jyelle Lyrod Jyoti Khera Kakoli Banerjee Kan Parthiban Karen Miki Karen Prowd Karen Yhan Kari Peterson Katherine Cheso Katheryn Nicol Kathryn Mathewson Katie Hoffman Katie Louey Katrina Cappello Keith Davis Kelly Gearhart Ken Henning Ken Kelly Ken Saso Ken Kelly Kent Campbell Kermi Halts Kerri Hamilton Kevin Carley Kevin Fish Kim Brosseau Kiran Shah Kitty Lombardo Kymberli Brady Lailo Fagroovy Lan Nguyen Larry Ames Larry Long Nguyen Larry Prowd Latha Seshadri Laura Araceli Padilla-Tom Laura Winter Laurie Quinn Leah Toeniskoetter Lenora Porcella Leslie Reynolds Lin Y. Lee Linda Spencer Lindsay Jeoung Liz Frank Liz Valdez Lois Garcia Lois Lopez Lonnie Gross Lorena Vidrio Lori Parsons Lorie Bird Lorna C. Lowell Grattan Luis Gova Lurdes Rivera Lyn Judd. Lynda Serena M. Cescis M. Gerald Crofoot Mack Johansen Mara Craggs Marc Fontana Marc Morris Marcus Salomon Maria Mustonen Marian Duran Marie Arnold Marilyn Watson Marini Kamzan Mark Anthony Medeiros Marley Spilman Martin Delson Marvin Castro Mary Patterson Mary Smith Mathew Bright Matt Bruensteiner Matt Haynes Matt Hood Matt Wahlin Matthew Pally Mauricio Astacio Maya Raman Mayra Cruz Mayra Flores De Marcotte Meagan Fluke Melissa DeKoun Michael Larocca Michael Mulcahy Michael Pierce Michael Vasquez Michele Korpos Mike Bertram Mike Conner Mike Curran Mike Donohoe Mike Duong Mike Flaugher Mike Selvog Minh Nguyen Mona Onstead Monica Gallyot Monica Limas Nadia Flores Nancy Garrison Nancy Hickey Nancy Le Nancy Morgan Naomi Gamez Nasim Bolandpaivez Neela Srinivasan Nicole Kohleriter Nicole Moreau Nicole Smith Nikhil Mazumder

Nora Monette Noren Caliva Norm Matteoni Oscar Trinh P Szeyu Padmaja Iyer Pam Foley Pamela Parrish Pankaj Singh Pat Colombe Pat Flanigan Pat Pizzo Pat Reardon Patricia Colombe Patricia Curia Patricia Palomares-Mason Patricia Walsh Patrick Campbell Patti Massey Paul Pereira Paula Velsey Paulo Hernandez Pearl Caldwell Pete Benson Pete Carleton Pete Kolstad Pete Kolstad Pete Rausa Peter Benson Peter Chung Peter H. Smith Peter Pethoe Peter Rasmussen Peter Rothschild Peter Woolhouse Phyllis Woodyard Ping Sun Chin RJ Castro Rafael Gomez Ralph Portillo Randall Hayden Randi Kinman Riad Steven Elbdour Rich Hetner Richard Adoradio Richard Corin Richard Helner Richard Loewke Richard Silva Richard Wallace Richard Zappelli Rick Harnadez Rick Malupo Rick Phillips Ricu Giorgetti Rita Arbour Robert Amos Robert Atkinson Robert Barragan Robert Hamilton Robert Sandoval Robert Solis Roland Lebrun Ron Johnson Rose Crabtree Rosemary Kamei Ross Nakasone Rosylin Dean Roy Heath Ruben Herrera, Jr. Russ Danielson Ruth Cavagnaro Ryan Phillips Sandra Soellner Sandra Soto Sandy Day Sandy Nguyen Sandy Perry Sarah Baig Saran Pice Saul Watcher Scarlett Li Lam. Scott Giddens Sean Mineta Sharon Sweeney Shawn Milligan Sheklio Shirlay Nakamiyo Sib Meyer Sohrab Rashid Soma Chattenja Son C. Kuan Sowmya Raman Stan Williams Stephen Butler Stephen Gifford Steve Dunn Steve Hall Steve Kline Steve Polcyn Steven Le Stuart Bussiain Sue Pyne Susan Harty Susan Marsland Susan Polito Susan Price Susie Woodyard Tadas Narauskas Taisia McMahon Tanya Diamond Tao Wu Le Ted Johnson Terri Balandra Terry Christensen Thomas Clarel Tim Henderson Tim Ledds Tim Morrill Tim Newsome Tim Wallace Timothy Maier Timothy Tom Tom Armstrong Tom Leddy Tom McCarter Tom Rossi Tom Sawyer Tony Strawa Tor Crabtree Trang Bui Travis Smith Trista Chung Trixie Johnson Tu Do

Ulitafa Mariner Mamea Valerie Silva Vanessa Glaser Verna Davis Veronica Davis Veronica Roche Vicente Rivero Vicki Lan Victor Sandoval Victoria Silva Vince Cantore Virgina Holtz Virginia Thomas Walker Kellogg Walter Soellner Welling Hsu Wendy Lao Wendy Underhill Will Belkanp William Kremer Xavier Campos Yolanda Reynolds Zari Aziz Zulmina McMorrow

City and Agency Staff

Envision Planning Division Team

Avril Baty
John Baty
Page Benway
Michael Bills
Larry Bohannon*
Darryl Boyd*
Juan Borrelli**
Michael Brilliot
Rich Buikema
Chris Burton**
Lee Butler**
Justina Chang**
Dipa Chundur
Jodie Clark
Andrew Crabtree
Akoni Danielsen*
John Davidson
Sylvia Do
Mike Enderby
Carol Hamilton*
Jean Hamilton
Jared Hart**
Stefanie Hom*
Stan Ketchum*
Johnny Kim*
Hadasa Lev*
Michael Mena*
Trung Nguyen
Jenny Nusbaum
Perihan Ozdemir
Laurel Prevetti
Rebekah Ross*
Edward Schreiner
Michelle Stahlhut*
Allen Tai**
Susan Walsh
Susan Walton
Lesley Xavier
Salifu Yakubu
Eileen Yan**
Sally Notthoff Zarnowitz*

* former City of San José employee
** former Planning staff

Envision Strategy Team

Wayne Chen, Housing
Mary Ellen Dick*, Environmental Services
Marybeth Harasz, Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services
Kip Harkness, Redevelopment Agency
Nanci Klein, Economic Development
Dennis Korabiak*, Redevelopment Agency
Hans Larsen, Transportation
Manuel Pineda, Transportation
Jacky Morales-Ferrand, Housing
Jennifer Seguin, Environmental Services
Vera Todorov, City Attorney
Dave Tucker, Environmental Services
Kim Walesh, Economic Development

San Jose Leadership Team

Julia Cooper, Finance
Leslye Corsiglia, Housing
Rick Doyle, City Attorney
Julie Edmonds-Mares, Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services
Debra Figone, City Manager
Joe Horwedel, Planning, Building and Code Enforcement
Dennis Korabiak, Redevelopment Agency
Hans Larsen, Transportation
Jane Light, Library
William McDonald, Fire
Chris Moore, Police
Kerrie Romanow, Environmental Services
Bill Sherry, Airport
Ed Shikada, City Manager
David Sykes, Public Works
Kim Walesh, Economic Development

Former City Officials

Katy Allen, Public Works
Rob Davis, Police
Stephen Ferguson, Information Technology
Jim Helmer, Transportation
Scott Johnson, Finance
Paul Krutko, Economic Development
Harry Mavrogenes, Redevelopment Agency
John Stufflebean, Environmental Services
John Weis, Redevelopment Agency

Other City Staff and Agency Contributors

Airport Cary Greene

Budget Office Margaret McCahan

City Attorney’s Office Renee Gurza Johnny Phan

City Manager’s Office Anastazia Aziz Ashwini Kantak

Cultural Affairs Kerry Adams-Hapner

Economic Development Steven Brewster Scott Green John Lang Dhez Woodworth*

Environmental Services Reena Brilliot Dionne Early Napp Fukuda Eric Hansen Shayna Hirshfield Sean Kimball Matt Krupp Skip Lacaze Karen McDonough Nicole Quesada Michael Rhoades Alice Ringer Erik Rosenblum Junko Vromen Aaron Wilcher Jessica Zadeh

Fire Department Geoff Cady Ty Mayfield Michael Murtiff

Housing Ron Eddow* Melissa Whatley

Human Resources Kelly Spivey*

Library Chuck Griffen Mary Nacu

Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Matt Cano Rafael Gomez Darren McBain Dave Mitchell Yves Zsutty

Police Department David Cavallaro

Public Works Mirabel Aguilar Maria Angeles Timm Borden* Ryan Do Shelley Guo Karen Mack Michael OConnell Mike Shimamoto

Redevelopment Agency Jennifer Chen Richard Keit Walter Rask* Don Rocha* Ruth Shikada*

Transportation Casey Hirasaki Paul Ma

• former City of San José employee

Mayoral and Council Office Staff

Mayor Chuck Reed Pete Furman Armando Gomez Michelle McGurk Ru Weerakoon Jeff Janssen Jose Salcido Antonio Guerra Bobby Nilsen Christina Fernandez David Low Joyce Chen Khoa Nguyen Kristina Perslta Richard Hong Sara Wright Celia Miller Cindy Escobar Kimberly Oliver Norma Gutierrez Phoung Le

District 1 - Pete Constant Rhovylynn Antonio Shane Patrick Connolly Jerad Ferguson Chelsey Seagraves

District 2 - Ash Kalra Joseph Okpaku Stacie Shih Steven Aponte Kimberly Hernandez Rohit Krishna Roseryn Bhudsabourg

District 3 - Sam Liccardo Ragan Henninger Ruth Cueto Fred Buzo Jennifer Kim Luc Rhonda Hadnot

District 4 - Kansen Chu Stephanie Fong Margie Espinoza Sheila Ngo Rosa Santiago Anh Tran

District 5 - Xavier Campos Josué Garcia Kathy Tsukamoto Diego Barragan Joseph Sanchez

District 6 - Pierluigi Oliverio Danelle Fedor Melrose Cacal Frances Reyes Lara Tran

District 7 - Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen Louansee Moua Yen-Chi H. Nguyen Noelle A. Vergara Diego Inzunza Sachin Jain

District 8 - Rose Herrera Mary Anne Groen Shelley Opsal Aaron Quigley Dominique Reynaga Angie Vazquez

District 9 - Donald Rocha Diana Jamison Peter Hamilton Ann Grabowski Brady Ruebusch Marisa Melo

District 10 - Nancy Pyle Kathy Sutherland Linda Alexander Laura Cowan Nitila Patel Lauren Profeit Frank McLaughlin

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

1. Envision San José 2040

General Plan Purpose and Use ........................................................... 3

Overall Purpose ........................................................................................................................ 3 Legal Context ............................................................................................................................ 3 General Plan Document Structure .......................................................................................... 4 Use of the General Plan ........................................................................................................... 4

Our Community .................................................................................... 7

Capital of Silicon Valley............................................................................................................. 7 Living Amidst Abundant Natural Resources ........................................................................... 9 Home to a Diverse and Thriving Population ........................................................................... 9

The General Plan Vision...................................................................... 11

Vision Diagram........................................................................................................................ 13

Major Strategies ................................................................................ 14

#1 - Community Based Planning............................................................................................ 15 #2 - Form Based Plan ............................................................................................................. 16 #3 - Focused Growth .............................................................................................................. 16 #4 - Innovation/Regional Employment Center ....................................................................... 17 #5 - Urban Villages.................................................................................................................. 18 #6 - Streetscapes for People ................................................................................................. 20 #7 - Measurable Sustainability / Environmental Stewardship ................................................ 22 #8 - Fiscally Strong City ........................................................................................................... 22 #9 - Destination Downtown..................................................................................................... 23 #10 - Life Amidst Abundant Natural Resources .................................................................... 24 #11 - Design for a Healthful Community ............................................................................... 24 #12 - Plan Horizons and Periodic Major Review ..................................................................... 25

Growth Areas ...................................................................................... 26

Downtown................................................................................................................................ 26 Specific Plans .......................................................................................................................... 27

North San José ................................................................................................................ 27 Employment Lands........................................................................................................... 28 Regional Transit Urban Villages ....................................................................................... 28 Local Transit Urban Villages............................................................................................. 28 Commercial Corridor and Center Urban Villages............................................................. 29 Neighborhood Urban Villages.......................................................................................... 29 Growth Areas Diagram .................................................................................................... 31

Envision San José 2040 Context and Key Issues.. 33

History of Planning in San José – the General Plan ......................................................... 33 Table: Evolution of Planning Policy and Accomplishments of General Plans... 46 History of Planning in San José – Redevelopment........................................................... 48 History of Planning in San José – Specific Plans and Area Plans..................................... 50 History of Planning in San José – Environmental Initiatives ............................................ 55 History of Planning in San José – Policy Implementation ................................................ 58 Envision San José 2040 Key Issues.................................................................................. 60

2. Thriving Community

Diverse and Innovative Economy ............................ 4

Land Use and Employment ............................................................................................... 4 Business Growth and Retention........................................................................................ 6 Regional, State, and National Leadership......................................................................... 7 Connections to Promote Economic Development............................................................ 8 Cultural Attractions ........................................................................................................... 8 Broad Economic Prosperity............................................................................................... 9 Clean Technology............................................................................................................ 10

Arts and Culture..................................................... 11

San José as the Silicon Valley Cultural Center ................................................................ 11 High Impact Public Art .................................................................................................... 12

Community Engagement....................................... 13

Active Community Engagement...................................................................................... 13 Community Partnerships ................................................................................................ 14

Fiscal Sustainability .............................................. 15

City Operations................................................................................................................ 15 Cultivate Fiscal Resources............................................................................................... 16 Fiscally Sustainable Land Use Framework ...................................................................... 17 Promote Fiscally Beneficial Land Use.............................................................................. 18 Fiscally Sustainable Service Delivery................................................................................ 19

Fiscally Sustainable Waste Management .................................................................... 21

3. Environmental Leadership

Measurable Environmental Sustainability ............ 2

Green Building ........................................................................................................... 3 Recycling / Zero Waste ............................................................................................... 7 Air Quality................................................................................................................ 12 Energy Conservation................................................................................................ 15 Water Supply, Conservation, Recycling, and Quality .................................................. 18 Community Forest ................................................................................................... 22

Environmental Resources ................................. 25

Natural Communities and Wildlife Habitat ................................................................ 25 Table ER-4: Special-status Species in San Jose's Sphere of Influence ................... 30 Stormwater .............................................................................................................. 34 Water Resources....................................................................................................... 35 Archaeology and Paleontology ................................................................................ 35 Extractive Resources ................................................................................................ 36

Environmental Considerations / Hazards ........... 37

Noise and Vibration ................................................................................................. 39 Table EC-1: Land Use Compatibility Guidelines for Community Noise................. 40 Seismic Hazards ....................................................................................................... 43 Geologic and Soil Hazards........................................................................................ 44 Flooding Hazards ..................................................................................................... 46 Hazardous Materials ................................................................................................ 49 Environmental Contamination ................................................................................. 50 Wildland and Urban Fire Hazards............................................................................. 52

Infrastructure ............................................... 53

Provision of Infrastructure ........................................................................................ 53 Infrastructure Management ...................................................................................... 54 Water Supply, Sanitary Sewer and Storm Drainage .................................................. 55 Wastewater Treatment and Water Reclamation ....................................................... 57 Solid Waste – Materials Recovery / Landfill ............................................................. 58 Telecommunications................................................................................................. 60

4. Quality of Life

Community Context and Identity........................ 4

Vibrant Neighborhoods ..................................... 4

Cultural Opportunities................................................................................................ 8

Private Community Gathering Facilities......................................................................................... 9

Community Design ................................................................ 11

General City Design.................................................................................................................... 11 Downtown................................................................................................................................... 21 Urban Villages............................................................................................................................. 22 Building Height ........................................................................................................................... 24 Scenic Corridors ......................................................................................................................... 25 Scenic Corridors Diagram........................................................................................................... 27

Housing................................................................................. 29

Education and Services........................................................ 34

Education ................................................................................................................................... 34 Libraries...................................................................................................................................... 36 Community Safety....................................................................................................................... 37 Health Care ................................................................................................................................ 43 Potential Hospital Sites Diagram................................................................................................ 46

Parks, Open Space, and Recreation ................................... 48

High Quality Facilities and Programs ......................................................................................... 50 Contribute to a Healthful Community.......................................................................................... 51 Provide an Equitable Park System.............................................................................................. 52 Community Identity..................................................................................................................... 53 Sustainable Parks and Recreation.............................................................................................. 54 Interconnected Parks System .................................................................................................... 55 Fiscal Management of Parks and Recreation Resources............................................................ 56 Open Space, Parks, and Trails Diagram...................................................................................... 59

5. Interconnected City

Land Use Diagram Concepts .................................................. 3

Generalized Land Use Designations............................................................................................ 3 Designated Growth Areas............................................................................................................ 4 Support for Employment Growth ................................................................................................ 4 Low-Growth Areas ...................................................................................................................... 4 Establish Fixed Urban Growth Boundary..................................................................................... 5 Incorporation of Specific Plans ................................................................................................... 5 Implementation of Urban Village Plans........................................................................................ 6

Land Use Designations .......................................................... 6

Downtown................................................................................................................................... 6 Commercial Downtown ............................................................................................................... 7 Urban Village ............................................................................................................................. 7 Urban Village Commercial........................................................................................................... 8

Transit Employment Center ........................................................................................ 8 Regional Commercial............................................................................................... 9 Mixed Use Commercial ............................................................................................ 9 Neighborhood/Community Commercial.................................................................. 10 Combined Industrial/Commercial .......................................................................... 10 Industrial Park ....................................................................................................... 10 Light Industrial ....................................................................................................... 11 Heavy Industrial ..................................................................................................... 11 Public/Quasi-Public............................................................................................... 12 Transportation and Utilities.................................................................................... 12 Transit Residential ................................................................................................. 13 Urban Residential................................................................................................... 13 Mixed Use Neighborhood ...................................................................................... 13 Residential Neighborhood...................................................................................... 14 Rural Residential .................................................................................................... 16 Lower Hillside........................................................................................................ 16 Agriculture ............................................................................................................. 17 Private Recreation and Open Space....................................................................... 17 Open Space, Parklands and Habitat ....................................................................... 17 Open Hillside.......................................................................................................... 18

Special Land Use Designations and Overlays ..... 20

Sphere of Influence................................................................................................ 20 Urban Growth Boundary........................................................................................ 20 Urban Service Area................................................................................................ 21 Urban Reserve ....................................................................................................... 21 Specific Plan Area Boundary.................................................................................. 22 Urban Village Area Boundary................................................................................. 22 Neighborhood Business Districts ........................................................................... 23 Downtown Employment Priority Area .................................................................... 24 Transit Employment Residential Overlay............................................................... 25 Preferred Hotel Site Overlay.................................................................................. 25 Floating Park Site ................................................................................................... 26 Open Hillside Golf Course Site............................................................................... 26 CalTrain Stations & CalTrain Line........................................................................... 26 Proposed BART Stations & BART Line.................................................................... 26 Existing and Proposed Light Rail Stations & Light Rail Line.................................. 27 Solid Waste & Candidate Solid Waste Disposal Site .............................................. 27 Urban Village Plan Areas ....................................................................................... 27 Area Development Policies ................................................................................... 28 Area Development Policies Diagram ..................................................................... 28

Transportation Network Designations .............................. 30

Street Typologies ........................................................................................................ 30 Sample Street Typology Cross-Sections................................................................... 32 Transportation Network Diagram............................................................................... 35 Land Use and Transportation Diagram ..................................................................... 36

6. Land Use and Transportation

Land Use Policies........................................................................ 4

General Land Use Policies ............................................................................................. 5 Growth Areas ................................................................................................................ 6 Downtown...................................................................................................................... 9 Commercial Lands ...................................................................................................... 10 Industrial Lands........................................................................................................... 11 Residential and Mixed Use .......................................................................................... 13 Residential Neighborhoods......................................................................................... 16 Urban Agriculture ........................................................................................................ 18 Historic Preservation................................................................................................... 19 Rural Residential, Lower Hillside and Open Hillside Areas ....................................... 25

Land Use Policies - Non-Urban Areas............................. 29

Urban Growth Boundary.............................................................................................. 29 Rural Agriculture ......................................................................................................... 32

Transportation Policies.......................................................... 35

Balanced Transportation System................................................................................ 35 Walking and Bicycling................................................................................................. 38 Public Transit ............................................................................................................... 41 Vehicular Circulation and Vehicle Miles Travelled...................................................... 43 Goods Movement ........................................................................................................ 45 Primary Truck Routes Diagram .................................................................................. 46 Transportation Demand Management and Parking................................................... 48 Reduction of Vehicle Miles Traveled .......................................................................... 50 Intelligent Transportation System .............................................................................. 53 Airport ......................................................................................................................... 54 Airport Influence Area Diagram .................................................................................. 57 Trail Network ............................................................................................................... 59

7. Implementation

Implementation......................................................................... 4

Land Use / Transportation Diagram ............................................................................ 4

General Plan Phasing / Planning Horizons / Major Review................................................ 6 General Plan Annual Review and Measurable Sustainability.......................................... 10 General Plan Annual Review Hearing Process ................................................................ 14 Urban Village Planning...................................................................................................... 15 Capital Improvement Program......................................................................................... 20 Land Use Entitlement Process ......................................................................................... 21 Citizen Participation and Community Engagement ........................................................ 27 Development Fees, Taxes, and Improvement Requirements ........................................ 27 Implementation of the General Plan by Other Agencies................................................. 29 Environmental Leadership / Stewardship ........................................................................ 29 Economic Development.................................................................................................... 31 Housing Development ...................................................................................................... 32 Housing Element ............................................................................................................... 33 Housing Growth Areas by Horizon .................................................................................. 42

Appendices

1. Glossary

2. General Plan Required Elements Reference

3. Envision Process

4. Relationship to Previous General Plan Diagram

5. Growth Areas Planned Capacity by Horizon

6. Urban Village Planning Guidelines

7. Noise Study & Maps

8. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy

9. Neighborhood Business District Maps

10. Record of General Plan Amendments

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Envision San José 2040

CHAPTER 1

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CHAPTER 1

San José is a unique place, playing a vital economic and cultural role within North America. San José is fortunate to be the largest and most urban city within Silicon Valley, home to the nation’s largest collection of leading innovative industries. San José is also home to an energetic, talented and diverse population and located within an area of great natural resources including an abundance of good weather. At the same time, San José faces many contemporary challenges common to other North American cities, including the need to address the effects of the rapid suburban growth that took place during the past 60 years, growing concern about the City’s fiscal resources, and a growing desire to make land use decisions in an environmentally, economically, and fiscally sustainable manner.

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan is the City’s latest expression of its ongoing commitment to a leadership role in the advancement of an innovation-based economy, the development and implementation of environmental policies, and the utilization of land use planning best practices to shape San José’s future.

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan sets forth a vision and a comprehensive road map to guide the City’s continued growth through the year 2040. The Plan includes land use policies to shape the transformation of strategically identified and historically underutilized Growth Areas into higher-density, mixed-use, urban districts or “Urban Villages” which can accommodate employment and housing growth and reduce the environmental impacts of that growth by promoting transit use and walkability. This land use strategy, in combination with progressive economic and environmental policies, will guide the City toward fulfillment of its future vision.

This chapter of the Envision San José 2040 General Plan sets forth the Plan Vision, and its overarching Major Strategies, identifies the City’s primary Growth Areas and provides background information on the community-based Envision San José 2040 planning process.

General Plan Purpose and Use

Overall Purpose

San José has undergone many changes over the last 60 years. Before 1950, it was a relatively small community of farms and orchards, with an urban Downtown surrounded by walkable neighborhoods. During the 1960s and 1970s, it was one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. Population projections of recent years forecast continued growth pressures in San José, but these projections do not consider the real, local constraints on growth. These constraints include the diminished availability of lands that are either vacant or readily available for redevelopment, the escalating public costs associated with growth, citizen concern with the adequacy of public services, the lack of revenue for funding public infrastructure required for growth, and the lack of alternative revenue sources for funding needed services at the local level. While San José continues to plan for growth, the form must evolve significantly to accomplish key City goals and focus that growth into an increasingly urban form.

The issue of growth is one which is central to any general plan. Growth has social, environmental, economic and fiscal dimensions. There are costs associated with growth, as well as with the absence of growth. The vehicle for planning the future, for making choices between conservation and development, and for defining the desirable balance between social, environmental, and economic costs in San José is the General Plan.

A general plan is an adopted statement of policy for the physical development of a community. As such, it represents the official policy regarding the future character and quality of development. The General Plan represents the City's assessment of the amount, type, and phasing of development needed to achieve its social, economic, and environmental goals. It was developed with the participation of the community at large and all City departments. It is a plan which can be implemented because it is realistic and provides some flexibility. It is designed to be used by all members of the community as the policy framework for decision-making on both private development projects and City capital expenditures.

Legal Context

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan was adopted in compliance with the State law requirement that each city and county prepare and adopt a comprehensive and long-range general plan for its physical development (California Government Code Section 65300). Accordingly, the General Plan is a legal document fulfilling statutory requirements relating to background data, analysis, maps, and exhibits. The legal adequacy of the General Plan is critical, since many City actions and programs are required to be consistent with the General Plan.

State Law requires that general plans address seven topics (referred to as "elements")--land use, circulation, housing, open space, conservation, safety, and noise (California Government Code Section 65302)--, to the extent that the topics are locally relevant. A general plan may also include other topics of local interest, as chosen by the local jurisdiction (California Government Code Section 65303). A local jurisdiction may adopt a general plan in the format that best fits its unique circumstances (California Government

Code Section 65300.5). In doing so, the jurisdiction must ensure that the general plan and its component parts comprise an integrated, internally consistent, and compatible statement of development policies. The Envision San José 2040 General Plan is an integrated general plan document, with most elements addressed through the Goals, Policies and Implementation Actions in each Chapter throughout the document. Appendix 2 provides a summary of how the Envision San José 2040 General Plan aligns with the seven mandatory elements.

As a comprehensive general plan, the Envision San José 2040 General Plan provides San José with a consistent framework for its decision-making related to the City’s land uses and delivery of municipal services. The general plan has been called the “constitution” for land use development to emphasize its importance to land use decisions. The general plan and its maps, diagrams, and development policies form the basis for the city’s zoning, subdivision, and public works actions. Under California law, no specific plan, area plan, community plan, zoning, subdivision map, nor public works project may be approved unless the City finds that it is consistent with the adopted general plan. The State General Plan Guidelines recommend that general plans be updated every five to ten years to ensure that they remain relevant. This is important not only to reflect local physical and demographic changes, but also broader changes in culture and technology.

General Plan Document Structure

The General Plan of the City of San José is a comprehensive long-term plan. This Plan comprises an integrated, internally consistent and compatible statement of the official land use policy of the City of San José. It contains a statement of development policies and includes a Land Use/Transportation Diagram as well as text which set forth the objectives, principles, standards and plan proposals.

The City of San José has chosen to adopt an integrated general plan that consolidates mandatory elements with optional elements targeted at addressing the unique planning needs of the City. The General Plan meets the minimum requirements and intent of the California Government Code while accommodating local conditions and circumstances. It contains each of the elements mandated by Government Code Section 65302. Since they are intrinsically interrelated and overlapping, the elements have been combined into a consistent meaningful whole, and organized in a manner designed to meet the needs of public officials, developers, neighborhood organizations and members of the community who will use it most frequently. In order to facilitate identification of the aspects of each mandatory element, the appendices include a comprehensive list of references for each of the seven mandatory elements.

Use of the General Plan

The City’s General Plan is intended for use by all members of the community including residents, businesses, developers, and decision-makers. The organization of the Envision San José 2040 General Plan allows users to find topics or sections that interest them and to quickly review city policies; however, users should realize that the policies throughout all elements are interrelated and should be examined comprehensively. They must be considered together when making planning decisions.

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan is divided into sections that address different aspects of the City’s life. Within each section, Goals, Policies and Implementation Actions are set forth to provide high-level policy guidance to the City on a wide range of topics related to Land Use and the delivery of municipal services. The General Plan sections are:

• Envision San José 2040 (Introduction and Background) – Presents background information, the Plan Vision and twelve Major Strategies, collectively intended to communicate the unique plan set forth for San José by the Envision General Plan. The Plan identifies three characteristics that define the unique qualities of San José: “Capital of Silicon Valley,” “Living amidst Abundant Natural Resources,” and “Home to a Diverse and Thriving Community.”

• Thriving Community (Overarching City Goals and Policies) – Sets forth goals and policies for topics that have an impact upon the City as a whole, shaping its image and role in the region. Topics addressed in this section include economic development, arts and culture, community engagement and fiscal sustainability.

• Environmental Leadership (Environmental Goals and Policies) – Sets forth goals and policies for topics related to the City’s continuing commitment to Environmental Leadership. It is organized into four categories: Measurable Sustainability includes policies that fulfill the City’s Green Vision and Climate Smart San Jose goal for the incorporation of specific measurable standards in the General Plan related to green building, greenhouse gas reduction, recycling, air quality, energy, water resources and the community forest; Environmental Resources includes policies intended to protect the high-quality ecologies and other environmental resources that can be found within the City; Environmental Considerations/Hazards includes policies to reduce the potential land use risks related to various environmental hazards; and Infrastructure includes policies for provision and management of the City’s infrastructure systems.

• Quality of Life (Neighborhood Oriented Goals and Policies) – Sets forth goals and policies that directly affect the quality of life of the City’s residents, including the look and feel of San José’s neighborhoods and the quality of the municipal services provided by the City. Specific topics in this section include urban design guidelines, municipal services such as police, fire and libraries, educational facilities, health care and parks, trails, open space and recreation, and the development of complete neighborhoods, including community empowerment, access to healthy foods, promotion of cultural opportunities, and private community gathering facilities.

• Interconnected City (Land Use and Transportation Diagram) – Contains the Land Use/Transportation Diagram and an explanation of the planned land uses for the designations depicted on the Diagram. The appropriate land uses and form of development are described for each land use designation. Similarly, the appropriate uses and form and character are described for each type of planned roadway types. These form-based land use and roadway categories work together to accomplish multiple plan goals, including job growth, protection of neighborhood character, reduction of automobile dependency and the City’s per capita vehicle miles travelled (VMT), and the creation of new, vibrant, urban districts.

• Land Use and Transportation (Goals and Policies) – Establishes land use and transportation goals and policies to implement the Diagram, including goals and policies to address specific land use types, urban agriculture, historic preservation, the City’s trail network, and bicycle, pedestrian, transit and motor vehicle circulation.

• Implementing the Plan (Implementation Goals and Policies) – Includes policies to guide use of the General Plan for the ongoing land use decision making process and development of related City policies, with further explanation of the Annual and Major General Plan review process, and the Urban Village Planning process.

• Appendices – Includes supplemental information to make the General Plan document more accessible and user-friendly, including a glossary of terms, a record of General Plan amendments, and a reference guide to how the General Plan fulfills specific legal requirements.

<u>Illustrative Elements</u> While the majority of the contents of the General Plan document is adopted policy, and requires a General Plan amendment to modify, some components or elements of the document are provided for illustrative purposes and may be updated without a General Plan amendment. In addition to formatting elements and the photographs provided as illustrations, the illustrative elements include diagrams which provide contextual information, but which do not establish policy. These illustrative diagrams can be updated to reflect other changes in City policies as needed without a General Plan amendment process.

Items that are not illustrative include the Goals, Policies and Implementation Actions set forth in Chapters 1 through 7 of the General Plan, along with the introductory and background text provided in those chapters. Illustrative items within the General Plan text include the Appendices, illustrations or photos located through the text document and captions for those illustrations. While the Land Use designations for specific parcels, identified floodplain areas as required by State law, and the roadways which are designated as part of the General Plan Transportation Network are not illustrative, other geographic data is illustrative, including the location of natural features, bicycle and truck routes, the boundaries of Neighborhood Business Districts, and sites identified as suitable for healthcare facilities or private community gathering facilities.

Our Community

While San José is a large, complex and multi-faceted city, three prominent characteristics play a primary role in defining its national and regional identity and in shaping the life experiences of its residents. First, San José is the largest and fastest growing city within the Silicon Valley, and must play a central role in shaping the future for this vital center of technological innovation and economic activity. As more technology companies locate within San José and the city takes on a greater leadership role for the region, it is growing into its title as "Capital of Silicon Valley". Second, San José is located in an area with great climate and good access to many natural amenities, which is conducive to an active and healthy outdoor-oriented lifestyle for its residents while promoting their awareness and interest in sustainable lifestyle choices. The mild climate and proximity to both urban and natural areas provide many opportunities for outdoor recreation, encourage bicycle and pedestrian activity, and enable outdoor, urban activities. Third, San José is an increasingly diverse city that successfully combines the strengths of many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds to create a unique and vibrant urban environment. San José residents enjoy a high quality of life based on access to a wide variety of cultural and economic opportunities and expect the City to provide high-quality municipal services for its residents.

Other characteristics that help to define San José are its stature as the tenth largest city in the United States, the third largest city within California, and the largest within Northern California. San José has a growing population of over one million residents and a long history. San José continues to be one of the safest cities in the United States.

San José has an established history of leadership and innovation. The City was founded on November 29, 1777, making it the first town or "pueblo" (non-military settlement) in what was at that time the Spanish colony of Nueva California. It is the oldest civilian settlement in California and retains many remnants of its evolution. San José was also the State's first capitol and host of the first two sessions of the California State Legislature, serving in that role in 1850 and 1851. A cultural pioneer, San José elected the nation's first Asian mayor of a large metropolitan city, as well as the first female mayor.

Most recently, the City of San José is a leader in recycling and smart growth. San José is one of the first big cities in the nation to recycle more waste than goes to landfills. San José is the only large city in the United States to operate a joint municipal-university library, combining the resources of the City and San José State University library system to provide greater service to community members. With private partners, San José developed the nation's first incubator for environmental companies, an award-winning software incubator, and the nation's only incubator for foreign-owned businesses. Our County is the first in the nation to ensure health care for all children.

Capital of Silicon Valley

San José is the urban center of Silicon Valley, providing the region's only traditional Downtown urban environment along with the greatest and most diverse number of established neighborhoods. San José is home to a majority of Silicon Valley residents and to a growing number of the innovative technology companies that drive the region's economy. Because of its size and resources, San José uniquely plays a critical leadership

role for the Silicon Valley, adopting policies that contribute to the region’s overall success. Downtown San José’s resurgence has sparked a flow of creativity and community in the creative urban core of Silicon Valley. Careful planning and investment have developed an area to work, live and play, where ideas and creativity are the currency exchanged across all cultures.

San José has played an important role in each wave of innovation that has originated within the Silicon Valley. San José’s urban history has been shaped over the past 60 years, by the Valley’s dramatic transformation from an agricultural economy based on the fruit canning industry, into the world’s largest concentration of technology based companies. Successive rounds of innovation have created new industries based upon new technologies, progressing from electronics for the defense industry to integrated circuits, personal computers, and the internet, with San José being the home to leading companies in each of these industries. San José is the most diversified of any innovation-based community with specialization spanning multiple core technology sectors: semiconductors, storage technologies, information technologies, software development; such as eCommerce and social networking, green and clean technology, life sciences, and nanotechnology.

As Capital of Silicon Valley, San José leads the nation in the production of patents on a per capita basis and its residents hold more patents than the combined populations of California’s two larger cities. Historically, more than a third of all venture capital funding in the United States is invested in Silicon Valley; in 2006, the percentage of growth of venture capital funding specific to San José exceeded that of Silicon Valley and was more than double the national average.

As Capital of Silicon Valley, San José is:

• Becoming an international city of over 1 million people with one of the largest global concentrations of talent that matches and fuels the pace of a growing global economy.
• Establishing itself as the major North American city that best capitalizes on the spirit of entrepreneurism and innovation of its populous, where inventiveness thrives.
• Actively building on the model of the modern global green city, nurturing an innovation economy with progressive public policy, active growth and development.
• Redefining quality of life by blending dynamic work and business opportunities with leisure, arts and entertainment that is second to none, but uniquely San José.

As Silicon Valley continues to develop and mature, the key elements that drive its innovation-based economy are shifting to place greater emphasis upon consumer experience and design creativity. To remain competitive and to continue to support the growth of the Silicon Valley economy, the region must foster, attract and retain a creative and talented workforce. The future workforce will likely increasingly mix technical and artistic expertise, depend upon creative breakthroughs enabled by cross-disciplinary innovation, and demand an attractive, vibrant and dynamic urban environment to call home. San José has the unique resources to address these demands so that it can grow in its role as Capital of the Silicon Valley.

Living Amidst Abundant Natural Resources

One of San José's most striking features, particularly for newcomers to the region, is its average annual 300 days of sunshine. This amenity greatly encourages an outdoor lifestyle, including active use of the City's parklands, more than 54 miles of trails in 27 trail systems, backyard gardening, pedestrian and bicycle activity, and the development of traditional outdoor urban spaces such as plazas and cafes.

Through early adoption of growth boundary policies, San José has largely preserved its surrounding hillsides as open space, enabling their preservation as parklands or natural habitat, while providing the City's residents with an ever present visual reminder of the nearby natural environment. San José's progressive habitat protection policies and its efforts to develop parklands and trails along the City's riparian corridors continue to build a green network that connects neighborhoods to each other and to the natural environment.

At the southern end of the San Francisco Bay, San José provides an urban environment adjacent to large open spaces and, in relatively close proximity, a wide variety of natural settings, including the Baylands, redwood forests, the Pacific Ocean, the Santa Cruz mountains, and the Monterey Bay area. San José's city boundaries extend from the below-sea level Baylands to its highest elevation of 2,970 feet along Pine Ridge in the Diablo Range. On a clear day, the view east from the nearby Copernicus Peak on Mount Hamilton can stretch all the way to the Sierra Nevada Range.

Residents have adapted to life amidst these abundant natural resources, adopting an active and casual lifestyle attractive to the Silicon Valley workforce. Making ever greater use of these resources will enable San José's future as a great place to live, work, play and visit.

Home to a Diverse and Thriving Population

San José is defined in part by the great diversity and high achievement levels of its population. Building on a strong Spanish and Mexican cultural heritage, San José, with its blend of global cultures, ideas, and connections can be considered the most international city in America. Forty percent of San José's population was born outside of the U.S. and San José has the largest populations of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Indian residents within the Bay Area. San José boasts the highest median income of a large U.S. city and over 40% of its adult residents hold a college degree. In national surveys, San José is also often identified as one of the healthiest places to live.

San José is a diverse and thriving community that:

• Takes pride in the cultural and ethnic diversity of its population, and the unique and vibrant identity of its many neighborhoods
• Speaks more than 56 different languages
• Embraces demographics of 33.2% Hispanic, 28.7% white, 31.7% Asian, and 2.9% African-American
• Celebrates Japantown-one of only three in the U.S. - and the Japanese Friendship Garden which are popular stops for visitors

• Maintains the outstanding Biblioteca Latinoamericana which holds one of the largest collections of Spanish language materials in Northern California
• Is home to the biggest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam, and has the nation’s first Vietnamese Heritage Garden and Historical Museum
• Sponsors many cultural festivals year-round
• Includes numerous ethnic chambers of commerce which are active in the community

San José’s residents enjoy first-rate opportunities for education and learning. These include access to outstanding academic institutions such as Stanford University, San José State University, Santa Clara University, University of California Santa Cruz, University of California Berkeley, and more than 30 community colleges and training providers, which actively partner with local industry to give their students unique practical learning opportunities. San José State University is the number one provider of engineers to Silicon Valley. San José is also home to some of California’s best public and private primary and secondary schools.

Closely linked to San José’s diversity is the emphasis the City and its residents give to the achievement of social equity within the community. The community identified Social Equity and Diversity as one of the seven elements that should form the basis of the City’s General Plan, and which as a theme has informed the development of the Envision San José 2040 General Plan policy document. Social equity for San José is defined broadly, to include equitable access to municipal services and public amenities, sensitivity to environmental concerns, efforts to promote economic prosperity for all of the City’s residents and to foster a culture that recognizes the value of San José’s diverse community.

Consistent with its role as Capital of Silicon Valley, San José’s population is:

• Exceptionally productive. Employee productivity, at $130,000 per worker in 2010, is more than double the national average.
• Highly educated. More than 35% of the workforce has a 4-year college degree or higher, compared with 27% nationally.
• Cosmopolitan. More than one-third of San José residents were born outside of the United States. The community enjoys strong cultural and economic ties to some of the most dynamic economies in the world, including China, India, Taiwan and the European Union.

San José stakeholders consistently ranked diversity at the top of San José’s strengths. In a 2009 online questionnaire asking, “What do you consider to be San José’s most significant assets?”, diversity was mentioned more than any other response. As innovation is expected to increasingly be based upon the juxtaposition of different ideas and experiences, San José’s diversity will be an important home-grown strength to help drive the Silicon Valley economy.

The General Plan Vision

The Envision San José 2040 Vision identifies the values that the people of San José want their City to embody through its physical development and the delivery of municipal services as they are directed through the Envision San José 2040 General Plan. This Vision was articulated through an extensive engagement with a large and diverse number of the community's residents and stakeholders in a community-focused planning process in order to enable the ongoing use and implementation of the General Plan as a document that upholds and advances the overall values of the San José community. These community members and stakeholders worked together with a community Task Force to develop the Plan's Vision, goals and policies. The stakeholder Task Force included thirty-seven dedicated community members, representing political, business, resident, development, religious, and labor interests, appointed by the City Council to guide the General Plan update. Throughout the four year Envision process, they were joined by numerous volunteer community members who participated in the Task Force meetings, at community workshops and through online engagement activities. Community engagement was a fundamental objective of the Envision process. The Vision upon which the Envision San José 2040 General Plan is based is a direct expression of the community's values and hopes for the City's future.

The Vision sets forth seven guiding community values to articulate an over-arching vision statement: "San José embodies the energy and vitality of its unique human, natural and economic resources." The seven community values are:

• Innovative Economy – San José's economy thrives on innovation, providing job opportunities for all and ample fiscal resources for a vibrant community.

• Environmental Leadership – San José is a model of an environmentally sustainable and healthy city, a leader in green technology and a vigilant steward of its resources for present and future generations.

• Diversity and Social Equity – San José celebrates, embraces and involves a diverse blend of cultures and achieves social, cultural and economic equity.

• Interconnected City – San José residents' activities of daily life are in close proximity and easily accessible by walking, bicycling and public transit.

• Healthy Neighborhoods – San José's neighborhoods are attractive, affordable, and safe places to live with residents engaged in their community.

• Quality Education and Services – San José residents and businesses receive a broad range of high quality services and enjoy excellent educational opportunities for all.

• Vibrant Arts and Culture – San José is a vibrant center for multi-faceted arts and cultural programs, celebrating its heritage and inspiring the creative energy of the community and a rich quality of life.

Particular emphasis was given by the community and Envision Task Force to the three values of Innovative Economy, Environmental Leadership, and Diversity and Social Equity.

The Task Force and community expanded on the Draft Vision to develop the Land Use/ Transportation Scenario Guidelines. These Guidelines included specific principles used to shape the General Plan Goals, Policies and Implementation Actions and the alternative Land Use Study Scenarios that led to selection of a Preferred Land Use Scenario now embodied in the Envision Land Use/Transportation Diagram.

The Vision elements are all interconnected so that the Envision General Plan goals and policies that implement one of the Vision elements are likely to support others as well. For example, the provision of quality education and services leads to equitable distribution of services (Diversity & Social Equity), attracts businesses (Innovative Economy), supports Vibrant Arts & Culture, provides for and educates the public about environmental sustainability (Environmental Leadership), links these services to varied transportation modes (Interconnected City), and improves the quality of life in San José’s neighborhoods (Healthy Neighborhoods). Similar connections can be made between the Vision elements for other policy topics and all policies are intended to support most if not all elements of the overall Vision. The relationship amongst the Envision goals and policies and the Plan Vision is further discussed throughout this document.

Innovative Economy

San Jose's economy thrives on innovation, providing job opportunities for all and ample fiscal resources for a vibrant community.

Environmental Leadership

San Jose is a model of an environmentally sustainable and healthy city, a leader in green technology and a vigilant steward of it resources for present and future generations.

Diversity and Social Equity

San Jose celebrates, embraces and involves a diverse blend of cultures and achieves social, cultural and economic equity.

San Jose embodies the energy and vitality of its unique human, natural and economic resources.

Interconnected City

The activities of daily life are in close proximity and easily accessible by walking, bicycling and public transit.

Healthy Neighborhoods

San Jose's neighborhoods are attractive, affordable, and safe places to live with engaged community members.

Quality Education and Services

San Jose residents and businesses receive a broad range of high quality services and enjoy excellent educational opportunities for all.

Vibrant Arts and Culture

Arts and culture in San Jose connect people, provide rich opportunities for participation, and foster creativity.

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ENVISION SAN JOSE 2040

Collectively, these strategies build on the Vision to directly inform the Land Use / Transportation Diagram and the Goals, Policies and Implementation Actions formulated to guide the physical development of San José and the evolving delivery of City services over the life of the General Plan. These twelve, interrelated and mutually supportive strategies are considered fundamental to achievement of the City’s Vision and together promote the continuing evolution of San José into a great city.

The following section provides a description of these twelve Major Strategies:

1. Community Based Planning
2. Form Based Plan
3. Focused Growth
4. Innovation/Regional Employment Center
5. Urban Villages
6. Streetscapes for People
7. Measurable Sustainability/Environmental Stewardship
8. Fiscally Strong City
9. Destination Downtown
10. Life Amidst Abundant Natural Resources
11. Design for a Healthful Community
12. Periodic Major Review

Reflected in all twelve of the Major Strategies is the community’s desire to see San José grow into a more prominent and more complete great City, taking on a growing social and economic leadership role in the region, nation and world. To achieve this desire, San José should build on its existing strengths while growing and improving in innovative ways to make the City a great place to live, work and visit. In terms of physical form, San José will offer a wide variety of living and work environments, continuing to develop the Downtown, preserving and enhancing existing residential neighborhoods, and creating new, vibrant urban districts attractive to San José’s diverse population and particularly suited to meet the needs of two growing segments of the population, young professionals and those more senior in age. For the delivery of municipal services, San José will continue to be an innovator, implementing creative partnerships and adapting new technologies and techniques to provide high-quality services in an efficient, equitable and cost-effective manner. San José will increasingly use the General Plan as a tool to insure that land use and municipal service delivery decisions are made consistent with the community’s long-term vision and goals, to benefit all members of the San José community.

Major Strategy #1 - Community Based Planning

Embody the community values and goals articulated through an extensive and meaningful community based planning process. The City’s commitment to effectively engaging representatives of all segments of the San José community in the development and implementation of the Envision San José 2040 General Plan is critical to the insure that the Plan will promote San José’s continued growth into a leading world city, while maintaining social equity in its operations.

A broad variety of community engagement activities have enabled the Envision General Plan to both reflect the community’s values and priorities and embrace the City’s diverse social and cultural fabric. By incorporating community sentiment, the Envision process built significant public support for the primary direction of the Plan, improved public perception of the planning process, and, most importantly, resulted in an improved Plan. The Envision San José 2040 General Plan is a direct expression of community values, identified and developed through an extensive community engagement process, including:

• 51 Envision Task Force Meetings
• 125+ Outreach Meetings
• 5,000+ Community Participants

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Key decisions in the Envision process were directly connected to the priorities expressed by Task Force and community members. The following top planning priorities for the City’s future were identified by community members:

• Promoting Economic Development
• Ensuring Fiscal Sustainability
• Providing Environmental Leadership
• Building Urban Villages
• Promoting Transit Use

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Envision San José 2040 General Plan policies align with these community priorities by placing a strong emphasis on promoting job growth, protecting employment lands, fostering fiscal sustainability, and focusing growth capacity into Urban Villages and near transit.

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Major Strategy #2 - Form Based Plan

Use the General Plan Land Use / Transportation Diagram designations and Plan Goals and Policies to address the form and character as well as land uses and densities for the future development of San José.

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan uses an innovative form-based approach to address the long-term development of the City. Land Use / Transportation Diagram designations that address the form and character of the built environment, as well as appropriate uses and densities, enable the Plan to:

• Clearly articulate a vision for San José’s future urban form
• Provide greater flexibility for economic activity
• Address neighborhood concerns about compatibility of new development
• Promote the ongoing development of complete, cohesive neighborhoods

Major Strategy #3 - Focused Growth

Strategically focus new growth into areas of San José that will enable the achievement of City goals for economic growth, fiscal sustainability and environmental stewardship and support the development of new, attractive urban neighborhoods. The Plan focuses significant growth, particularly to increase employment capacity, in areas surrounding the City’s regional Employment Center, achieve fiscal sustainability, and to maximize the use of transit systems within the region.

A Major Strategy of the Envision General Plan is to focus new growth capacity in specifically identified “Growth Areas,” while the majority of the City is not planned for additional growth or intensification. This approach reflects the built-out nature of San José, the limited availability of additional “infill” sites for development compatible with established neighborhood character, and the emphasis in the Plan Vision to reduce environmental impacts while fostering transit use and walkability.

While the Focused Growth strategy directs and promotes growth within identified Growth Areas, it also strictly limits new residential development through neighborhood infill outside of these Growth Areas to preserve and enhance the quality of established neighborhoods, to reduce environmental and fiscal impacts, and to strengthen the City’s Urban Growth Boundary. Infill development within such neighborhoods, often at a density and form inconsistent with the existing neighborhood pattern, has been disruptive to the development of a positive neighborhood character. Focusing new growth into the Growth Areas will help to protect the quality of existing neighborhoods, while also enabling the development of new Urban Village areas with a compact and dense form attractive to the City’s projected growing demographic groups (i.e., an aging population and young workers seeking an urban experience), that support walking, provide opportunities to incorporate retail and other services in a mixed-use format, and support transit use.

The Plan supports a significant amount of new housing growth capacity, providing near-term capacity for development of approximately 50,000 new dwelling units, with the

ability to ultimately build up to a total of 120,000 additional dwelling units. As described in the Implementation chapter, the Plan incorporates residential growth capacity for the Downtown, Specific Plan areas, North San José and vacant lands throughout the City (approximately 40,000 new dwelling units) and adds new Urban Village housing areas that support an additional 9,400 dwelling units.

Because the City is largely built-out within its city limits and the General Plan does not support the conversion of industrial areas to residential use or the urbanization of the Mid-Coyote Valley or South Almaden Valley Urban Reserves or lands outside of San José’s Urban Growth Boundary, most new housing development will be achieved through higher-density redevelopment within existing urbanized areas.

This residential growth capacity is provided through the conversion of older commercial areas to mixed-use, including sites previously identified for housing development within North San José and the new commercial sites made available for mixed-use development within the Envision General Plan Urban Village areas. Planning such sites for higher, not lower, density residential development acknowledges their value as a finite land resource and enables the City to provide housing growth capacity consistent with demographic trends and the community objectives of the Envision San José 2040 General Plan. Further employment land conversions or dramatic expansions of the City outside of its current boundaries would have significant negative environmental, fiscal and economic implications and be clearly contrary to those objectives.

Major Strategy #4 - Innovation/Regional Employment Center Emphasize economic development within the City to support San José’s growth as center of innovation and regional employment. Growing San José’s role as an employment center will enhance the City’s leadership role in North America, increase utilization of the regional transit systems, and support the City’s fiscal health.

San José is the largest and most urban city located within the Silicon Valley and plays an increasingly important role in the continuing growth of the regional, State, and National economies. San José is however the only large city within the US that acts as a net exporter of workers within the region. The resulting “bedroom community” character reduces opportunities for San José to take on a leadership role that would benefit the development of the Silicon Valley as a whole, while also undermining San José’s economic, fiscal, and cultural status. Through multiple General Plan updates, San José has identified improvement of the City’s jobs/housing balance or Jobs/Employed Residents Ratio (J/ER) as a critical objective to address multiple City goals. The Envision San José 2040 General Plan establishes achievement of a J/ER ratio of 1.1 to 1 by the year 2040 as a core objective of the Plan informing its policies and Land Use/Transportation Diagram designations. In the near term, the Plan strives to achieve a J/ER ratio of 1.0 by the year 2025.

The Land Use/Transportation Diagram and General Plan policies support the development of up to 382,000 new jobs within San José and a jobs to employed residents ratio of 1.1 Jobs/Employed Resident. The Plan focuses employment growth in the Downtown, in proximity to regional and local transit facilities and on existing employment lands citywide, while also encouraging the development of neighborhood serving commercial uses

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throughout the community and close to the residents they serve. The Plan recognizes that all existing employment lands add value to the City overall and therefore preserves those employment lands and promotes the addition of new employment lands when opportunities arise. The Plan in particular supports intensive job growth at planned and existing regional transit stations (e.g., BART, High-Speed Rail, and Caltrans) to support increased transit ridership and regional use of the transit system to access San José’s employment centers.

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan supports and promotes San José’s growth as a regional center for employment and innovation, by:

• Planning for 382,000 new jobs and a Jobs/Employed Resident Ratio of 1.1/1
• Providing greater flexibility for commercial activity
• Supporting job growth within existing job centers
• Adding new employment lands
• Designating job centers at regional transit stations
• Celebrating arts and culture

Major Strategy #5 - Urban Villages Promote the development of Urban Villages to provide active, walkable, bicycle-friendly, transit-oriented, mixed-use urban settings for new housing and job growth attractive to an innovative workforce and consistent with the Plan’s environmental goals.

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The General Plan establishes the Urban Villages concept to create a policy framework to direct most new job and housing growth to occur within walkable and bike friendly Urban Villages that have good access to transit and other existing infrastructure and facilities. While each Urban Village identified within the Plan will develop within a unique context, they can be divided into four general categories: Regional Transit Urban Villages, Local Transit Urban Villages, Commercial Corridor and Center Urban Villages and Neighborhood Urban Villages. The General Plan also establishes an Urban Village Planning process with the General Plan Implementation Chapter. Preparation of an Urban Village Plan for each Urban Village area will provide for continued community involvement in the implementation of the General Plan and for land use and urban design issues to be addressed at a finer level of detail.

Regional Transit Urban Villages are planned at locations within San José with unique access to major transit facilities of regional significance. Because these locations have a large public investment in transit facilities and are regionally accessible, the General Plan policies and Land Use / Transportation Diagram strongly direct that new job and housing growth within Regional Transit Urban Villages occur at the highest feasible concentration and density, with particular emphasis upon employment growth to support the Regional Employment Center Strategy. Recognizing their emerging roles as City gateways and primary public spaces, attention will be given to the design of new development within these areas with careful consideration given to the formation of high-quality environments for public circulation and gathering.

Local Transit Urban Villages are located along light rail or bus rapid transit facilities which are used primarily for travel on a more localized basis. Accordingly the Urban Villages at these locations are planned for a balanced mix of job and housing growth at relatively high densities with greater emphasis placed upon building complete communities at each Urban Village location while also supporting use of the local transit system.

Commercial Corridor and Center Urban Villages are planned to take advantage of the redevelopment potential for existing, underutilized commercial sites. These sites usually have some access to transit, but were identified primarily because of their redevelopment potential. These larger regional commercial center Urban Villages will function as complete destinations that integrate a mix of high density housing, employment, and services within existing key business areas to create dynamic urban settings. These commercial center Urban Villages will serve a much larger area than the immediately adjacent surrounding neighborhoods.

Some of the Urban Villages are planned along existing commercial corridors. These commercial corridor Urban Villages will include uses and urban spaces in a linear form. These corridors also create a positive identity for San José by creating a consistent urban design character along the major roadways that connect San José’s neighborhoods, regional hubs, neighboring cities and the Downtown.

Neighborhood Urban Villages are planned to enhance established neighborhoods by integrating a mix of uses, including retail, food markets, offices, public services, housing, places of worship, public parks and plazas, within or adjacent to existing or emerging neighborhoods. They are distributed throughout the City so that most of the residents of San José will have access to an attractive urban setting within walking distance of their home.

Development of Urban Villages at environmentally and fiscally beneficial locations throughout the city is a key Plan strategy. Focusing new job and housing growth to build attractive, compact, walkable urban districts or "Urban Villages" will enable location of commercial and public services in close proximity to residential and employee populations, allowing people to walk to services while also providing greater mobility for the expanding senior and youth segments of the population. The Urban Village Strategy fosters:

• Mixing residential and employment activities
• Establishing minimum densities to support transit use, bicycling and walking
• High-quality urban design
• Revitalizing underutilized properties with access to existing infrastructure
• Engaging local neighborhoods through an Urban Village Planning process

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Major Strategy #6 - Streetscapes for People

Design streets for people, not just cars, and to support a diverse range of urban activities and functions. Develop important roadways as Grand Boulevards to connect multiple neighborhoods and act as urban design elements at a citywide scale. Promote the ongoing development of Main Streets to foster community identity and walkability, recognizing that they serve as important destinations for retail and other activities within neighborhood areas.

To support and utilize the Streetscapes for People Strategy, the City maintains a land use and transportation network and transportation facilities that promote increased walking, bicycling, and public transit use. The General Plan takes a form based approach to the transportation component of the Land Use/Transportation Diagram by categorizing streets in terms of their form, role within the community and the multiple functions that they support. The General Plan policies also support the development of these streets as "Complete Streets." The City's roadways will be designed to be "Complete Streets" that are accessible and function well for everyone, supporting a full range of activities, including pedestrians, bicycles, utilities, outdoor gathering spaces and vehicle movement.

Consistent with the Form Based General Plan Strategy, streets are defined within the Plan by their character and the role they play within the city. Street types identified within the General Plan include:

• Grand Boulevards
• On-Street Primary Bicycle Facility
• Main Streets
• City Connector Street
• Local Connector Street
• Residential Street
• Expressway
• Freeway

A Complete Street provides safe, comfortable, attractive and convenient access and travel for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit users of all ages, abilities, and preferences. The design of a Complete Street considers both the public right-of-way and the land uses and design of adjoining properties, including appropriate building heights and the planning of adjoining land uses that actively engage the public street realm. As part of the Complete Street concept, appropriate land uses, building heights, setback dimensions and other design elements related to the type and character of the street, are addressed through new zoning districts and other implementation tools adopted to advance the goals of the Envision San José 2040 General Plan. Complete Streets, along with the Land Use / Transportation Diagram, support the Plan goal to reduce the automobile commute mode share by 40% by 2040. Close alignment of the City's Capital Improvement Program with the General Plan will allow the City to strategically plan and direct resources to develop infrastructure in support of other Plan goals.

Although the goal of the City is that every street be a "Complete Street," seven Grand Boulevards stand out as having great potential to connect City neighborhoods and to contribute to the City's overall identity through cohesive design. These seven Grand Boulevards are:

• North First Street/Monterey Highway
• Capitol Avenue/Capitol Expressway
• Alum Rock Avenue/Santa Clara Street/The Alameda
• San Carlos Street/Stevens Creek Boulevard
• Meridian Avenue
• Winchester Boulevard
• Saratoga Avenue

Because of their importance and location as major transportation routes, and because of the land uses they support, these Grand Boulevards play an important role in shaping the City's image for its residents, workers, and visitors and have the potential to act as major urban design elements at a citywide scale.

The Grand Boulevards require extra attention and improvement, including special measures within the public right-of-way, such as enhanced landscaping, additional attractive lighting, wider and comfortable sidewalks, and identification banners. For adjoining land uses, special design standards support cohesive and interesting urban development related to the character of the Grand Boulevard.

Main Streets are roadways that, in combination with the adjacent land uses, play an important role in defining the character and identity of the surrounding neighborhood. In many cases, neighborhood residents identify themselves according to their neighborhood's Main Street. Neighborhood residents can enjoy retail and other services provided along a Main Street, attend community events associated with the Main Street and identify the Main Street as an integral central spine of their neighborhood that is interconnected with the rest of the City's streets.

The Main Street's physical form supports many transportation modes, with significant emphasis given to public pedestrian facilities to facilitate interaction amongst members of the community while also serving as part of the citywide transportation network. Each Main Street may be different in character, and should reflect, with the adjacent land uses, the key characteristics of the adjacent neighborhoods. The City may develop special standards for both the public right-of-way and for the adjoining land uses for the City's Main Streets to support their function as urban corridors, providing high-quality pedestrian facilities and public spaces that are a primary component of the surrounding neighborhood identity.

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Major Strategy #7 - Measurable Sustainability / Environmental Stewardship

Advance the City’s Climate Smart San Jose plan through 2040 and establish Measurable Environmental Sustainability indicators consistent with section 3.3 of Climate Smart San Jose. The Plan provides the basis for the City’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy.

To support the Environmental Leadership element of the General Plan Vision and the City’s Climate Smart San Jose plan, the General Plan contains multiple policies to support the implementation of environmental best practices. San José is a city designed, constructed, and operated to minimize waste, to efficiently use its natural resources, and to manage and conserve resources for use by present and future generations. San José acknowledges that it exists within both a regional and global environment. Its decisions regarding natural resources will have impacts outside the City’s jurisdiction, and the decisions of others in the region and beyond will impact the City’s ability to meet its future needs. San José strives to minimize its contribution to climate change while remaining adaptable to impacts from climate change. San José will encourage and participate in cooperative regional efforts intended to improve the quality of air and water and to conserve land, soil, water, energy and ecosystems such as San Francisco Bay, forests, riparian corridors, fisheries and grasslands.

As the City’s guide for growth and development, the General Plan is a unique tool to shape its growth, minimize its impacts on resource consumption, reduce its contribution to global warming, and to preserve and enhance its natural environment. The General Plan continues San José’s tradition of innovative environmental leadership, supporting and supported by other important City environmental policies, including the Green Vision, Climate Smart San Jose, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy, the Green Building Policies, the Stormwater Management Plan, the Hydromodification Management Policy, the Riparian Corridor Policy and the Habitat Conservation Plan.

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan advances the City’s Climate Smart San Jose plan, incorporating key environmental goals and establishing a policy framework to continue San José’s tradition of environmental leadership.

• Ambitious Goals for Environmental Leadership
• Annual Measurement of Key Environmental Indicators

Major Strategy #8 - Fiscally Strong City

Establish a land use planning framework that promotes the right fiscal balance of revenue and costs to allow the City to deliver high-quality municipal services, consistent with community expectations.

It is critical that San José makes wise fiscal policy decisions in order to provide high quality services accessible to all community members, to continue to create economic development, and to thrive as a community. San José will maintain a Fiscally Strong City, by providing adequate land for uses that generate revenue for the City and by focusing new growth in developed areas where existing infrastructure (e.g., sewers, water lines, and transportation facilities), and City facilities and services (e.g., libraries, parks and public safety) are already available, resulting in maximum efficiency. The fiscal impact of

potential land use and policy options will be given serious consideration and priority in the land use entitlement process. Goals, policies, and implementation actions throughout the General Plan address this important concept. The Plan incorporates policies from the City’s Employment Lands Preservation Framework and several critical implementation policies to address the fiscal impacts of future land use decisions.

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan promotes a fiscally strong City, providing high-quality municipal services and acting as an advocate for regional policies that promote the strengths of our diverse and successful population. The Draft Plan incorporates policies that promote the City’s fiscal health and which:

• Establish standards for the delivery of high-quality municipal services
• Carefully manage existing fiscal resources
• Encourage the cultivation of increased resources
• Focus new growth so as to minimize its fiscal impacts

Major Strategy #9 - Destination Downtown Support continued growth in the Downtown as the City’s cultural center and as a unique and important employment and residential neighborhood. Focusing growth within the Downtown will support the Plan’s economic, fiscal, environmental, and urban design/placemaking goals.

Downtown San José is the cultural heart of San José and it provides employment, entertainment, and cultural activities more intensely than in any other area. The Downtown also consists of valuable historic resources, buildings with distinctive architecture, and unique neighborhoods where residents have convenient access to urban activities and amenities. As San José’s largest and most vibrant urban area, Downtown contributes towards the positive identity of the City to the region, the nation and abroad.

Downtown San José is home to a growing number of companies whose employees enjoy the downtown life. Software and creative services businesses, in particular, offer technical skills and creative talent in San José’s urban center. Silicon Valley’s urban university, San José State, boasts award-winning capacity in product design, interactive media, and computer engineering. Between 2000 and 2010, the Downtown residential community grew by 8,000 people with the addition of new condominiums, lofts, and live-work units.

The Downtown includes the largest concentration of San José’s civic and cultural facilities, including City Hall, the main library, the City’s convention center, the arena, museums, theaters and outdoor gathering venues.

The Downtown is defined as:

• A vibrant urban center for living, working, entertaining
• The only location in the South Bay that actively promotes high-rise development
• A distinctive work environment for large and small companies
• Center to the City’s arts, entertainment, culinary and sporting activities

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• An eclectic mix of historic architecture side by side to award-winning contemporary urban design

The Plan recognizes the city’s Downtown as the symbolic, economic, and cultural center of San José and supports a significant amount of job and housing growth within the Downtown area. The Plan’s policies address how the Downtown is a:

• Unique urban destination
• Cultural center for Silicon Valley
• Growing employment and residential center

Major Strategy #10 - Life Amidst Abundant Natural Resources

Promote access to the natural environment and a favorable climate as important strengths for San José by building a world-class trail network, reinforcing the Greenline / Urban Growth Boundary as the limit of the City’s urbanized area and to preserve the surrounding hillsides largely as open space, and by adding parks and other recreational amenities to serve existing and new populations.

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The Greenline/Urban Growth Boundary defines the ultimate perimeter of urbanization in San José. Besides setting limits to urban development as a growth management and fiscal sustainability strategy, the Greenline/Urban Growth Boundary is intended to develop a clearer identity for San José by defining where urban development ends and by establishing policies to preserve valuable open space resources. Natural resources surrounding the lands within the Greenline/Urban Growth Boundary are the inspiration for this concept.

The Greenline/Urban Growth Boundary demonstrates the strong, long-standing commitment of both the City of San José and the County of Santa Clara that urban development should occur only within the Urban Service Areas of cities where it can safely and reasonably be accommodated and where urban services can efficiently be provided. Lands outside of the Greenline/Urban Growth Boundary are identified as those that are intended to remain permanently rural in character and that should remain under the jurisdiction of the County. Both the City and the County are committed to the success of this arrangement and will continue to develop and implement consistent land use plans and development policies for lands of mutual concern both within and outside of the Greenline/ Urban Growth Boundary. This commitment is reflected in the Greenline/Urban Growth Boundary goals and policies of both General Plans.

Major Strategy #11 - Design for a Healthful Community

Support the physical health of community members by promoting walking and bicycling as commute and recreational options, encouraging access to healthful foods, and supporting the provision of health care and safety services.

The “Design for a Healthful Community” concept embodies a very broad range of topics, and “Design for a Healthful Community” strategies are integrated throughout the General Plan to establish a policy framework to shape and grow a city that provides for the physical health of its residents. General Plan policies support good nutrition and healthful air and water, protect the community from human-made and natural hazards and disasters,

provide for economic opportunities that meet the needs of all residents, and provide for the equitable distribution of public resources, including public health facilities, throughout the City.

To further the Healthful City concept, the Land Use/Transportation Diagram, and the goals and policies related to Quality Neighborhoods, Urban Villages, Urban Design, Complete Streets, and Transportation, encourage physical activity by creating “complete” communities where most individuals’ daily needs can be met walking or biking on safe and convenient paths and routes. Parks, Trails, Open Space, and Recreation policies also encourage activity by promoting good and convenient access to a large and diverse variety of parks, trails and recreations facilities for all City residents.

As a key factor to encourage the health of its residents, the Land Use/Transportation Diagram, and the Quality Neighborhoods and Land Use policies address improving access to healthful foods, particularly fresh produce. To this end, the General Plan also supports the development of urban agriculture, and the preservation of the existing agricultural lands adjacent to San José to increase the supply of locally-grown, healthful foods. The General Plan further supports Healthful Community regulatory land use policies, enabling the operation of farmer’s markets, urban farming activities, and promoting the availability of healthful foods while limiting access to alcohol at retail locations.

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan Land Use / Transportation Diagram and policies promote the physical health of San José’s community by:

• Promoting access to healthful foods
• Encouraging an active lifestyle
• Supporting health care and safety services

Major Strategy #12 - Periodic Major Review

Ensure that the Plan addresses the current community context and values and closely monitor the achievement of key Plan goals through a periodic major review of the General Plan and the use of Plan Horizons to phase implementation of the Plan over time.

The Plan provides a road map for the development of new Urban Village areas and gives highest priority to the location of new housing growth in the Downtown, connecting transit corridors, BART station area, and North San José. The Envision General Plan establishes a 4-year Major Review cycle, which provides an opportunity for a community stakeholder task force or advisory group, and the City Council to evaluate significant changes in the planning context and the City’s achievement of:

• Planned job and J/ER goals
• Implementation of the Urban Village concept
• Environmental indicators, including greenhouse gas reduction
• Affordable housing needs

The Plan’s policies include flexibility to allow the implementation of Urban Villages to be responsive to market conditions, while meeting overall Plan objectives.

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Growth Areas

The Land Use / Transportation Diagram, General Plan policies and the Growth Areas concept diagram identify specific areas of San José which are planned to accommodate the majority of the City’s job and housing growth. The planned location of job and housing growth capacity supports the City’s long-term goal to emphasize growth within the Downtown, North San José and Specific Plan areas, while focusing new job and housing growth capacity in identified Regional and Local Transit, Commercial Corridor and Center and Neighborhood Urban Village Growth Areas. The specific amounts of job and housing growth capacity for each of the Growth Areas are indicated in Appendix 5 – Growth Areas Planned Capacity.

Regional Transit and Local Transit Urban Villages include vacant or under-utilized lands within close proximity of an existing or planned light rail, BART, Caltrain or Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) facility. Commercial Urban Villages include corridors and centers, and may be vacant or under-utilized lands in existing, large-scale commercial areas (e.g., Oakridge Mall, Winchester Boulevard, Bascom Avenue, etc.) Neighborhood Urban Villages are smaller neighborhood-oriented commercial sites with redevelopment potential. While the Neighborhood Urban Villages are not located in proximity to major transit facilities, their intensification could serve to create a vibrant village setting within easy access of the nearby neighborhood. For all of the Urban Village areas it is expected that the existing amount of commercial square footage would be retained and enhanced as part of any redevelopment project so that existing commercial uses within San José are never diminished.

The following text summarizes the special characteristics of each one of the City’s Growth Areas, with the Growth Areas Diagram following the text:

• Downtown
• Specific Plans
• North San José
• Employment Lands
• Regional Transit Urban Villages
• Local Transit Urban Villages
• Commercial Corridor and Center Urban Villages
• Neighborhood Urban Villages

Downtown

The Envision San José 2040 General Plan reinforces the importance of San José’s Downtown as the physical and symbolic center of the City. Planned growth capacity and the General Plan policies are intended to further support the growth and maturation of the Downtown as a great place to live, work or visit.

The boundaries for the Downtown Growth Area are defined on the Planned Growth Area Diagram. The Downtown Growth Area is bounded by Julian Street, North 4th Street, East

St. John Street, 7th Street, East San Fernando Street, South 4th Street, Interstate 280, the Union Pacific Railroad line, Stockton Avenue, Taylor Street, and Coleman Avenue. As shown on the Planned Growth Areas Diagram, the Downtown Growth Area includes most of the Diridon Station Area Plan area.

Ambitious job and housing growth capacity is planned for the Downtown. This growth capacity is important to achieve multiple City goals, including support for regional transit systems and for the development of Downtown as a regional job center. It also helps to advance all elements of the General Plan Vision.

Specific Plans

Specific Plan areas have played a central role in the City's ongoing commitment to providing new housing through transit-oriented development projects. While a few of the Specific Plans have been fully implemented, several continue to provide important growth capacity. The City's adopted Specific Plans generally have a residential orientation, providing significant capacity for residential and mixed-use development at important infill sites throughout the City and often in proximity to the Downtown. The Envision General Plan maintains the existing growth capacity and residential focus of the Specific Plan areas, with the exception of the Alviso Master Plan, which has an employment focus and expanded job growth capacity provided through the Envision General Plan.

The Alviso Master Plan preserves the existing Alviso Village area and supports significant employment growth as an extension of the City's key North San José employment district. Within the Alviso Plan area, the Regional Wastewater Facility lands have been identified as a significant opportunity for new employment land areas, and in particular to provide an opportunity for new light industry or manufacturing activity jobs. According to current occupancy data and the Envision Job Growth Projections and Employment Land Demand report, there is a significant need for additional industrial land of this type. Because the other Specific Plan areas are generally built-out and/or located in areas with a lesser degree of transit access, employment growth in those areas is more focused on commercial or industrial uses that support local residences and businesses.

The Envision General Plan provides a limited amount of new residential and job growth capacity in other Specific Plan areas, consistent with the overall Plan goal of focusing new growth in proximity to transit and other City services. Because the Specific Plans were developed through extensive community-based planning processes, the Envision General Plan incorporates, with only very limited modification, the land uses designated within the Specific Plan areas. Therefore, upon reviewing development proposals, the Envision General Plan Land Use / Transportation Diagram land use designations shall take precedence over the adopted Specific Plans Land Use diagram. Further review and updating of the Specific Plans in the future will be important to fully realize the goals and policies of the Envision General Plan.

North San José

North San José is the City's largest employment district, home to many important leading technology companies and a key growth area for the City. The Envision General Plan augments the North San José Area Development Policy, providing growth capacity for up

to 97,000 new jobs and 32,000 new housing units to further its development as a regional employment center.

The City's North San José Area Development Policy was the key implementation document for this area until it was amended by City Council in May 2022. The policy included a phasing plan for development that was linked to the funding and construction of transportation improvements. The City Council's 2022 action revises the North San José Area Development Policy to: (a) eliminate phased development and phased transportation improvements; (b) limit application of the Policy only to those projects that have received a land use entitlement and/or an approved land use permit prior to the effective date of Resolution No. 80506, and an amendment or adjustment to such entitlement or permit; and (c) adjust the timing of the transportation improvements in the Policy to more accurately reflect the need for such improvements generated by projects that have received entitlements and permits prior to the effective date of Resolution No. 80506. From the effective date of Resolution No. 80506, the North San José Area Development Policy will only apply to projects that have received a land use entitlement and/or an approved land use permit prior to the effective date of Resolution No. 80506, and any amendment or adjustment to such entitlement or permit.

The funding of transportation improvments related to development in North San José is partially funded by the North San José Traffic Impact Fee, adopted by the City Council in San José Municiple Code Chapter 14.29. The North San José Traffic Impact Fee ordinance has also been amended to apply only to projects that have received a land use entitlement and/or an approved land use permit prior to the effective date of Resolution No. 80506, and any amendment or adjustment to suchentitlement or permit.

Employment Lands

Significant job growth is planned through intensification of each of the City's Employment Land areas, including the Monterey Corridor, Edenvale, Berryessa/International Business Park, Mabury, East Gish and Senter Road, as well as North San José. These Employment Lands are planned to accommodate a wide variety of industry types and development forms, including high-rise and mid-rise office or research and development uses, heavy and light industrial uses and supporting commercial uses to respond to the projected demand for each type of industrial land. Three areas are designated as Employment Centers because of their proximity to regional transportation infrastructure. These include the North San José Core Area along North First Street, the portion of the Berryessa/ International Business Park in close proximity to the planned Milpitas BART station and existing Capitol Avenue Light Rail stations, and the Old Edenvale area, which because of its access to light rail, is also planned for additional job growth. Except within the Diridon Station Area Plan area, the Envision General Plan does not support conversion of industrial lands to residential use, nor does it include housing growth capacity for these areas.

Regional Transit Stations

To support the City's growth as a regional job center and to encourage greater utilization of regional transit infrastructure, the General Plan provides significant new job growth capacity within Regional Transit (BART, Caltrain and High-Speed Rail) Urban Villages.