5/15/2008

Post date: Mar 23, 2013 9:12:42 PM

River Oaks Neighborhood Association Board Meeting

Thursday May 15, 2008

7:00 PM @ Premier Pizza, River Oaks

Present: Jean, Laura, Erik, Mike, and 4 members

    • Update on Essex, discussion of positions we want to take at the Planning Commission Meeting 5/28/2008

        • See notes in projects page for details on the new plan.

        • We appreciate that Essex has responded to community concerns about height and traffic issues.

        • Do we want a passive or active park? (Where "active" means sporting and exercise activities.) Because the park is now placed along the riparian corridor, it's unlikely that much pavement or night lighting will be allowed. Possibly rethink our position that the Sony/Irvine park should be passive, should make sure to mention this at the 5/22/2008 Park Planning meeting for Sony/Irvine park.

        • Notice that the only convienient entrance to the parking garage is off Seely. The connection between "Street C" and ROP is for Emergency Vehicle Access (EVA) only. They will be modifying the median at the intersection of "Street C" and ROP to allow for EVA without allowing general traffic to cross the median.

        • Mike is still waiting for more details about why the Traffic Planning Dept. continues to be concerned about the intersection of ROP and "Street C".

        • Concerns about this development based on RONA's main focus items (in no particular order):

            • Traffic: We still haven't seen the Traffic Operational Report for this new plan. We want to see that before the project goes before the Planning Commission for approval. There is still significant community concern that the traffic generated by this project on Seely->ROP->Montague. There is also some concern that more focus on Seely will lead to traffic cutting through the Cadence campus to make a left onto Montague.

            • Density: We appreciate the reduction in height, but we would still like to see the development reduced to from the current 75 du/acre to the minimum 55 du/acre. This reduction would be more in-line with the density of the greater ROP community and would better reflect the Cadence site's position at the extreme edge of the Transit Cooridor.

            • Retail: There is no retail at this site. Residents will continue to give their sales tax dollars to Santa Clara and Milpitas.

            • Schools: We continue to support the school board position that more kids will move into these neighborhoods than official city estimates are projecting.

            • Parks: We'd like more information on what interface is planned between the riparian corridor, trail system, and the new park. We'd like to know what Park Dedication Ordinance fees remain after the land dediciation.

            • Trees/Beautification: We do not want to loose the trees along ROP between Seely and "Street C".

        • We'd like an official recommendation to use reclaimed water ("purple pipes") for landscaping in all new ROP developments.

        • Mike and Jean plan to attend the Planning Commission Meeting.

    • Mike's report on his meeting with Traffic Planning Dept.

        • Mike reiterated our comments on crosswalks, traffic volume, speeding, u-turns, getting out of driveways on ROP, and the safety issues at Zanker & ROP. The TPD was aware of these concerns as they had gotten a debriefing from the Traffic Calming Dept. after our meeting last week.

        • TPD plans to put in a light at Cisco Way & ROP, their reasoning is that it allows a location for pedestrian crosswalk, park access (for future Sony/Irvine park), and will tend to slow down speeds on ROP.

        • Do not want to put a light at Seely & ROP, they feel this will make the speeding worse.

        • The moving-van cutouts for Irvine/Sony have been moved from ROP to Henry Ford II Drive.

        • TPD reiterated to use the TEU web-page to report problems: https://www.sjpd.org/_forms/TEU_Request_Form.asp. RONA-Board will to post a monthly reminder to residents on the northsanjose@yahoogroups until complaints die down.

        • Mike asked for details about the traffic modelling algorithms the TDP uses. We had some concerns that they only had "10,000 foot level" and "single-project" algorithms. It turns out their "10,000 foot" level is used to feed data to mid-level neighborhood scaled simulations for better detail.

        • The city is planning on adding 2 lanes to Zanker to accomodate increased traffic in the area. This is part of the North San Jose 2030 transit improvements budget.

        • The city is planning on adding a flyover for traffic travelling southbound on Montague Expressway to turn left onto Trimble Road. See illustration.

        • The city is considering making Montague Expressway pass over McCarthy Blvd instead of intersecting it.

    • Jean brings to our attention the upcoming "Great Cities" Speaker Series. "The Great Cities Speakers Series will bring leading urban designers, architects, planners and thought leaders to San Jose for public lectures about how to plan a great city and its public spaces." For more information visit www.1stact.org.

    • The city is convening an official Neighborhood Caucus to provide an interface between the various neighborhood organizations and the city. See this site for more information. RONA has register to provide voting delegates to the caucus. We will also put together an briefing of RONA's issues and stances to present to the elected District 4 delegates once they are seated.

    • Erik attended the Inclusionary Housing Public Forums, and was one of the only residents present. Most of the other attendees were representing developers. The Housing Department is just beginning to develop a city-wide policy to require Inclusionary Housing in new developments. Since North San Jose is a redevelopment district, new developments are required to provide 20% inclusionary housing. Currently developers can fulfill this obligation multiple ways, including simply paying the calculated fee to the city for the city to develop the low-income housing at a later date. Most cities in the Bay Area already have such policies in place. The developer representatives objected strenuously to any such requirements, claiming that it would increase housing prices to the consumer. Erik will continue to follow this policy. RONA supports an Inclusionary Housing Policy that requires the low-income units to be integrated within each development.

    • The board finished up by reminding everyone to attend the 5/22 park planning meeting.