6/21/2007

Post date: Mar 23, 2013 9:00:46 PM

River Oaks Neighborhood Association Board Meeting

Thursday June 21, 2007

6:30 PM @ Premier Pizza, River Oaks

Present: Jean, Mike, Jim, Jürgen, Laura, Marcelle, Erik

    • Question 1: Who should the taskforce include?

      • Consensus: There should be a larger North San José taskforce with around 26 members representing all of the communities in North San José (River Oaks, Renaissance, North Park, Alviso, and trailer parks). However, as a neighborhood association we would also like to work with the City and the applicant to develop a specific master plan for River Oaks.

    • Question 2: What should the master plan include?

      • Consensus:

        1. It should identify specific locations for parks as well as a future library and community center;

        2. Parks should be located such that they will provide buffers between existing developments and new, high density developments;

        3. It should include a comprehensive traffic study by a qualified consultant of the projected needs of the River Oaks area;

        4. The design guideline consultants recommendations should form part of the plan;

        5. There should be a genuine plan for schools based upon the findings of the SCUSD school study;

        6. It should address the need for retail services in the area;

        7. There should be considerations for water conservation in the area;

        8. Consideration should be given to future police/fire needs (e.g., if there was a fire in a multi-story building, would the fire department have the resources in terms of water, person power, and emergency vehicle access to extinguish the fire?);

        9. How could/will Agnews be incorporated into the overall master plan?

      • There was not a consensus on the question of River Oaks being relocated or on our need for traffic calming measures, but there was consensus that our local traffic needs should be studied by a qualified traffic consultant.

    • Question 3: What do we want from the City?

      • We want them to delay rezoning until after they complete the master planning that the VNSJ2030 policy obligates them to complete. River Oaks residents have been asking for this for over a year. If they had listened to us they would be ready to move forward on this application by now, but they're not.

    • Question 4: What do we want from Irvine?

      • We want the proposed density lowered to 55 DU/AC. We want the park moved to the corner of Research and River Oaks to provide a height/density buffer. We want affordable units integrated into the total project rather than segregated from market rate units. Finally, we want more parking available on site to avoid street congestion.

    • Question 5: What should be the scope of our master plan?

        1. With regard to services: Tasman to Coyote Creek to Montague Expressway to Zanker and back north to Tasman;

        2. With regard to housing: We should take a larger look at all of North San José to determine ideal locations for housing; not all of the units of Phase I have to be located outside of the transit corridor in River Oaks, so we should consider where else housing might be located.

    • Question 6: What issues should we bring before the Planning Commission

        1. So far this has been a piece meal process, but the VNSJ2030 Policy calls for a comprehensive master planning process.

        2. The proposed location of the park does not represent a compromise between the developer and the community. We want to be involved in the master planning process to help determine the best location.

        3. The staff report doesn't even address school except to suggest that the school study wasn't really necessary anyhow.

        4. The master plan described in the staff report doesn't exist on paper, and the applicant was the sole participant in developing the supposed plan.

        5. There is no master plan to address all the items called for in the VNSJ2030 Policy.

        6. This would be the 3rd conversion approved by the PC without a master plan.

        7. A livable community requires parks, libraries, community centers, schools, retail services, and adequate police and fire protection.

        8. If the Planning Commission decides to recommend this conversion even though there is no master plan, then we request that their recommendation be contingent upon a promise that a plan that includes community input will be developed prior to issuing permits for this site, zoning at a lower density than what is currently being proposed, and a recommendation that the park be located at Research and River Oaks to provide a height density buffer between the development and River Oaks.

    • Question 7: When and where do we want our meeting with Kansen and the developer?

      • 6:30 with Kansen at his office and 7:00 with both Kansen and Irvine