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Concerned about development changing the character and quality of life in Cupertino, members of Concerned Citizens of Cupertino delivered three initiative amendments to Cupertino City Hall Sept. 30. The three initiatives center on building height, housing density and the distance of buildings from the street.
Collectively CCC gathered 14,000 signatures for the three petitions. Cupertino's city clerk approved the signatures and then sent them on to the county registrar of voters for validation.
This action is an outgrowth of residents' anger over such projects as the development at the corner of Stevens Creek and De Anza boulevards.
In the past this grass-roots group has successfully fought such projects as the Stevens Creek streetscape and a mixed-use proposal for the Oaks Shopping Center.
"We are not anti-growth, but for sensible growth," said CCC member Gerald Cooney.
"Our goal is to preserve the suburban character of Cupertino. There are a lot of projects that will impact our city quite profoundly, but the city council wants to turn Cupertino into an urban center."
In response, Councilman Richard Lowenthal said many Cupertino residents would like some sort of downtown, one similar to those found in Los Gatos and Los Altos. He also said the CCC initiatives were poorly written and would have terrible side effects. "A good example of this is the Vista Village project," he said, referring to a recently built complex of affordable housing, which he says everybody was for. "Under the initiatives, the project wouldn't be able to happen because the density is too high." Lowenthal also criticized the initiatives' lack of provision for special public hearings.
"Richard is right," CCC's Dennis
Whitaker said of limitations the initiatives might place on such projects as Vista Village. "But we can add only so much without impacting our schools, traffic, environment. We only have a limited supply of energy and water. We're already overextended."
The city council must now decide whether to make the initiatives law, whether they need further study, or—providing the necessary amount of signatures on the petitions is validated—whether the initiatives require a special election in the new year. The election would cost approximately $270,000, Lowenthal said.
Residents can learn more about CCC's initiatives by attending meetings on Oct. 21 and Oct. 27 at St. Jude's Episcopal Church at 7 p.m. They can also call 408.861.8873 or visit www.cupertino.cc.
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