Rose Garden Resident
News
More housing, commercial space to replace Santana Row parking lots
By Eli Segall
Santana Row has received approval from the San Jose City Council for rezoning of its Stevens Creek and Winchester boulevards property that could add up to 400 more residential units and 15,000 square feet of commercial space. The council also OK'd a swap of 20,000 square feet of retail property for an equal amount of restaurant and entertainment venues.
The expansion will replace Santana Row's surface parking lots. Based on studies that said these lots were vastly underused, the city deemed the parking loss acceptable, but it has left others scratching their heads.
For Achitha Samarawickrama, a Santana Row store employee, parking is so limited that she leaves her house 30 minutes before her shift starts, even though she lives 10 minutes away.
"Parking is already hard, and it's only going to get harder," Samarawickrama said, after she learned of the council's decision.
By all accounts, Santana Row, which opened in November 2002, has proved an economic boon for San Jose. With 9 million visitors per year patronizing its 100 stores, restaurants, bars and cafés--and a steady stream of guests filling its 213-room hotel--Santana Row has created 1,600 full- and part-time jobs and brought a surge of economic vitality to the city.
"Santana Row is a tremendous asset to San Jose," said planning commissioner Matt Kamkar, who approved the project, "but management needs to step up to the plate and listen to residents' concerns."
Management is Maryland-based developer Federal Realty Investment Trust.
"They're the worst neighbors you could have," said Katie Dwyer, a Hemlock Avenue resident since 1995. "They're not willing to do even the little things to help us out."
Hemlock Avenue sits just east of the 40-acre mixed-use center and faces one of its parking lots. The project broke ground in November 2000, and Dwyer has battled the company ever since.
After construction started, dust and debris from the site smothered Dwyer's car, blanketed her lawn and infiltrated her home. Dwyer claims she had to fight "tooth and nail" for complimentary car washes and carpet cleanings, and even sued the company for damages to her home. She settled out of court in September 2005.
According to Dwyer, soon after the groundbreaking Federal Realty started working on weekends, a violation of city construction regulations. Her neighbor Richard Cuevas struck a deal with the company: In exchange for weekend work, he and Dwyer were given coupons to Marie Callender's Restaurant.
Cuevas declined to be interviewed. Fred Walters, general manager of Santana Row declined to comment on Dwyer's lawsuit and was unaware of the alleged coupon deal.
"We have a neighbor we can't trust," said Steve Gordon of Santana Row. He lives down the street from Dwyer and regularly attends community meetings related to the site, but claims neighborhood input is ignored.
"The meetings themselves aren't the problem," Gordon said. "It's just that when they're done, they haven't heard a word we've said."
To beef up its community outreach efforts, in January Federal Realty will launch a newsletter aimed at Santana Row's surrounding neighborhoods, Walters said. The newsletter aims to keep locals informed of new developments and construction at the site.
"It's very important for us to be good neighbors and for us to get residents' feedback as we move forward," Walters said.
