THANK YOU to everyone that gathered at the rally and City Council meeting on May 19th.
Whether you wore red, put on a button, gave a donation and/or spoke to the council - your attendance was greatly appreciated by all!!
However, despite the fact that no more development allocation was added on May 19th, the pace of development in Cupertino did not slow down one bit, since a new General Plan which promotes massive development is still in effect. All the development allocation could be added back with a General Plan Amendment. We encourage everyone to keep a close watch to ensure that our city government works for the benefits of us, the residents. We encourage everyone to continue to write to the Council to express your concerns.
We want to see Cupertino grow sensibly and sustainably, we stand against reckless profit-driven development that ignores the city's character and needs. To donate, visit http://tiny.cc/bc-donate.
Upcoming meetings and events:
- June 30, 2015 5pm & 6:45pm Open House and Study Session for "proposed procedures for processing General Plan amendment applications."
- July 7, 2015, at 6:45 p.m Public Hearing of Civic Center Master Plan;
- July 31, 2015 4:30pm Deadline to provide your input and written comments for the Comparison tables of Community Vision 2040 and 2000-2020 General Plan.
Vallco EIR contract -
The contract on Vallco EIR is approved by the Council with 3-2 vote (Barry and Darcy voting No) on June 16. However, as it turns out, the work on Vallco EIR started as early as in February with a contract signed in March. Sand Hill claims they have sufficient community input; thus a project application will be submitted by September 15. BetterCupertino has sent a letter of formal complaint to the city. These three blog articles have details:GPA Process for Community Benefits - June 30 Open House & Study Session
The General Plan is supposed to be the constitution of a city. Amendments should only be made when absolutely necessary for the wellbeing of the city. The zoning, building heights, setbacks and development allocation are specified in the General Plan to define the characteristics of a city. The proposed GPA process attempts to formulate a process to constantly amend our General Plan with Community Benefits (or its variations). Please attend the Open House and Study Session on June 30 to express your opposition to Community Benefits program in any form or shape. "Community Benefits" in exchange for taller buildings or denser development would end up costing we, the tax payers, more money to fix the consequences for years to come, in school infrastructure, traffic infrastructure, sewage, water systems and our overall quality of life.
- Examples of Failed "Community Benefits" Program in Palo Alto, June 25, 2015
- Main Street - the Shrinking Park, May 13, 2015
- Main Street Project - "Community Benefits" or NOT, May 1, 2015
GPA Comparison - comment by July 31 4:30pm
Although no more development allocation is added on May 19th, a new General Plan is still approved on December 4th, 2014. The comparison table just published on cupertinogpa.org site confirms that the new General Plan "Community Vision 2040" (CV2040) is a massive rewrite of the 2000-2020 General Plan. The reason given in the comparison table is often 'edited', 'grammatical edits', 'split' or 'merged' when the edit changes the meaning of a policy and it's not required for any State Law or Housing Element. Some edit refers to a State Law such as SB 743, but the edit is not required by that State Law at all.
Ever since July 2013, not one meeting notice mentioned or staff report mentioned the "new" General Plan until October 2014, just a few days before it was scheduled to be approved. Almost every believed that CV2040 only contains cleanup items to comply with Housing Element and State Laws. The most alarming is that CV2040 removed many policies without any discussion by the Council or explicit approval by the Council. Most notably policies to maintain a tolerable Level of Service (LOS) for traffic, to main job-housing balance, protection from quarry pollution, and many others.
- GPA is Cupertino's New General Plan! Are You Kidding Me?, June 1, 2015
- Job-Housing Balance is No Longer a Goal of Cupertino!, May 30, 2015
Rescind Resolution 14-211 Community Vision 2040
The comparison table published further proves the need to rescind Resolution 14-211. The new General Plan of Cupertino should not be approved without any discussion by the Council. The Council should take the time to go through each chapter policy by policy before approving such a massive rewrite of the General Plan. The 2000-2020 General Plan was discussed and reviewed by the previous Council over 6 months in more than 7 meetings. Individual motions were made to approve or deny each edit or policy. This is the kind of attention that should be paid to the 2040 General Plan. CV2040 is written by a team of consultants without Council approval or community input. It should not be allowed to govern the development for the next 25 years in Cupertino. Please write to the City Council to request that Resolution 14-211 be rescinded at citycouncil@cupertino.org. Email your letter to BetterCupertino@gmail.com and we'll publish it in our blog letters2cupertinocc.blogspot.com.
Civic Center Master Plan - Public Hearing on July 7
Started from the estimated demand of 43 parking spaces, the Civic Center Master Plan has evolved into a plan which costs 53 million dollars for a city with an annul budget about 80-90 million dollars. With no financial plan to pay for the project, the city continues to push the project through. While the city is embracing multi-modes of transportation in the new General Plan, the city did not encouraged its employees to take alternative modes of transportation to relieve the demand on parking spaces. While the Citywide Park Master Plan is still undeveloped, the city is continuing to push through the costly Civic Center Master Plan. Will this costly project become an excuse for developers to provide "Community Benefits" in order to build taller and denser buildings? Speak up and oppose if you are concerned how your tax dollars are spent.BetterCupertino T-shirt Sale Sundays 3-5pm at the Library
After four Information Meetings on Sundays, BetterCupertino is continuing its outreach effort through weekly T-shirt sale Sundays from 3pm to 5pm. Look for volunteers from BetterCupertino in front of the Library. Buy a T-shirt or Donate. Or, just stop by and chat. We are happy to hear from you.Subscribers Moved to BC-NewUpdate Google Group
We've moved all website subscribers to the announcement-only google group BC-NewUpdate for easier management. We will post occassional updates to BC-NewUpdate google group. All news updates will also be archived in this blog bc-newsupdate.blogspot.com. For more frequent update, like our facebook page facebook.com/BetterCupertino or subscribe to our blog BetterCupertino.blogspot.com.Thank You for Your Generous Donation
We are considering all potential legal actions, recalls, referendum, initiative, reconsideration, and lawsuits. We've distributed close to 10,000 flyers so far and the cost adds up. We have upcoming legal expenses for potential actions. Thank you for so many generous donations. Please continue to support us. To donate, visit http://tiny.cc/bc-donate.
CRSZaction.org and BetterCupertino.org
Paid for by Cupertino Residents for Sensible Zoning Action Committee, PO Box 1132, Cupertino, CA 95015, FPPC #1376003
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