Refuse to sign petitions for initiatives for over-sized, unapproved, development projects in Cupertino, including specific initiatives such as the Oaks initiative and the Vallco office park initiative.

 

• Q1: What does the initiative do?

• Q2: What does my signature on the petition do?

• Q3: Does the initiative set any limit on the amount of office space, retail space, residential units, or hotel rooms?

• Q4: Does the initiative set new limits on building heights, setbacks, and building planes?

• Q5: How does this initiative benefit the future development of Cupertino?

• Q6: With this initiative, will all development projects need to be approved by the voters?

• Q7: With this initiative, will there be no growth at all in Cupertino?

• Q8: The City has a General Plan to guide decisions for future development, so why is the initiative necessary?

• Q9: Why is this initiative not only focused on Vallco?

• Q10: Why is the Vallco Shopping District referenced in the initiative?

• Q11: At what stage is The Hills at Vallco project now?

• Q12: Will the initiative stop The Hills at Vallco project?

• Q13: Will the initiative prevent residential or office use at Vallco Shopping District permanently?

• Q14: Will voters need to vote often on amendments to the General Plan?

• Q15: Won’t it be expensive to have an election every time an exception to the general plan is sought?

• Q16: Are the proponents NIMBYs? Are they against growth?

• Q17: What's an initiative? What's a referendum

• Q18: What is the General Plan? Why is this initiative a General Plan Amendment?

• Q19: Does the CCSG Initiative permit 4-story homes in neighborhoods?

 

Q1: What does the initiative do?

A1: The initiative does the following:

• Controls the intensity of new development by setting citywide limits on building heights, setbacks, building planes, and lot coverage.

• Affirms that land within the Vallco Shopping District will be used for retail, entertainment, dining, hotel, and commercial purposes, but not for office or residential.

• Requires that changes or exceptions to the building limits and land uses enacted by the initiative must first be approved by the Cupertino voters.

 

Q2: What does my signature on the petition do?

A2: Your signature helps put the initiative on the ballot for Cupertino voters to consider in June or November 2015 election. An initiative is placed on the ballot by a petition, signed by at least 10% of the city’s registered voters. If a majority of voters approve an initiative, it becomes law. Your signature on the petition just gives Cupertino voters a chance to vote for or against the initiative.

 

Unlike online petitions or informal petitions, the petition is a legal document that may only be signed by Cupertino registered voters. However, the election laws allows anyone over 18 years of age with a permanent residential address in the U.S. to help gather signatures.

 

Q3: Does the initiative set any limit on the amount of office space, retail space, residential units, or hotel rooms?

A3: The initiative does not set any general limit on office space, retail space, residential units, or hotel rooms. The City Council retains the right to approve additional office space, retail space, residential units, or hotel rooms.  However, voter approval would be required to put office or residential uses in the Vallco Shopping District.

 

Q4: Does the initiative set new limits on building heights, setbacks, and building planes?

A4: Except for Vallco Shopping District -- where there is no current limit -- the initiative does not place new limits on building heights, setbacks or building planes on any other site. The initiative requires voters’ approval only for any amendment that would exceed current building heights, setbacks or building planes as set in the General Plan, Specific Plans, and Conceptual Plans.

 

Q5: How does this initiative benefit the future development of Cupertino?

A5: The initiative sets clear, enforceable citywide limits on building heights, setbacks, planes, and lot coverage. Future Changes to these limits could affect the city’s characteristics and quality of life. That is why voter approval is being required.

 

The initiative intends to change the way developers plan for projects in Cupertino. Without the initiative, individual development projects with building heights, setbacks, planes, or lot coverage that exceed the General Plan limits could be approved if a majority of City Council members (3 of 5) approve the exceptions. Under the initiative, most projects will follow General Plan requirements and only rare over-sized projects would request exceptions to the General Plan. Those rare projects must be approved by a majority of Cupertino voters. The developers of those projects risk loosing community support if they do not truly listen to the community’s wishes from the planning stage of a project.  Voters could respond to token open houses and “chime in” sessions at the ballot box. Voters retain the power to approve or deny over-sized projects.  Without the initiative, voters must fight each project with a referendum, which expires after one year even if successful.

 

Q6: With this initiative, will many development projects need to be approved by the voters?

A6: No. The vast majority of projects follow the General Plan requirements; only rare over-sized projects must seek voters’ approval for amendments to the General Plan  The City Council retains the power to approve development projects that follow the General Plan requirements, as they have done in the past. For example, Biltmore Expansion, Nineteen800 (Rosebowl), Travigne, Aloft Hotel, and the Metropolitan did not require exceptions to the General Plan.

 

Q7: With this initiative, will there be no growth at all in Cupertino?

A7: The initiative promotes sustainable long-term growth. Cupertino has an annual growth rate of 1.6%, which is higher than the Bay Area average. Under the initiative, Cupertino would continue to grow sensibly by following the General Plan so that the infrastructure has time to be expanded to keep up with the growth rate.

 

The initiative intends to change the way developers plan for projects in Cupertino. The initiative promotes development projects that follow City's General plan and resonate with the suburban characteristics of Cupertino. Over-sized projects are allowed so long as a majority of Cupertino voters find them acceptable.

 

Stevens Creek Blvd., except the Vallco Shopping District and most of De Anza Blvd., are zoned for mixed use, including residential use. Most of these areas are not built out to the limits set in the General Plan or this initiative. Ample development opportunities for growth exist without requiring voters’ approval.

 

Q8: The City has a General Plan to guide decisions for future development, so why is the initiative necessary?

A8: The initiative is necessary because the City Council intends to grant exceptions to individual development projects, some of which might more than double the height limit allowed in the General Plan. If granted, exceptions to the General Plan will alter the characteristics of Cupertino so that Cupertino will be indistinguishable from any other urban area.

 

In September 2015, the City Council adopted a new General Plan Amendment application procedure to allow requests for General Plan Amendments from individual projects. The “Request-for-Exception” procedure was proposed in May 2015 after the City Council decided not to amend the General Plan when facing strong community opposition to increases in building heights to 70 feet, 100 feet, 145 feet and even up to 160 feet for many commercial sites in Cupertino. (The proposed building heights are shown in this flyer (link).) Instead of addressing the community’s concerns on increased heights, the Council adopted the Request-for-Exception procedure to permit exceptions to the General Plan for individual development projects, without any growth management measures as other Cities have done. At this point, when it comes to what a developer can ask for, almost literally, “The sky’s the limit.”

 

Through the Request-for-Exception procedure, a development project can be approved for any height at any density as long as a majority of City Council members (3 of 5) approve, and regardless of any community opposition. Under the initiative, future proposals to amend the General Plan to accommodate individual development projects violating the General Plan’s building heights, setbacks, building planes, and lot coverage could not be enacted unless approved by a majority of Cupertino voters. The decision will be in the hands of the voters, not in the hands of lobbyists or developers.

 

Q9: Why is this initiative not only focused on Vallco?

A9: The initiative is necessary because the City Council intends to grant exceptions to individual development projects besides Vallco, some of which might more than double the height limit allowed in the General Plan. For more on this, refer to “Q8: The City has a General Plan to guide decisions for future development, so why is the initiative necessary?”

 

Q10: Why is the Vallco Shopping District referenced in the initiative?

A10: On December 4, 2014, the City Council approved a General Plan amendment that granted exceptions to Vallco Shopping District to allow office use and an office allocation of 2,000,000 square feet.  The Council also removed any height or setback limit, based solely on the developer’s request, WITHOUT (1) meaningful consideration of other options and (2) deliberation on the impact to the community, including but not limited to traffic congestion and school overcrowding.

 

The community was not given a chance to comment in public hearing of Vallco because the developer’s request letter of 2,000,000-square-feet office, 600 housing units and a building height of up to 160 feet was buried inside thousands of pages of meeting documents. Development limits in Vallco Shopping District were supposed to be defined in the Vallco Specific Plan, which is a document similar to the General Plan for a specific area. However, the developer is allowed to submit the project proposal without the City first adopting Vallco Specific Plan. The developer itself will write the specific plan, which will be tailored to fit the developer’s project, rather than the project being designed to fit the City’s plans.

 

Under the initiative, project proposals that would relax the requirements for building heights, setbacks, building planes, lot coverage, and land use allocations within the Vallco Shopping District will need to be approved by a majority of Cupertino voters. The project approval process will involve meaningful consideration of other options and honest discussion of the impact to the community.

 

Q11: At what stage is “The Hills at Vallco” project now?

A11: “The Hills at Vallco” project proposal was submitted in September 2015. The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process officially started in November 2015 after the 30-day commenting period for scopes of the study. The EIR process can take  a year or more to complete. But since the City Council allowed some EIR work for Vallco to start as early as March 2015, it is likely that the EIR will be complete in Spring 2016. Therefore, the Vallco project could be approved by the City Council as early as May 2016.

 

Q12:  Will the initiative stop “The Hills at Vallco” project?

A12: The initiative does not stop any project. It only requires that City Council approval of over-sized projects be confirmed by Cupertino’s voters. What happens with the Vallco project depends on the timing of the approval of the Vallco project relative to the adoption of the initiative. If the initiative is approved before the Vallco project, it will be up to the voters whether the Vallco project goes forward or not.

 

If a project (for example, “The Hills at Vallco”) were approved (including completing environmental review) before the initiative became law, the only way to put the project on the ballot would be through a referendum. Because the City Council has fast-tracked the approval process of “The Hills at Vallco” by starting some of the environmental review work in March 2015, it is possible that “The Hills at Vallco” will be approved before this initiative can become law. In that case, this initiative won’t put “The Hills at Vallco” on the ballot. A referendum would be necessary to put “The Hills at Vallco” on the ballot.

 

Q13: Will the initiative prevent residential or office use at Vallco Shopping District permanently?

A13: Not at all. The initiative only requires voters’ approval for any project in Vallco Shopping District that includesresidential or office uses..

 

Q14: Will voters need to vote often on amendments to the General Plan?

A14: Almost certainly not. Ballot measures triggered by this initiative are expected to be rare, since vast majority of development projects do follow the General Plan requirements, as they should.

 

 

The General Plan, called the ”constitution for future development” by the California Supreme Court, is a long-term guide for the City’s future development. As with the U.S. Constitution, amendments to the General Plan should only be made rarely, when required to change the City’s long-term direction, not to suit individual developers’ projects, especially when the developer-directed amendments will alter the characteristics of the City as described in the General Plan.

 

Under the initiative, the City retains the right to amend most provisions of the General Plan when required, such as policies on multi-modal transportation or Housing Element. Only amendments to the General Plan that would change the policies and limits that are enacted by the initiative would require the voters’ approval. Such amendments have been rare in the past. Therefore, ballot measures triggered by this initiative are expected to be rare also, unless the City Council continues to ignore the General Plan in deciding what project to approve projects.

 

In the past 10 years, since the approval of 2000-2020 General Plan, there has been only one amendment to the General Plan that would have affected the parameters set in the initiative: the building plane for Tantau Road.

 

Q15: Won't it be expensive to have an election every time an exception to the General Plan is sought?

A15: Ballot measures triggered by this initiative are expected to be rare, unless the Council ignores the voters’ will by continuing to approve over-sized projects that violate requirements set by the initiative.

 

$34,000 is the estimated cost to add a measure to the ballot for voter approval. With approximately 27,000 registered voters, $1.25 per registered voter is a small price to pay to ensure that future development meets the vision of a majority of Cupertino voters. Making changes to the City’s long-term policy direction should not be a decision made casually.

 

Q16: Are the supporters of this initiative  NIMBYs? Are they against growth?

A16: NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) is a term usually applied by people promoting large new development projects to discredit those opposing the project. It’s not “NIMBY” to ask that the City have, and stick to, a reasonable plan for its long-term growth.  This initiative represents responsible, balanced growth, not NIMBYism. For more on sensible growth, refer to “Q7: With this initiative, will there be no growth at all in Cupertino?”

 

Q17: What's an initiative? What's a referendum?

A17: An initiative is a citizen-initiated proposal of a new law or an amendment to existing law, such as the General Plan or the Constitution. The initiative and referendum processes were enshrined in the California Constitution over 100 years ago. An initiative is qualified for the ballot by petition, that is, by collecting signatures of 10% of registered voters within 180 days. If an initiative qualifies and is then approved at an election, the initiative is enacted as a law or as an amendment.

 

A referendum is a citizen-initiated challenge to a law that was previously enacted by the City Council. A referendum is also qualified for the ballot by a citizen petition, by collecting signatures of 10% of registered voters within 30 days. Once the petition has qualified, the city council must either rescind the law or place it on the ballot for the voters to decide. A law that is rescinded through a referendum cannot be reconsidered by the city for at least one year.

 

Q18: What is General Plan? Why is this initiative a General Plan Amendment?

A18: For California cities, a general plan is the primary document for setting land uses.  The California Supreme Court has called the general plan the Constitution for a city’s land uses.  The Legislature has declared that no land use decision inconsistent with the general plan can be approved. In December 2014, the City Council changed the General Plan to replace retail use in the Vallco Shopping District with a mixture of retail (about half the square footage of the current allocation), office (2 million square feet), residential (389 units), and a hotel. At this point, other than the City Council reversing its decision, the only way to undo the City Council’s December 2014 decision is to amend the General Plan using the initiative process.

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Q19: Does the CCSG Initiative permit 4-story homes in neighborhoods?

A19: No.

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If you have a seasoned voter in your home (hurrah!), you may have received a smear campaign brochure in your mailbox with the headline "But if the CCSG Initiative Passes…We Could Be Surrounded by 4-story Houses".

The brochure is funded by Sand Hill Property Company and Vallco Property Owner LLC, which are the major business supporters behind an initiative that is in direct competition with the grass roots, citizen-sponsored, follow-the-law Cupertino Citizens' Sensible Growth Initiative (CCSG Initiative). The competing initiative (the Vallco Town Center Specific Plan Initiative*)--if also added to the November 2016 ballot--cannot win when the CCSG Initiative passes and receives more total YES votes than all other developer-sponsored initiatives. So, the motivation to discredit the CCSG Initiative by the opposition is strong and clear.

The smear campaign brochure cites a finding from an Elections Code 9212 report (EC 9212 report) as evidence for their assertion that building heights in neighborhoods will increase to 45 feet under the CCSG Initiative. Easy for the EC 9212 report to say because the EC 9212 report is a non-legally-binding opinion piece that was ordered at the behest of the City Council (and paid for by the taxpayers [about $180,000]). This is the City Council that includes a majority of members who have been openly hostile to the grass roots, citizen-sponsored, follow-the-law CCSG Initiative, no doubt because they resent the way the CCSG Initiative will give voters a voice in approving changes to the Cupertino General Plan that involve zoning at the Vallco Shopping District and building density throughout the City.

Supporters of the CCSG Initiative draw strength from the confirmation that the CCSG Initiative is so well-written and specific regarding what it will and will not do when it passes in November 2016, that the very best that the opposition can do to knock it down is propagate a myth. Neither the text of the CCSG Initiative nor the Cupertino General Plan (Community Vision 2015 - 2040), the relevant, legally binding documents that will or do enforce maximum building heights throughout the city, include any support for an increase in building heights in neighborhoods to 45 feet (4-stories). Under the CCSG Initiative, the maximum building height in neighborhoods is preserved at the height established in the current Cupertino General Plan: 30 feet (2-stories, except where lower as specified in the Municipal Code). The preservation of the 30 foot maximum building height in neighborhoods is easily confirmed by a review of the CCSG Initiative text and the current Cupertino General Plan.

If there is one common belief that unites the CCSG Initiative supporters that I know, it is the wish that representative democracy could work to support the needs and interests of the People in Cupertino and that the CCSG Initiative would be unnecessary. Unfortunately, with the intense, persistent pressure for development by powerful local and worldwide investors and a compliant City Council majority eager to please those investors, representative democracy alone as it pertains to building density in Cupertino will not ensure that Cupertino will grow in a way that will preserve the quality of life we have come to enjoy in the West Valley.