Santa Clara will eliminate three focus areas the city previously designated for housing.
At its Tuesday night meeting, the Santa Clara City Council opted to maintain industrial and office uses in the Central Expressway, De la Cruz Boulevard and Lawrence Station regions, removing the general plan designation that earmarked them as areas for potential housing.
The areas had been three of the city’s nine focus areas that lay out where the city plans to convert industrial and office regions into housing.
However, Afshad Hamid, community development director, said those plans have since become outdated, primarily due to “market demand.” Further, she said, the state has since begun handing down housing element requirements through the regional housing needs allocation (RHNA). The housing element more adequately details where the city should build housing, she added.
“These areas are not ideal locations for housing, because they already have a development pattern that has lots of industrial in it,” she said. “The way the region is going is that we are looking at our more dense housing near transit and near major corridors where it should be located.”
The planning commission favored maintaining the focus areas, rejecting the planning department’s recommendation to remove them.
Council Member Raj Chahal moved that the council vote on each focus area individually, but the substitute motion failed in a 4-3 vote, with only Council Members Suds Jain and Kevin Park joining him in support.
The planning department’s recommendation to eliminate the focus areas passed in a 4-3 vote, with Chahal, Park and Jain voting against it.
Council Irons Out Details of Bond Oversight Committee
The council also approved the bylaws and the appointment of the bond oversight committee.
The city clerk drew the members of the nine-member committee and the alternates by lottery earlier this month. The committee will ensure the work plan aligns with the promised vision for the $400 million worth of bond money.
Liz Klotz, assistant city manager, told the council the committee will produce an annual report and propose any amendments to the work plan. She said the committee will meet as needed, which will likely be three or four times a year.
The council favored an active alternate member, who would attend meetings if an active member is unable or fill-in for them should they resign or be removed from the committee due to chronic absence.
Garbage Rates Increase
Finally, the council voted to increase solid waste rates.
Dave Staub, deputy director of public works, said cost-of-living adjustments built into the contracts with the city’s three garbage collectors — Mission Waste Trail Systems, Green Waste Systems and Recology — are responsible for the rate hike.
Depending on whether a customer has a 32-gallon or 64-gallon bin, customers will see either $0.57 or $1.08 per month increase. Such customers make up 82% of bin customers.
Rates for yard trimming collection increased by $1.23.
Chahal rejected the new rates, saying they are a byproduct of a bad council decision in 2020, when the contract was inked — one that he opposed then.
He compared Santa Clara’s rates to those of Sunnyvale and Milpitas, noting how much higher Santa Clara’s are.
Park joined Chahal in dissenting, saying the rates go against the city’s purported goals.
“We need to get to a point where we are encouraging people to throw away less garbage,” he said.
The new rates, which go into effect July 1, do not include costs for the city’s annual cleanup campaign.
Consent Calendar Spending
The council approved the following spending in one motion via the consent calendar:
- A $543,486 contract with Villalobos & Associates, Inc. for curb ramp installation.
- A $38,000 increase to a contract with Principal Bank for investment portfolio custody services. The contract now goes through August 2030, with a total of $153,000.
- A $1.1 million increase to an agreement with Revel Environmental Manufacturing, Inc. for maintenance, data collection, reporting, and repair of full trash capture devices. The contract now goes through June 2030, with a total cost of $1.7 million.
- A $558,945 contract with Westwood Professional Services, Inc. for rehabilitation at Warburton Park playground.
- A six-month, $4.35 million extension with Unisys Corporation for information technology outsourcing. Total contract is now $74.36 million.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 3 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.
Members of the public can participate in the City Council meetings on Zoom at https://santaclaraca.zoom.us/j/99706759306; Meeting ID: 997-0675-9306 or call 1 (669) 900-6833, via the City’s eComment (available during the meeting) or by email to PublicComment@santaclaraca.gov.
Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com
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