To accommodate Silicon Valley Power’s system expansion plan, the Santa Clara City Council approved seizing four more parcels as part of an ongoing eminent domain process.
At its regular meeting on Aug. 19, the council voted unanimously to secure the latest of a slew of properties along a proposed transmission line. The 115 kV line is part of Silicon Valley Power’s (SVP) system expansion. The 2.24-mile line runs along Bassett Street.
Allie Jackman, electric division manager overseeing system expansion for SVP, said overall feasibility, the amount of permitting constraints, scheduling, reduced construction disruption and the least impact to residents necessitated securing the properties along SVP’s proposed route.
“This project is necessary to accommodate our load growth and maintain system reliability,” said Jackman. “In order to meet the project timing and implementation guidelines, we are now saying that it is necessary to consider eminent domain.”
But the property owners disagreed.
Emily Brough, an attorney representing the property owners, said the legal standard had not been met, saying that the specifics of what portion of land were to be seized were “lacking in detail.”
“There is no evidence showing that these particular properties are necessary for the proposed electric project, nor is there evidence that Silicon Valley Power presently intends to move forward with the project after [eminent domain].”
Vice Mayor Kelly Cox said the city needs the line to grow its system capacity. She called the property owner’s lawyer’s claims “a reductive piece of evidence.”
“Perhaps this is not simply an issue of having facts not being presented but a lack of facts altogether,” she said.
The council unanimously approved the action. City employees will continue to negotiate with the property owner. Eminent domain can take up to two years to enact.
Council Delays on Public Notification Process
The council also opted to delay action on an item that would alter the way the city notifies the public of upcoming development projects.
City Manager Jovan Grogan said the changes aim to “strike a balance between getting additional feedback from the public as well as processing additional applications consistent with state law.”
The proposed changes aim to look at types of projects, early notification for projects without community meetings, improved logistics for community meetings and increased notification radius for large projects.
A big portion of the process attempted to address the issue of notification. State law requires a 300 ft. notification. City regulations increase that footprint to 500 ft., but the planning commission wanted the city to go a step further, increasing the notification range out to a half-mile.
“Increasing the notification radius may not increase the interest in the project,” said Afshan Hamid, community development director. “It will increase the time and cost to process a project, and staff has concerns about staff capacity.”
She said increasing public outreach by expanding the radius of public outreach, as per the planning commission’s suggestion, would double city employees’ time.
Council Member Kevin Park supported the idea of more public outreach.
“I like this. I know it is more time. I know it is more money, but I feel like we owe it to the residents who understand that local neighborhood issues are the biggest issues that people will fight for and ultimately run for office,” said Park.
In a unanimous vote, the council opted to delay making a decision, tabling the item for a later date.
Consent Calendar Spending
The council approved the following spending in one motion via the consent calendar:
- A $380,000 agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc. for design of the corporation yard pavement project.
- $700,000 of ongoing payments to LCPtracker, Inc. for labor compliance software and related services. The payments are retroactive back to 2018 and go through 2030.
- A five-year, $1.5 million agreement with Intelligent Technologies and Services Inc. for maintenance, inspection and testing services for Silicon Valley Power’s fire alarm, smoke detectors, fire suppression systems and extinguishers.
- Two, one-year $250,000 contract extensions with ACCO Engineered Systems and O.C. McDonald Co. for on-call plumbing, maintenance and repair at Levi’s Stadium.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26 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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Santa Clara continues to enact a lot of eminent domain on these properties on behalf of the power company however there seems to be more going on. The city in the past said when challenged by the City Council and planning commission on Data Centers that the city does not have the infrastructure yet to continue data centers. Yet all of these eminent domain grabs makes me feel that this is to upgrade it enough to continue having more Data Centers. Since Related Company is stating eyeing data centers and Mayor Gillmor on voting in favor of the Related amendment this seems to be the new business in Santa Clara. Santa Clara truly is the the enter of what’s profitable. No wonder why staff pushed back against councilmembers and planning commissioners who wanted a moratorium or an ordinance on data centers. So when they keep land grabbing I think the growth is to accommodate the load of more data centers in the city.