January 5, 2007

City council explores environmental footprint of proposed Coyote Valley development

Special meeting details ecological, transportation elements

By Ali Abdollahi
Staff Writer

Planning officials and consultants involved with the expansive development plan in Coyote Valley presented key elements of the recently unveiled draft for the Coyote Valley Specific Plan to members of the city council during a special meeting at City Hall Dec. 15.

Presenters explained how they planned to make the Coyote Valley development a “statewide model,” according to Laurel Prevetti, deputy director of Planning, Building & Code Enforcement for San Jose.

“We seek to mitigate some of the effects of the automobile,” said Prevetti. “Environmental stewardship is the goal of this development.” That goal involves three levels of planning: Fixed development, meaning conservation and preservation; flexible development, entailing environmental restoration and enhancement; and the proposed strategy regarding Fisher Creek, she explained.

“Fisher Creek is the culprit of much of the Valley’s flooding, and does not contain the water it needs to,” Prevetti said. “We plan to put the creek back in its original location, instead of working around it.”

Grey and green infrastructure
Prevetti and the meeting’s other presenters, which included San Jose Planning, Building & Code Enforcement Director Joe Horwedel, helped paint a detailed picture of the vision and priorities for the Coyote Valley development. The signature environmental element of the plan will be “grey infrastructure,” or water-related elements. Presenters also paid a great deal of attention to the “green infrastructure” of Coyote Valley, including parks, trails, and open spaces for recreation.

The plan proposes to build 28 parks, with great variation in size. The “non-standardized” nature of the parks is intended to provide the community with larger recreation areas, as well as “little neighborhood parks,” according to Horwedel.

Prevetti estimated that the development would preserve approximately 30 percent of the land for green space, but emphasized that any significant increases to the density of housing in the plan would necessitate an increase in green space as well. “In addition,” Horwedel said, “high-density areas will be placed within walking or biking distance (one mile) of open space areas, which is very rare in San Jose and Santa Clara County.”

Mobility infrastructure
Another key to the ecological preservation of Coyote Valley is the proposed transportation plan. According to Horwedel, planning for transportation in Coyote Valley calls for placing pedestrian mobility as the top priority, followed by mass transit, with automobiles placed third in importance. “In the past, planning has started from automobiles,” said Horwedel. “We started from the CAL-Trans line that will run through the property. We plan to make the area walkable and bikable, with far more boulevards than major arteries.”

The plan not only involves CALTrans lines running through the development area, but also includes the proposed addition of a new CALTrans station in Coyote Valley.

While the council praised the plan for the emphasis it placed on ecological concerns, it also raised questions regarding the logistics of the transportation planning. Councilman and Mayor-elect Chuck Reed asked the presenters, “How much are we banking on the addition of a new CALTrans station? Will there be enough riders?”

Councilman Forrest Williams added, “It seems that there aren’t presently any alternatives (to the CALTrans station). Alternatives are definitely needed, and that needs to be among the forefront issues.”

Jobs and schools
The specific plan includes the construction of two middle schools, two high schools (to be housed on one campus), and possibly a college, with hopes of making education in Coyote Valley “multi-generational over time,” according to Horwedel. Schools will be housed on 10-acre campuses that will include mixed-use fields open to the community on evenings and weekends.

The plan also calls for the creation of 50,000 primary jobs, to be supplemented by additional jobs in service industries. Horwedel emphasized that the physical makeup of buildings and businesses in Coyote Valley must be flexible in order to adapt to changes in community needs and trends.

The 25,000 housing units proposed in the plan will include various levels of affordable housing, down to what Prevetti referred to as “very low-income.” According to Prevetti, the low-income homes will be placed in groups of 50-100 in various locations throughout the development, and will be indistinguishable from surrounding homes.

The creation of 25,000 homes and 50,000 new primary jobs, “fits with San Jose’s goals of bringing more jobs to South San Jose and creating regional balance,” said developer Doug Dahlin of The Dahlin Group.

Creating a community today that fits the long-term goals of San Jose “requires tremendous patience,” Councilwoman Nancy Pyle said. “What we’re trying to envision is a community of tomorrow.”

The next community meeting on the development of Coyote Valley is Jan. 11 from 6:30-8:30 p.m., with registration beginning at 6 p.m. The meeting will be at the Camden Community Center, 3369 Union Avenue, near the intersection of Camden and Union avenues.