Cupertino council approves housing in high fire risk area

A Cupertino housing development proposed in a high fire risk area is moving forward despite resident concerns about evacuation safety and traffic congestion.

The Cupertino City Council on Wednesday voted 4-1 to approve a 51-townhome project on a 2.5-acre site along Linda Vista Drive, where residents say limited evacuation routes could take more than an hour to navigate through in an emergency. Councilmember R “Ray” Wang voted against the project because of the wildfire safety and evacuation risks.

“What’s the consequences if we allow 800 residents to be in a severe fire with no evacuation routes?” Wong said at the meeting. “We’re being asked to choose between two really bad options.”

City leaders weighed the project’s compliance with state housing laws against concerns about public safety and infrastructure. The proposed development stems from Cupertino’s state-mandated housing element, which identifies the site for higher-density housing. The property, previously zoned for single-family homes, was upzoned to allow for multifamily housing — prompting pushback from neighbors who said they weren’t properly notified during the process.

Local resident Ying Sosic urged city leaders to consider the real-life implications of an emergency evacuation, describing how existing traffic congestion could leave residents trapped.

“Don’t just think evacuation is an action. It’s a thing that we talked about tonight. Think about it as all of us humans, just trying to survive, just trying to get out,” Sosic said.

The SummerHill Homes project is being pursued under state housing laws that limit local governments’ ability to deny compliant developments, including Senate Bill 330 and Assembly Bill 130, which can streamline approvals and, in some cases, exempt projects from environmental review.

SummerHill Senior Vice President of Development Kevin Ebrahimi said the developer recognizes the complexity of state housing laws and the challenges is has created for the city council.

“Throughout this process, SummerHill has made a strong effort to design a project that is fully compliant with the existing zoning and general plan, while also responding to community input where feasible,” Ebrahimi told San José Spotlight.

The area has been designated a very high fire hazard severity zone since the project was first proposed. Residents and some city officials have raised concerns about evacuation capacity, citing studies suggesting nearby roads could exceed capacity during an emergency.

Mayor Kitty Moore raised concerns about the project’s street design, questioning whether it could create bottlenecks and hinder emergency response.

“My frank opinion of this is that this is not a good design at all,” Moore said, noting that fire trucks may need to enter oncoming traffic lanes to make turns within the site.

Residents living near the site have voiced concerns about increased traffic and the strain on aging infrastructure, with congestion already being an issue during school hours due to nearby schools.

While resident Jean Bedord said fire safety is a concern, the development calls for modern fire prevention measures and technology. She also said traffic during student pickup and drop off times at nearby schools — Lincoln Elementary, Kennedy Middle and Monta Vista High — isn’t as bad as it used to be, which she attributed to declining enrollment.

“I understand the fear, but I also think it’s overblown,” Bedord told San José Spotlight.

Some neighbors have also raised privacy concerns and questioned whether the scale of the development fits within the surrounding single-family neighborhood. The debate reflects a broader tension playing out across California as cities work to meet state housing mandates while addressing local concerns about safety, infrastructure and neighborhood impacts.

Councilmember J.R. Fruen said denying the project could expose the city to legal challenges under state housing laws and potentially lead to costly penalties.

“This is a fool’s errand to deny this project on this basis,” Fruen said.

Contact Maryanne Casas-Perez at [email protected] or @CasasPerezRed on X.