Cupertino residents say housing project sits in risky wildfire zone

A controversial housing development in Cupertino is heading toward potential approval, as city officials weigh state housing mandates against resident concerns about wildfire risk and evacuation safety.

The Planning Commission in February voted 3-2 to recommend the city move forward with a 51-townhome project on a 2.5-acre site along Linda Vista Drive — to the chagrin of residents near the site. At the center of the debate was whether the neighborhood could safely evacuate during a wildfire. Residents pointed to an analysis by resident and engineer DerChang Kau suggesting it could take more than 90 minutes to exit the area. The City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to approve the project April 1.

Neighbors described limited access routes and said traffic bottlenecks could slow emergency response. Ting Chen, who lives across from the site, said the area’s infrastructure may not be equipped for additional housing.

“During the school time, it’s always very, very busy,” Chen told San José Spotlight. “The traffic, the fire hazard and all the utilities … (are) kind of outdated. I don’t think they can support this type of plan.”

The proposed SummerHill Homes development is in a neighborhood primarily made up of single-family homes and near three schools — Lincoln Elementary, Kennedy Middle and Monta Vista High schools.

Up to 11 of the 51 townhomes are designated as affordable housing. If approved, the homes will have four bedrooms, two-car garages and fire-resistant construction features such as noncombustible materials and enhanced sprinkler systems.

Planning Commissioner Santosh Rao voted against the project during the Feb. 24 meeting. He questioned developers about fire risk and voiced concern over the project falling under Senate Bill 330. Applications that fall under SB 330 do away with housing development caps, leaving city officials in a bind regarding potential changes to their neighborhoods.

The city has to add 4,588 homes — of which 1,953 are market-rate, 755 are moderate-income and 1,880 are low-income — by 2031 to meet state requirements.

Representatives for the developer argued at the meeting that the city has limited ability to deny the project if it meets objective standards under state housing laws, including SB 330 and last year’s Assembly Bill 130. AB 130 allows developers to streamline infill projects and bypass environmental review under California Environmental Quality Act exemptions. They also said the project was reviewed by the fire department and meets applicable safety requirements.

The city has already sparred with the state over the issue of permits expiring after 90 days to stop developments like the one proposed for Linda Vista Drive. But the California Department of Housing and Community Development took issue with the interpretation. Housing department officials said developers have an unlimited number of 90-day periods to resubmit applications because the timeline continuously resets after each incompleteness determination, according to a violation notice the city received last July.

City Manager Tina Kapoor, Mayor Kitty Moore and Councilmember J.R Fruen did not respond to requests for comment. Representatives for Cal Fire did not respond to a request for comment.

Residents say the area already experiences heavy congestion.

“We already are gridlocked here during school hours and commute hours,”  longtime resident Mary Jo Gunderson told San José Spotlight. “You add 51 (homes), that’s 100-odd cars and it’s just adding to the safety issue of the neighborhood if you have to evacuate.”

Homeowners said they aren’t opposed to new housing in the neighborhood, but take issue with the scale of the proposal and whether the site can safely accommodate it. They also pointed to the area’s recent designation as a very high fire hazard severity zone, raising concerns about whether a safe evacuation would be possible if a wildfire erupted.

Rao said he attended the 2026 Planning Commissioners Academy where officials across California discuss housing and land use policies, and asked for guidance on AB 130 exemptions in high fire risk areas. The law states projects located on “sensitive lands,” including very high fire hazard severity zones, are generally not eligible for exemptions. However, he said the law includes an exception if developers can demonstrate fire safety measures, such as building materials and defensible space, to adequately reduce risk. In this case, questions have emerged over whether the project meets that threshold.

“The unanimous response I got when I asked the question at the Planning Commissioner Academy was that AB 130 should be denied in a very high fire hazard severity zone,” Rao told San José Spotlight.

Planning Commission Chair Tracy Kosolcharoen, who voted for the project, wrote in a letter to the city council after the meeting speaking as herself that she had learned new information since the vote.

“Planning Commission did not have the evacuation study until after the Feb. 24 hearing regarding Linda Vista,” she told San José Spotlight. “The evacuation study showed that roads in the tri-school Linda Vista area are severely overburdened. This is very important information that would have been helpful to have during the hearing.”

Mark Fantozzi, a nearby resident and civil engineer, said the neighborhood’s infrastructure was originally designed for far fewer homes. He said waiting until the project is built to discover after the fact the infrastructure is insufficient is not the way a project should be constructed.

“All the infrastructure — the roads, the water, the sewer — everything was designed originally for single-family homes,” Fantozzi told San José Spotlight. “They’re essentially increasing that demand five times.”

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