Some of the last naturally affordable housing in San Jose may be preserved, after officials deferred a proposed rent increase in mobile home parks. The City Council voted 10-1 Tuesday to delay a proposed 10% space rent increase whenever a mobile home is sold and engage in community meetings with residents and park owners to...
Mountain View Planning Commission backs 8-story apartment
Plans for an eight-story apartment building are taking shape in the East Whisman area of Mountain View, a part of the city that is better known for office buildings and surface parking lots than high-density housing. The applicant, Jeffrey Stone of WTA Middlefield, is proposing to build a 460-unit apartment complex with nearly 9,400 square feet of...
Santa Clara County could charge for property value appeals
Santa Clara County homeowners have the power to challenge how much they pay in property taxes every year. But it could start costing hundreds of dollars to appeal. County leaders are considering charging single-family home and condo owners $290 to appeal the county assessor’s determination of their property’s value, which in turn determines the taxes homeowners pay...
VTA to bring thousands of homes online
An effort to develop housing at public transit stations in Santa Clara County has awakened after being dormant for decades — and is expected to rake in lease profits and fuel train ridership. VTA leaders next week will open the doors to their first new public transit-oriented apartment complex in 20 years, between the Willow...
Santa Clara County uses federal funds to house homeless people
Santa Clara County is using its latest round of federal funding for homelessness to rapidly house people in apartments. The county received nearly $600,000 from the Emergency Solutions Grants Program, which can be used to fund shelter operations, outreach, homelessness prevention or rapid rehousing. Over the past five years, the county has received $2.5 million in these...
West San Jose to get Costco after judge tosses lawsuit
A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge has tossed a lawsuit seeking to block plans to bring a new Costco to a West San Jose shopping center. The decision clears the way for the hotly contested development project to move forward. The suit, backed by a resident group known as West Valley Citizens for Responsible...
Cupertino not meeting its housing goals
Cupertino is falling short in its state-mandated housing goals as developers roll out projects with fewer homes than expected. The upshot is Cupertino will have to add more high-density projects — a move not likely to be popular in a community that frequently resists multifamily housing. Like many California cities, Cupertino is caught between state...
Santa Clara County considers safe parking site for women
Homeless women face exacerbated safety risks on the streets, and Santa Clara County officials are considering a safe parking site for women who become homeless to escape intimate partner violence. Santa Clara University researchers raised the idea in a report to county leaders last year. The study found that women and children fleeing domestic violence face...
East San Jose community development ready to break ground
East San Jose is about to see its multimillion-dollar dream project become reality. La Placita will transform a neglected 28,000-square-foot commercial building across from Mexican Heritage Plaza. The space will be rebuilt into a cultural community hub with a theater, cafe and family wellness center operated by Gardner Health Services. The School of Arts and...
San Jose says RV parking site is unpermitted
A San Jose safe parking program on VTA property is in violation for operating without proper approvals. The city served VTA a notice after a Dec. 9 inspection found vehicles parked at the Santa Teresa station aren’t storing trash properly and that the site is operating without permits or approvals, among other violations. The site...