A Cupertino resident is challenging the city’s approval of a multihome development in a high fire risk area, arguing officials failed to properly study the dangers. The lawsuit, filed May 1 by resident Mark Fantozzi against Cupertino and developer SummerHill Homes, alleges the Linda Vista Drive housing project violates state environmental and subdivision laws because...
Palo Alto leaders approve 183-apartment complex
Palo Alto city leaders have enthusiastically backed a housing project that would have likely been dead on arrival just two years ago: an 85-foot-tall apartment building in the Ventura neighborhood. The proposal from Vittoria Management is one of about 10 projects that the city received through the “builder’s remedy” process, which allows builders to circumvent...
Dollars flow into Santa Clara County DA, supervisor races
Money is flowing in two competitive Santa Clara County races less than a month before the June 2 primary election. Campaign finance filings show District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas has raised more than $119,000 between this and last year and spent more than $3,600 to hold onto the agricultural South County region she won in 2022. She’s fending off a...
Housing commissioners say San Jose isn’t providing data
San Jose housing commissioners are raising concerns over how much authority the city housing director has — with some commissioners saying they’re being sidelined. Officials at the Housing and Development Commission meeting on Thursday had a disagreement over what information commissioners have the right to request from the Housing Department. Some commissioners said it’s been...
Palo Alto transitional housing site celebrates long-awaited opening
Tasheana Price used to sleep in the door frame of a building near the Palo Alto Caltrain station. Now, she works with homelessness nonprofit LifeMoves to manage volunteers at the organization’s drop-in service center downtown — the same place where she received case management herself about 10 years ago. During the May 14 ribbon-cutting ceremony...
Cupertino takes steps to limit pickleball noise
Cupertino is the latest Bay Area city wrestling with pickleball noise concerns as the sport sparks debates over public space, neighborhood impacts and court access. A pilot program has been approved to limit free drop-in pickleball play at Memorial Park from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and prohibits pickleball on Mondays from...
Mountain View approves new rules to cut down on traffic
Looking to cut down on pollution, Mountain View approved a citywide policy Tuesday that seeks to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. In a unanimous vote, the City Council backed major updates to a policy that requires developers to encourage sustainable forms of transportation, such as offering transit subsidies, bicycle facilities and carshare services. “I...
Santa Clara County officials denounce proposed detention center
Community leaders rallied at the seat of Santa Clara County government Thursday with a flurry of signs and one promise: No federal detention center will be built near Gilroy without a fight. It comes after San José Spotlight first reported on public records indicating a real estate firm in Beverly Hills — which has been...
Former Palo Alto cannery celebrates history with new chapter
Few buildings epitomize the evolution of Silicon Valley better than the sprawling, lofty structure on Portage Avenue, which began its life as one of the nation’s largest fruit canneries and later evolved into one of Palo Alto’s major retail destinations, best known for Fry’s Electronics. On Tuesday, the 73,000-square-foot building that was once known as...
Federal detention center planned in South County
Public records suggest the federal government plans to build a detention center in Santa Clara County, just 11 miles south of an ICE field office in Morgan Hill. The potential facility would be located at 7240 Holsclaw Road, an unincorporated area right outside Gilroy’s boundaries. Federal procurement records show the General Services Administration, which handles...