Potential Cupertino development irks residents

A potential multi-family housing project is creating a stir in a quiet Cupertino neighborhood, signaling an intolerance for large housing developments.

The proposed project, which includes plans for 23 homes with a percentage of affordable housing at 20739 Scofield Drive, drew ire from the street’s residents at a Cupertino City Council meeting earlier this month. Some residents brought signs with phrases such as “Save our single-family homes” and “No more high-rises” while more than a dozen residents voiced concerns about increased traffic and safety near Faria Elementary School. The proposed project replaces the existing single-family home on a roughly .32-acre corner lot. The house is occupied, but will be empty after the summer.

Although the city’s website has not named the developer, a preliminary application was submitted in March under Senate Bill 330, a law that makes it easier to build affordable and moderately priced housing. The developer has 180 days to submit a formal application after the preliminary application.

Residents remain riled over the latest proposed plans, as advocates push for more affordable housing in a community they said is hesitant to change.

Cupertino resident Pandit Prasad’s family has lived on Scofield Drive for about a year and was drawn to the neighborhood’s safety and quiet. He said if the development is built, he will worry about his children’s safety due to more traffic on the road.

“Once this gets approved, then there is no control,” he told San José Spotlight. “The precedent has been set and everybody else is welcome to apply for it and change the neighborhood for good.”

Sandhana Siva, a board member of pro-housing group Cupertino for All, said attitudes like Prasad’s hurt affordable housing’s progress locally, even with state requirements mandating the city add at least 4,588 homes by 2031 — 1,880 of which must be deemed affordable to low-income residents. Cupertino, one of three jurisdictions remaining in Santa Clara County out of compliance with state housing requirements, submitted its housing plan this month and is still awaiting certification more than a year after the deadline.

Without certification, the city is open to SB 330 applications that could turn into builder’s remedy projects — allowing developers to bypass local zoning and development standards for swift approval. It has nine such applications, both preliminary and formal, according to city data.

Siva said Cupertino has been exclusionary for a long time due to its skepticism about affordable housing. She added housing like this is necessary for young people in costly Silicon Valley.

“If we start off here, we can continue doing this,” she told San José Spotlight. “We can open up other suburban neighborhoods that were previously not very welcoming.”

The city has a number of affordable housing projects in the pipeline, including 890 apartments planned for the former Vallco Mall site and the Westport Senior Apartments. Affordable teacher housing is also in the works in collaboration with the county.

Cupertino Vice Mayor J.R. Fruen said it’s sometimes frustrating to hear protests from residents about apartments in their single-family home neighborhoods as someone who’s seen such properties successfully coexist, but he understands residents’ concerns. He said situations like this could have been avoided if former councilmembers and planning commissioners moved quicker on the housing plan.

“It’s just very unfortunate that we lost the degree of land use control that we should have been able to have, had those mistakes not been made,” he told San José Spotlight.

Resident Michael Schroeder, who has lived in his house across from the proposed development since 1976, also blames the city’s inaction in figuring out its long-term housing goals. He said he is a proponent of affordable housing, but in areas where it makes sense such as larger streets.

“I really think that affordable housing is a worthwhile cause,” he told San José Spotlight. “We just need to be careful about where we put it so we don’t destroy the character of the city.”

Cupertino will hold a community meeting with residents and city employees about the housing plan, SB 330 and the builder’s remedy on Wednesday, July 31 from 7-8 p.m. at 20821 Scofield Drive.

Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.