City officials have sided with homeowners opposed to a proposed 17-story apartment complex that would have added hundreds of homes in West San Jose.
The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to deny plans to construct 135 homes and 15,000 square feet of commercial retail space at 826 N. Winchester Blvd. Neighborhood residents who rallied against the project included Lindy Hayes — daughter of former Mayor Janet Grey Hayes. Longtime homeowners told city officials they don’t want a giant apartment building disrupting their neighborhood, even when representatives for developer VCI Companies said they could shrink the project down to 11 stories.
“We need housing of all types and for all income levels. However, at its core, the proposed project was inconsistent with San Jose’s general plan and was outsized for the Cory neighborhood,” District 6 Councilmember Michael Mulcahy told San José Spotlight. “We informed the Planning Commission and staff that the Winchester corridor as a whole should be looked at more intentionally for right-sized, mixed-use housing options during the general plan review and update about to commence.”
Neighbors said they disagreed with the proposal to turn the property into a “transit residential” zone because BART and Caltrain stations are miles away, potentially leading to traffic and parking issues for existing residents.
“This was truly a neighborhood effort. So many neighbors showed up that the chambers were filled and an overflow room had to be opened,” Lindy Hayes told San José Spotlight. “Neighbors carried signs, wore colors, cheered on their feet both at the beginning and end of the meeting and spoke passionately.”
Citywide housing activists and labor leaders, however, disagreed and said the West San Jose area was ripe for an apartment complex to replace the existing vacant building.
Catalyze SV Executive Director Alex Shoor has long advocated for San Jose to hit its goals of building thousands of new homes per year — but he said the city won’t get there if it keeps denying projects based solely on neighborhood complaints.
“It’s crucial we talk about who isn’t here tonight: students coming home from college, working families, undocumented San Jose residents fearful right now and the next generation of tech workers taking jobs here,” Shoor said at the meeting. “We’re building a city for all of them, that’s why Catalyze SV exists, and that’s why our members want housing to move forward at this site.”
Many organizations like the Housing Action Coalition and NorCal Carpenters Union Local 405 representative Rigo Gallardo echoed Shoor’s comments, but a majority of the more than 40 speakers spoke against the apartment complex.
VCI Companies representative Kelly Erardi said the property in question had been abandoned for five years before they picked it up.
“I appreciate the Cory and Santa Clara neighbors for their strong, respectful turnout and the professionalism of the applicant, VCI Companies, who took the loss and council direction very well,” Mulcahy told San José Spotlight.
He told councilmembers he was happy to see the Hayes family continuing to engage in communities like the Cory Neighborhood Association.
“Planning staff has done a thorough job identifying why changing this site to transit residential would work against the city’s goals for focus growth, and this applicant has known for a very long time that this was the position of planning staff,” Mulcahy said at the meeting. “All the while, a swelling chorus of neighbors formed and mobilized the concerned Cory neighbors against it.”
Mulcahy said he understands the city is going through a housing crisis, but West San Jose’s District 6 is already adding its “fair share” of housing, with 23% of all homes under construction in the city, despite only making up about 10% of the population.
“We are extremely grateful to the city council for preserving the vibrancy of our neighborhood in this way,” Lindy Hayes told San José Spotlight.
Contact Vicente Vera at [email protected] or follow @VicenteJVera on X.
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