San Jose is eyeing patches of vacant land underneath the San Jose Mineta International Airport flight path for commercial use.
San Jose planning department officials want to rezone about 11 acres of unused, city-owned land along Coleman Avenue and West Hedding Street from open space to commercial. The proposal is expected to go before the Planning Commission in April. Airport commissioners recommended the idea last year.
The plan comes months after city crews swept homeless residents out of nearby Columbus Park. The city first cleared hundreds of people from the land in 2022 to comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations after the agency threatened to withhold millions in funding if the city didn’t clear homeless people from the crash zone.
Airport spokesperson Ana Maria State said the FAA came up with the rezoning proposal. She said revenue from future business leases would be reinvested into airport services and infrastructure.
“This development will support SJC’s long-term financial sustainability, enhancing airport operations, improve customer experience and fund critical infrastructure projects,” State told San José Spotlight. “The FAA has stated that the project would not have a material impact on aircraft operations at, to or from the airport, nor would it affect the safety of people or property on the ground.”
District 6 Councilmember Michael Mulcahy, who represents the area, said the rezoning will help SJC comply with federal agreements that require properties along Coleman and Hedding to redevelop with commercial uses.
“I believe this proactive move helps activate the land to prevent future incompatible land uses,” he told San José Spotlight.
Five of the seven land parcels set to become commercial space would fill the vacant fronts down Coleman Avenue alongside existing businesses. Types of businesses allowed under the future rezoning include auto shops, offices and retail spaces, among others. These businesses can not be higher than a single story because they’re located within the airport’s Inner Safety Zone. Just a block from the SJC runway, all but one of the parcels are considered to be at safe airplane noise levels.
The California Airport Land Use Handbook classifies an airport’s Inner Safety Zone as having a “high” risk for potential aircraft accidents, though there have been no recorded crashes in the area since SJC opened in 1939.
The largest section of land slated for development surrounds A1 Performance European Auto Repair off Ashbury Street.
Owner Cliff Do said he doesn’t mind working close to the airport, but crime and blight from the RV encampments at Columbus Park create consistent problems, including a broken window Do needed to board up.
“The airport already cooperated with us and kicked them out of most of the park. More businesses here means we would have more votes to make the city keep the area clean,” Do told San José Spotlight. “The homeless are only occupying our streets, if you go down the road to the center of the businesses, you won’t see anyone.”
Scott Largent, an advocate for homeless residents who once resided at Columbus Park, said the FAA guidelines can be confusing because encampments underneath flight paths are considered unsafe, but nearby businesses are fine.
“They’re trying to use the new businesses to dress up the camps,” he told San José Spotlight. “They’re going to shield everything along Coleman Avenue.”
Largent pointed out the upcoming Super Bowl and World Cup could be motivating city planning officials to fill the vacant space along Coleman Avenue, which connects the airport to downtown.
Kelly Vazquez, chief operating officer of HomeFirst, said their outreach services toward homeless residents living at Columbus Park include food, hygiene, medical, family reunification and short and long-term housing.
“San Jose has demonstrated a strong commitment to strategies addressing street-based homelessness, and we would urge leaders to keep the needs of individuals living in areas slotted for development a top priority,” she told San José Spotlight.
Largent said the recent ban on RV street parking at 30 locations across the city appears to be increasing the size of encampments.
“All these motorhomes are now showing up, and then people are now camping back out in the field,” Largent said. “I highly doubt you’d want to open up a business right there, but there are businesses there, some that have been open for a long time.”
Contact Vicente Vera at [email protected] or follow @VicenteJVera on X.
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