| Vision
North San Jose
Above and Below: Images of North San Jose today and in its potential future
Images courtesy of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) & Silicon Valley Action Network
Overview
The City of San Jose has developed several policy documents in order to guide, along with the San Jose General Plan, the ongoing growth and development of the North San José area as an important employment center for San José. These policies include the North San Jose Area Development Policy, the North San Jose Traffic Impact Fee, and the North San Jose Neighborhoods Guiding Principles. Urban Design Guidelines and a Neighborhoods Plan, both currently under development, are intended to provide further policy and implementation strategy to advance the City’s vision for North San Jose.
These Policies address the North San Jose area north and west of Interstate 880 and south of State Route 237. This primarily industrial area is home to many of the City’s high-tech companies and is a very important employment center for the City. The City’s goal is to provide for more development in North San Jose through a set of policies that benefit both the employers who call North San Jose home and the residents of San Jose as a whole.
The Policy provides considerable flexibility for the growth of North San Jose as an employment center through a pool of 26.7 million square feet industrial development capacity that can be allocated to specific properties within the Policy area. Of this 26.7 million square feet, 16 million is specifically allocated to a “Core Area” located along the North First Street corridor, between Trimble Road and Montague Expressway. While the Policy supports the intensification of the entire North San Jose area, particular emphasis is made upon fostering the growth of a corporate center with the Core Area. The Policy also supports the conversion of specific sites from industrial use to high-density residential use, based upon specific criteria compatible with industrial activity, allowing for the development of up to 32,000 new residential units. Retail capacity for up to 1.7 million square feet of local serving retail uses is provided within the Policy to support the area’s new job and housing growth. The Policy also identifies necessary transportation improvements to support new development and establishes an equitable funding mechanism for new development to share the cost of those improvements.
Key Vision North San Jose Goals
Vision North San Jose is a long-range planning effort, addressing future potential growth and development needs. The key goals for the effort are to:
- Proactively plan for growth to allow more industrial development in a way that benefits current San Jose residents.
- Allow up to an additional 27 million square feet of research and development and office space in North San Jose.
- Bring up to 83,000 new jobs to San Jose, providing additional job opportunities for San Jose residents.
- Concentrate up to 16 million square feet of the new research and development and office space in a 600 acre Urban Corporate Center core area along the North First Street light rail corridor, between Brokaw Road and Montague Expressway.
- Develop an average 1.2 FAR in the core area with typical buildings of 6-10 stories.
- Focus on high-tech and corporate headquarters development.
- Create a rich pedestrian environment within the core area to encourage use of the transit system.
- Generate approximately $520 million in funding for the construction of local and regional transportation improvements.
- Provide new high-density residential development (up to 32,000 units) in close proximity to employment centers.
Key Policy Documents
North San Jose Area Development Policy
The North San Jose Area Development Policy supports a unique vision for the North San Jose Area and establishes a specific procedure for the allocation of development capacity within the Policy Area. The current version of the Policy was approved by City Council on June 16, 2009.
North San Jose Area Traffic Impact Fee
The North San Jose Area Traffic Impact Fee establishes a mechanism to fund and implement the identified transportation improvements that will be needed to serve the anticipated development growth in North San Jose. Improvements to serve the projected growth have been identified as part of the “North San JoseDevelopment Policy” traffic study prepared by Hexagon Transportation Consultants Inc, January 2005. As development proceeds in North San Jose, improvements to the transportation system will be needed to serve increases in traffic volumes as well as transit use. The current version of the Fee was approved by City Council on June 16, 2009.
North San Jose Deficiency Plan
The North San Jose Area Deficiency sets forth a plan to address existing and anticipated deficiencies in the level of service (LOS) of intersections in North San Jose that are identified as part of the Santa Clara County Congestion Management Program (CMP). The objective of the North San Jose Deficiency Plan (NSJDP) is to identify and implement a set of measures that will improve transportation conditions and air quality in North San Jose. Further, it is the objective of the NSJDP to set forth a comprehensive solution to LOS deficiencies at CMP intersections in North San Jose to avoid the need for adherence to strict standards at CMP intersections for which no localized mitigation is feasible.
North San Jose Neighborhoods Guiding Principles
The City of San Jose convened a Task Force of North San Jose residents, business owners and property owners to assist with planning for the development of new neighborhoods and neighborhood services as part of the implementation of the City's North San Jose Area Development Policy. The North San Jose Neighborhoods Planning Taskforce held its final meeting on March 6, 2008. The Taskforce unanimously adopted a set of Guiding Principles for future planning and development activity in the North San Jose Policy area. On April 22, 2008, the City Council formally accepted the Guiding Principles developed by the North San Jose Neighborhoods Planning Taskforce and provided direction to staff to continue work on the North San José Implementation Strategy and the North San José Urban Design Guidelines.
On-going North San Jose Planning Initiatives
Two plan documents for North San Jose are currently under preparation and will be brought forward to the Planning Commission and City Council later this year, following additional stake-holder and community outreach:
The North San Jose Neighborhoods Plan combines the Guiding Principles with additional policy to describe the community’s desired outcomes related to parks, education facilities, libraries and retail. The contents of the Neighborhoods Plan were developed by the North San Jose Neighborhoods Planning Taskforce. These policies were initially included within a document entitled “North San Jose Implementation Strategy” in combination with other staff developed policies, but are now proposed to be placed within the Neighborhoods Plan. The Taskforce reviewed and endorsed the policies included within the Neighborhoods Plan at their October 2, 2008 Taskforce meeting.
The North San Jose Urban Design Guidelines set forth guidelines for new private and public development within the North San Jose area in order to strengthen the City’s unique vision for North San Jose. The Urban Design Guidelines address new commercial, industrial and residential private development projects, the design of public streets, parks, trails and open space, and other public facilities. The Taskforce reviewed and endorsed the Urban Design Guidelines at their October 2, 2008 Taskforce meeting.
Background Materials
June 16, 2009 City Council
On June 16, 2009, the City Council considered the following items related to North San Jose:
- Adopt a resolution amending the North San José Area Development Policy to:
- Facilitate the delivery of affordable residential units within North San José consistent with City goals for affordable housing; and
- Allow the Director of Planning the discretion to grant permit time extensions; and
- Make changes to facilitate implementation of the Traffic Impact Fee for hotel and regional commercial uses; and
- Accept Revised North San José Area Traffic Impact Fee Study dated May 2009 and approve an ordinance amending the North San José Area Traffic Impact Fee.
- Defer discussion of the proposal to add capacity within the Policy to allow for up to one million square feet of large scale regional commercial uses and up to 2,000 hotel rooms outside the Core Area, and to decrease the capacity for new industrial uses by two million square feet; and acceptance the North San José Neighborhoods Plan to allow for additional community outreach to occur.
The memo to the City Council encompassing the entire scope of changes to North San Jose is available online: 5/27 Memo to the City Council. A supplemental memo to the City Council is available: Supplemental Memo to the City Council. The following documents were provided to the Council in support of this discussion:
The proposed changes were heard before the Planning Commission on May 27, 2009. The Planning Commission voted 5-2-0 to recommend that the City Council approve the amendments and accept the Neighborhoods Plan. For more detailed information please see the Planning Commission Staff Report & Attachments and the Synopsis of the hearing.
NSJ Task Force
The City of San Jose convened a Task Force of North San Jose residents, business owners and property owners to assist with planning for the development of new neighborhoods and neighborhood services as part of the implementation of the City's North San Jose Area Development Policy. The North San Jose Neighborhoods Planning Task Force held its final meeting on March 6, 2008. The Task Force unanimously adopted a set of Guiding Principles for future planning and development activity in the North San Jose Policy area.
Based upon the input of the Task Force, a North San Jose Implementation Strategy is under preparation. The Implementation Strategy will include the Guiding Principles, design guidelines, neighborhood master plans, and strategies for the future implementation of the North San Jose Area Development Policy.
Additional information on the Task Force is available at http://www.sjredevelopment.org/nsjtaskforce.htm
Contact
If you have any questions regarding the Vision North San Jose policy documents, please contact Darryl Boyd, Principal Planner, at 535-7800 or darryl.boyd@sanjoseca.gov
Implementation
Parks
The policy recognizes that parks will be an important contributor to the creation of a livable community in this area and includes the following direction so that new development include sufficient park land and recreation amenities to meet the needs of the new and existing residents in North San Jose.
- All residential projects are subject to the Parkland Dedication Ordinance. Acquisition of land for park sites, rather than collection of funds, should be given priority in the implementation of the Parkland Dedication Ordinance and/or Park Impact Ordinance.
- Neighborhood Parks should be at least five acres in size, but if the contiguous acreage of a single Residential Overlay area is less than 20-acres, a three-acre park within that area may be acceptable.
- New Residential development should be within 1,000 feet of an existing neighborhood or community park (at least 3-acres in size).
- Staff will determine the most suitable site for a new park within the intent of identifying a centrally located and accessible park site. Projects that do not meet the intent of the Policy with respect to providing park amenities will not be recommended for inclusion in any of the development phases.
North San Jose Applications
Planning entitlements have been issued for the full residential capacity available in Phase 1 under the provisions of the North San Jose Area Development Policy. It is possible that additional residential capacity could become available if existing entitlements expire. Planning entitlements have been issued for a portion of the industrial and commercial capacity, but significant capacity is available for both. For more information on the status of current entitlements or to inquire about the entitlement process, please contact Jodie Clark, Senior Planner, at 535-7818 or jodie.clark@sanjoseca.gov
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