D1 L.G. General Business Meeting Minutes 11.12.22
D1 Leadership Group General Business Meeting Minutes 11.12.22
Meeting was opened by Steve Ling at 9:15 am. Current officers were introduced. Steve Ling, Chair, Gary Cunningham, Vice-Chair, Jerry Giles, Secretary, & Betty Kabanek, Treasurer.
Meeting minutes of 9.17.22 were approved.
Gary C.: Mentioned that he’s on the Measure T. Over-Site Committee.
Daphna Wolfe: Parks Commissioner. D1 hasn’t had a new park in 50 years. New parks are Payne Ave. and Orchard. Federal Realty put up $5 million for Santa Row Park. Held up because Cal Trans is contemplating on 280 off ramp to Tisch Ave. Two parcels are adjacent to the park and are privately owned by Federal Realty and the other by Gary Swanson.
Steve: Priorities of Board. Crime: trying to connect with Capt. Spears. Housing and Development are 2 more priorities. El Paseo and Costco. Need to rebuild NAs and invite local organizations. Emergency Prep is another priority.
Chappie Jones: His last meeting. He’s heard and believes that D1 has the best Leadership Group in the City. He is writing a memo to the Council regarding RV parking in the neighborhoods. It will go to Council on 11/29. Will be looking at all problem locations. First, we don’t know anything about the RV people. Second, what are the proper solutions? Can’t just move them out. There are legal constraints.
Second memo about public safety to Public Safety Committee. It’s only a small number of people who are breaking into cars. He’s writing a second memo regarding criminals getting released early from jail. Memo trying to understand why criminals are arrested multiple times. Will take a lot of coordination between the City, County, and State.
There is a tentative date of 12/3 set for D1 Shredding event. Council Office working with a new shredding company to set this up. Chappie asked members to remind him about all housing elements that are proposed on Saratoga Avenue. Bob Levy talked about changing the Saratoga Avenue off ramps at 280 and building a pedestrian overpass to John Mize Park. It’s been proposed and discussed over the last 8 years.
Daphna W.: New developments should always have park space. Mt. View has been building a lot of affordable housing. Other small peninsula cities have also done so. If we allow more park space, then building heights must go up. Chappie is having a going away party on 12/9 at the SJ Rotunda. Rosemary Kamai is on vacation and could not attend our meeting.
Mark Pawliger – President of the Country Lane NA. Speaking on the Costco development. The old OSH site, Goodwill store, Smart & Final, and Ethan Allen stores will be demolished for the new Costco store. Country Lane is directly north of the new Costco site. Chappie Jones announced the Costco development on 10/21. SJ requested some changes to the development. In 2022, the EIR did not incorporate NA’s and SJ and Campbell requests for change. There were only two community meetings held by developers. Costco will open in 2025. It will build a parking lot on the roof of the building along with ground-level parking. Costco trucks will come in from the east along Graves Ave. from 2am until 10am. This is a neighborhood concern. Neighborhood wants Costco & the City to listen to neighbors’ concerns re: truck traffic. Country Lane wants a good separation between itself and Costco. There will be no sound walls on the north side of Costco. There are also safety issues getting in and out of the new parking lot. There will also be a lot of traffic and pedestrian traffic when Prospect High lets out in mid-afternoon. The City and Costco have not addressed these concerns. Also, there are no provisions for solar panels on the site, nor any mitigation for natural gas use on the site.
Angie Reddell (Supervisor Ellenberg’s office) said the Supervisor is willing to speak at all NA meetings. Let her know, if interested.
Olympia Williams (Div. Mgr. of Beautify S.J.) Contact her if you want a dumpster day for your neighborhood. You’ll need to provide your own volunteers. Her main job is to work with neighborhood associations. She wants to know what is the best way for the city to communicate to the NAs and what is the best way for the NAs to communicate with the City. If we have concerns, we need to contact her office. We can contact her at [email protected]. and at [email protected]. Jim Landowski wanted trees planted at former homeless site, but the City can’t due to drought. Robert Benscoter asked if the debris north of I 280 could be removed. Olympia asked him to contact her office.
Cell phone 911 emergency equivalent is 408-277-8911. The non-emergency cell phone (311 equivalent) is 408-277-8900.
Julie Grabbe is willing to work w/NAs regarding new bldg. development. Betty K. (Treasurer) reported that our current bank balance is $2,137.12. Meeting adjourned at 11:12am.
