CC 05-20-2025
Item No. 18
Modification to previous
approved permit for
Westport
Written Communications
From: Gian Martire
To: City Clerk; Benjamin Fu; Luke Connolly; Michael Woo; Floy Andrews Cc: Tina Kapoor; Piu Ghosh (she/her)
Subject: Fw: May 20th Council Hearing - Westport Project Date: Monday, May 19, 2025 10:27:55 AM
Attachments: Westport Cupertino letter of support - 5-19-2025.pdf FYI
Gian Martire
Senior Planner
Community
Development
[email protected]
(408)
777-3319
From: Rafa Sonnenfeld <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2025 10:20 AM
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Cc: Gian Martire <[email protected]>
Subject: May 20th Council Hearing - Westport Project
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Hello,
Please find attached YIMBY Law's letter of support for the Westport Cupertino Project.
Thank you,
Rafa Sonnenfeld he/him
Senior Manager
Check out everything we achieved in 2024!
YIMBY Law
2261 Market Street STE 10416 San Francisco, CA 94114 [email protected]
May 19, 2025 Mayor Liang Chao City of Cupertino 10300 Torre Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014-3255 [email protected] Re: May 20th Hearing on the Westport Cupertino Project Dear Mayor Chao, YIMBY Law is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, whose mission is to increase the accessibility
and
affordability
of
housing
in
California.
YIMBY
Law
sues
municipalities
when
they
fail
to
comply
with
state
housing
laws,
including
the
Government
Code
Section
65589.5,
also
known
as
the
Housing
Accountability
Act
("HAA"),
and
the
Minimum
Parking
Requirements
law,
Government
Code
section
65863.2,
commonly
known
as
“AB
2097.”
The
City
Council
has
an
obligation
to
abide
by
all
relevant
state
housing
laws,
including
AB2097,
when
evaluating
the
above-referenced
project.
We write this letter to express our continued concern about the City’s position in the staff
report
for
the
proposed
modifications
to
the
Westport
Cupertino
project––adopted
by
the
Planning
Commission
at
its
April
22 hearing
on
the
project––that
the
project
is
not
eligible
to
use
AB2097
to
reduce
its
previously
approved
parking
because
AB2097
cannot
be
applied
retroactively.
As
recognized
by
two
Planning
Commissioners
at
the
April
22 hearing,
this
position
is
incorrect
and
AB2097
clearly
is
available
to
the
project.
In addition, we note that the City Council’s decision to abruptly adjourn its May 6 meeting
after
agendizing
the
project
for
a
hearing
raises
an
argument
that
the
Council’s
meeting
on
May
20 will
represent
the
fifth
City
hearing
on
the
project’s
proposed
modifications––the
maximum
number
of
hearings
the
City
may
hold
under
state
housing
law.
Cal.
Govt.
Code
§
65905.5.
YIMBY Law
2261 Market Street STE 10416
San Francisco, CA 94114
[email protected]
We hope the City Council at its May 20 hearing will reject the staff report’s unlawful condition regarding additional required parking and approve the proposed modifications without any additional unlawful conditions.
I am signing this letter both in my capacity as the Executive Director of YIMBY Law, and as a resident of California who is affected by the shortage of housing in our state.
Sincerely,
Sonja Trauss
Executive Director
YIMBY Law
CC:
All City Councilmembers
[email protected]
Gian Martire, Senior Planner
[email protected]
From: Gian Martire
To: Benjamin Fu; Luke Connolly; City Clerk; Floy Andrews; Michael Woo Cc: Tina Kapoor; Piu Ghosh (she/her)
Subject: Fw: HAC Updated Letter re Westport
Date: Monday, May 19, 2025 9:10:46 AM
Attachments: HAC Letter re Westport Revised Program 5.19.2025.docx FYI
Gian Martire
Senior Planner
Community
Development
[email protected]
(408)
777-3319
From: Corey Smith <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2025 9:04 AM
To: Liang Chao <[email protected]>; City Council <[email protected]> Cc: Gian Martire <[email protected]>
Subject: HAC Updated Letter re Westport
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Mayor Chao and members of the City Council,
Please see HAC's updated
letter regarding the Westport project.
Respectfully,
Corey Smith
Executive Director, Housing Action Coalition
--
Corey Smith
陈锐
|
Pronouns: He/Him
Executive Director | Housing Action Coalition
555 Montgomery Street, Suite 720, San Francisco, CA 94111 Cell: (925) 360-5290
|
Office: (415) 300-0967
Email: [email protected] | Web: housingactioncoalition.org Please note the new email and website.
To opt out of all HAC emails, respond to this email with "unsubscribe all". 1 555 Montgomery Street
Suite 720
San Francisco, CA 94111
[email protected]
rg
housingactioncoalition.org
M
ay 19, 2025
Li
ang Chao
Mayor
City of Cupertino Planning Commission
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014-3255
[email protected]
Re
: May 20 Hearing on the Westport Cupertino Project
Dear Mayor Chao:
The Housing Action Coalition wishes to reiterate to the City Council its message to the City’s Planning Commission in its April 21, 2025 letter and May 5, 2025 letter to the City Council, which is that the staff report for the proposed modifications to the Westport Cupertino project incorrectly asserts that the project cannot use AB2097 to reduce its previously approved parking because AB2097 does not allow retroactive application to previously approved projects. Simply put, there is no basis in the text of AB2097 supporting staff’s position and the staff report position on AB2097 is inconsistent with the clear intent of law and would by contrary to published guidance from State HCD.
We also wish to express our concern about the City Council’s abrupt adjournment of its May 6 meeting after agendizing the project for a hearing at the meeting. State housing law limits the number of hearings the City may hold on the project to five. Cal. Govt.
Code § 65905.5.
The project was noticed for a hearing before the Planning Commission on February 25, 2025, though the project was not added to the Commission’s Ferbuary 25 agenda. The City’s website landing page for the Westport Project then reflected that the Planning Commission hearing on the project would take place on March 11, 2025, which also never took place. Given the Planning Commission’s hearing on the Project on April 22, 2025, and the Council’s decision to adjourn its May 6, 2025 meeting before it reached the agenda item for the project, there is an argument that the City Council’s May 20, 2025 hearing on the project will be the City’s fifth.
We encourage the City to avoid potential legal exposure for failure to take action on the project by approving the proposed modifications without delay and without any unlawful conditions related to parking or otherwise.
2 555 Montgomery Street
Suite 720
San Francisco, CA 94111
[email protected]
rg
housingactioncoalition.org
Sincerely,
C
orey Smith, Executive Director
Housing Action Coalition (HAC)
CC:
A
ll City Councilmembers
[email protected]
G
ian Martire
Senior Planner
City of Cupertino
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014-3255
[email protected]
From: Gian Martire
To: City Clerk
Cc: Luke Connolly; Piu Ghosh (she/her); Benjamin Fu
Subject: Fw: Letter Regarding Item #13 on City Council"s Agenda for May 6 (Westport Project Building #1) Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2025 1:38:09 PM
Attachments: Letter to Cupertino re Westport Project Modification Hearings_051325.pdf FYI
Gian Martire
Senior Planner
Community
Development
[email protected]
(408)
777-3319
From: Nicholas Roosevelt <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2025 12:25 PM
To: Liang Chao <[email protected]>; City Council <[email protected]> Cc: James Abrams <[email protected]>; Simsik, Balint <[email protected]>; Gian Martire <[email protected]>; Floy Andrews <[email protected]>; City Attorney's Office <[email protected]>; DeWitt, Cascade <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Letter Regarding Item #13 on City Council's Agenda for May 6 (Westport Project Building #1)
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Mayor Chao and Councilmembers—
Attached please find a letter from the project sponsor of Westport Building 1 regarding the upcoming May 20 hearing on the project.
Thank you,
Nick
-------------
Nick Roosevelt
J. Abrams Law, P.C.
538 Hayes Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Email: [email protected]
Cell: (504)-717-9251
______________________________
This e-mail message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
From: Nicholas Roosevelt <[email protected]>
Date: Monday, May 5, 2025 at 9:01 PM
To: DeWitt, Cascade <[email protected]>, [email protected] <[email protected]>, [email protected] <[email protected]> Cc: James Abrams <[email protected]>, Simsik, Balint <[email protected]>, Gian Martire <[email protected]>, Floy Andrews <[email protected]>, [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Letter Regarding Item #13 on City Council's Agenda for May 6 (Westport Project Building #1)
Hello—
We understand at least some councilmembers have had an issue access thing the letter through the share links. I am hoping the compressed version attached can be open by all recipients. Please let me know if you have issues accessing. -Nick
-------------
Nick Roosevelt
J. Abrams Law, P.C.
538 Hayes Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Email: [email protected]
Cell: (504)-717-9251
______________________________
This e-mail message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
From: DeWitt, Cascade <[email protected]>
Date: Monday, May 5, 2025 at 1:32 PM
To: Nicholas Roosevelt <[email protected]>, [email protected] <[email protected]>, [email protected] <[email protected]> Cc: James Abrams <[email protected]>, Simsik, Balint <[email protected]>, Gian Martire <[email protected]>, Floy Andrews <[email protected]>, [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Letter Regarding Item #13 on City Council's Agenda for May 6 (Westport Project Building #1)
Please try this link:
Cascade Zak DeWitt
(415) 342-4638
[email protected]
From: Nicholas Roosevelt <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 5, 2025 12:55 PM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Cc: James Abrams <[email protected]>; Simsik, Balint <[email protected]>; DeWitt, Cascade <[email protected]>; Gian Martire <[email protected]>; Floy Andrews <[email protected]>; [email protected]
Subject: Letter Regarding Item #13 on City Council's Agenda for May 6 (Westport Project Building #1)
Dear Mayor Chao and Councilmembers—
In the following link, please find a letter regarding tomorrow’s hearing on the proposed modifications to Westport Project Building 1 (Item #13 on the Council’s agenda for tomorrow evening):
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any issue accessing the file link (the link is necessary as opposed to an email attachment due to the size of the attached September 6, 2024 plan set for the proposed modifications).
Thanks,
Nick
-------------
Nick Roosevelt
J. Abrams Law, P.C.
538 Hayes Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Email: [email protected]
Cell: (504)-717-9251
______________________________
This e-mail message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
The information contained in this message and any attachment(s) may be privileged, confidential, proprietary or otherwise protected from disclosure and is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this message and any attachment is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this email and permanently delete the message from your computer.
Nothing contained in this message and/or any attachment(s) constitutes a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any securities.
1 J. ABRAMS LAW, P.C. 538 Hayes Street San Francisco, CA 94102 Nick Roosevelt [email protected] VIA E-EMAIL May 13, 2025 Mayor Liang Chao City of Cupertino 10300 Torre Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014-3255 [email protected] Re: Westport Cupertino Project, Building 1 Dear Mayor Chao and Councilmembers: This firm represents the sponsor of the “Building 1” senior housing development (“Building 1”) within the Westport Cupertino project (the “Project”). We write this letter to reiterate the sponsor’s disappointment and frustration over the abrupt adjournment of the Council’s May 6 meeting before the hearing on Building 1’s proposed modifications (Item #13 on the agenda). We remain unsatisfied with the stated Brown Act justification for adjournment given the physical presence of a quorum of members at the meeting and the underlying issue of whether Councilmember Wang’s remote participation in the meeting from an unspecified location within “Terminal 3, Departures” of the Dubai Airport complied with the Brown Act at all.1 A City Council hearing on May 20, 2025 will be: • 11 months since the Building 1 modification applications were submitted on June 17, 2024; • Nearly 7 months since the applications were accepted as complete on October 31, 2025; • 5 months since City staff finalized an addendum to the Project’s EIR; and • Nearly 3 months since the City first noticed a hearing on the application before the Planning Commission on February 25, 2025. 1 We do wish to extend a note of thanks to Mayor Chao and City staff for expediently re-noticing the Project hearing for May 20 after we pointed out that the Council had not continued the Project hearing to a date certain. 2 Attachment 1 to this letter provides a more detail summary of the delays in hearing scheduling that have occurred this year. The project team has engaged with City staff and decisionmakers in good faith over the past year in an effort to arrive at modifications to Building 1 that temper sponsor’s utilization of available state laws to reduce the cost of producing much needed senior housing for the City with input from City stakeholders concerned about the amount of off-street parking and ground-level retail. This includes retaining a substantial amount of surface-level parking (rather than entirely eliminating Building 1’s parking requirement under AB-2097) and retaining 4,000 square feet of ground floor retail in Building 1 (rather than entirely eliminating the City’s ground-floor retail requirements via State Density Bonus Law incentive/concession). We ask that the Council appreciate this and avoid further delay in approving the Building 1 modification proposal in a manner that is consistent with sponsor’s application and the requests and clarifications set forth in our May 5, 2025 letter. Sincerely, Nick Roosevelt CC: All City Councilmembers [email protected] Gian Martire Senior Planner City of Cupertino 10300 Torre Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014-3255 [email protected] Floy Andrews City Attorney City of Cupertino 10300 Torre Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014 [email protected] 3 ATTACHMENT 1 The application for the proposed modifications to Building 1 was submitted June 17, 2024 and accepted by Planning staff as complete on October 31, 2024. City staff initially noticed the proposed modifications for a hearing before the Planning Commission on February 25, 2025, then successively rescheduled to March 11, and then April 22 based on varying justifications including errors in required public noticing, onboarding of new staff, and the need for further time for City decisionmakers to understand the state laws being invoked as part of the proposed modifications. Specifically, • February 25, 2025 Planning Commission Hearing. Sponsor was informed that this hearing date had to be continued on February 18, 2025 based on a staff error regarding the required radius of hearing noticing. • March 11, 2025 Planning Commission Hearing. This hearing date (posted on the City’s website as shown in the screengrab below) was postponed to provide additional time for staff to coordinate with the new City Attorney. o • April 22, 2025 Planning Commission Hearing. The Building 1 modifications were finally heard by the Planning Commission on this date. • May 6, 2025 City Council Hearing. The Building 1 modifications were Item #13 on the meeting agenda; however, after a hearing on Item #9 and a brief recess, the Council reconvened only to abruptly adjourn the meeting without continuing any of the remaining items on its agenda based on a cited concern about Brown Act compliance due to Councilmember Wang needing to catch a flight from the Dubai airport (as summarized at the start of our letter).