455 EAST CALAVERAS BOULEVARD, MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA 95035-5479 GENERAL INFORMATION: 408-586-3005, WWW.MILPITAS.GOV
10/3/2023
Item 12
ADDITIONAL ATTACHMENT
RECEIVED AFTER AGENDA PACKET
DISTRIBTUION
• Item 12 – Letter from SVLG
• Item 12 – Letter from Stratford Schools
CITY OF MILPITAS
October 2, 2023
Via Email
The Honorable Carmen Montano, Mayor
City of Milpitas - City Hall
455 East Calaveras Boulevard
Milpitas, CA 95035
Re: October 3, 2023, City Council Meeting – Agenda Item #11 – Zoning Code Update Dear Mayor Montano and Council Members:
On behalf of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, I am writing to provide feedback on City Council Agenda Item #11 - Zoning Code Update, scheduled for a progress report and direction from the Council on October 3, 2023. As you may know, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group was founded in 1977 by one of Silicon Valley’s pioneers, David Packard. T oday, SVLG serves as the nation’s most effective and dynamic business association representing the innovation economy and its ecosystem. SVLG represents hundreds of innovation technology companies across the broader Silicon Valley region, many of which call Milpitas home.
We are writing to express concern regarding Phase 1 of the Comprehensive Zoning Update, in particular a proposed new zoning district - Business Park Research and Development (BPRD). We applaud the City of Milpitas for its forward planning to attract and retain a range of companies and employment uses. However, we are concerned that various restrictions in the DRAFT zoning code may have the unintended consequence of preventing existing companies from continuing to grow in Milpitas and prohibiting emerging companies from locating in Milpitas.
The technology space is ever evolving, and it is critical that the City of Milpitas remain flexible in terms of allowed uses and combinations of uses on properties and in buildings to accommodate current and future companies and technologies. For example, advanced manufacturing companies and uses, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and automation, various forms of assembly, EV and battery
production, network and connectivity, nanotechnologies and others require significant portions of their buildings be high bay, flexible warehouse space to enable and end to end solution in their production. The DRAFT zoning code language suggests that future buildings in the BPRD Zone would be limited to 20% of warehouse space that must be ancillary to another use. This provision would effectively prohibit many of the companies and technologies that Milpitas seeks to attract to the city and could impact existing companies seeking to remain and expand in the city.
We respectfully request that the City Council direct city staff to conduct meaningful outreach directly with property owners in the proposed new zoning district, corporate users in Milpitas and other subject matter experts prior to taking any action on the zoning code update. The zoning code update is much more than conforming the zoning map to the General Plan map and is too important to rush.
Again, we recommend that the City of Milpitas retain flexibility in its zoning code to support future technologies and attract and retain companies in the city.
Sincerely,
Kristen Brown
Vice President, Government Relations
cc:
Vice Mayor Evelyn Chua
Councilmember Garry Barbadillo
Councilmember Anthony Phan
Councilmember Hon Lien
Acting City Manager Ned Thomas
Acting Planning Director Jay Lee
Economic Development Director Alex Andrade
City Clerk
From: Sean Morley
To: Ned Thomas; Kevin Riley; Avery Stark; Holly Pearson Cc: Sean Powell
Subject: (For Immediate Attention) City Council 10/3 Agenda Item No. 12: Stratford Schools/ Request for technical corrections to identify private schools as a permitted use in proposed BPRD/BPRD-R-Metro Zoning Districts consistent with Metro Specific Plan language
Date: Monday, October 2, 2023 1:23:46 PM
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Dear Ned, Kevin, Avery and Holly,
As you know, we represent Stratford School, which has three campuses in Milpitas including one in the Metro Specific Plan area at 341 Great Mall Parkway within the new Metro Business Park Research and Development (PBRD-Metro) zoning districts area.
We are also currently processing an
application for a small new urban high school campus on the adjacent property under the existing zoning code.
We appreciate our many discussions we City Planning staff
over many months about the Metro
Specific Plan and how these Stratford School campuses will complement the Specific Plan’s goals and policies in the short and long term.
We have also previously confirmed with Planning staff that the Metro Specific Plan expressly allows private school educational uses like Stratford School in the Metro PBRD zoning district area.
[The BPRD Land Use Classifications specifically identify “educational uses” as allowed uses in the Metro Specific Plan on page 44.]
However,
the new zoning code use table (XI-10-9.02 Metro Area General Use Regulations) [page 643 of staff report] Planning staff is presenting to the City Council tomorrow night identifies school uses as “Not Permitted” in the new BPRD-R-Metro and BPRD-Metro districts in direct opposition to the express language of the Specific Plan which allows educational uses in these areas. Since the Specific Plan expressly allows educational uses in these zoning areas the new zoning districts proposed for zoning ordinance update must also allow them to ensure consistency.
For this reason, I presume the
“not permitted” designation is simply a technical error and can easily be corrected.
We request that staff make the following two technical corrections to ensure private schools are permitted uses in the proposed new zoning code for the Metro Specific Plan before the City Council meeting tomorrow night as follows:
● Update XI-10-9.02, Metro Area General Use Regulations [page 643 of staff report] so both the BPRD-Metro and BPRD-R-Metro zoning districts reference school uses/private schools as a permitted use just as the Specific Plan expressly allows.
We understand that private
schools may be identified as “conditional use” under a MSC, MC, or C designation.
● Update Section XI-10-9.01, Purpose and Intent, Subsections E and F [page 639 of the staff report] to include educational uses as allowed consistent with the Specific Plan language as follows:
“The BPRD-R-Metro zone is intended to accommodate business parks, high intensity office buildings, advanced manufacturing, other light industrial uses, educational uses and limited residential uses.”
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions by phone at 408.806.4804; otherwise, I would appreciate confirmation that Planning staff will be updating the recommendations to make these two conforming technical corrections to ensure the zoning ordinance updates are consistent with the express language of the Metro Specific Plan for educational uses including private schools.
Sincerely,
Sean Morley |
Morley Bros., LLC
236 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Ste. 106-A, Los Gatos, CA 95030 408.458.4440 | www.morleybros.com
| [email protected]