San José Development
Policy Updates
Fighting climate change, strengthening our
economy, clearing the path for more
housing, and building a more equitable city
Michael Brilliot, Deputy Director, PBCE
Jessica Zenk, Deputy Director, DOT
Ramses Madou, Division Manager, DOT
November 29, 2022 – Items 8.4 and 8.5
San José Development Policy Updates
2 Item 8.4: Parking & Transportation Demand Management Ordinance
Eliminate mandatory parking minimums citywide*
Revise transportation demand management requirements
Item 8.5: Amend Policy 5-1 – the City's Transportation Analysis Policy
Why are we doing this?
3 Carbon neutral by 2030 pledge
Outdated parking policies
Make housing – especially affordable housing – easier to build Activate spaces – encourage parklets & outdoor dining Cost of Development findings top of mind
4 Community Feedback
2 Study
Sessions
27 Focus
Groups
11 Webinars &
Workshops
6 Developer’s
Roundtables
Renters Homeowners Employers Developers Peer Cities
1,700+
San Joséans
Who We’ve Engaged With
*Where the City has contractual parking obligations (e.g., the Diridon Area), some minimum requirements will remain for commercial development.
Per June 2022 City Council direction, the Ordinance and Memo:
5 Eliminate mandatory parking minimums citywide*
Revise the City’s Transportation Demand Management
(TDM) requirements for new developments (except for
small projects) & develop ongoing TDM monitoring
program
Address specific requests – for example, smart
parking and additional engagement – from City
Council
Impacts of these changes on cost of development
6 Would these changes
affect cost of
development?
If so, how?
• Cost of constructing parking
• Cost of TDM (reduced to 25 points)
• Developer time preparing TDM plan
• City time reviewing consolidated TDM plan
8 Council Policy 5-1: Transportation Analysis
• Adopted February 2018;
• Established Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) in Transportation Analysis as San Jose's CEQA metric for transportation, removing Level of Service (LOS);
• Aligned City CEQA rules with state requirements (SB 743); • Focuses on Regional Level Impacts – Environmental, Public Health, and Access;
• Promotes Infill Development near Transit.
Update to Policy 5-1 (VMT Policy)
Further Promote Housing Production
• Streamline CEQA for more market-rate housing near
transit.
• Allow all housing projects aligned with the land use
policies of the General Plan to be considered for a
statement of Significant and Unavoidable Impacts.
Further Promote Affordable Housing
• Streamline CEQA for more 100% affordable housing.
• Update screening criteria to allow more affordable
housing in high resource areas.
Update and Integrate Maps
• Update baseline VMT calculations based on recently
available land use and transportation data.
• Adopt Countywide VMT calculator, developed by VTA
based on the City’s calculator and adopted by
neighboring jurisdictions.
UPDATED
CURRENT
9 Projects Currently Streamlined for Transportation Analysis under CEQA 10 Projects that currently qualify for
the presumption of less than
significant Vehicle Miles Traveled
• Small Infill Projects;
• Local-Serving Retail;
• Local-Serving Public Facilities;
• Transit Supportive Projects in Planned Growth Areas with Low VMT and High-Quality Transit;
• Restricted Affordable, Transit Supportive Residential Projects in Planned Growth Areas with High Quality Transit; • Transportation Projects that reduce or do not increase VMT.
Promote Housing Production
• Transit Supportive (Market Rate) Projects in Planned Growth Areas with Low VMT and High-Quality Transit.
Current
Residential
Proposed
Residential
11 Promote Affordable Housing Production
• Restricted Affordable, Transit Supportive Residential Projects in Planned Growth Areas with High-Quality Transit;
• Areas of the City outside of Urban Villages are open Affordable Housing Current
100% Affordable
Proposed
100% Affordable
12 What is an
Override?
• Development Projects need to be
below the VMT threshold
• Some Projects can mitigate VMT to
meet the threshold
• Mitigation can be done by constructing
or funding transportation
improvements or TDM
• Even with mitigations, some Projects
can't meet the threshold
• Council can adopt a Statement of
Overriding Consideration and certify
EIR under certain circumstances, per 5-
1 • Statement that project benefits
outweighs identified environmental
impacts
• Housing Projects must be 100%
affordable (80% AMI)
Project below
threshold
Project needs
mitigation
Project needs
mitigation & Council
Override
Policy 5-1: Options to Override Significant & Unavoidable Impact 14 Current Override Staff Recommended
Changes to Override*
T&E Alternative Regarding
Override
• 100% deed-restricted
affordable housing
• 100% deed-restricted
affordable housing
• Staff recommended changes
to override AND
• Market-rate housing located
within Urban Villages
• Market-rate housing located
within Urban Villages
• Market-rate housing
consistent with the City’s
General Plan land use
designation effective
11/29/22 or City-initiated
amendments thereafter
• Market-rate housing
proposed on private
recreation land that
requires a privately-
initiated General Plan
Amendment and satisfies
specific affordable housing,
neighborhood vibrancy,
fiscal impact, recycled
water, parkland, public
outreach, and entitlement
process requirements
• Commercial projects • Commercial projects
• Industrial projects • Industrial projects
*Staff Recommendation Goal: Provide all projects aligned with the General Plan a path forward under Policy 5-1.
Direction from T&E:
Explore amendments that would Support a
Statement of Overriding Considerations for
proposed General Plan Amendments for:
• Market Rate Housing Projects
• Outside of Growth Areas
• That have immitigable VMT
Alternative Recommendation From T&E Committee
Proposed Policy 5-1 Criteria for Statement of Overriding Considerations
Applicable Areas
• Lands within the Urban Growth Boundary/
Urban Service Area
• Lands Designated Private Recreation
• Few if any vacant or underutilized lands
designated Residential Neighborhood or
Mixed-Use Neighborhood
• Lands designated Rural Residential and Lower
Hillside are not infill locations
Potential Infill site at Tully and
White Roads Courtesy Google Maps
City Edge at Gurdwara Ave
Courtesy Google Maps
Criteria
Affordable Housing
• Must make significant contribution towards meeting City’s Housing Element/RHNA goals for Low and Moderate income units
Commercial
• Proposals between 25-50 acres shall provide at least two acres of land dedicated to neighborhood servicing commercial uses.
• Proposals greater than 50 acres but less than 100 acres shall provide up to 4 acres of commercial.
• Proposals that are 100 acres or greater shall provide up to 6 acres of commercial.
Proposed Policy 5-1 Criteria for Statement of Overriding Considerations
Criteria Continued…
Transportation
• Mitigate VMT impact to the maximum extent feasible
• Construct or fund multimodal improvements
Parks
In park deficient areas provide park land in excess of PDO/PIO requirements Other Improvements
• Required use of recycled water if and when recycled water is available to site Proposed Policy 5-1 Criteria for Statement of Overriding Considerations
Process
Public Engagement
• Conduct outreach consistent with “Projects of Significant Community Interest” under Public Outreach Council Policy 6-30
• Outreach should be conducted throughout the entitlement process • Conducted in predominate languages of the area
Fiscal Analysis
• Proposal required to do Fiscal Analysis to identify fiscal impacts to City Entitlement Process
• Project proposal would need to be submitted and considered with General Plan Amendment
Proposed Policy 5-1 Criteria for Statement of Overriding Considerations
Staff Not Recommending this Alternative Recommendation
• Would facilitate development in locations inconsistent with the General Plan and Climate Smart San Jose
• City Policy should not be driven by interest in one property • Council consideration of development outside already identified areas for growth and housing should be grounded in City-led area planning or visioning processes, rather than by individual projects
Proposed Policy 5-1 Criteria for Statement of Overriding Considerations
Recommend to City Council that it:
1. Approve staff's recommended amendments to Council Policy 5- 1 2. Reject Alternative Recommendation
Planning Commission Recommendation
Council Policy 5-1 Update – Summary
22 Further Promote Housing Production
Streamline CEQA for more market-rate housing and commercial near transit. Allow all housing projects aligned with the land use policies of the General Plan to be considered for a statement of Significant and Unavoidable Impacts.
Further Promote Affordable Housing
Streamline CEQA for more 100% affordable housing.
Update screening criteria to allow more affordable housing in high resource areas.
Update and Integrate Maps
Update baseline VMT calculations based on recent land use and transportation data. Adopt Countywide VMT calculator, developed by VTA based on the City’s calculator and adopted by neighboring jurisdictions.
San José Development
Policy Updates
Fighting climate change, strengthening our
economy, clearing the path for more
housing, and building a more equitable city
Michael Brilliot, Deputy Director, PBCE
Jessica Zenk, Deputy Director, DOT
Ramses Madou, Division Manager, DOT
November 29, 2022 – Items 8.4 and 8.5