TO: CITY COUNCIL FROM: Mayor Matt Mahan
Vice Mayor Foley
Councilmember Campos
Councilmember Cohen
Councilmember Casey
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: August 13, 2026
Approved:
SUBJECT: General Plan Four-Year Review Policy Framework.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Approve the planning commission recommendations with the following modifications:
a. Create a minimum parking standard in residential neighborhood (RN) areas with low transit access as defined by state law.
b. Amend and replace (e) 1. i to direct staff to environmentally review increasing RN density to 16 DU/AC, 24 DU/AC, and 32 DU/AC, and return to the Council with these options in December 2027 for consideration.
c. Explore allowing neighborhood serving commercial, beyond home-based occupations, in RN.
d. For sites with a General Plan land use designation of public quasi-public (PQP) that are 1.5 acres or less, allow 100% affordable housing and remove the requirement that 25% of the units shall be for permanent supportive housing (PSH), and include a minimum density of 60 dwelling units to the acre. e. As part of the development of the framework for PQP sites mentioned in staff recommendation (a) 2, consider allowance of community serving uses as part of the framework that shall be informed by outreach to impacted property owners such school districts.
COUNCIL AGENDA: 08/18/2026
FILE: 26-852
ITEM: 10.3
2. Amend the Envision San José 2040 Land Use/Transportation Diagram designation from Public/Quasi-Public to Transit Residential on an approximately 4.67-gross-acre site located at 5585 Cottle Road.
a. Modify the Zoning designation for the Southside Community Center to accommodate housing and a mix of community-serving uses.
BACKGROUND
Land use determines a city’s livability, vibrancy, and affordability. This direction seeks to achieve these goals by streamlining opportunities for affordable housing to be built on small sites of PQP land to create pathways for affordability and exploring the creation of community serving shops in residential areas.
With the enactment of dozens of state housing laws, most residential lots in the city already allow up to four units and, in some cases under Senate Bill 1123, up to ten. However, this unplanned growth can lead to lot splits, and unorthodox configurations of multiple ADU’s attached to existing homes, all without any additional parking. Our recommendation creates a pathway under the Residential Neighborhood (RN) designation for two to four homes per lot that does not force lot splits or multiple ADU’s. We can encourage the creation of new homeownership housing, such as row homes, with parking. San José and California’s homeownership rate remains 10% below the national average. This policy will unlock an opportunity for many more families to build equity and invest in their community.
Most critically, the proposed changes to the RN land use designation are necessary to fulfill the City’s obligation to the State under our approved housing element. Failure to approve an increase in residential density risks decertification of the City’s Housing Element and loss of local land use authority. Decertification would again expose the City to builder’s remedy projects that could result in permanent loss of employment land, development incompatible with existing neighborhoods, and loss of open space.1 The City also would lose eligibility for significant state grants, which are essential for investment in local transportation and infrastructure.
As our city creates more residential density, we will need more neighborhood serving commercial uses, from barber shops to local eateries. These relatively low impact uses are limited to commercial corridors, which runs counter to achieving our goals of creating walkable, vibrant neighborhoods. That is why we want to explore a policy that allows neighborhood businesses on corner lots adjacent to major thoroughfares. This can reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT), increase community vibrancy, and create more small businesses.
Our faith institutions are a cornerstone of community gathering. As mission-driven organizations, many have approached the City about utilizing their land for affordable housing.
These sites already allow affordable housing, but have a requirement that 25% of the units serve (PSH) households. In an era of constrained federal, state, and local funding, this requirement creates an undue financial strain on the feasibility of an affordable project. Because of this
1 Builder's Remedy refers to a provision in the Housing Accountability Act (HAA) that prohibits cities from denying residential projects on the basis that they do not conform to General Plan or local zoning requirements. This applies when a city does not have a Housing Element that has been certified by HCD.
reality, our recommendation removes the PSH requirement. This policy recommendation is narrowly scoped as affordable projects still need sufficient funding and must work with local congregations to meet their needs for assembly space.
With schools closing across the city, we want to ensure these lands can remain in the public’s trust and serve community needs. School districts need a source of revenue, with shrinking enrollment of 27% (nearly 18,000 students) in the decade leading up to 2025, and 18 campuses closing across five school districts in the City since the 2024-2025. We believe that this need should be balanced with community input and needs. We can create a win-win solution for the districts and the community at large by allowing schools to work with the City to create compatible uses that create revenue and serve children, seniors, and the broader community.
Southside is among the oldest community centers in the City. Several years ago, the Council District 2 Office collaborated with the City Administration to explore a public-private partnership that would bring new housing, including affordable homes, alongside a new community center. The pandemic prevented the exploration from moving forward. This 4-Year Review is an opportunity to proactively amend the General Plan to facilitate the redevelopment of the Southside Community Center to provide new public facilities along with affordable and market-rate housing. The City, as the property owner, would retain all land use and planning discretion. If a new mixed-use General Plan land use designation is approved, the City could subsequently go through an extensive public process to identify a development partner, design a new community center and public amenities, and provide much needed community facilities and housing.
Approval of these recommendations is an early step in a long process to update the General Plan.
Based on the framework being considered and approved by Council, staff will conduct a robust environmental analysis of the impacts of any proposed General Plan amendments, and return to Council in December 2027 with final recommendations for consideration. At that time, the Council will have a better understanding of the environmental impacts of the proposed changes to the General Plan. Studying a range of densities allows the Council in December 2027 the greatest optionality to set the RN density in response to guidance that may be received from the State of California.
We believe this general plan update can grow small business opportunity, create affordability in housing, and uplift the next generation of San Jose residents.
The signers of this memorandum have not had, and will not have, any private conversation with any other member of the City Council, or that member’s staff, concerning any action discussed in the memorandum, and that each signer’s staff members have not had, and have been instructed not to have, any such conversation with any other member of the City Council or that member's staff.