Stevens Creek Corridor Steering Committee Meeting Summary (DRAFT) November 03, 2023, 10:00 AM
Hybrid Meeting
City of Santa Clara - City Hall Chambers
Steering Committee Members Present
Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei, City of San José (Chair)
Mayor Hung Wei, City of Cupertino
Council Member Anthony Becker, City of Santa Clara
Supervisor Cindy Chavez, County of Santa Clara
Council Member Margaret Abe-Koga, City of Mountain View (representing VTA as a VTA Board Member on this Steering Committee)
Speakers Present:
Sean Daly, Consultant Team, Project Manager, Iteris
Christian Ollano, Consultant Team, Engagement Lead, Winter Consulting
Supporting Staff:
Ngan Nguyen, Engagement Coordinator, Winter Consulting
Stefania Diaz, Engagement Coordinator, Winter Consulting
Members of the Public Present:
In-Person Attendance:
Chris Giangreco
Jen Shearin
Virtual Attendance:
Alison Cingolani
Ben Aghegnehu
Daniel Hui
Debra Timmers
Helen Trollman
Helene Davis
Kathleen Elliott
Jennifer G
Linda Zazzara
Marieann Shovlin
Mary Cefalu
Ramses Madou
Randy Breunling
Randy Shingai
Sean Panchal
Seema Lindskog
Steve Chan
Sunil Plaha
Tracie Johnson
*Note that there were also members of the public present online without a name.
1. Welcome & Introductions
Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei began the meeting with opening remarks, including an overview of the meeting agenda and logistics.
Consultant team member Christian Ollano called roll call to acknowledge present and absent Steering Committee members.
Members of the Steering Committee present at the time of roll call: Vice Mayor Kamei (City of San José); Councilmember Becker (City of Santa Clara); Mayor Wei (City of Cupertino); and Supervisor Chavez (County of Santa Clara).
2. Steering Committee Administration
Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei led a discussion on the approval of the last meeting minutes and the adoption of Committee Bylaws, which included discussion on committee bylaw revisions/additions and identification of voting members.
● For discussion and action: Approval of meeting minutes ○ Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei called for a motion to approve the minutes of the last Steering Committee meeting. No Steering Committee members proposed additional changes to the minutes.
■ Councilmember Anthony Becker motioned to approve the minutes of the June 23, 2023, Steering Committee Meeting, and Mayor Hung Wei seconded the motion.
■ During the vote, Council Member Margaret Abe -Koga chose to abstain from the motion (arrived at the meeti ng during discussion item).
● Motion carries to accept the previous meeting minutes unanimously.
● For discussion and action: Adopt Committee Bylaws
○ Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei introduced the updated Committee Bylaws and asked the Steering Committee if there w ere any changes they would like to make to the Bylaws. No changes were requested. She then requested a motion to adopt the Committee Bylaws.
■ Councilmember Anthony Becker motioned to adopt the
Committee Bylaws, and Supervisor Cindy Chavez seconded the motion.
● Motion carries to adopt the Committee Bylaws,
unanimously.
3. Community engagement process to date
Christian Ollano from Winter Consulting led a presentation where he provided an overview of the community engagement that has been completed for Phase 1 of the Vision Study.
He also explained the distinctions between the Steering Committee, Community Advisory Group, and the Working Group, outlining their respective roles and levels of involvement throughout the Vision Study. Community engagement activities completed and discussed include:
● 3 pop-up tabling events (one in each city on the corridor) ● 1 webinar
● 1 Community Advisory Group meeting
● 1 community survey
● Website portal
Questions and comments from Steering Committee:
The members of the Steering Committee conveyed their appreciation for the positive outcome of the engagement so far and provided some considerations for the next phase of engagement. The following recommendations were made:
● Engage neighborhood and business communities who experience parking challenges throughout the next engagement phase.
● Consider how to balance community and commercial n eeds throughout the corridor.
Questions and comments from members of the public:
Members of the public who provided comments on this item suggested that the project team consider the car dealerships throughout the corridor as an asset to the community
that provides vital services. In addition, the public requested information on outreach efforts for car dealerships and associations.
● Chris Giangreco (in -person): Inquired with the consultant team about the approach they planned to take for the outreach activities aimed at car dealerships and associations. Additionally, he wants to know the timeline for the outreach efforts, the questions that would be asked, as well as how the data collected would be shared with the Steering Committee and the Community Advisory Group.
● Jennifer Sheeran (in-person): Encouraged the consultant team to conduct a one - on-one focus group with Walk Bike Cupertino.
4. Identified needs - CAG and engagement briefing
Consultant Sean Daly of Iteris led an informational presentation with an overview of the identified needs from the engagement results from the various forms of engagement that have been done to date. Key highlights include:
● 600+ comments from 300+ touchpoints.
● 140 location -specific responses from web surveys, pop- ups, and Community Advisory Group meetings.
● Key insights gathered from community engagement:
○ Safety surfaces as a top concern
○ The corridor is generally not pedestrian or bicycle-friendly ○ There are not enough transit operations/infrastructure options ○ There is hesitancy to reduce vehicle lanes
○ The overall environment of the corridor is conducive to driving Questions and comments from Steering Committee:
The Steering Committee members suggested that the consultant team should work with all the jurisdictions along the corridor and conduct an audit of their policies and ordinances to ensure alignment. They also asked the consultant team to engage with all segments of the community equally so that everyone could express their thoughts and feelings about the corridor. The Steering Committee members also requested information on how the data collected would be use d to develop recommendations. The following recommendations were made:
● Develop a community tool for assessing the corridor priorities and potential improvements.
● Take into consideration the adaptability of the corridor to future innovative transportation technologies.
Other Steering Committee comments:
● Switching to alternative modes of transportation is a great opportunity, given the data.
● Consider using the (Grand Boulevard Initiative) GBI process to determine similarities for the Stevens Creek Corridor Vision Study. ● Consider doing corridor tours throughout each segment of the corridor. ● Consider incorporating different transportation modes harmoniously into the corridor.
● Plan for implementations that are achievable in the next 5 -10 years, as it will ensure readiness and potential for future opportunities and technologies. ● Consider the potential housing developments that can be implemented throughout the corridor.
5. Steering Committee needs input and vision statement guidance
Consultant Sean Daly of Iteris shared to the Steering Committee that the consultant team would like Steering Committee members to review and provide input/feedback on the needs input and vision statement by November 17, 2023, and may send to either Christian or Sean from the consultant team.
Questions and comments from Steering Committee:
● Steering Committee members made no questions or comments.
6. Next steps
● For discussion and action: Future Steering Committee meeting dates ○ Sean Daly of Iteris informed the Steering Committee that Steering Committee Meeting #3, previously scheduled for April 2024, has been rescheduled for January 2024, to accommodate for an additional Steering Committee meeting to approve a vision statement. He emphasized that the new date is not set in stone and is subject to change if necessary. Sean
also mentioned that the second Community Advisory Group will be held on December 7, 2023, where the Vision Statement will be refined and distilled for Steering Committee review and revision.
■ Council Member Anthony Becker proposed that the Steering Committee be a part of the corridor tour and requested that the Steering Committee work with Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei to solidify a date.
■ Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei informed the members that she would send out time frames to see what works for everyone. ■ Supervisor Cindy Chavez recommended that VTA start the tour at one end of the corridor and make its way to the other end of the corridor. She also mentioned that members of the Working Group and Community Advisory Group should be invited on the tour and then have different members from corresponding jurisdictions present their findings of the corridor tour.
■ Board Member Abe -Koga mentioned that she would like the corridor tour to take place before the adoption of the vision statement.
7. Public Comment
Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei opened the floor for public comment, starting with in-person and then virtual.
● Chris Giangreco (in-person): Volunteered to help set up a walking tour for the western segment of the corridor. During the conversation, he mentioned that he knows the Vice Mayor is working with San Jose's Department of Transportation (DOT) to develop a traffic management plan for the upcoming holidays, but he worries that it might not be effective. He also commented on the innovation zone that former Vice Mayor Chappie Jones initiated.
● Jennifer Sheeran (in-person): Showed appreciation for the comments that were made regarding bike utilizations. She mentioned that if the corridor’s design was more bike-friendly, she could see people utilizing their bikes more to run errands and generally commute throughout the corridor. She also expressed that keeping things on a human scale can help improve safety throughout the corridor and suggested that the focus should be on a human scale. ● Jennifer (online): Commented that she is familiar with the different issues pertaining to Stevens Creek. She stated that because of her current state of health, she cannot use bikes as a mode of transportation, and because of this,
she depends on car usage. She also commented that none of the three cities, Santa Clara, San José, and Cupertino, have been certified in their housing element by HCD, and that because of this, they have been forced to rezone, which raises concerns for her.
● Tracy Johnson (online): Stated that some companies offer parking facilities on their premises to their employees, while others advise their employees to park in the nearby neighborhoods, which may pose concerns. Tracy also inquired whether the vision and implementation plan would be subject to public voting. ● Jennifer (online): Asked for clarification on how the housing elements of the three cities impact or change the corridor. Additionally, she mentioned that none of the three cities have been given certification by HCD. ● Jennifer (online): Stated that the housing element requires cities to rezone vast amounts of frontage on Stevens Creek Boulevard and San Carlos Boulevard.
High-rise buildings may require changes to the current frontage of the corridor which may affect public transportation. She mentioned that she is concerned about the loss of infrastructure and trees and that too many cut-outs will go to high-rise housing.
● Randy (online): Asked if it is a stated intent of the Stevens Creek Corridor Vision Study to fight the climate crisis.
● Randy (online): Asked how all of the enthusiasm for adding bike lanes to various roads in the county translated into actual bike lane usage where bike lanes have previously been added. He also inquired if the City of San José or the county has statistics on bike lane usage.
● Jennifer (online): Stated that she wants the project team to ensure that the public is not excluded from the project.
● Randy (online): Asked if anything from this study will be actionable or if it is just a roadmap.
● Randy (online): Asked if achieving a 15-minute city is a defined objective for the Vision Study.
● Seema (online): Stated that she is very excited about this project and that she is really proud that the three cities have started collaborating. She also mentioned that she did some research on developments that will be happening along the corridor and found that there is a 59-unit housing development coming up on 3941 Stevens Creek in Santa Clara, a 250-room hotel in San José, and 267-unit apartment in Cupertino with an addition of another 9-unit development. This will result in many people and cars that will come into Stevens Creek Boulevard, and we need to come up with another mode of transportation to accommodate all of those people.
Questions and comments from Steering Committee:
● Councilmember Anthony Becker: Mentioned that he understands the concern with dealerships encouraging their staff to park in neighborhoods and has seen how permitted parking has now been enforced because of i t. Additionally, he encouraged the consultant team to host the corridor tour early in the new year.
He has also seen shoppers from Westfield Valley Fair park in neighborhoods to avoid paying parking fees at Valley Fair. He also mentioned that he would like to see some kind of pedestrian overhead crossing to avoid traffic congestion.
7. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM.
Please direct correspondence and questions to:
City of Santa Clara - City Hall Chambers
Attn: Mike Liw
1500 Warburton Ave, Santa Clara, CA 95050, USA