[Update: Due to special agenda items pertaining to the potential deal between the city and the ‘49ers football organization, the presentation originally scheduled for 22 January has been moved to 12 February. ]

The Pepper Tree Neighborhood Association will express concerns about high-density housing to the Santa Clara City Council on Tuesday, 22 January 2008. The meeting will start at 7:00 p.m. in City Hall, located at 1500 Warburton Ave, Santa Clara, CA 95050.

Although the Kaiser Permanente/Fairfield Residential project is problematic, it is in many ways merely an implementation of the decisions the Santa Clara City Council and Planning Commission made several years ago when they re-zoned the property at 900 Kiely Blvd. By focusing purely on higher-density future development for the purpose of low-cost apartments, city officials have largely ignored the effects on the quality of life and desires of existing long-term residents. Cities don’t grow because there is plenty of rental housing; cities grow when they become, and remain, good places to stay. We need to ensure that this is understood and remains a top priority for the sitting City Council and Planning Commission.

In neighboring cities, like Sunnyvale and Milpitas, anything over 27 units per acre is seen as Very High Density development. It is in Santa Clara mainly that this density is seen as Moderate Density, with High Density not even listed in the Housing Element of the General Plan. Although we need to focus on revenue generation and affordable housing, it should not come at the expense of quality of life, not just for local residents, but the rest of the city. The City Council and Planning Commissions should not be agencies to fight against, but servants of the permanent residents and registered voters.