Proposal for housing worries current commercial tenants
Like other cities in the Bay Area, Milpitas is under pressure to meet certain housing goals, and it is now eyeing three prime pieces of land to build as many as 260 units.
But the possible development has current tenants on the 2.71 acres along South Main Street worried about being displaced. The strip includes a cat boarder, a locksmith, a food pantry and a handful of auto repair shops.
Jackie Hulton, manager of Silicon Valley Locksmith, sympathizes with the city’s need to build more housing but said she sees businesses being sidelined even as more residents move into the city.
“All these little baby mom and pop shops that we have here are kind of getting forced out,” Hulton said.
Hulton’s shop has been in Milpitas for 38 years.
“If we move (out of the city), it would either be Sunnyvale or Santa Clara, which is really bad for Milpitas because we have been here for so long. All of our customers who have been coming here for so long…I feel bad,” Hulton said.
The northernmost parcel is owned by the city’s Housing Authority and the other two — parcels two and three — are owned by Milpitas.
There are currently two plans on how to develop the parcels.
One calls for separating the northernmost parcel from the other two. If that happens and the city develops the housing project, it would be legally required to be 100% low-income. If the city sells the parcel to a private developer, the units can be offered at market rate, though the proceeds of the sale must go towards future affordable housing projects.
The other plan would combine all three parcels for mixed-income housing, ground-floor retail shops and a green space. That proposal is subject to the Surplus Land Act, which requires Milpitas to prioritize offers for affordable or mixed-income housing for a 90-day period.
No matter what, the clock is ticking on the first parcel — owned by Housing Authority — which must be slated for housing by August 2022 because of local provisions.
Under the state’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment, or RHNA, Milpitas must meet certain housing goals. While Milpitas was offered a goal of 3,290 units between 2014 and 2022, an analysis from the Southern California News Group found that the city issued a majority of permits for above moderate income housing.
The parcels are within the boundaries of a larger redevelopment project called the Milpitas Metro Specific Plan, which aims to build more housing, retail and office space in the city’s southern region that is close to BART and VTA bus lines.
Whether the businesses in the area get help from the city to relocate depends on who the final owner of
the property is. If Milpitas chooses to develop one or all of the parcels, the businesses who have to move will receive financial assistance and services for relocating. But if the site is sold on the open market, then the city has no legal obligation to help the business relocate.
Just a stone’s throw from Hulton’s shop is The Cat’s Nest, a cat boarding business owned by Susan Edwards that has been around since 1995 and is also located in parcel one.
“If they want to move us, I don’t have a problem moving next door,” Edwards said. “That would be fine, provided they (offer) the service and the funds to do so. And that I get a similar situation to what I have because this has worked for me. I just wish they would make up their mind so I know where I stand.”
It’s that uncertainty that has pushed six of the businesses in the area, including Hulton and Edwards, to hire a law firm from Sacramento who specializes in land-use issues. Kristen Renfro, the attorney overseeing the case, did not respond to a request for comment.
Rose Riggs, a resident in the nearby Pines neighborhood who has worked with the parcels’ business owners as their de facto representative,
is urging city leaders to keep the businesses where they are. Riggs, who has lived in The Pines for 31 years, said that the busy South Main Street is meant for businesses and the city will lose out on potential patrons.
“Thousands and thousands of cars pass by every day,” Riggs said about South Main Street. “If they just pass by residential, then that’s all they’re going to see and they’re gonna drive out of town and shop somewhere else.”
Riggs was one of several residents who tuned into a presentation on Oct. 28 from the city’s Building Safety and Housing Department about the proposal.
Steve Roberts, owner of Liberti’s Auto Electric in parcel three since 2012, said during the presentation that while he understands the city is trying to build more residential housing, it has been a struggle to find potential locations on where his business could move.
“I’ve looked around Milpitas to try to find a comparable place to move to and there’s really nothing available that I could see to stay in Milpitas,” he said during the meeting. In response, Assistant City Manager Ashwini Kantak said that the city has more control over what happens to two of the parcels and opened up the possibility that they wouldn’t turn into housing.
“We do have more discretion with parcels two and three, but have some time constraints on what to do with parcel one,” Kantak said. “So the approach to the different parcels may end up being different, as well.”