Homes to be built on property of Cambrian School District

Single-family housing may generate $500K a year for educational programs

An underused property owned by San Jose’s Cambrian School District soon will be transformed into a site for new community with state-of-the-art, single-family homes and accompanying granny units.

The San Jose City Council voted 9-2 Feb. 23 to rezone a 2.7-acre vacant district-owned property at 1975 Cambrianna Drive from quasi-public land to residential, paving the way for the construction of 35 new housing units.

The site, which is surrounded on three sides by single-family home neighborhoods, currently consists of a grass field used by the community for recreational activities. The district estimated that converting it into a residential site will generate about $500,000 a year for student programs.

Council member Magdalena Carrasco and Mayor Sam Liccardo voted against the rezoning, siding with affordable housing advocates who argued that the site could have been used to accommodate many more homes, especially much-needed affordable units for lowwage workers and families.

Cambrian School District serves about 3,500 K-8 students across four elementary schools, one middle school and a K-8 specialty school for STEAM.

Faced with an estimated $1.7 million budget shortfall in the coming years,

Cambrian School District plans to use the revenue generated from selling the land to address its deficits and fund important education programs at risk of getting cut, according to Superintendent Carrie Andrews.

The district has spent the past two years working with district parents and community members surrounding the property to develop a plan that was amenable to nearly everyone affected. Before the San Jose City Council meeting on Feb. 23, the district submitted more than 1,100 letters of support for the project.

“All of this effort was done in a manner that will financially empower our district to keep valuable programs and support for our students directly for many years to come,” Andrews wrote in a statement after the council’s vote.

The Cambrian School District board of trustees in October approved a contract with Fremont-based Robson Homes to develop the land and build the new homes.

The new community is set to feature a total of 35 residential units — 17 traditional single-family homes, 14 granny flat units and two sets of attached homes, two single-family homes on separate parcels that will share a wall. The 21 homes will be for sale, and it will be up to the owners of the 14 properties with accompanying granny flat units whether or not to rent them out. The development will be required to provide 15% of the units to residents who earn 80% or less of the area median income — or up to about $73,000 for a single person.

Council member Pam Foley, who represents the city’s Cambrian area, said the development fits the surrounding single-family neighborhoods and stressed that the approval of the project was “about the children” over anything else.

“This is about this little school district, being able to raise $500,000 from the use of its land in order to balance its budget so that it can continue to offer programs to its kids,” she said. “Cambrian School District needs to focus on its core business, which is to provide the best education it can for all of its children.”

The district has divided its 10-acre property at 1975 Cambrianna Drive into three separate parcels. The new homes will cover 2.7 acres on the eastern edge of the property. The district will keep the former Metzler Elementary School building, which sits in the middle of the property, and continue renting out space in the facility to its tenants, a preschool and sports center. On the third segment of the property, which touches Union Avenue, the district plans to build a 50-unit memory care facility for seniors.

Heather Olah, a Cambrian School District parent who lives within half a mile of the property, said she felt the district had “given tremendous thought to the needs of the community and proposed something that will benefit everyone.”

“If allowed to proceed, it will provide much-needed funds to continue supporting our students and attracting and keeping quality teachers,” Olah said during the meeting. “… As a resident of the neighbor