New rules make housing on golf courses easier
Developers already eyeing 114 acres at former Pleasant Hills Golf Course in East San Jose
It now will become easier for golf courses in San Jose's far-reaching corners to be converted into other uses under new city rules — a change that supporters argue will help alleviate the area's housing crisis.
Though many of the plots of land still are being used for golf — the abandoned Pleasant Hills course in East San Jose is likely to be the first site to see development as a result of changes made to the city's housing requirements. Last week, a Pleasanton-based design company submitted a proposal to the city to tweak the land use and pave the way for possible housing units, along with commercial space.
Citing the city's tight housing stock, Councilmember Dev Davis said the changes give the city an expanded tool box to combat a problem many see as intractable.
“We've said repeatedly we want more housing,” said Davis, who joined Councilmember Raul Peralez in proposing the new rules. “We want to craft a policy for flexibility for changes in our reality. So that we're not handcuffing future councils.”
Councilmember Sylvia Arenas, whose District 8 includes the Pleasant Hills site, was also behind the new requirements. “When I see that there's an opportunity for us to take advantage, I think we should explore it,” she said during the meeting. “Pleasant Hills Golf Course is a parcel that has had a lot of proposals, and over the years, I have said no to many of those simply because we couldn't build. And we couldn't have that possibility there.”
Shuttered since 2004, the privately owned, 114-acre Pleasant Hills Golf Course is in unincorporated Santa Clara County and currently is on the market for $125 million.
The general plan amendment submitted by the design company Dahlin suggests it could fit a maximum of 3,970 units of housing up to six stories along with 785,000 square feet of retail or hotel space. Though the proposal mentions both market rate and affordable housing, it does not specify percentages of either type. Developers behind the proposal are Tony Arreola, Mark Lazzarini, Jeff Arrillaga and Gary Dillabough, said paperwork filed with the secretary of state.
“With meaningful community input, our goal is to create something special that the community as a whole can be proud of,” said Arreola in a statement.
Before the rule change, there was no path forward for market rate housing on lands like the Pleasant Hills Golf Course. Now city rules will allow the council to jump that barrier if the development proposal meets a certain set of criteria like combatting the area's housing woes.
But that workaround and its details have caused worry in some corners.
In November, the Planning Commission voted against the rule change, and city staffers Dec. 6 also said they didn't approve. Mayor Sam Liccardo joined the dissenting voices, arguing that the land tracts in question are outside of the city's general plan and don't comply with its climate goals because of traffic impacts. Liccardo also thinks the rule change is happening solely because of the Pleasant Hills site — and wants the city to have a stronger say in what ends up being built there.
“I am concerned because these exceptions that are being proposed are really driven by developers who are focused on one very large parcel,” he said during the Dec. 6 meeting. “If we cut corners on process and decide that we're essentially going to allow these kinds of exceptions by essentially developer-led efforts, there will be pushback. I'm pretty confident it is going to get harder, not easier. People have a right of referendum … there are also lawsuits that make efforts like this a lot more costly.”
Environmentalists, including the nonprofit Green Foothills' Juan Estrada, also took aim at the land use changes and agreed with Liccardo's position. “If there is redevelopment, it should have community input,” he said.
In his own proposal, the mayor tried to put forth plans to ensure a city-led community engagement process for any development at the Pleasant Hills Golf Course, along with a minimum level of affordable housing at the site. Liccardo also brought up concerns about interested developers with too narrow of a scope in their plans, pointing out that nearby Reid-hillview Airport is likely to close in 2031 and open up for possible housing.
The council voted to hear out those ideas in either February or March, though Peralez and Davis maintain that their rule changes will allow for robust community input to occur.
A variety of other sites will fall under the rule change — which specifically targets private recreation land — and are located in the city's southeastern region. They include the San Jose Country Club, Ranch Golf Club, Silver Creek Valley Country Club, Rancho Santa Teresa Swim and Racquet Club, Almaden Valley Athletic Club, Almaden Cabana Club, Villages Golf and Country Club and Parkview III Park. There are currently no project proposals for these sites.
In addition to the tweaks to private recreation land, the council also passed additional changes to let allow affordable housing be built in many more parts of the city by removing the requirement that it only be in planned growth areas, expanding eligible areas from 15 to 60% of the city.