Alviso Top Golf plan has many community benefits

Change is difficult for any community facing new development, and there is no perfect development plan. There’s always a need to compromise. But as the developers of the Top Golf @ Terra project proposed for Alviso, we’re proud of our plan and our work with the community to make it better.

This is a lot more than just a Top Golf entertainment center. There is also a much-needed 200 room hotel, as well as critical commercial development for this underserved community and the surrounding area. In fact, the Top Golf facility only covers 13 of the 36 acres along North First Street.

Critics, including the author of an oped in The Mercury News last week, say Top Golf is too close to Alviso’s elementary school — but it’s located at the opposite end of the property from the school — much farther than the existing Pin High Golf Center that operates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Furthermore, the existing 90 foot net poles from Pin High Golf stand immediately in front of residents’ view, while Top Golf’s net poles will be substantially set back from residences.

All the potential environmental impacts of the project, including from traffic, noise and lighting generated during evening hours, were determined to not adversely impact the elementary school or surrounding community when the required mitigation measures are included.

For the past year and a half, we have met with the Alviso community dozens of times. Many of these meetings were attended by prominent community advocates like Dick Santos, as well as by Mark Espinoza, who wrote the article critical of the project.

We worked painstakingly to collaborate on the project and made numerous revisions to our site plan to accommodate the concerns of the residents. Admittedly, we did not meet all the demands of every individual. Rather, we sought to benefit the entire local community through our revisions to the project. We did so in the sense of being a good neighbor and not out of obligation.

To this end, Top Golf has agreed to give priority to Alviso residents for the 600 jobs that will be generated. This will potentially create a payroll of more than $8 million annually to the local community. Additionally, local kids who are part of the First Tee program will be able to get golf instruction for free at Top Golf.

Finally, we want to clarify that the requested amendment to the Alviso Master Plan does not propose to change the Plan’s vision for development of this area. In fact, the commercial development is in keeping with the vision of the Alviso Master Plan, as the City’s own planning department has determined. Our amendment only requests additional height; the proposed uses and design otherwise adhere to the Alviso Master Plan.

I am an African American businessman, and I have two minority partners. We chose to develop in Alviso and strove to involve the community in the plan in large part because of Alviso’s minority heritage, not despite it.

The City of San Jose has been diligent in ensuring that that we complied with the requirements of the Alviso Master Plan, asking only for the height exception, and the environmental review process.

The Planning Commission recently heard arguments on both sides and voted favorably for the project, including a unanimous vote to recommend that the City Council approve the mitigated negative declaration that says we have thoroughly addressed all the project’s potential environmental impacts.

We hope the San Jose City Council will concur when it takes up the matter on Dec. 13.