HOUSING FOR HOMELESS PROPOSAL DRAWS IRE
A similar project is already in the works a few blocks away
SAN JOSE >> Just as construction begins on a similar project a few blocks south, residents who live near Ryland Park are balking at another
proposal to house homeless people in their neighborhood.
At an informal gathering Monday evening, more than 50 people packed into a sweltering meeting room to hear what the would-be developer Seven Hills Properties has in mind for 447 N. 1st Street, at the corner of Fox Ave.
“It’s very, very early stage,” said Elizabeth Brady, a spokeswoman for the company.
Today, the property is a nondescript two-story office building that blends into the other offices and homes that surround it. The company is interested in building a fivestory apartment complex (tapering to four stories in places) that could house more than 100 people.
Seven Hills already runs Cinnabar Commons, a housing complex for low-income residents west of downtown,
and has an operations director on staff that it says helps enforce strict rules in an attempt to keep the area safe and secure. They would have a similar person in place at the new project, Brady said, and work with a service provider who could help residents.
Karishma Patel used to lived near the Cinnabar complex and said she “never had
any negative experiences with it.” She didn’t even know at first that it was even low-income housing.
While most of the residents who attended Monday’s meeting said they support housing for homeless people, many say their neighborhood is facing an unfair share of the burden. On Monday, city officials celebrated the groundbreaking of a complex for 83 homeless people near St. James Park a few blocks away that has been in development for several years. Just south of downtown, at S. 2nd Street and Keyes Street, another project to house more than 100 formerly homeless people is in the works.
“We’re saying, hey we’ve done this so why aren’t we looking at other districts?” said Debra Spencer, a longtime resident of the neighborhood. “What about Willow Glen, the Rose Garden, or other places that have better services than we do? How much can a neighborhood take?”
Timothy Tomasi agreed, and said other cities in the county should be stepping up to serve homeless people in the area.
“Why can’t we give them a one-way trip on VTA to Cupertino?” Tomasi asked.
A couple of years ago, Santa Clara County voters approved Measure A, which allocated $700 million for extremely low income housing, including what is known as permanent supportive housing for homeless people or those at the most risk of becoming homeless.
And with San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo pushing
to build 10,000 affordable homes in the city in the next few years, the city appears ripe for developers interested in building lowincome housing and who need incentives from the city and county to make building here a smart financial move. This particular property makes sense, the developer says, because it’s close to transit — the light rail runs directly by it — and existing services for vulnerable populations like homeless people. It’s also close to St. James Park and Ryland Park, where homeless people often gather and sleep.
And while Seven Hills has said it could ultimately decide to house former foster youth or people with disabilities at the site, the city is particularly keen on housing its more than 4,000 homeless residents, and projects focused on addressing that need have a history of winning approval.
Councilman Raul Peralez, who represents the area and helped organize the meeting, said he needs more information before taking a position on the proposal, which is still being worked out and has yet to receive a green light from the city. But, he implored residents, “I’m asking you to have an open mind because we absolutely need these kinds of projects.”
Still, some residents have concerns about the idea.
Tina Morrill, the acting head of a local neighborhood group and one of the meeting’s organizers, thinks the city and the county has long “dropped the ball” on solving homelessness, forcing residents to grapple with the issue on their own.
Homeless people have urinated on her porch, Morrill
said, and knocked on her door asking to use the bathroom.
Morrill believes homeless people deserve housing, she said, but it needs to come with well thought-out services and a long-term plan.
“What’s going to happen in 15 years?” she asked.
“Without doing this in a smart, sustainable way, I think we set ourselves up for a bad future,” said Amadeo Donofrio, who lives adjacent to the property in question.
Some residents also raised questions about the future — wondering what will happen once Measure A funding runs out and questioning how their property values might be affected. While several studies suggest permanent supportive housing does not lead to a decrease in surrounding property values, some residents said they were skeptical that would hold true in their neighborhood, too.
Ultimately, the developer has a number of permits and approvals, not to mention funding, to obtain before it can progress. And if the project officially does move forward, the company will have to hold city-organized community meetings to give residents a chance to share their thoughts on the idea.
If the pushback Seven Hills received on Monday is any indication, however, those meetings are likely to generate some intense criticism.
“This was a marketing and political effort to try to convince us it’s a great idea for our community,” Tomasi said. “One might question, if it’s so great, why don’t you put this over in the Rose Garden?”