All Cupertino Facts articles pertaining to local housing & development news.
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Foothill-De Anza Community College to Evict McClellan Terrace Renters for Student Housing
For over two hours, the May 6, 2025 Cupertino City Council meeting was filled with heated debate. The point of contention: would Council issue a moratorium on the Foothill-De Anza Community College District (FHDA) Board decision to turn 94 homes at the McClellan Terrace apartments into student housing? Both sides presented their case during public…
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McClellan Terrace Residents Upset Over Potential Eviction, Cupertino Council Moves to Evaluate Options
On Wednesday, April 2nd, residents gathered at Cupertino Community Hall to protest potential eviction from their homes. The Foothill-De Anza College District is entering a contract to purchase the 94-unit McClellan Terrace apartments on 7954 McClellan Rd. But this will displace the apartment’s existing residents and numerous families with school-age children, whose units will be…
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City Council Prioritizes Economic Growth, Fiscal Sustainability, and More in 2025-27 Cupertino City Work Program
In the March 18th City Council meeting, Mayor Liang Chao, Vice Mayor Kitty Moore, and Councilmember Ray Wang voted to approve the 2025-27 Cupertino City Work Program, which seeks to improve economic growth, fiscal sustainability, and public health and quality of life in Cupertino. Councilmembers Fruen and Mohan voted against the 2025-27 City Work Program.…
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Rezoning Church Land & Misinformation about Westport
In this post we cover two topics:1. Valley Church of Cupertino land being included in the Housing Element Site without informing them2. Rod Sinks’ campaign misleading residents about retail at Westport Valley Church: Designated Housing Element Site Without their Permission A resident made us aware of a situation where four parcels of land owned by…
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Builder-Politician Complex in Cupertino
The “Builder-Politician Complex” in Cupertino, serves the interest of wealthy investors at the cost of the residents’ quality of life
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Single Family Neighborhoods at Risk Throughout Cupertino
Over the years, there have been whisper campaigns on the mostly residential West side of Cupertino, suggesting the residents should support builder backed candidates for City Council. The reason given was that West Cupertino is already built out and will not be impacted by the denser developments desired by the builders, since it will be…
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YIMBY Takeover of Cupertino City Council
In this post we want to shed light on how YIMBY groups are dictating Cupertino’s future. YIMBY is an acronym for “Yes in My Back Yard”. It refers to groups who support in-fill redevelopment in urban areas. Over the past decade they have gained a lot of prominence, as they leverage the housing affordability concerns…
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One & a Half Years of Builder’s Remedy: How We Got Here
Last December we highlighted how the Cupertino City Council was making changes which would drastically alter the character of its Single Family Neighborhoods. Another risk to the single family neighborhoods is what is called Builder’s Remedy. Builder’s Remedy is a new interpretation of a California Housing Accountability Law (1990) which allows developers to ignore the…
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Development In and Around Cupertino: Retail Land Replaced by Hotels and Housing
Two more housing development projects that expect to build 113 new homes are under review in Cupertino’s Planning Department. These have been submitted under the State Law SB330, which streamlines housing approvals.1 Two hotel projects, which have been on hold for years, have applied to renew their development agreements. In nearby San Jose on S…
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YIMBY Lawsuit Costs Cupertino
On January 10, 2024, Cupertino settled a lawsuit filed by California Housing Defense Fund and Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) for missing its state-mandated Housing Element deadline. According to YIMBY Law, whose slogan includes “Sue the Suburbs,” about a dozen Bay Area jurisdictions have been sued for missing their housing-element deadlines, including Palo Alto,…
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Are Cupertino’s Single Family Homes At Risk of Becoming Apartments?
As in many other cities across California, Cupertino is trying to complete its Housing Element (HE), a document that describes how the city will meet its housing obligation for the period 2023-2031. Cupertino is required to supply a minimum of 4,588 housing units, with 41% of these units being low to very low income (affordable) plus extra…
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New Plans Revealed for Former Vallco Site
On December 5, 2023, the property owner of the former Vallco shopping mall, which is located at N. Wolfe Rd. and Stevens Creek Blvd., submitted a new development plan to the City of Cupertino. The plan, called “The Rise,” is posted on the City website. The old shopping site is replaced by a mix of…
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Cupertino Receives First Builder’s Remedy Project Application
Cupertino has been vulnerable to the “Builder’s Remedy” since it missed its January 2023 deadline for an approved Housing Element from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The “Builder’s Remedy” is a State law that allows developers to bypass local zoning laws for projects that offer affordable housing. Menlo Park developer Acclaim Properties has submitted…
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The Latest Updates on Vallco – September 2023
Five years have passed since Cupertino employees approved the 2018 Vallco Town Center SB 35 project (Vallco SB 35 project, located on Stevens Creek Blvd and N. Wolfe Rd) under ministerial approval provisions of the 2017 SB 35 bill. The last project updates published on the City of Cupertino’s website and on the property owner’s…
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2023-2031 Cupertino Housing Element Update
On July 25, 2023, the Cupertino City Council received an update on the 6th Cycle Housing Element, 2023-2031. The Housing Element (HE) is one of 8 required elements of every California city or town’s General Plan. Whereas, the General Plan is a kind of long-term roadmap for all kinds of development in a jurisdiction, the…
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Simple Explanation of RHNA and Housing Mandates
By Amy KalishMarin Post & Citizen Marin https://marinpost.org/blog/2023/6/10/rhna-and-housing-mandates-made-easy WHAT IS RHNA? RHNA is the Regional Housing Needs Assessment — the number of housing units (a place for at least one person to live) assigned to an area by the state. This happens in eight-year housing cycles, and the allocation numbers are determined by the California…
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Cupertino: It is a Lot More Than Vallco!
This is going to be our last email before the elections. 1. The Vallco Obsession 2. Opt-In Email List The Vallco Obsession The coterie of ex-mayors sent out another email showing the Vallco lot. We wanted to set the record straight. Vallco SB35 Plan: Stuck due to Toxic Contamination The SB35 plan approved by the previous city council (Rod Sinks,…
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Balanced vs Unbalanced Development: Contrasting Visions
Article was updated in September 2024 to add more pictures of the original proposal for Westport which was negotiated down by the resident oriented council to have one third square footage of the original proposals. Many of the concerns expressed in the article have unfortunately come true after JR Fruen’s election in 2022. The…
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Whose Interests does JR Fruen Represent?
JR Fruen is running again as a candidate for Cupertino City Council. The questions for voters to ask is: Whose Interests does JR Fruen Represent? This election is primarily a battle between Those who want to preserve their neighborhood, and vote out those who support school closures Those who want to serve investor’s interests which…
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Responsible Governance in Action: Cupertino City Council on SB9
What is SB9? SB9 is a California state law that allows single family homeowners to split their residential lot into two separate lots. Further it permits the construction of up to two new housing units on each of the separate lots. SB9 requires all cities to comply with the law. How did the City Respond? In…
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Responsible Governance in Action: Cupertino City Council on SB9
What is SB9? SB9 is a California state law that allows single family homeowners to split their residential lot into two separate lots. Further it permits the construction of up to two new housing units on each of the separate lots. SB9 requires all cities to comply with the law. How did the City Respond? In…
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SB10: 10 (+4) Units on Single Family Lot
What does SB10 Permit? The SB10 law allows a 10 unit apartment building (upto 14 units including ADUs/JADUs) [1] on a single family lot located within half a mile of transit. Most of Cupertino is within half mile of public transit (VTA) on Stevens Creek Blvd, De Anza Blvd, Foothill Blvd etc. Unlike other laws…