Like other cities in the Bay Area, Milpitas is under pressure to meet specific housing targets and is now considering three main plots of land for up to 260 units.
But the eventual development has left current 2.71-acre tenants along South Main Street worried about being relocated. There is a cat house, a locksmith, a pantry with food and several auto repair shops on the lane.
Jackie Hulton, a locksmith manager from Silicon Valley, empathizes with the city’s need to build more housing, but said she sees business aside even as more residents move to the city.
“All these little mom and pop stores that we have here are kind of crowded out,” Halton said. The store has existed in Milpitas for 38 years.
“If we move (out of town) it will be either Sunnyvale or Santa Clara, which is really bad for Milpitas because we’ve been here for so long. All our clients who come here for so long … I feel bad. “
The northernmost site is owned by the City Housing Authority, the other two, the second and the third, are wholly owned by Milpitas.
There are currently two plans for the development of the sites.
One calls for separating the northernmost section from the other two. If this happens and the city develops a housing project, by law it will have to be 100 percent low-income. If the city sells this plot to a private developer, the units can be offered at market prices, although proceeds from the sale should be directed towards future affordable housing projects.
Another plan will combine all three mixed-income housing plots, ground floor retail stores and a green area. This offer is governed by the Surplus Land Act, which requires Milpitas to prioritize offers of affordable or mixed-income housing for a 90-day period.
Regardless, the clock is ticking the first Housing Authority site, due to be completed by August 2022 due to local regulations.
According to the State’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA), Milpitas must meet specific housing goals. While Milpitas was asked to build 3,290 apartments between 2014 and 2022, analysis by the Southern California News Group found that the city issued the most upper-middle-income housing permits.
The plots are within the boundaries of a larger renovation project called Milpitas Metro Concrete Plan, which aims to build more housing, retail and office space in the southern area of the city, close to the BART and VTA bus lines.
Whether businesses in the area receive assistance from the city to relocate depends on who is the ultimate owner of the property. Should Milpitas decide to develop one or all of the plots, businesses that need to relocate will receive financial assistance and relocation services. But if the site is sold on the open market, then the city has no legal obligation to help the business move.
Just around the corner from Hulton’s store is The Cat’s Nest, a cat-keeping business owned by Susan Edwards that has been around since 1995 and is also on the first lot.
“If they want to move us, I have no problem moving in the neighborhood,” Edwards said. “It would be nice if they (offered) a service and a means to do it. And that I get a similar situation because it worked for me. I just want them to make a decision so that I know where I am. “
It was this uncertainty that pushed six companies in the area, including Hulton and Edwards, to hire a Sacramento-based land-use law firm. Kristen Renfroe, the attorney in charge of the case, did not respond to a request for comment.
Rose Riggs, a resident of neighboring Pines who has worked with land business owners as their de facto spokesperson, is calling on city officials to keep businesses where they are. Riggs, who has lived in Pines for 31 years, said the busy South Main Street is for business and the city will lose potential clients.
“Thousands and thousands of cars pass by every day,” Riggs said of South Main Street. “If they just walk past an apartment building, that’s all they see, and they’ll drive out of town and shop somewhere else.”
Riggs was one of several residents who listened to a presentation of this proposal from the City’s Department of Building and Housing Safety on October 28.
Steve Roberts, owner of Liberti Auto Electric in the third site since 2012, said during the presentation that while he understands that the city is trying to build more residential units, it has not been easy for him to find potential locations where his business could relocate.
“I looked around Milpitas to try to find a comparable place to move and there really is nothing I could see to stay in Milpitas,” he said during the meeting. In response, assistant city manager Ashwini Kantak said the city has more control over what happens to the two sites and opens up the possibility that they won’t turn into housing.
“We have more leeway with the second and third premise, but there are some time constraints on what to do with the first premise,” Kantak said. “So the approach to different premises can be different too.”
On November 4, the Construction and Housing Division will hold another community meeting on this topic, which will assess the impact of the project on the business of the facility. By December, the department plans to report to the City Council.
