“Go low” was the mantra repeated by residents who attended a public meeting last week to discuss an affordable housing project in San Jose’s Buena Vista neighborhood.

Charities Housing, a nonprofit that manages and operates more than 1,000 affordable housing units throughout Silicon Valley, announced last summer it plans to build 82 affordable studio apartments on a 30,500-square-foot lot just off Meridian Avenue on Page Street.

It would be the organization’s first affordable housing project to break ground in District 6 in almost 20 years; the last one was the 110-unit Penzione Esperanza building at Bird and Columbia avenues. About one-third of the studios’ tenants will be homeless individuals referred by the county; they’ll also receive on-site case management.

Neighbors had plenty to say about the renderings presented at the Feb. 1 meeting, starting with the flat roof that Charities Housing said would contain solar panels to reduce the building’s electrical costs. Although the roof will stay as planned, neighbors insisted something should be done about the contrast between the project’s contemporary all-white scheme and the area’s older, low-slung bungalows.

“It looks very blocky, and this is enhanced by the fact that it’s bright white,” neighbor John Leyba said. “Bright white sugar cubes don’t line up next to Craftsman homes.”

Changing colors shouldn’t be an issue, project managers said, but residents shouldn’t expect buildings lower than six stories because “this area is planned for higher-density housing.”

Despite complaints about buildings being too tall for the existing neighborhood, San Jose city planners told the Resident that the proposed height of 65 feet is still 20 feet shorter than what the city allows in the area. The neighborhood also falls within an area identified for higher-density development in coming years.

That didn’t appease some residents.

“The neighborhood is not a six-story neighborhood,” said one resident. “I don’t understand how a six-story building is integrating right now.”

Parking and traffic also were sore spots. Some residents noted motorists use Page Street as a shortcut from West San Carlos Street and called for protecting intersections such as the corner of Douglas Street and Meridian Avenue, as well as a through-traffic study.

“The city is looking at this project from a traffic perspective…but we don’t expect it to have a severe impact on traffic in the neighborhood,” planning staffer Patrick Kelly said, adding the city found that traffic peaks during commute hours.

Related Articles December 28, 2016 San Jose: Work begins on Midtown project with 800 housing units Kathy Robinson, housing development director for Charities Housing, told neighbors to “assume maybe 15 percent of the units will have two adults in them,” and that VTA transit passes will be provided as well as 62 off-street parking spaces and a bicycle parking space for every unit.

Funding for the project will come in the form of private loans, tax credits and public subsidies, which could include Measure A affordable housing funds.

The project will go to the planning department for review some time later this year.