SAN JOSE — Despite overwhelming support from teachers and housing advocates, the San Jose City Council voted 8-3 early Wednesday to deny a proposal from a realtor to build affordable teacher housing on her land.

Councilmen Raul Peralez, Sergio Jimenez and Tam Nguyen opposed.

“What we’re trying to do is solve the housing crisis for teachers and the missing middle,” said Sarah Chaffin, the project applicant. “Instead of making this an adversarial relationship, let’s work together.”

Chaffin, who owns land along Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen, proposed building eight to 16 apartments for teachers. It would mean displacing a hair salon, but Chaffin said she’d replace the commercial space and the deal would house teachers being priced out of Silicon Valley.

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The plan faced opposition because it involved converting land dedicated for jobs to housing — a change elected leaders have fought against because of San Jose’s dismal number of jobs. Chaffin said she’d build affordable apartments on her land without public subsidies and signed a deed restriction to ensure the units would go to teachers.

A large group of teachers and housing advocates marched from Washington Elementary School to City Hall in support of the plan.

“My rent has risen 100 percent,” Matthew Seymour, a third-grade teacher, told the council Tuesday. “Meanwhile, my salary has been raised a third of that. I wouldn’t even qualify for a studio apartment on my salary.”

Seymour says he’s been forced to live with several roommates, including some of whom were homophobic.

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A young student who marched to City Hall said his school has lost “good teachers” — at least two this year.

But city officials said converting “jobs land” to housing sets a dangerous precedent — especially since only 15 percent of San Jose land is set aside for commercial uses. They also worried other developers would ask for similar conversions since housing is more profitable than businesses.

“This is the reason we struggle as a city despite the growth around us,” said Kim Walesh, the city’s economic development director. “We did not set aside lands adequate for retail and we converted lands.”

Mayor Sam Liccardo, Vice Mayor Magdalena Carrasco and council members Dev Davis and Chappie Jones wrote a memo opposing the project. “When you find yourself in a hole, you need to stop digging. And we’re in a hole,” Liccardo said Tuesday.

But Chaffin pulled out an email that appeared to show the mayor saying he’d support her project if she added commercial on the ground floor and built higher — possibly up to 55 feet. Liccardo defended the email by saying Chaffin set up a meeting without disclosing the topic.

Also during its first meeting since the summer break, the City Council agreed to critical improvements to its emergency management and planning — nearly six months after the devastating Coyote Creek flood.

The council approved a “roadmap” to improve the city’s emergency management in six key areas. The recommendations come from a 92-page report that sharply criticized the city’s lack of preparation before the February flood that led to 14,000 evacuations and more than $100 million in damage. Roughly 164 individuals remain displaced, living in temporary housing.

“The city was unnecessarily caught off guard when the flooding occurred, placing residents in a potentially dangerous situation,” said the report from Witt O’Brien’s, an emergency management consulting firm.

The city paid $98,500 for two reports.

Some council members Tuesday voiced disappointment that the report didn’t address preparation for emergencies other than floods. “At 5 o’clock in the morning, if an earthquake happens in my district, what should I do? Where should I go?” said Nguyen, whose district was hit hard by the flood.

The report includes 10 findings, 43 sub-findings,114 high-priority recommendations and more than 100 medium and low priority recommendations. The roadmap, created by assistant city manager Dave Sykes, suggests improvements in six key areas: Strengthening organizational structure for emergency management, improving emergency planning, completing flood recovery, preparing for the next rainy season, enhancing key capabilities and increasing coordination.

Though San Jose has taken the blame for failing to notify or evacuate flood victims in time, the misstep resulted in firefighters working for 36 straight hours to rescue people by boat — an “unsafe” practice, according to the report.

The consultant also said the city repeated mistakes from the 1997 Coyote Creek flood, relied too heavily on data from the Santa Clara Valley Water District and hasn’t invested enough money into its office of emergency services — leading to high turnover and a loss of institutional knowledge.

“Turnover in the (Office of Emergency Services) director position with extended periods between director appointments have hindered development and implementation of a consistent vision,” the report said. “As a result, the effectiveness of OES programs has suffered.”

The office today has nine positions, but four are temporary. The report recommended adding 12 new jobs and moving the emergency office from the fire department to the City Manager’s office. The council approved the change and will explore funding to hire five high-priority positions.

Also Tuesday, the council approved a number of initiatives to reduce homelessness, including a measure that allows churches to house the homeless.

Elected leaders also voted to submit a letter to the county regarding usage of Measure A funds for affordable housing and approved grants to hire new case managers. It also approved a loan for Quetzal Gardens, a complex of 70 new affordable apartments in Alum Rock.