San Jose residents against senior housing project don’t pass ‘common-sense test,’ official says

Despite residents’ fears that a proposed apartment complex for low-income and formerly homeless seniors in South San Jose would bring more crime and blight, the project has received unanimous support from city planners.

“If you sincerely think that this kind of project is going to increase crime and increase blight and problems in your neighborhood, you need to look in the mirror and question your values,” Planning Commissioner Peter Allen told the small group of residents who voiced opposition to the complex at a Wednesday meeting.

In the end, the planning commission endorsed the construction of a 147-unit affordable apartment building for seniors — including 49 designated for the formerly homeless — on the former site of the Aloha Roller Rink at 397 Blossom Hill Road.

In doing so, each commissioner commended the developer’s project designs and rejected the residents’ pushback.

“The reality is that every section of the city is going to have to really carry its fair share of this type of housing if we are truly going to get ourselves out of the current crisis we are in right now,” Commissioner Rolando Bonilla said. “…This is a winning project for the city, and a model for what needs to happen if we’re truly committed to the idea that this city is going to tackle the (housing) problem.”

Unless it’s appealed, it will join the other 49 rent-restricted, affordable apartment buildings, totaling 4,409 apartments, that are reserved for seniors within the city.

Since nonprofit developer Charities Housing submitted its project plans more than two years ago, it has held more than 35 meetings with neighborhood groups, community organizations and nearby stakeholders. Despite the extensive public outreach, some residents remained opposed to the project.

Resident Brenda Gisi said Wednesday she found “serious flaws” in the plan that “threaten the proposed senior population and the surrounding community.”

“The security measures are still questionable in the area, which has seen dramatic degradation to the extent that our local businesses are telling us that they are going to leave because of the crime, blight and some of the homeless issues they are dealing with,” Gisi said.

But the opponents — represented by Tisi and two others at Wednesday night’s meeting — were overwhelmingly drowned out by more than 60 neighboring residents, housing advocates and formerly homeless individuals who wore stickers and held signs in steadfast support.

For proponents and housing advocates, the project represents a premier opportunity to fill a growing need to house fixed-income seniors, who are particularly vulnerable to displacement in the Bay Area’s expensive housing market.

“People are being pushed out, and their Social Security isn’t enough to pay the rents,” resident Susan Price-Jang said during the meeting. “They need another place to go, and I just really hope that we would help the most vulnerable among us.”

Commissioner Allen said bluntly the opponents’ arguments don’t pass “the common-sense test.”

“If you’re worried about unhoused people doing whatever it is you think they’re going to be doing, giving them a house seems to be the solution, not the problem,” Allen said.

Charities Housing has built nearly three dozen affordable housing projects throughout Santa Clara County in the past two decades or so. The nonprofit plans to use Measure A bond funds from the county to subsidize the Blossom Hill development for seniors 62 years or older.

The proposed 4-story apartment building would feature a security desk staffed around the clock, an office for the police department to use on a drop-in basis, a fitness room and a community room. A landscaped outdoor courtyard is proposed for the second floor. The second through fourth floors would be for a mix of studios, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom units, as well as two 3-bedroom units reserved for management, according to the project plans.

The first floor of the building would feature commercial spaces for social service agencies. The local non-profit Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County has agreed to lease 6,000 square feet for senior health programs. A tenant for the remaining 10,000 square feet of commercial space has yet to be secured, but Charities Housing hopes to find a tenant focusing on senior health.

“It’s gratifying to have a unanimous vote,” Kathy Robinson, director of housing development for Charities Housing, said after the meeting. “I think people really stepped up and understand the gravity of the housing situation and are willing to support developers that are bringing creative and desperately needed projects forward.”

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