An affordable 100-unit apartment complex proposed near Milpitas’ almost-done BART station cleared a key hurdle last week.

The Planning Commission endorsed the project on a 5-0 vote with Demetress Morris abstaining and Zehy Mohsin absent.

The development now will have to be approved by the City Council at a future meeting before construction can begin. It is proposed by Resources for Community Development, a nonprofit Berkeley-based affordable housing developer.

It would be built on a 1.26-acre plot at 355 Sango Court where a light industrial building currently stands, within a half-mile of the Montague BART station and the Valley Transportation Authority light rail station at Montague Expressway and Capitol Avenue.

The site is within Milpitas’ Transit Area Specific Plan, a 437-acre area where more than 7,000 housing units are being built or are planned, along with nearly 1 million square feet of office and industrial park space and nearly 300,000 square feet of retail space.

The project calls for 100 to 102 apartments in a range of sizes and floor plans, all of which would be affordable to either extremely-low, very-low or low-income tenants, with the exception of a single manager’s unit, according to a city staff report.

The developer is requesting a density bonus from the city to build more than the maximum 75 apartment units allowed for the area. In addition, the developer is seeking waivers and concessions to provide fewer parking spaces than otherwise required, avoid upgrading storm water lines and forego creating private open space for each unit, such as a balcony.

Planning staff told commissioners the waivers and concessions are recommended because the project meets local and state thresholds for needed affordable housing.

Some commissioners said they were concerned that only 57 parking spaces, including five guest spots, would be offered compared to the minimum of 128 required for a standard development in the city.

Because the “development consists solely of rental units with an affordable housing cost to lower income families” and is located within half a mile of a major transit station, it can have a parking ratio of one-half space per unit, the staff report said.

Commissioner Ray Maglalang said he’s worried the dearth of parking spaces could result in another situation like one where residents who live nearby a cluster of apartments say they find themselves with inadequate street parking.

Baker Lyon, the project manager for developer Resources for Community Development, said 23 of the units would be studios available to tenants who earn $31,920 a year for the entire household and 40 would be one-bedroom units for those earning $71,820 a year.

Twenty-seven apartments would be two-bedroom units for households earning up to $86,220 a year and 12 would be three-bedroom units for those earning $99,000 each year.

Lyon said 20 of the units would be reserved for veterans and 20 for those with special needs, such as recently homeless people, seniors or people with disabilities.

Commissioner Morris abstained from from voting because she wanted to see a designated drop-off and pick-up area for ride-hailing services such as Lyft and Uber. She also wanted current Milpitas residents who meet the income requirements to be “first in line” for the new complex.

If the project is approved, Lyon told commissioners he expects construction to begin by March 2020 and completion by September 2021.