A plot of land in Almaden Valley that was slated for housing decades ago could be set aside for open space if allowed to be rezoned.

San Jose City Councilman Johnny Khamis, who represents District 10, is pushing for the parcel at the northeast corner of Almaden Expressway and Coleman Avenue to be rezoned from residential to open space.

The property was acquired piece by piece in the early 1990s, when plans were in the works to build multiple single-family homes. Those plans changed several times and more recently called for 27 affordable and market-rate homes. But the original environmental assessment has expired, Khamis said, and now he wants to save the land for residents’ use.

“The city wanted to build low-income housing and I had refused to allow any housing to be built,” Khamis said in an interview. “Originally a 27-unit complex was slated to be built there and I said no to it, and now I’m saying no to the bridge housing that would be proposed by the housing department, which owns the land.”

Khamis cited several reasons in a memo why he believes the site is no longer suitable for development, including inadequate setbacks and traffic hazards near the site off Almaden Expressway.

“Cars enter and exit directly from Almaden Expressway at a place where the width of the road narrows due to the Guadalupe Creek bridge, just beyond a VTA bus stop, and within the pathway of the free right turn from Coleman Avenue,” Khamis wrote.

Because the speed limit has increased to 50 mph along that stretch and there’s no space for an acceleration or deceleration lane, Khamis wrote that “residents would be expected to turn 90 degrees from the driveway and nearly instantaneously reach expressway speeds.”

Plus, the community already designated the area as open space in the city’s General Plan 2040, “ a natural designation, given that the site is bordered by two riparian corridors that provide habitat to native wildlife,” he added.

The rezoning proposal has been postponed until next month while the city figures out whether to repay the housing department approximately $2 million for the land or arrange a land swap elsewhere.

“They said that if you (rezone) then the housing department has to be repaid the price for which they purchased it,” Khamis said. “They wanted to find out where to get the money from or what land to swap that the city owns.”

Khamis said he’d like to see an extension of Almaden Lake Park built if rezoning is approved.

“I have ideas but they all require money,” he said. “I’m already authorized to build a trail there that’s being built right now that will connect to the rest of the park. That’s my dream, I hope it will happen. This would be a big step in the right direction.”

Housing department staff could not be reached for comment. The proposal is expected to go to the City Council in September.