BUENA VISTA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the Meeting Tuesday,, February 26,, 2013
Meeting called to order at 7::225 PM
PRESENT : [77 people present]]
Members :
Brian Habekoss (PPresident))
José González (SSecretary))
Joe Carpenter ( Director))
Steve Rogers (DDirector))
Loui Tucker (DDirector))
Sabine Zappe (DDirector))
Guest::
Lara Tran (PPierluigi Oliverio’s office))
THE MINUTES
The minutes of the January meeting were posted on the website and the yahoo group files section.. The min utes were approved..
ART BOX PROJECT UPDATE
Brian announced the results of the art box meeting and the artists already met with the group.. Joe mentioned that the artists sent their work which has to adhere to a certain guideline.. I n March,, there will be a spot visit to pick artwork.. We will start with the utility boxes at the corner of Meridian,, Parkmoor,, Scott and Leland.. There are some extra boxes that could potentially be painted but we will focus in the ones within our neighborhood as a first step..
There are more boxes in Le igh and Buena V ista,, totaling 5 as the initial number.. The anti - grafitti coating will be applied by a volunteer group (mmust be over 18 years old ) . The County is involved and these actions will result in a better visual experience.. Money - wise there a re enough funds to cover everything..
Brian mentioned that there should be some sort of a public event to invite C ouncilmember Oliverio to see the progress . We need time to plan for the event towards the end of March.. Mary Gottschkalk should be c ontacted to publici z e the event in the loca l newspaper . March 17 could be a good date for all.. Having advanced publicity could be great to get people to attend while the artwork is being done..
Brian will get in touch of Marco to coordinate the event with the artists.. If we don’t get all five boxes painted in the same weekend,, we can at least go for four while people gather and see the art being done..
PARK PROJECT OVER 280
This project was mentioned in the past,, which is to build a park over the 280 freeway . Similar projects have been done in Seattle,, Minneapolis,, San Diego and Los Angeles.. San Jose Councilmember Oliverio said there is no money for this kind of project,, but in Southern California there are organizations that made it happen.. It is an expensive project but in the long run can bring much more positive s to a neighborhood and to the City of San Jose in general . A project like this will be enor mous a nd will require a long - term commitment . It is a good idea to create a non - profit organization to organize this at a very professional level,, with the goal of obtain ing corporate
sponsors.. We should look at previous work done by other cities and review success ful cases involving grant s,, federal money,, stimulus,, etc.. While no one seems to want to make it happen right now , t here are a lot of passionate,, energized people willing to work for it.. There is some foundational work done in the past . Joe mentioned the magazine which featured the idea and can be a great tool to gain some steam to start..
BUENA VISTA NEIGHBORHOOD PARK
There was n o update on the park,, and we are still unsure about the sta rt date for the construction.. W e don’t have a set date,, not even for ground breaking.. May be at the end of March we should know if there will be a ground breaking day,, some of the cap funds can be also used for the park opening but it is a possibility..
ONGOING AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
The building has started on the corner of Meridian and West San Carlos,, but so far no major advance is visible.. Project is costing $668 million with completion in 2014..
Ohlone T owers is a high - rise development that will cost $990 million . Current plans call for a ma in building eleven stories tall at the corner of W est San Carlos and Sunol.. There is a need for infrastructure,, particularly another groc ery store.. The corner of Bascom and W est San Carlos could possibly have a grocery store.. T here was supposed to be a VTA light rail station at the intersection of Sunol and W est San Carlos,, but chances are it will n ever be built..
San Jose BMW M otorcycles will be moving to the former B abyland building at the corner of Bascom and W est San Carlos.. If the zoning is changed,, can the billboard on top of the building be removed??
STRIP MALL O N BASCOM
The strip mall o n Bascom Avenue from Scott to the m ovie theatre is owned by a single owner.. Some business es have left already since it will be sold.. Let ’ s star t thinking about the kinds of business es or building s we want to see there . Consider what impact new construction will have on neighboring houses and businesses.. That block will have to be annexed by the City . The theater could potentially be annexed as well and t hat could bring a lot of benefits..
GRAFFITI PROBLEMS
Loui emailed Lara Tran about the City - owned property on the n orthwest corner of P ark and Montgomery.. It is covered with graffiti and has a lot of trash an d debris , possibly from people dumping.. Lara will pass the info to C ode E nforcement to see about clean up..
SIGNS RE MOVAL
Joe has continued removing illegal signs placed by both realtors and developers in the neighborhood.. The City of San Jose is potentially losing thousands of dollars a day by not enforcing the ir own sign ordinan ce.. A new method of placing signs is to dig a hole,, pour in concrete,, set a metal pole and the n attach signs to the pole.. Joe has been removing them.. The problem with developers is that they don’t care about removing them because the city d oesn’t enforce the ordinance and they don’t get fined..
BASCOM LIBRARY OPEN
The Bascom L ibrary finally opened February 23 , 2013.. The inauguration brought almost 5,000 at t endees..
CELL PHONE TOWER
A cell phone tower will be installed between the Harley Davison store and th e former post office,, closer to Chie chi.. Steve mentioned camouflaging the antenna , but AT&&TT’s response is that they don’t need to camouflage it because it is in the middle of a parking lot.. It was suggested that some evergreen trees be planted around the to wer.. If AT&&TT is installing a tower , can we can request opening the Chietchi L oop w all and create a pathway to the F ood M ax grocery store ? It doesn’t have to be a street,, but can provide pedestrian access..
The meeting was adjourned at 8::448 PM