San Jose City Council won't allow rezoning of 7 acres near Santana Row

The San Jose City Council on a 6-5 vote refused to allow a developer to rezone commercial property near Santana Row for the construction of homes.

John McMorrow, president of Silverstone Communities, has spent $1.4 million and almost two years trying to rezone a 7-acre site on South Monroe Street that was abandoned by AT&T several years ago.

During a council meeting Tuesday, almost a dozen neighbors spoke in support of McMorrow's request to build 104 townhomes, especially since he promised to expand nearby Santana Park, fund its maintenance and build another street.

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San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, who opposed the conversion but did visit the site, has said that far too many acres of land zoned for industrial purposes -- called employment lands -- have been converted to residential, which has resulted in a drain on city services.

"I am trying to protect our jobs and future jobs space," Reed said in March. "We're not trying to make it easy to convert commercial and industrial lands to housing."

McMorrow's request was the first to test the city's new framework policy, which the council established last year to show developers what they must do to rezone property.

McMorrow said his project met the guidelines laid out in the framework.

"I am disappointed that the council members failed to adhere to their own policy, and didn't listen to the neighborhood voice,'' McMorrow said. "If an office building is built there, the neighbors will come unglued because it is completely surrounded by housing."

In referring to the divided council he said, "It was incredible that we were able to get five votes. They were from the council people who were kind enough to visit the site. They had the vision to see this made complete sense."

The mayor was supported in the vote against the conversion by council members Pierluigi Olivero, Judy Chirco, Sam Liccardo, Madison Nguyen and Nancy Pyle.

Pete Constant, Forrest Williams, Nora Campos and David Cortese and Kansen Chu voted in favor of the proposal.