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San Francisco

Controversial West San Jose hotel plans shelved

Residents objected to the project’s height and density

A rendering of 1212 South Winchester Boulevard and Dr. Adam Askari (Carpira Design Group, Facebook)
A rendering of 1212 South Winchester Boulevard and Dr. Adam Askari (Carpira Design Group, Facebook)

A proposed hotel in West San Jose that has been at the center of controversy might not be built after all.

Developer Adam Askari withdrew his application for the project on the same day the city council was set to vote on the project, because of intense pushback from the community, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported.

“At this point we’re going to drop the project and review it with the developers again,” Askari said at the council’s Tuesday night meeting.

The six-story, 119-room hotel at 1212 South Winchester Boulevard would have been the first tall building allowed under the Winchester Boulevard Urban Village Plan’s new density focus.

The project drew criticism from residents due to its close proximity to a mostly residential neighborhood, as the hotel would have been separated from nearby single-family homes by a 20-foot buffer.

The other main point of contention for residents was the project’s prospective height. Before and during the city council meeting, those who opposed the project argued that it would affect their privacy, offer inadequate parking and potentially cause noise, trash and traffic problems.

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The site of the proposed hotel, which is currently home to two single-story buildings that would have been torn down, was previously zoned for single-family residential housing. The city council voted at the Tuesday meeting to change the property designation to commercial pedestrian, which will allow for high-density, pedestrian-oriented development.

The location of the site is within one of the city’s urban village areas, which means the city was already prepared to allow taller and denser developments there.

“This is a situation where even if you have a right to do something, (it) doesn’t mean that’s the right thing to do,” Vice Mayor Chappie Jones said during the council meeting.

Other council members have expressed concerns that listening to neighbor objections too much could override the city’s plans for denser development in certain areas.

“I am really hesitant on sending a message to developers that they can’t trust the General Plan and our Urban Village plan,” Councilmember Dev Davis said at the meeting.

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[SVBJ] — Victoria Pruitt 

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RedevelopmentSan Jose