“A question of fairness:” Coyote Valley landowners sue San Jose on zoning

Three families are suing San Jose for trying to protect land they own from being developed.

The Benson, Foster and Lester families bought 126.5 acres of undeveloped land in the North Coyote Valley about 50 years ago, with plans to one day sell for a profit, the Mercury News reported. The families went to court after the city moved to prevent San Jose’s southern edge becoming an industrial park.

“It’s really a basic question of fairness,” Edward Burg, a lawyer for the owners, told the Mercury. “We’re not saying that there’s anything wrong with the city’s desire to preserve Coyote Valley. What’s wrong is spending $96 million to buy properties right across the street and refusing to buy clients’ properties when the goal is exactly the same.”

The lawsuit says a series of land-use changes by the city to indefinitely preserve the majority of North and Mid-Coyote Valley as open space amounts to unlawfully taking their land for public use. It also calls out the city’s “inconsistent” approaches to preservation.

In November 2019, the city of San Jose, along with environmental groups, bought 937 acres in Coyote Valley from Silicon Valley developers Brandenburg Properties and the Sobrato Organization. Two years later, an additional 314 acres of the remaining undeveloped land, which includes land owned by the suing families, was rezoned to industrial from agricultural.

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Now the property owners are asking a judge to order the city to buy their properties, which are located south of Bailey Avenue between Monterey Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard, for fair market value.

The lawsuit says the city was willing to pay for land in the Coyote Valley to preserve it when it was owned by corporations. Its unwillingness to buy the families’ land “unfairly discriminates” against them.

“Our ask is that the city acts fairly and treats my clients’ properties the same as the Brandenburg and Sobrato properties,” Burg said.

The families had entered into contract to sell their land to Texas-based Crow Holdings Industrial for $44 million in 2020. That plan to build two giant warehouses was ultimately shut down when the city voted to rezone the land in 2021 and the multi-million dollar deal fell through.

Burg and the families claim the land isn’t feasible for farming, and without the ability to sell it to an industrial developer, they have few options. They’re seeking a trial by jury.

[MN] — Victoria Pruitt