Town staff presented a Phase 1 summary of public engagement for the Imagine Sunnyvale comprehensive plan on Sept. 13, reporting that 441 people completed an online survey and dozens more participated in open houses, stakeholder interviews and pop‑up events.

The summary, delivered to the Town Council during the work session, said the engagement included an August 6 kickoff open house (about 40 attendees), three pop‑up events (about 24 total attendees), 22 one‑on‑one stakeholder interviews and a Planning and Zoning roundtable. Staff said the full consultant report will be published to the project website by the end of the week.

Council members were told the engagement asked residents three core questions: what they love most about Sunnyvale, what their biggest challenges are, and what major projects or initiatives they would like to see. According to staff, common strengths named by respondents were Sunnyvale’s schools, natural areas, trees, green space and trails; common concerns were traffic, infrastructure capacity, growth pressure and lack of certain retail and commercial choices.

On housing, the survey results presented showed a strong preference for single‑family homes and a notable positive response for senior housing. Staff said about 105 respondents indicated a need for senior housing while roughly 180 respondents viewed it as a negative impact, a split the presenter attributed to differing age groups among respondents. Apartments and townhomes drew largely negative responses in the residential land‑use questions.

Commercial land‑use responses showed positive sentiment for retail and entertainment uses but a substantial negative response to the generic “restaurant” category. Council members and staff noted the survey did not distinguish between drive‑through/fast‑food restaurants and non‑drive‑through dining, and that the question’s wording likely affected answers.

Staff emphasized the summary charts were not ranked lists and that the consultant will publish a detailed report with counts and demographic breakdowns. The next steps announced included publication of the Phase 1 summary, completion of an existing‑conditions memorandum by the consultant due to staff near the end of the month, and a visioning workshop scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 21, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Story on Long Creek. A second steering‑committee meeting will precede that visioning workshop; steering‑committee members will be invited to stay and participate in the public charrette‑style exercises.

Staff said the consultant and steering committee will present the existing‑conditions memorandum to the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Town Council and the broader community and that the full survey report will be available online once finalized.

Council members asked for clarification about how some items were summarized in the short list (for example, whether a Highway 190 extension mention reflected many people or a few) and staff responded that the consultant’s summary pulled recurring themes across multiple engagement activities and that the online survey data will be published with full counts.

The Phase 1 summary presentation and the announced visioning workshop are intended to inform later plan steps and encourage broader public participation once the holidays have passed.