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Cupertino seniors and neighbors say Westport development eliminated promised parking
Summary
Residents told the Cupertino Planning Commission that the Westport Senior Apartments lost a dedicated parking garage during development, leaving about 48 units served by roughly 12 parking stalls and limited nearby street parking. Speakers asked staff when the item will return to the commission.
Diana Farris, a resident of Westport Senior Apartments, told the Cupertino Planning Commission during oral communications that the project eliminated its parking garage and left many residents with nowhere to park.
Farris said the developer relied on a regulation cited as “AD 02/1997” in notices to justify removing the garage and argued that the site is not within a half-mile of “major transportation.” She said she reviewed the bus schedule and found service mostly every 30 to 60 minutes, and questioned whether the development qualifies for the state rule cited in the notice. “I looked at the law and determined that it said that we had to have bus stops that run every 15 minutes,” Farris said.
Why it matters: Residents said the change leaves seniors and people with disabilities dependent on cars without adequate parking, raising safety and access concerns for a demographic that often needs close, reliable vehicle access.
Commission staff did not have the Westport application on this meeting’s calendar. When asked by Farris, staff said the item “hasn’t been scheduled yet,” and that they will notify the commission and the public when it is agendized.
Several speakers described the local parking shortfall. Farris said the Westport complex includes 48 units and that residents were told parking would be provided by an adjacent assisted-living facility after the developer removed the residential garage. She provided a breakdown she said was in current use at the site: nine general parking spaces plus one EV, one EV/handicap and one additional handicap space — “a total of 12 parking spots for 48 units,” she said. “We literally come home at night and have nowhere to park,” Farris added.
Resident Jennifer Griffin criticized the state-driven shift to objective standards and repeated concerns about Westport’s parking. “We need those parking,” Griffin said, adding she has mobility limits and finds the loss of parking “insulting.” Rhoda Frey and other oral-communication speakers also raised parking problems at multiple local apartment conversions and asked the commission to pursue solutions including looking at student housing across Stevens Creek and possible RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Allocation) credit implications.
A commenter on Zoom, identifying herself as Lisa, said she saw a pattern of developers changing plans “the bait and switch over and over and over again” and urged the city to hold community workshops and consider the local retail and service impacts of conversions to housing.
What the commission said: Staff told the commission the Westport item had been postponed from a previous date and that notices will be circulated once a hearing is set. No formal planning action on Westport occurred at this meeting; the comments were part of the public comment (oral communications) portion of the agenda.
Next steps: Planning staff said they will schedule and notice the Westport matter and that the commission will have the opportunity to hear the project when it is placed on a future agenda.
