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Residents urge council to pause Summerhill/Evelich housing projects after CAL FIRE redraws hazard zones
Summary
Multiple residents told Cupertino's council during oral communications that newly updated CAL FIRE maps and recent wildfires make high-density projects near Linda Vista and Evelich Court unsafe; they urged a pause for environmental and evacuation studies and said insurance availability is already a problem.
Dozens of residents used the City Council's public-comment period on March 4 to urge the council to pause proposed housing projects in and near the Linda Vista and Evelich Court areas after recent CAL FIRE updates placed those neighborhoods in a "very high" fire-hazard zone.
Speakers described new county maps they said were updated in February and warned of constrained evacuation routes, greater likelihood of insurance cancellation, and what they called a mismatch between state housing requirements and local fire risks.
Key remarks from public comment included: - Ahmad Yazdi described the CAL FIRE map and said residents had many concerns about re-zoning that would increase density in areas now marked very high for fire risk. - Parimal Copardekar (who asked the council to call him PK) said he had trouble renewing home insurance and urged "a thorough environmental review, including the fire risks." (public comment) - Mark Fantasi, who said he is a civil engineer, said the proposed Summerhill project would place a 40-foot-high structure about 20 feet from existing homes and said, "This is a horrible project for this area." (public comment) - David Y., who spoke later in the virtual queue, urged the council to "pause the Evelich Court project until an EIR is completed and all fire hazards are completely and thoroughly addressed." He said the area is at the epicenter of the newly designated very-high map.
Why it matters: Speakers emphasized life-safety concerns, constrained egress because of single-lane roads, and the wider consequences if insurers decline to write policies for the area; they urged the council to re-evaluate projects and to consider cumulative impacts rather than reviewing each project in isolation.
Council response and context: Councilmembers did not take formal action during oral communications. Several councilmembers and staff later said new information and procedural constraints (state housing law and project timelines) complicate how quickly the city can alter review steps for state-mandated housing sites. Residents asked the city to commission evacuation and fire-hazard studies and to ensure environmental review accounts for the newly updated hazard mapping.
Who spoke: Ahmad Yazdi, Parimal Copardekar (PK), Mark Fantasi, Ying Sosik, David Y., and other residents from the Linda Vista and Everidge areas provided firsthand observations and asked the council for study and pause.
What's next: Council members took the concerns under advisement in the public comments portion; residents requested follow-up and site visits. Several speakers invited councilmembers to visit their homes to view the proximity and egress constraints firsthand.
