All three familiar names are on the ballot this year, and many friends likely remember their actions from a decade ago.
On December 4, 2014, at 3 AM, they voted to approve the Vallco rezone, which removed height and density limits for buildings. The whole rezone process was enacted without transparency. The 2014 Sinks-Wong-Change decision to abdicate their responsibility as stewards of the City’s land use made Cupertino the first city in California to relinquish its authority over a 50-acre, city center area in favor of “whatever the property owner says he needs”. This deeply disappointing decision marked the beginning of the now 10-year saga of high density, office-heavy redevelopment plan for what was the Vallco shopping mall. Their theory is that those who opposed the Vallco rezone are anti-development. However, even before the rezone, the Vallco site had building heights of 4 to 6 stories, sufficient for a thriving Valley Fair Mall or a mixed-use Santana Row.
Furthermore, before SB35 took effect in 2018, they silenced Darcy Paul and Steven Scharf during Council meetings, where both urged their fellow council members repeatedly to address these zoning loopholes. This situation echoes the current council majority’s actions, which have silenced Liang Chao and Kitty Moore many times. In 2018, the Vallco developer submitted their SB35 plan by taking advantage of this loophole, resulting in the city losing control over Vallco projects from then on.
More stories about them:
- Rod Sinks utilized his Vice Mayor title in a mailer from the Vallco developer, claiming that Better Cupertino was responsible for bringing a 20-story building to Vallco.
- Barry Chang once faced a recall effort after residents discovered that he had accepted over $300,000 in political donations from developers.
- Gilbert Wong has never said “No” to any developer, regardless of how unreasonable their requests were. He was the famous “Mr. Nice Guy” in Cupertino in the eyes of developers.
Don’t our Cupertino residents deserve better? Would you like to see numerous “mini Vallcos” with no height limits in your neighborhood in the future?
More old articles:
Malls outperforming the shopping center industry, March 30, 2015