Asks:

• Infill development, transit-oriented development, and building electrification are all equally important.

• Include affordable housing policy changes & the 8-year housing element update as part of the Climate Action Plan 2.0, and vice versa

60% of Cupertino emissions are transportation! This Tuesday, June 21, Cupertino has an excellent opportunity to push the envelope on meaningful climate change solutions in reviewing two different items (1) Cupertino’s Climate Action Plan (CAP 2.0) and (2) Authorizing $150k for joint participation in the Steven’s Creek Corridor transit corridor story.

Our ask to Cupertino leadership is simple: We absolutely need ALL four of the following to maximize our small city’s impact on mitigating climate change and to transform our city and region for the better:

1. Bold steps toward universal building electrification (currently supported in CAP 2.0). We are excited by the bold plans concerning electrification of buildings in Cupertino.

2. Emphasizing infill development (avoiding sprawl) as a key way to reduce vehicle miles traveled in Cupertino–which constitutes the largest source of emissions in the Bay Area. This is currently not supported by Cap 2.0

3. Transit-oriented planning. Cupertino, like most of the Bay Area, was designed around needing to drive everywhere. Cupertino’s daytime population doubles during the day, as most daytime residents cannot afford to live here. This forces long super commutes that are not accounted for in the current emissions inventory conducted in CAP 2.0. We aren’t serious about climate change if we do not focus on building housing near transit. While CAP 2.0 makes some vague references to transit, it fundamentally focuses on electric cars and bicycles improvements–which are in their own right important. Additionally, Cupertino must pledge its full support and participation in the Stevens Creek corridor study, another item on the 6/21 agenda.

4. Connecting CAP 2.0 to the Housing Element update specifying how and where we will plan for 5,000+ homes in Cupertino–and vice versa. The two must go hand-in-hand as ambitious polic visions for the next several years.

Climate change is an existential threat, meaning we must pursue all possible options, rather than avoid some because we are uncomfortable having a meaningful discussion on the need to fundamentally redesign our cities. But there is a reason land use and housing has become an inseparable aspect of climate change discourse. We should expect better from a bold Climate Action Plan. Chapter 9 of the Climate Action Plan–Connecting Communities (Transportation, Land Use) has almost no reference to actual land use reforms and barely brings it up.

The lack of affordable housing has lead to a decrease in public transit use. Three quarters of people commute to work in cars from longer distances in the valley, causing significant traffic congestion of “at least 50 minutes weekly per commuter.” San Jose Spotlight, (2019)

Within Transit Oriented Development areas, all income groups own cars at a rate that is at least 30% lower than non-TOD areas. [TOD areas tend to promote a degree of density to maximize transit ridership and reduce distance to a transit station]

Studies by the UC Berkeley Cool Climate California Local Government Climate Policy Tool reveal that infill development and reducing car reliance are two of the most essential ways to mitigate climate change for Cupertino.

But our City Council has resisted the promotion of infill development, making it difficult to build housing in the city by enforcing harsh zoning and parking restrictions, and limiting both height and density. This means that we are forced to build further outward to meet our needs. So long as this dynamic exists, we are not doing enough to reduce our emissions as a city and region.