Give Feedback to San Jose
The Costco project is not a done deal - please act now!
Anyone can submit comments, regardless of where they live.
Submit your feedback by Tuesday, February 20, 5PM
Our one-pager “cheat sheet” with some helpful points for you to include in your feedback can be found here: Costco Comment Workshop Cheat Sheet
Feedback Option #1 (More Personalized): Step by Step Directions for Emailing Feedback
Click here to open a new email draft. If that does not work, create a new email with the following settings:
To: kara.hawkins@sanjoseca.gov, matt.mahan@sanjoseca.gov, rosemary.kamei@sanjoseca.gov, sergio.jimenez@sanjoseca.gov, omar.torres@sanjoseca.gov, david.cohen@sanjoseca.gov, peter.ortiz@sanjoseca.gov, dev.davis@sanjoseca.gov, bien.doan@sanjoseca.gov, domingo.candelas@sanjoseca.gov, pam.foley@sanjoseca.gov, arjun.batra@sanjoseca.gov
CC: planningcom5@sanjoseca.gov, district1@sanjoseca.gov
BCC: info@savewestvalley.org
Subject: Feedback for Westgate West Costco DEIR, File no. CP21-022
Message body:
Kara HawkinsDepartment of Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement
Dear Ms Hawkins, Mayor Mahan, City Council members, and Planning Commission Chair Lardinois:
I have reviewed the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Westgate West Costco project and I am writing to provide my feedback.
<<your feedback goes here>>
Thank you for your consideration and your care in responding to these serious concerns.
Sincerely,
<<Your Name and neighborhood go here>>
Fill in the body of the email with your own feedback for your areas of concern about the proposed Costco project. You can get inspiration from the letter template above, example feedback letter further down this page, and from sample feedback snippets here.
If you have questions or would like us to review your feedback, send a draft to info@savewestvalley.org and we will get back to you.
Send your feedback to the city before the deadline of 5PM Tuesday, February 20th. In addition to any other recipients, you must include Environmental Project Manager for the Westgate West Costco project, Kara Hawkins, at kara.hawkins@sanjoseca.gov for the feedback to be officially recognized.
Feedback Option #2 (Quicker/If You Don’t Have Time): Copy/download the letter template
Download or copy and paste the letter into a blank email. Letters may be sent via email or as attachments.
Copy all the email addresses and Subject line from the template. Delete the red text at the beginning. Add your name and neighborhood/zip code at the bottom of the letter.
Customize the letter as you wish and send. You’re done - thank you!
A quick background on building projects
Before any major project can be built in California, it must go through the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), approval process. To get the project approved, the process requires government agencies to consider the consequences of their actions and make sure there are no significant negative impacts.
The Costco Warehouse project does not yet have such an approval.
On December 15th, Costco submitted a Draft version of the Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) to San Jose. The DEIR details the impact of the proposed Costco Warehouse project at Westgate West on such areas as traffic, noise, and pollution.
Next, feedback on the DEIR are submitted to San Jose as part of a public review. That is Step 3 in the diagram below.
We must submit feedback to the City on this Draft EIR report. Feedback is due to the city by 5pm, Febuary 20, 2024. We need your help!
Project flowchart
The city released the Draft EIR on December 15th with a 65 day public comment period. All feedback is due in writing to the city by 5pm February 20, 2024!
How should I prepare to write my feedback?
You can start your research with the report itself. It is available at this link: Public Draft DEIR Westgate West.
The DEIR and all its appendices are here: bit.ly/westgate-costco-deir.
Read the DEIR with an eye towards writing about your specific areas of concern, whether safety, traffic, noise, pollution, etc.
The complete DEIR with all its appendices is over 2,500 pages long. We are in the process of summarizing the DEIR. Please check back here for more details or join our mailing list.
Why should I send feedback on the DEIR?
It is the best way for you to voice your concerns. Submitting feedback on the DEIR or attending city council and planning committee meetings are the only way that the City and Costco will hear your concerns in an official context.
The city is also required to respond to all feedback they receive on environmental issues.
What should I say in my feedback? What can I write about?
This is your letter. Make it clear what concerns you.
Maybe you are a parent of a Prospect HS or County Lane Elementary student. Maybe you or someone you know walk or bike around the proposed site. Are you concerned about the dangers from the 11,000 car trips per day the Costco is expected to generate? Or the huge traffic jams expected at already congested roads and intersections around Prospect Ave, Saratoga Ave, and Lawrence Expressway.
Maybe you are concerned that Goodwill and Smart and Final are planned to be bulldozed because of the Costco project, or that Trader Joe's, Yogurtland, or other Westgate West businesses will suffer from the flood of Costco cars, resulting in customers giving up trying to park or avoiding the area altogether.
Maybe you are concerned about the environment and the fact the project has no plans for any solar panels. Or you are concerned they are excavating and aerating soil from a former Midas auto shop that leaked chemicals into the soil.
Maybe you live nearby and are concerned about the constant noise from forklifts, trucks, and traffic, not to mention the looming building that is now going to be 50 feet from your front lawn.
How can I write to be most effective?
Here are some great suggestions from Santa Clara county supervisor Joe Simitian. He writes about his 13 Tips for Successful Advocacy, (Read the article from the link. It’s short, and quite packed with advice) :
Bring solutions, not problems
Describe the elements of a solution, rather than insisting on a specific solution
Do not chastise, insult, or threaten
Make it easy to say yes
(Paraphrasing) Remember to say “thank you”
Do you have any examples feedback letters?
When you write out your concerns, be specific about what concerns you, why it concerns you, and spell out what you want done about it.
Here is an example of feedback that is too general:
The proposed Costco is too big, generates too much traffic, and will be dangerous for Prospect HS students.
Here is a better example. It states a specific concern, details why that is a concern, includes evidence the concern is valid, and calls for a specific remedy:
My name is <Your Name> and I am a 20 year resident of the Country Lane Neighborhood which is right next to the proposed Costco Warehouse at Westgate West. My home on Graves Ave faces the proposed site and my front door is only 100 feet from the site boundary. I am also the parent of a freshman at Prospect HS, which is located less than 1,000 feet from the proposed Costco site.
My freshman is a cross-country runner and their practice route goes right by the proposed Costco site and through the Saratoga Creek park that abuts the site.
I am concerned about the over 11,000 car trips the project will generate (per Appendix L Transportation Analysis pages 13, 41) particularly at the already over-congested intersection of Lawrence Expy and Prospect Ave. There have been 4 pedestrian/car accidents involving students at that intersection in the past year alone.
The Costco project does not plan for any major traffic controls or mitigations, only including minimal changes like sidewalk improvements and road striping. This makes worse an already unacceptable risk for students, pedestrians, and cyclists. This project alone generates more traffic at that site than roads can handle. Add in the traffic from thousands of new housing units across Prospect Road and along Saratoga Avenue and you have a recipe for danger, gridlock, and increased vehicle pollution from traffic-jammed cars.
This project is inappropriately scaled for the current and possible infrastructure at the site and should be denied.
If the city insists on approving this dangerous project against better judgement, before granting approval the city must create, fund, and put in place specific traffic and pedestrian mitigation measures to address student, pedestrian, and cyclist safety.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your address
Your contact info
Do you have more samples that can help me write my feedback letter?
We certainly do! Check here for examples than can inspire you: Feedback Snippets
What areas of concern can I write about?
The DEIR is meant to address a number of specific areas:
Aesthetics & Visual Resources
Agriculture and Forestry Resources
Air Quality
Biological Resources
Cultural and Historic Resources
Energy
Geology and Soils
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Hazards and Hazardous Materials
Hydrology and Water Quality
Land Use and Planning
Mineral Resources
Noise and Vibration
Population and Housing
Public Services
Recreation
Traffic, Transportation, and Circulation
Tribal Cultural Resources
Utilities and Service Systems
Wildfire
Alternatives
Significant Unavoidable Impacts
Cumulative Impacts/Human Impacts
Other
You can read about all these areas in detail at the CEQA site at opr.ca.gov/ceqa
If you have expertise in any of these areas or are specifically affected by any of them, make sure to note it in your feedback. That could be your professional or other experience, it could be the length of time you’ve been a resident in the area.
There already has been considerable objection to the project from the outset. Read the 130 pages of feedback on an earlier EIR version – almost all of which are objections – here. They might help inform your own feedback.
What if I have questions?
Email us at info@savewestvalley.org and we will do our best to help you
How do I submit my feedback?
You can use a filled in template email by clicking here.
Feedback should be submitted to San Jose environmental project manager Kara Hawkins via email to
Kara.Hawkins@sanjoseca.gov
Also include Mayor Mahan, City Council members as: matt.mahan@sanjoseca.gov, rosemary.kamei@sanjoseca.gov, sergio.jimenez@sanjoseca.gov, omar.torres@sanjoseca.gov, david.cohen@sanjoseca.gov, peter.ortiz@sanjoseca.gov, dev.davis@sanjoseca.gov, bien.doan@sanjoseca.gov, domingo.candelas@sanjoseca.gov, pam.foley@sanjoseca.gov, arjun.batra@sanjoseca.gov
Also CC Planning Commission chair Lardinois and San Jose District 1: planningcom5@sanjoseca.gov, district1@sanjoseca.gov
Please BCC or send a copy of your letter to us as info@savewestvalley.org so we can keep track of your concerns.
You can also send your feedback via paper mail to:
Department of Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement
Attn: Kara Hawkins
200 East Santa Clara St., 3rd Floor
San José, CA 95113
All feedback should reference the Costco project number, File No. CP21-022
Spread the word to your neighbors and friends to submit their own feedback
Send this link to your friends: bit.ly/westgate-costco-send-feedback or have them scan this QR code:
