City Council Highlights
By Robert Haugh
The first council meeting of 2017 told us a lot. If you’re a Northside resident, you’ll be happy. If you’re the 49ers, you won’t be. If you’re U2, you can still sing in Santa Clara, but you can do fewer songs.
Curfew Extension for U2 Concert Denied
In the first 49ers-related vote with the “new” Council, the Council and Stadium Authority voted 4-3 to deny a one-time, one-hour curfew extension for the Wednesday, May 17 u2 concert. Currently, weekday events have a 10 p.m. curfew.
The tour date is listed on U2’s official website and tickets are already on sale. The concert is expected to attract 80,000 attendees.
Council members Pat Kolstad, Patricia Mahan and Dominic Caserta supported the curfew extension — this is the new 49er council coalition, while Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Council members Kathy Watanabe, Teresa O’Neill and Davis opposed the curfew extension. This is the majority that has stood up to the 49ers. The majority won and so did Northside residents.
Levi’s Stadium Community Room
Council member Debi Davis requested to set a future date to discuss use of the community room at Levi’s Stadium for non-profit events and meetings.
Davis stated that the request for information on facility use dates back over six months, with the Santa Clara Lions being one organization that has been trying to plan an event in the space. She didn’t seem happy that the team appears to be giving the community the runaround.
It is alleged that the 49ers have been using the space for non-civic functions/storage.
After discussion, it was agreed that city staff will bring forth a report regarding the community room to the Jan. 24 meeting. This will be another team versus community issue.
Moonlite Lanes Property
The Moonlite Lanes project (2780 El Camino Real) was continued to the Feb. 21 meeting for further staff research and community outreach. The developer, Prometheus has reached an agreement to add additional payments to Santa Clara Unified School District. That’s good for them because they have the official support of the school district. But it looks like they still have a lot of community opposition. It was a 7-0 vote to continue the item.
[…] curfew in place. Only Santa Clara Vice Mayor Dominic Caserta would lift the curfew. He was on the losing end of a 4-3 vote to do this is in January when the 49ers requested it for U2 and again in August for […]
[…] January, the Council voted 4-3 to disallow a curfew extension for the U2 concert. Caserta, Kolstad and Mahan voted to support ManCo’s request for a curfew extension. […]
[…] we reported in January, the council voted 4-3 to maintain the weekday curfew at 10 p.m. for this event. O’Neill voted […]
Measure J set the stadium curfew … And Measure J also specifically says that the only way it can be changed is by the VOTERS!! Not a single council has the power to make this change per THE LAW they all supported.
Funny the City Attorney didn’t bring that up either, did he?