By Robert Haugh

The City Council heard a presentation from the consultants working on the Downtown Precise Plan. 

The plan creates:

• Total development — 2.3 million square feet
• Housing — 1,574 units 
• Office/Hotel — 670,000 square feet
• Retail/Entertainment — 197,000 square feet
• Parking spaces — 2,900
• Public Space — 44,000 square feet

The City Council accepted the preferred framework plan for the Downtown Precise Plan. But they added protections for historic buildings. The vote was 5-0.

Mayor Lisa Gillmor had to recuse herself from the item because her office is located downtown.

Councilman Suds Jain had to recuse himself from the item because his wife works at Santa Clara University.

Jain did not disclose this conflict during his Council race in 2020 even though he knew about it years before when he was on the Planning Commission.

Many downtown residents are unhappy with Jain about misleading voters about this.

Editor’s Note: Some major items were deferred to a future meeting. The new City Council once again had trouble getting through an entire agenda.