The Special Interest website, which keeps track of campaign donations, lists Butcher’s Corner developer John Vidovich, of DeAnza Building Maintenance, as the largest donor (second to the candidates) for Sunnyvale City Council Candidate Seat 1: Gustav Larsson and Seat 2: Glenn Hendricks.
While De Anza Building & Maintenance, Inc. has a relatively low profile, the Secretary of State’s website lists Vidovich as the owner. A former employee of the company says it specializes in land use and development deals involving everything from mobile home parks and large apartment complexes to wine vineyards and pistachio farms.
Sunnyvale Planning Commissioners Gustav Larsson and Glenn Hendricks, and Councilman Jim Griffith have been busy approving immense projects such as the LinkedIn Building and the Solstice and Carmel-Lofts(Formerly Town & Country) that have unhappy neighbors forming preservation groups.
The recent sale and ambitious vision of developer John Vidovich’s 10-story Butcher’s Corner (Wolfe and El Camino) project, will exceed the height of the 100′ tall LinkedIn building, has a new group of neighbors advocating to deal with issues involving annexation, zoning and controlling the scope of the project.
Folks – Gustav Larsson, Glenn Hendricks, and Jim Griffith have been decision makers for massive projects bypassing residential concerns such as scope, size, visibility views, the need for traffic studies, and back-peddling later stating that they were not aware of the magnitude of these projects. It’s their job to know!
Accepting donations from a developer for Butcher’s Corner is worrisome and a conflict of interest, according to many concerned residents.
VOTE:
- Seat 1: Andy Frazer
- Seat 2: Steve Hoffman
- Seat 3: Tap Merrick for Sunnyvale City Council 2013 Election!
Candidates Seat 1: Andy Frazer, Seat 2: Steve Hoffman, and Seat 3: Tap Merrick pledge to operate their campaigns on reasonable budgets, without donations from developers and special interest groups. They want to demonstrate that a campaign can be won without accepting developer contributions – and continue to work on issues that benefit the residents of Sunnyvale.
Seat 1: Candidate Andy Frazer states:
The city’s General Plan, as well as the specific area plans for neighborhoods such as the downtown, are carefully designed to support development while balancing job growth, housing, traffic, and the impact on parks and schools. Smart development is good for the city, and good for the economy. But after sitting through many City Council meetings over the past two years, I’ve seen a stream of developers come before the Council asking for zoning deviations to allow taller buildings, smaller setbacks, and more dwelling units than permitted in the General Plan and specific area plans.
This must stop. To preserve the future quality of life in Sunnyvale, the Council must stick to these area plans and stop handing the future of the city to these developers’ short-term profit interests.
I support cautious development within the city’s designated industrial-to-residential (ITR) areas, as well as the industrial zones of Moffett Park and the new Peery Park. New development must be consistent with the General Plan and the specific area plans. But the Council must carefully weigh this new development against the strained capacity of our roads, our schools and our neighborhoods.
This year your vote matters!
Vote for Frazer, Hoffman and Merrick, the three candidates who demonstrate integrity, advocacy, and vision.
eyesunnyvale.com 