The residents also allege San Jose planning officials, who are presently reviewing the developer\u2019s application, have overlooked evidence that should disqualify the project from SB 9\u2019s provisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m okay with some growth,\u201d Viet Nguyen, one of the Warwick Road residents opposing the plan, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThe big thing is developers who are just taking advantage of whatever loopholes, whatever laws they can, and then not really caring about the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Jose planning officials have defended their review process, adding that following a \u201cgood faith\u201d investigation, they determined the project must be advanced under rules laid out under state housing law.<\/p>\n
Samara representatives did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Leading organizers in the opposition campaign said the stakes of this housing fight go beyond their own neighborhood, suggesting that a greenlight for the Warwick Road project could inspire other developers to pursue similar development strategies in San Jose\u2019s suburbs.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all playing out as San Jose\u2019s elected leaders consider updates<\/a> to the city\u2019s general plan that could increase density limits<\/a> across its single-family neighborhoods.<\/p>\n San Jose\u2019s housing boosters contend the opposition to these changes \u2014 as well as state housing laws like SB 9 \u2014 are misplaced. They argue that unless the city opens up its expansive suburbs to larger developments, it will never build enough homes to bring down spiraling housing costs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been underproducing housing<\/a> for a very long time \u2026 so a lot of our laws target areas that we haven\u2019t been building in, like single-family neighborhoods,\u201d Ali Sapirman, a city housing commissioner who also represents the Housing Action Coalition advocacy group, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI live in an eightplex, two-story building among single-family homes \u2014 and I certainly don\u2019t feel as if my housing degrades the rest of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Homestead Acres residents have long been wary of any encroachment on their semi-rural feeling neighborhood, which is home to large lots on streets that have no curbs, gutters, sidewalks or even street lights.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve been lobbying against the redevelopment plans at 15385 Warwick Road\u00a0for more than a year. An earlier iteration of the plan, since withdrawn, would have used another state housing law to subdivide the property into nine parcels, according to permit records<\/a>. Residents said they fear the addition of a large residential building on the corner lot property would create traffic problems and reduce surrounding property values.<\/p>\n At the heart of their case that the city should reject the project is a claim the property\u2019s prior owner used to rent out a room in the home. SB 9\u2019s drafters included a provision that excludes any property that has been home to a rental tenant within the past three years, a measure intended to prevent displacement caused by demolitions.<\/p>\n But officials with San Jose\u2019s Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement have said\u00a0the property\u2019s current and prior owners have filed notarized attestations that no tenant has been present on the property, according to emails obtained by San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city conducted this investigation in good faith and practiced due diligence by asking questions about tenants and following up for additional information from the prior and current owners,\u201d department spokesperson Vivian Truong told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThe city is obligated to move forward with the review and approval of the application.\u201d<\/p>\n The project\u2019s opponents remain unconvinced. They said the city has disregarded evidence that supports their claims,\u00a0 including video footage, photos of postmarked mail and testimony from neighbors.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city is favoring the developers ruining our neighborhood fabric,\u201d Kenny Seok, another Warwick Road resident, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cIf this project is allowed to move forward despite the evidence we\u2019ve provided, it signals to other developers that they can ignore zoning intent, disregard physical evidence and bypass the community\u2019s collective concerns to squeeze high-density developments into areas where they simply don\u2019t fit.\u201d<\/p>\n SB 9\u2019s slow start<\/p>\n Neighborhood organizers point to the Warwick Road project and a handful of others<\/a> scattered across California\u2019s suburbs<\/a> as a sign housing redevelopment projects are gathering steam in single-family neighborhoods.<\/p>\n To date, such projects have been few and far between.\u00a0Once billed as legislation that would end single-family zoning in California, SB 9 \u2014 which allows property owners to build as many as four homes<\/a> on a single-family lot \u2014 has produced only a trickle of new housing.<\/p>\n Between late 2022 and March of this year, San Jose\u2019s Department of Public Works has approved just 17 SB 9 building permits<\/a>, according to city housing data. As a point of comparison, the city approved more than 2,600 permits for accessory dwelling unit projects over the same period.<\/p>\n Housing experts say that a number of restrictions written into the law<\/a> have made it difficult to use, especially given the relatively modest financial returns that small-scale projects typically produce.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think the rents aren\u2019t quite there yet,\u201d Bob Staedler, a principal with real estate firm Silicon Valley Synergy, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n But others expect that as time passes and more property owners become familiar with SB 9 and more recent housing legislation<\/a>, their usage could become more common.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not an obscure, too hard to manage process anymore. It is something that is starting to hit a little bit of a rhythm,\u201d Kelly Snider, a land use consultant and urban planning professor at San Jose State University, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cOf every 100 houses that exist today, maybe four or five of them are going to become SB 9 (projects) in the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_2001-1024x768.jpg\")
Homestead Acres residents said they were alarmed when new fencing recently came up around the property at 15385 Warwick Road. Photo by Maryanne Casas-Perez.<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788201734_974_interactive-321838904008.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n