Santa Clara County planners and supervisors could vote this month on plans by the South Valley Islamic Community for a major multi-use project at 1405 Monterey Road in San Martin.
In the works for more than a decade, the project’s final environmental impact report (EIR) was published in April.
The final EIR addresses public comments made following the draft report, and will be the subject of a series of public hearings—including the May 23 county planning commission session—in the coming days.
The Cordoba Center, if approved, is set to include a mosque, a community building, a cemetery, a maintenance building, a caretaker’s dwelling, a youth camp, a field and playground, a plaza and an orchard.
These facilities are proposed on a 15.77-acre lot at the highest point in San Martin, on a space currently zoned agricultural and residential.
One of the biggest points of concern from the public regarding the Cordoba Center has been the proposed cemetery site. San Martin residents had expressed concern over the cemetery’s effects on San Martin’s groundwater. The draft EIR stated that the cemetery had the potential to affect groundwater supply if not mitigated, but that there would be a mitigation plan put in place.
Santa Clara County Planning Manager Rob Eastwood said planners consulted with the regional water resource board when creating mitigation plans. But there were no existing standards, so experts were hired “to go in and craft a very conservative standard.”
For the first five years, Eastwood said there will be a limit of 30 burial sites per year, with annual monitoring of groundwater quality.
When the draft EIR on the Cordoba Center was released in July 2018, it began a public comment period. San Martin and Santa Clara County residents spoke at public meetings, voiced concerns and asked questions about the project. All submitted and spoken comments were addressed in the final report.
Eastwood said there were no major changes made to the report in light of the comments; if there had been, the report would have been re-released.
The Cordoba Center proposal has been a whirlwind of controversy, momentarily getting derailed and sparking intense comments at public input sessions held since 2012. The South Valley Islamic Community has applied to build the project at least twice in the last decade, most recently in 2016.
The mosque would be the only worship center for the South Valley Islamic Community, which submitted the project proposals. The Islamic community currently meets in a barn in San Martin to worship. The Cordoba Center would serve the Islamic community throughout Santa Clara County and the South Valley.
Hamdy Abbass, an SVIC member and spokesman, said he hoped the final EIR would be enough for the public to see the project has met all of the guidelines required by the county.
“After 12 years of struggling to get this project, we did everything that was asked of us by the county and we’re awaiting the decision from the commission,” said Abass. “We hope that people look at the project itself for the merits and not the emotions.”
The next steps of the project include a joint study session for the San Martin Advisory Committee and Santa Clara County Planning Commission on May 2. The planning commission will then hear staff recommendations at a May 16 meeting, and a decision on approval or denial is expected to be made at a May 23 planning commission meeting.
Eastwood said the project approval is a planning commission decision, but that the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors would have to decide on the cemetery permit. However, Eastwood told the Times he believed, “There’s a high likelihood that someone will appeal the planning commission’s decision,” given the project’s controversial history.
If this were to happen, Eastwood said there would be 15 days for an appeal to be filed, and then the ultimate decision would go to the Board of Supervisors.
Eastwood expected the entire approval process to last about six months.
CORDOBA CENTER PUBLIC REVIEW
May 2: Santa Clara County Planning Commission and San Martin Planning Advisory Committee, 6:30pm at the Hiram Morgan Hill Room, Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Rd
May 16: San Martin Planning Advisory Committee, 7pm at the Hiram Morgan Hill Room, Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Rd
May 23: Santa Clara County Planning Commission, 1:30pm at Board of Supervisors’ Chambers, County Government Center, 70 W Hedding St, first floor, San JoseComments regarding the project can be directed to [email protected] or by phone to (408) 299-5783. Documents for the project can be viewed at https://www.sccgov.org/sites/dpd/Development/Current/Pages/2145.aspx.
