Battle erupts over homes to replace San Jose swim club and tennis site

SAN JOSE — A battle has erupted over a real estate developer’s plan to use a “builder’s remedy” as the catalyst for a housing project that would bulldoze a long-time swim and tennis club in San Jose.

True Life Cos. wants to develop an affordable housing development at the site of the San Jose Swim & Racquet Club, a familiar establishment in the city’s Willow Glen district — and intends to employ a new-fangled real estate gambit to steer the project to approval.

Through a letter prepared by Bryan Wenter, a Walnut Creek-based attorney with Miller Star Regalia and co-chair of the law firm’s land-use department, True Life Cos. notified San Jose planners of the developer’s intention to use the “builder’s remedy” process to seek an expedited approval for the housing project.

“Because the project will be affordable” as defined by a 2020 California law and since the city of San Jose has yet to adopt a housing element that is “substantially compliant” complies with that law, True Life Cos. has submitted a preliminary application for the project “pursuant to the builder’s remedy for its 1170 Pedro Street housing development project,” the Miller Starr Regalia attorney wrote in a letter to the city.

At present, the general plan land use for the San Jose Swim & Racquet Club site is “private recreation and open space,” which is a designation that typically wouldn’t allow for residential development.

The builder’s remedy, however, would pave the way for a streamlined decision-making process for the housing development — and not require a change in the general plan to accommodate the development of new housing. The speedy path to a decision also limits the roadblocks that city officials might use to modify or negate a project.

The maneuvers by True Life Cos. quickly set off alarm bells among numerous residents who live in or near the Willow Glen district.

“We’re not thrilled to have a four-story development right next to our single-family homes,” said David Zalatimo, who lives in Willow Glen. “Our concerns are that this project will cause a loss of open space and recreational uses in San Jose.”

The proposed development would produce 85 four-story townhomes on the roughly 3.3 acres occupied at present by the six-decade-old swim and tennis club.

In the letter to the city planners, True Life stated that a number of the residences in the project would be affordable.

“True Life Cos. will deed restrict 20% of the project’s units for lower-income households,” Miller Starr Regalia wrote in the letter to the San Jose Planning Department.

City planners, in a letter to the developers, listed numerous reasons why staffers would recommend that the Planning Commission and the City Council reject the proposed housing development.

“Staff would not support the general Plan Amendment and associated project,” Manuel Atienza, a project manager with the San Jose Planning Department, wrote in a letter to the developer.

Among the objections listed by city planners: The project violates the city’s general guidelines for development at that site, the building would be too tall, the project could harm nearby Los Gatos Creek and the project property is not located in an area that’s designated for future city growth.

City planners also stated they were alarmed that the housing development would wipe out jobs along with the swim and tennis club. The club employs an estimated 15 people, city planners stated.

“The loss of commercial space would result in a loss of jobs and revenue to the city,” city planners wrote to the developer. “Housing also requires more services from the city than commercial space and would therefore further decrease the city’s net revenue.”

The swim and tennis center has a long history in Willow Glen, having opened in 1956. In 1977, Norman Lariviere, a local lawyer, bought the swim and tennis complex. Lariviere operated the club until he died in 2022.

Following his death, Lariviere’s life partner Carolyn Lund and his family members began to pursue a sale of the property. In March, they struck a deal for a sale to True Life Cos. Lund acted as the trustee and conservator for the Norman A. Lariviere Trust in the contract agreement to sell the tennis and recreation center.

Despite their opposition to the proposal, San Jose planners stated that True Life Cos. would be welcome to submit an application. In the letter to the city, the development firm stated that it had decided to submit a formal application to develop the homes on the club property.

Some Willow Glen residents have begun to circulate an online petition to urge San Jose residents to oppose the housing project and save the recreation club.

“The city of San Jose planning staff has already informed the developer they will not support rezoning the property’s recreation and open space use but nonetheless the developer is pursuing the project,” stated the petition, which was launched by Friends of San Jose Swim & Racquet Club.

The legal representatives for the developer said the real estate firm was filling to cooperate with the city to advance the project.

“True Life Cos. is excited to work in cooperation with the city of San Jose in providing much-needed housing to the community pursuant to critical state laws that are designed to facilitate housing production,” Miller Starr Regalia wrote in its letter to the city.

Despite these assurances, well over 400 people have signed the online petition expressing opposition to the proposed housing development.

“We understand that housing is needed in San Jose, but we just think much better sites exist,” Zalatimo, the Willow Glen resident, said. “Even a couple of blocks from the swim and tennis club are better sites than this one. These other locations could be used and not sacrifice our open space.”