Plans to expand the Bay Area's BART system to the Silicon Valley have brought into question the future of a San Jose flea market that some want to turn into a transit-oriented development.
The city wants to build nearly 3,000 residential units on the site, but some say their plans don't do enough to create an urban village in the area.
"The flea market's owner, the Bumb family, supports the city's broad goals for the area, but intends to build up to roughly 2,800 housing units on the property, many of them single-family homes. While city officials approved that plan, it falls short of their hopes to see an urban center emerge in what is now a sparsely developed part of town.
The city has little clout to alter the family's plan, says San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. The Bumbs 'have property rights, and they are entitled to certain things there,' he says. But placing lower-density development on the site would be a disappointment, he adds. The flea market is 'an opportunity for a very large site to be developed in a planned way, and you don't get many of those in the Bay Area.'"
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