PayPal Park gets 15 concerts a year, with new neighborhood noise rules

San Jose
City Council Meeting
February 24, 2026

TL;DR

• PayPal Park cleared to host up to 15 concerts a year, with sound now permitted to face south toward the Newhall neighborhood. Monthly noise reports go to PBCE and the CED Committee, with a year-2 follow-up study.
• Lower Income Voucher and Equity Program approved 8-3 with a $11.2M master lease for about 197 units at Reed and Market. Council member memos proposing 50 units for SJPD were rejected, and the City Attorney was directed to return with a fair housing legal analysis.
• 2334 Lundy Avenue appeals denied 11-0. A roughly 132,419-square-foot industrial building replaces a vacant data center on a 6.5-acre site, with 152 trees removed.
• Two East Santa Clara senior affordable housing projects funded: $6.8M loan to Eden Housing for 68 units at 700 East Saint John (30-60% AMI), and $9.05M to Santa Clara County Housing Authority for 62 units at 675 East Santa Clara (30-50% AMI).
• The Alameda Business Improvement District established, generating about $500,000 a year. Home-based businesses exempted after a three-week pause.

What happened

1. PayPal Park cleared for up to 15 concerts a year, with sound now allowed to face south
   1. The council voted 10-0 (Campos absent) to approve a planned development permit amendment for 1123 Coleman Avenue, lifting the 2010 condition that required all amplified sound to face north toward the airport. A new noise study found south-facing concert sound would still produce a significant unavoidable noise impact under CEQA, but at or below levels the 2010 EIR already assumed. Concerts can run any day of the week between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m.
   2. What this means for you: For Newhall residents, this changes which direction the speakers point. Mitigation Measure NOI-6 was tightened on the floor. Monthly noise reports go to Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement. A specialist's report goes to the Community and Economic Development Committee on Consent after the first two concerts. Year 2 adds another study for the first show when speakers face southwest, and a final report goes to CED after each concert season closes.
2. New $11.2M housing program approved for distressed downtown asset, with fair housing review ordered
   1. The Lower Income Voucher and Equity Program passed 8-3, with Ortiz, Doan, and Casey voting no. The Housing Director is authorized to enter a master lease of up to $11,209,804 with ASJ Development LLC for about 197 units at Reed and Market, starting at 80% AMI, with a preference for public sector employees. A substitute motion from Vice Mayor Foley stripped two single-signature memos, including one specifying 50 units "for exclusive use" by San Jose Police Department personnel. The substitute also directed the City Attorney to return with a legal analysis of fair housing law before any preference language is added.
   2. What this means for you: This is a new tool. Rather than building affordable units, the city is stepping in as master lessee at a market-rate building in distress, buying down rents over the term, and expecting to recoup its investment as rents step back toward market. Whether and how public-employee preferences can be layered on will come back after the City Attorney's review.
3. 2334 Lundy Avenue appeals denied; industrial building replaces vacant data center
   1. The council voted 11-0 to deny both the environmental and permit appeals from neighboring Milpitas townhome residents and approve the Overton Moore Properties project. The site, at the northeast corner of Trade Zone Boulevard and Lundy Avenue, will host an approximately 132,419-square-foot concrete tilt-up industrial building with about 10,000 square feet of office space, an 8-foot masonry sound wall, and the removal of 152 trees (95 ordinance-size, 57 non-ordinance-size). Operation is proposed at 24/7 with 16 loading docks.
   2. What this means for you: The site has been vacant for about three years. The applicant projects 80 to 125 high-tech jobs and roughly $800,000 added to the city's general fund in year 1 from the property tax reset. Council relied on the project's Mitigated Negative Declaration. Appellants had asked for a full Environmental Impact Report citing noise, traffic, and air quality concerns.
4. $15.85M committed to two senior affordable housing developments on East Santa Clara
   1. Two District 3 projects funded back-to-back, both with 11-0 votes. A $6,800,000 construction-permanent loan goes to Eden Housing for the East Santa Clara Senior development at 700 East Saint John Street, which will add 68 units between 30% and 60% AMI. A $9,050,000 loan goes to the Santa Clara County Housing Authority for the Trillium Senior Apartments at 675 East Santa Clara Street, adding 62 units (35 one-bedroom) between 30% and 50% AMI.
   2. What this means for you: Both projects already have 9% federal tax credits and county funding. The city money is the gap financing that closes the deals. They are the next two pieces of the East Santa Clara master plan rebuild.
5. The Alameda Business Improvement District established, generating about $500,000 a year
   1. Ordinance No. 31309 passed for publication and Resolutions 45 and 46 were adopted unanimously, after a three-week pause from the February 3 meeting. The final BID exempts home-based businesses from the annual assessment. The Alameda Business Association, Inc. will administer the district.
   2. What this means for you: Property and business owners along The Alameda will see a new assessment funding cleaning, marketing, and district services. Roughly 500 home-based businesses in the broader area are excluded. The association may pursue them as voluntary members.

What residents brought up

• A representative of the Newhall Neighborhood Association, speaking as the appellant on the PayPal Park item, asked the council to require a supplemental or subsequent EIR rather than an addendum. The representative pushed for real-time, publicly accessible noise monitoring like the system used near Levi's Stadium, citing a cost of about $25,000 a year. The representative argued that self-monitoring at the soundboard after the first two concerts is not enough, and that the 2010 council was promised in-neighborhood performance standards no more than 2 decibels above ambient.
• A property representative for businesses at 931 Remillard Court, speaking on the Story Road BID, said the area faces recurring vandalism, arson, and threats to employees from encampments along Coyote Creek near Story Road. The representative asked that security be the first action of the new BID, and flagged Remillard Court's deteriorated road condition as a safety issue and access point to the Coyote Creek Trail.
• Several Milpitas residents across Lundy Avenue, speaking as appellants on 2334 Lundy Avenue, raised CEQA notice gaps, nighttime peak noise impacts at second- and third-floor bedrooms, diesel air quality and health risk near schools, and emergency access on a single dead-end road shared with truck traffic. One appellant referenced AB 98's 300-foot setback standard for logistics facilities near homes and schools, which took effect January 1, 2026.

Also happened

• $9,000,000 Round 8 Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant accepted for King Road transit improvements in partnership with Affirmed Housing, spanning Council Districts 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8. Councilmember Doan's memo on bus lane width, stop spacing, VTA maintenance commitments, and community outreach was incorporated.
• Story Road Business Improvement District establishment report received in Council District 7.
• Citywide vacancy hearing accepted 10-0. The citywide vacancy rate ended 2025 at 9.06%, down from 9.95% the year prior. IBEW and the Park Rangers Association were flagged as having been above the 20% disclosure threshold.
• Ordinance No. 31306 (cardroom regulations) and Ordinance No. 31307 (Alum Rock Santa Clara Street BID) adopted on consent.
• AT&T FirstNet citywide purchase order increased by $1,000,000 to a $4,500,000 revised maximum. Councilmember Mulcahy recused.
• Commendations to the Pajama PLUS Project and to S.J. Sharkie, the San Jose Sharks mascot, for 2025 NHL Mascot of the Year and Mascot Hall of Fame induction.

For any updates or corrections, please email steven@polisdesk.com