The San José City Council heard two public comments and accepted a report on the proposed Story Road Business Improvement District (BID) on Tuesday, addressing public safety and unhousedness that keep occurring around the Story Road area.
The Business Improvement District is an area where business owners work together and collect funds to make their neighborhood better such as cleaning streets, adding security and promoting local businesses in the area, according to the City of San José webpage.
With these improvements, it can help local businesses around the area attract more visitors and increase economic opportunities, according to the same source.
Kathy Nguyen, a San José resident of 10 years, raised her concerns about occurrences around local businesses.
“When will the city make the area safer for businesses with the project planned?” Nguyen said. “Does the city have any plans to settle them so they no longer come back to us?”
Nguyen said that homelessness in the area remains a consistent issue for her and how encampments were only cleared during the project and when it concluded the homeless came back.
Twelve miles of encampments along Coyote Creek have been cleared by the city of San José and there are 13 no-encampment zones citywide, according to an April 23, 2025 San José Spotlight article.
In 2024, San José enforced “no return zones” for homeless camps and is the city’s latest attempt to clear unhoused people from the city, according to the same source.
Nguyen asked how the funds collected from small businesses around the area would be divided throughout the district, noting the plans spending on security, advertising and planning services.
“We don’t need all of that,” Nguyen said. “We need security and a clear area.”
Sean Johnson, a resident representing property owners at Remillard Court, spoke about safety concerns from other business owners.
He said that businesses have experienced incidents of vandalism and that student employees face threats from individuals near encampments along the Coyote Creek and Story Road area.
“We understand that this is a difficult challenge, but this must be the first action by the Story Road Business Improvement District because without it, other efforts will be fruitless,” Johnson said.
There have been several reports received by the San José Police Department regarding gang vandalism throughout the city on private and public property, resulting in thousands of dollars worth of damage, according to a San Jose Police Department report.
Johnson said the deteriorating condition of Remillard Court raised concerns for everyone and Story Road serves as an access point to the Coyote Creek Trail.
The Coyote Creek Parkway is a 15-mile walkway that lines Coyote Creek, according to the County of Santa Clara.
“Improvements here will benefit not just local businesses, but trail users and the public at large,” Johnson said. “We respectfully ask that the Remillard Court be considered in the city’s infrastructure planning.”
San José Mayor Matt Mahan said he acknowledged the concerns the public raised while the city is aware of the challenges in the area specifically near Coyote Meadow and the encampment area along Remillard Court.
“We’ve stood up a lot of shelters in recent years and made progress,” Mahan said. “There will be actions taken by the city this year.”
Unhoused residents are required to take shelter when the city offers, or they could be fined or arrested, according to Mar. 12, 2025 Governing article. The city has also created a team to help with outreach and enforcement as part of Mayor Mahan’s plan to provide more shelter and clear encampments.
Mahan apologized to business and property owners for the ongoing challenges.
“It was not very much on our radar,” Mahan said.
He said that the city plans to begin significant outreach and engagement efforts in the area working towards the upcoming months. The plan includes decommissioning the encampment to protect the nearby waterway.
The San José City Clerk’s Office is overseeing public outreach efforts for the San José Charter Commission through a multi-channel engagement plan along with community partners, according to the City of San José webpage.
District 7 Council Member Bien Doan said he is aware of the conditions.
Doan said that the proposed business improvement district will be a mechanism to support marketing, promotion and efforts to keep the area safer and cleaner and urged the council members to support the item.
“I will work with both BeautifySJ, our police department to improve that area and I’m very well aware of it because I drive by that area as well,” Doan said.
