Real estate development and investment company KT Urban withdrew their redevelopment proposal for the Oaks Shopping Center, which was going to be presented at a City Council meeting on Jan. 16.

A statement by principal of KT Urban Mark Tersini was released to La Voz saying:  “After careful consideration, KT Urban decided that it would be best to pull the project from the City Council Agenda at this time.”

“Our vision for Westport Cupertino is to transform a 40-year-old, functionally obsolete shopping center into a vibrant, modern western gateway to Cupertino,” Tersini said in a statement released to La Voz.

KT Urban’s redevelopment plans have sparked controversy among Cupertino citizens who feel the city is not prepared for such rapid growth.

As covered by La Voz in the fall, one tenant at the Oaks Shopping Center, Coffee Society, already had to close its doors since KT Urban took ownership due to rapidly increasing rates.

Cupertino citizen Caryl Gorska, who has been working with grassroots community advocacy group Better Cupertino, said she is against KT Urban’s development plan because it violates certain requirements in the city’s General Plan.

The General Plan for the Oaks does not include space for hotels or offices, and has a height limit that was exceeded by KT Urban’s development proposals.

“The other major reason I opposed this development was that its location and density would make the traffic around the highway 85/Stevens Creek Boulevard junction much, much worse,” Gorska said. “And I’m sure most people who study and work at De Anza College would agree that the traffic is already bad.”

“Their proposals have been extremely dense, and Cupertino simply cannot handle it,” said Dan Mart, environmental studies major. “If we look say ten, twenty, thirty years down the road…It would be nothing short of entirely irresponsible.”

It is not yet known what KT Urban’s next steps will be.