FREMONT — A housing development along East Warren Avenue is on hold after neighbors brought traffic and privacy concerns to the attention of the city’s planning commission.
The planning commission this month delayed approving the Warren Place Development — a plan for six, two-story homes on undeveloped land formerly owned by Caltrans — after several residents complained the road is already too dangerous and the new neighbors would be able to see into their backyards from their second story homes.
Harry Wei, who lives on Crawford Street directly behind the proposed development, said he worries the new homes would invade his privacy, adding in an interview that “it’s just weird that someone can look into your house if they wanted to.” The master bedroom of the home his parents purchased and he now lives in would face the development.
“I don’t want it. I’m completely against it,” the 22-year-old said. “I’m not trying to think the worst of people, but it is something you have to consider. It’s just going to be annoying.”
He also echoed several other residents’ concerns about drainage, which has been an issue during rainy months in the neighborhood. Because of the sloped Interstate 680 overpass behind the Crawford Street homes, rain has for years drained directly into the backyards of neighbors, often causing flooding on their properties.
At the May 1 meeting of the planning commission, Commissioner Ben Yee said he’s seen a “mud river” there before during storms, caused by a storm drain on Warren Avenue being “inundated.”
Dave Ayers, the architect for the project with Herald & Ayres Architects, told the commission the developers plan to work with the city to rehabilitate the water infrastructure in the area to appease neighbors’ worries of flooding.
Ayers also said the second story of the homes are planned to further setback from original plans to provide more space between the new and existing residences. The new homes’ first floor would be setback a minimum 15 feet from the existing neighbors’ rear yard property lines along Crawford Street and second floors would be setback 18 to 28 feet, according to the design plans. Developers also plan to install smaller windows to further limit views from the second floor into neighbors’ properties.
But Wei is still not happy with the changes.
“I still think that doesn’t really fix it completely,” Wei said. “You kind of can’t trust them on that.”
The proposed Warren Place Development in Fremont, a plan for six two story homes along E. Warren Ave. and I-680 in Fremont, Calif., on Friday, May 9, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Other neighbors are concerned about the entrance to the proposed development, where they say there is already safety concerns regarding speeding cars and cyclists. At the May 1 planning commission meeting, one resident noted that an elderly man was killed in a hit-and-run in December 2017 along Warren Avenue near Bradley Avenue.
According to a police report, the man was hit in the roadway — not the crosswalk — on the evening of Dec. 5, 2017, and pronounced dead on the scene. Police arrested the alleged driver after apparently finding the supposed vehicle with front end damage in a nearby shopping center.
Residents have gathered over 1,400 signatures in an online petition to request the city install a stop light in the area to avoid accidents. But the city never installed a stop light there.
Other neighbors, such as Arun Kumar, wrote to the commission complaining they would lose precious views of Mission Peak from their properties if the new homes were constructed. Kumar, who owns two properties on Crawford Street, said he bought his first house for the view. He bought the second home, he said, because he lost the view when Caltrans built a sound wall along I-680 behind his first home.
“With the new homes, I will lose it again,” Kumar wrote.
Paul Castro, who has owned his home on Crawford Street since 1987, also has concerns over the invasion of his privacy. In an interview, he said he would like to know how long the construction would take, because he had not heard from the city or developer about the duration of the project.
“Other than that, I don’t have any problem with the development,” Castro said.
The commission decided on May 1 to continue to development’s discussion to a later date.