Policy talks will include discussion of 10th Street congestion
and affordable housing
Gilroy – Traffic snarls along 10th Street, downtown parking requirements and new ways to generate affordable housing will top the discussion list for planning commissioners this weekend during informal policy talks.
“Everyone has seen the level of traffic increase (along 10th Street) as the two shopping centers built out, but when Wal-Mart opened it was a very pronounced increase,” said City Planning Manager Bill Faus, referring to the Pacheco Pass shopping centers. “The commission would like to talk about that on Saturday.”
The seven member group serves as the first layer of review on city land use and provides recommendations to city council.
Tenth Street traffic represents one of Gilroy’s biggest development challenges, according to Planning Commission Chair Tim Day, who placed the topic on the weekend agenda.
Future projects threaten to clog the 10th Street corridor with cars, Day said, pointing to rapid downtown residential development, a proposal to convert the Indian Motorcycle plant in the heart of the corridor into 200 new homes, and the Glen Loma Ranch project. The 1,700 homes in the project, slated for construction in southwest Gilroy over the next decade, will have direct access to 10th Street through a future bridge on the street spanning Uvas Creek.
“We need to take a look at it now before the problem gets unbearable,” Day said. “I’m sure there are solutions. I just don’t have the answers.”
Commissioners on Saturday also will tackle the details of mingling market-rate homes into affordable housing projects as a way to help subsidize homes for lower-income residents. The housing types can only be mixed by special exception under current regulations, but city leaders plan to graft the concept onto Gilroy’s growth control laws.
The commission’s Saturday agenda also includes downtown parking and housing programs.
“It’s a chance for us to talk without having to focus on a particular project that may be before us,” Day said. “We can talk in concepts and ideas.”
The planning commission retreat, which is open to the public, will take place Saturday from 9am to 2pm at Eagle Ridge Golf Club at 2951 Club Drive.
Meeting
– What: Planning Commission retreat
– When: Saturday, March 11 from 9am to 2pm
– Where: Eagle Ridge Golf Club, 2951 Club Drive
