Some say that the nearly 200 houses and a hotel will be an
economic boon for the county; others say it will mar the South
Valley
Hollister – The first phase of a development at San Juan Oaks Golf Club, which eventually will result in nearly 200 houses, two new golf courses and a hotel in the San Juan Valley, is set to start this summer with the construction of almost 60 homes on the 2,000-acre property.
The project will begin early this summer with grading work to prepare the land around the club’s 18-hole golf course for the construction of 57 houses, which will start soon after, according to Fuller. If all goes as planed, construction of the homes will wrap up in spring or early summer of 2007, he said.
Approved by county supervisors in July, 2004, the San Juan Oaks development eventually will include 186 houses, a 200-room hotel and two additional golf courses – a second 18-hole private course and a 9-hole course open to the public. Fuller said that the remainder of the houses, the hotel and golf courses would come sometime after the first phase of the project is completed in 2007. Though Fuller did not have estimates for how much the new homes will cost, he did say that San Juan Oaks has a lengthy list of people interested in moving there.
Local developer Ken Gimelli, who bought San Juan Oaks from Tokyo-based company Nikko for an undisclosed sum last summer, did not return phone calls Friday.
Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz said that he is excited to see San Juan Oaks’ plans come to fruition, saying that the new houses will increase the county’s tax base and that the people who live in them will spend some of their dollars locally. Also, he said, the hotel will create jobs, increase tax revenue and encourage tourism in the county.
“I think it’s a good thing,” he said.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho, whose district includes San Juan Oaks, agreed that the new hotel will hold economic benefits for the county. But, at the same time, he said the county needs to be cautious about developments in rural areas.
“San Juan Oaks has been a good neighbor to the county and they have an approved project. Hopefully they move forward with the plan approved by my predecessors,” he said. “As we develop outside of the city and the city limits and the city’s sphere of influence, these developments need to be designed in a fashion that maintains our rural character.”
Others in the county, however, are dead set against the project, saying that it will mar the San Juan Valley and over-tax the local resources.
“I am totally, totally, totally against it. I’ve been against the whole thing since the beginning,” said Rebecca McGovern, a long-time San Juan Bautista resident and local environmentalist. “It’s cluttering up the county. Our resources are limited, very limited, and it takes an awful lot of water to keep a golf course up.”
But regardless of dissenting opinions about the development, it is approved and it is moving forward.
Before any physical work on the project can begin, however, Fuller said that San Juan Oaks has to finish a study on how the development will affect the California tiger salamander, a species listed as threatened by the Fish and Wildlife Service. In August, the Fish and Wildlife Service designated more than 24,000 in San Benito County as critical habitat for the yellow-and-black amphibian, which lives on the San Juan Oaks property. San Juan Oaks, which altered its plans to protect the ponds that the salamander lives in, has been working with the Fish and Wildlife Service and anticipates that the matter will be settled soon, Fuller said.
“It caused some delay, but no major problems,” he said.
Project Details
– 186 houses
– 200-room Hotel
– 18-hole private golf course
– 9-hole public golf course
– 60-acre park
