Two needed to fill task force that will help plan city’s
development
Gilroy – The city needs two volunteers to fill out a task force that will help plan a major commercial and housing development in south Gilroy.
Officials have received applications for five of seven available posts on a group charged with crafting a master plan for a 26-acre strip of land along the southern edge of Luchessa Avenue. The land is wedged between car dealerships and hotels along Monterey Road, residential neighborhoods north of Luchessa Avenue, and an 81-acre sports park under construction to the south.
In April, the Local Agency Formation Commission, a regional agency with veto power over annexation requests, freed Gilroy officials to bring the former farmland within city borders. The move allows development group Giacalone-McDermott Management LLC to proceed with plans for 220 single-family homes, 30 apartments, and 80,000 square feet of commercial space.
The seven-person task force will be charged with developing conceptual maps and ensuring that land uses conform with the city’s Neighborhood District Policy.
The task force includes representatives from the development group and the school district. The two vacancies are for an affordable housing advocate and either a representative of nearby residential neighborhoods or the city at large.
The Luchessa development represents the first test of a city policy requiring landowners to preserve one acre of farmland for every acre of tillable land they develop. The preservation of farmland as part of the Agricultural Mitigation Policy will take place at the end of the approval process, likely several years from now.
Delays in forming the task force could determine if the project idles for five years or more. City officials are now rewriting regulations to prevent such projects from sidestepping a housing competition held every decade. The change is intended to help the city stay within limits placed on home construction. If the new regulations take effect before completion of the Luchessa Avenue master plan process, the developers will have to wait until 2013 to obtain permission to build.
Project representative Michael McDermott was not available for comment.
City Planner Cydney Casper predicted the task force’s work could last between six months and a year. Council plans to change the regulations at the beginning of 2007.
