Divided City Council rejects affordable housing project as new
members are sworn in
Gilroy – A divided City Council spiked a major affordable housing project Monday night as one of its final acts before swearing in two new members, a move that one outgoing councilman viewed as a sign of things to come.
“It’s a split council and that’s what I think might happen in the future,” said Councilman Charles Morales, who later stepped down from the dais after 12 years on the city’s top governing body. “I think this was an opportunity to show a vision for the future and comply with state standards for affordable housing. It’s a disappointment to me.”
Morales and Bob Dillon, who also came up short in his November re-election bid, stood on opposite sides of a 3-3 vote that led to the rejection of Rancho del Sol, a 303-unit affordable housing proposal by South County Housing.
The local nonprofit developer had asked the city to retool its zoning language and allow it to bypass Gilroy’s building-permit competition to allow the project to move forward, arguing that the benefits of the project outweighed the perception by some that the group was asking for preferential treatment.
“It’s not a question of return on investments. It’s a question of the quality of the project,” South County executive Director Dennis Lalor said. “If this is special treatment, it’s for the general benefit of Gilroy.”
The project – which would have blended market rate homes with units earmarked for low and very-low income families in northern Gilroy – received the blessing of city staff who argued that existing regulations pose obstacles to the financing of affordable projects. They also argued that the project exemplifies the vision for diverse communities spelled out by the Neighborhood District Policy.
The set of development guidelines that governs much of the city land still capable of development represents one of several major policy initiatives approved by the latest council. In addition to the Neighborhood District Policy, the seven-member body in the last two years has signed off on area-specific plans for the downtown, Hecker Pass and Glen Loma Ranch, hundreds of acres in southwest Gilroy where 1,700 new homes will go up in the next decade.
The overarching vision common to those plans – that each should promote a blend of homes affordable to all income ranges while preserving open space.
But on Monday, the seven leaders who have spent two years thinking in broad strokes about the city’s future found themselves at odds over the particulars of a single project.
Morales argued that the South County proposal exemplified the spirit of the Neighborhood District Policy and would help Gilroy meet state mandates for affordable housing.
Dillon went through some outward soul-searching on the dais before coming to his decision.
“I’m sitting here trying not to cast one of my last ballots against an organization I greatly admire,” he said. “But I feel we’re doing a specialized ordinance and I’m having problems wrapping my arms around it.”
In the vote that followed, Dillon buried his face in his hands for a few moments before announcing that he would vote against the project. Two additional “no” votes by councilmen Roland Velasco and Craig Gartman, who was sworn in for a second term after getting the most votes in the November election, left the council evenly split 3-3. The voted amounted to a de facto rejection of the project, which Lalor said would likely force the nonprofit to sell the land without developing.
Mayor Al Pinheiro, who often finds himself casting the deciding vote on controversial projects, recused himself from the matter since he provides insurance as a private businessman to South County Housing.
Shortly after the vote, Dillon and Morales handed their positions on the dais over to former councilman and local physician Peter Arellano and planning commissioner Dion Bracco.
In the council race, Bracco sold himself as a plain-spoken businessman who hopes to bring fiscal restraint to the city budget and place sidewalk-repair at the top of council’s priority list. Bracco aligned his platform closely with that of Dillon and Gartman. Arellano, meanwhile, was the most progressive of the five-candidate field, calling for public support of after-school programs to keep youths off the streets and for an environmental litmus test for new businesses.
It remains uncertain if South County would have fared any better Monday under the new council. While Arellano is a strong advocate of affordable housing, Bracco voted against the project as a planning commissioner.
But it is clear that the seven-member governing body will confront similar issues as it seeks to apply the major policy initiatives laid out by the previous council.
Looking ahead at the two years before the next council election, Mayor Al Pinheiro did not see greater divisiveness on the horizon.
“I think the new council make-up will be just fine,” he said. “We have two seasoned individuals coming on to the council. Obviously each individual brings their own dynamics, but overall a lot of their campaign issues are things we as a council subscribe to and are already working on.”
The first full meeting of the new council takes place 7pm on Jan. 23 at City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St.
