Gilroy
– The term
”
friendly eminent domain
”
might seem like any oxymoron, but it’s the next step for the
school district to acquire land in south Gilroy to build the Las
Animas Elementary replacement school.
Gilroy – The term “friendly eminent domain” might seem like any oxymoron, but it’s the next step for the school district to acquire land in south Gilroy to build the Las Animas Elementary replacement school.
The board last week approved proceeding with the process for 10 acres near Luchessa Avenue and Greenfield Drive currently owned by developers the Glen Loma Group.
The process is deemed “friendly” because the developers are not contesting the school district’s need to have the land for the school, but the two sides have been unable to agree on a selling price after more than a year of haggling.
Additionally, in order for the district to open even kindergarten through second grade by fall 2006, it needs access to the land as soon as possible. Traditional negotiations would take too long, said Steve Brinkman, the district’s superintendent of administrative services.
Glen Loma developer John Filice agreed the issue boils down to a price dispute and the district’s time crunch.
“Would I rather build houses there? Of course. … But we’re not going to challenge the necessity. It’s really because of (the district’s) timing. They need to get on the property,” Filice said.
The district has been considering since early 2003 purchasing the Greenfield site, which Glen Loma bought from the district for $3.6 million in 2000. The first appraisal in May 2003 came in at $10.8 million, and the most recent appraisal, in July of last year, valued the land at about half that. The first appraisal was based on the premise that the land had been zoned residential, which is why that estimate was higher than the second.
As negotiations continued, garlic magnate Don Christopher donated part of a site near Greenfield and in the same development, which the district then began to look at as a future home for the elementary school. When the city asked the district to again consider Greenfield, the district approached Glen Loma again to inquire about a potential purchase.
The district and Glen Loma tentatively agreed to an arbitration process. That was later changed to an informal appraisal process to be conducted at the same time as the eminent domain process, so the district could start construction on the school as soon as possible.
The next appraisal will determine whether the situation will wind up in court, which Filice said he’s hoping won’t happen.
“We obviously believe the first appraisal they got was closer to market value and was more realistic,” Filice said. “Everybody would prefer to resolve this without going to court, because we all incur costs.”
District officials and board members are sending out the message that eminent domain, in this case, does not mean a forceful pursuance of the land in question.
“Generally, (the term) ’eminent domain’ in this community and many others is a red flag, and the process is very emotional,” Rogers said. “But except for a few squirrels and rodents, we’re not forcing anyone out. We’re not uprooting anyone from their ancestral grounds. This is 10 acres, it’s flat and it’s not being used. It’s a good location for a school.”
Early delays in acquiring the site forced the district to abandon its hopes of opening the entire school by fall 2006. The plan now is to open kindergarten through second grade by then, a goal that the district’s director of facilities, Charlie Van Meter, said he is “very confident” can happen.
“We can’t have any delays, anywhere,” he said. “But we don’t anticipate construction taking a long time.”
The entire school will take about 13 or 14 months to build, about a month more than it took to build Antonio Del Buono, the district’s newest elementary school. The Las Animas replacement will include an administration and library building, a kindergarten building, a multi-use room building, five classroom buildings, each with six classrooms. The school will be able to hold 750 students.
The plans for the new school should be complete in about two months and then will go to the state for review. Once they get the green light, Van Meter said the actual construction of the school should be simple. In the meantime, the district will award bids to construct the school.
Although district officials are crossing their fingers they won’t need it, Plan B calls for temporary facilities such as portables. The latest enrollment projections for 2006-07 show a growth of almost 160 students in kindergarten through second grade and about 180 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, Brinkman said. More students is a good thing, he added, but also a bit of a scare.
“It’s going to be a challenge to house them,” he said. “And this is a replacement school.”
Several factors prodded the district toward the Greenfield parcel. The site already has utilities in place and is easier to build a school on because of its square-like shape. The area is more sheltered from Santa Teresa Boulevard, which could become a four-lane thoroughfare. The potential location, however, might require some road work and traffic reconfigurations, such as a new stoplight at Thomas Road and Luchessa Avenue, depending on city demands.
Also, the Greenfield site is already approved by the state through environmental reviews, whereas it could take up to six months or more for state approval on the Christopher site. And although the cost of eminent domain – hiring an attorney and paying other legal fees – will be expensive, it won’t be nearly as high as the extra cost to develop the Christopher site, Brinkman said.
