GILROY—A three-story rental housing complex could come to the 600 block of Broadway Street, following the Gilroy Planning Commission’s unanimous vote to support the Broadway Townhouse development.
The commission March 5 recommended approval of the architecture and site plans for the proposed four-unit, duet project. If the city council agrees, the project would rise on four 2,500-square-foot vacant lots at 620, 622, 624 and 626 Broadway St., a block north of First St., between Wayland Land and Carmel St.
Applicant Michael Oshan of Gilroy has owned the land for 15 years. In 2006 he submitted plans to replace rental units built in the 1950s, but the economic downturn stopped the project two years later, he said, after the original units were demolished.
“A lot of changes were made at significant time and expense, and here we are eight years later ready to finish the project,” Oshan said.
While no other three-story buildings are in the surrounding area, they are allowed in the zoning district that bounds the property, according to city planner Melissa Durkin.
She spoke highly of the proposed development and Oshan’s willingness to modify the plans after all these years.
“(He) submitted several iterations of the proposed design and it has culminated in a design staff supports and believes would be an asset to the neighborhood,” Durkin said. She called the four duets are a “vast improvement” over what was there before.
According to the plans, the homes will be built to a height of just over 30 feet.
Oshan said he will maintain ownership of the property as rentals but did not discount the possibility of someday selling the buildings.
“The plan is to have it as a cohesive unit for the near future,” he said.
John Torrez, the complex’s neighbor to the east, suggested a sturdy common fence be built at shared expense. Rather than negotiating fence post replacement with a different owner every 10 years or so, it should be built to last, Torrez said. Planning Commissioner Elizabeth Sanford suggested the parties negotiate an agreement.
Planning Commissioner Kai Lai raised concerns that the development’s lack of a homeowners’ association could lead to disputes between neighbors.
While a binding HOA document would not govern the proposed complex, city planning manager Sue Martin noted that building details such as exterior color and landscaping would be bound by city resolution.
“If there was a dispute, we could fall back to (it) and say ‘this is what all four of them are supposed to look like,’” Martin said.
Parking issues, however, are a different story, city staff said.
While planners and engineers worked with Oshan to revise the on-site parking plan, any disputes over whose spot belongs to whom are “purely a civil matter,” according to Durkin.
No date has been set for city council action on the project.
