GILROY
– Gilroy officials want to ensure South County’s air quality,
traffic congestion and high housing prices are at the center of
conversations related to the Coyote Valley development that could
see as many as 80,000 people move into the area north of Morgan
Hill.
GILROY – Gilroy officials want to ensure South County’s air quality, traffic congestion and high housing prices are at the center of conversations related to the Coyote Valley development that could see as many as 80,000 people move into the area north of Morgan Hill.
In addition, Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella wants a seat on the task force overseeing the development to guarantee the college is included in plans to add 25,000 homes and 50,000 jobs in the college’s district.
Gilroy is starting to take steps to guarantee its voice is heard in San Jose’s process of planning its new development in the area near Santa Teresa Boulevard and Bailey Avenue.
City Councilman Paul Correa recently started attending key meetings on Coyote Valley and reporting back to Council. In addition, two city planners are handling Coyote Valley matters.
The effects of the community, which will be the size of Gilroy and Morgan Hill combined, could spill over into Gilroy.
Correa is concerned people will be commuting from the south to Coyote Valley – increasing traffic, air pollution and housing prices in the South County.
“It’s important for us to at least have our eyes open in terms of what is going on out there,” Correa said.
However, Gilroy has no official say in the process. Like Morgan Hill, no one from Gilroy was named to the 20-member Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force in 2002. The task force makes recommendations to the San Jose City Council. County Supervisor Don Gage, a former Gilroy mayor, is a member of the task force, but he represents a broader area than South County.
After the task force was named, Morgan Hill officials became frustrated and worried that their concerns were not going to be heard, Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy said. Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella has requested to be on the task force twice because Coyote Valley is within the college’s jurisdiction. Most recently he sent a request in writing to San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales. But his efforts have been to no avail.
As a result, the City of Gilroy and Kinsella are piggybacking Morgan Hill’s efforts, which include a new South Valley task force that met for the first time on May 19 and will host a summit Wednesday. Kinsella is a member of a technical working group, made up of government agencies and stakeholders that advise the Specific Plan Task Force.
“Being at the big table is probably better, but we’re not,” said Jay Baksa, city administrator. “We’re making the best out of the situation. We’re having input into the process through Paul and staff.”
Laurel Prevetti, deputy planner with the City of San Jose, said there is adequate opportunity for the public and other government agencies to participate through community workshops and task force meetings.
“We’ve had people from as far away as Contra Costa County participate,” she said. “We’ve been really reaching out, really trying to let people know that we are sincerely interested in stakeholder involvement and welcome their participation.”
Correa’s main concern is air quality. The South County has the worst air quality in the Bay Area, he said.
“I was the first person who spoke up regarding air quality,” he said.
The development also is going to have an impact on traffic and transportation, he said. Correa would like to see Caltrain or light rail expanded and the U.S. 101 widened south of Cochrane. But South County needs to start planning ahead to reserve funds to complete these projects.
Since Gilroy is a controlled-growth city, if people working in Coyote Valley look for homes in Gilroy, it will increase housing prices in an already high-cost housing market, he said.
On Monday, Correa and Kennedy met with Gonzales, who also chairs the task force, to share their concerns. They asked Gonzales to consider building residences at the same time jobs are created.
“If they build the industrial commercial jobs without building the residences, that is going to place tremendous pressure on those of us in San Martin, Gilroy, even farther south to Hollister, Salinas to provide that housing,” Kennedy said.
“I think the mayor was receptive to that idea,” he said.
Gonzales also welcomed future meetings with representatives from South County, Kennedy said.
Kinsella wants to make sure Gavilan College can meet the needs of the new population in Coyote Valley. The college would need to acquire land, likely with funds from an $108 million bond voters passed this spring. The college hopes to complete an assessment in a month to determine if a campus in Coyote Valley is feasible and put it to the Board of Trustees for a vote.
Planners already have included a community college in their plans.
“It’s normally a good development draw to have a college within a community, especially community colleges,” he said.
One of Kinsella’s concerns is the number of acres that can be allotted for a college campus, considering Coyote Valley’s density. By state regulations, a community college generally must have at least 100 acres to accommodate any growth, he said.
“These are what our requirements are,” he said. “We have to be factored into this discussion.”
Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro said Council will seek more information in the future about what the final project will look like. Planners presented three drafts Saturday for the public and task force to consider and a final plan will be selected this fall by San Jose City Council.
For now, Gilroy is content to be working with Morgan Hill as long as San Jose realizes their concerns and will try to mitigate any negative impacts. Eileen Goodwin, who handles the plan’s outreach, said a lot of South County’s concerns will be addressed in the environmental impact report to be started next fall.
“As we have found with the perchlorate issue, we are more powerful and have a bigger influence on decisions if we’re in it together,” Baksa said.
The South Valley Summit will be held at the Morgan Hill Community Center at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The Community Center is located at the corner of Dunne Avenue and Monterey Road.
