GILROY
– An anonymous, disgruntled and growing group of Eagle Ridge
homeowners has spelled out demands they want met before members
support a mega real estate deal designed to keep Bonfante Gardens
Theme Park alive.
GILROY – An anonymous, disgruntled and growing group of Eagle Ridge homeowners has spelled out demands they want met before members support a mega real estate deal designed to keep Bonfante Gardens Theme Park alive.
The group, called Homeowners of Eagle Ridge, also say they have a candidate to oppose board president Dave Light in his quest for the delegate position that could determine whether the hotly debated land deal goes through.
Light has expressed support for the multi-million dollar, 33-acre land deal between Bonfante Gardens and Eagle Ridge developer Shapell Industries. Many homeowners, however, want Shapell to revamp its plan that would bring up to 120 luxury homes – but no secondary access road – to the 1,850-acre development.
“Remember folks, we are in the driver’s seat,” the Homeowners of Eagle Ridge states in its latest bulk e-mail. “We just need objective representation and negotiation with Shapell (the developer of Eagle Ridge). We do not appear to have that with our current Homeowners Association board.”
The deal will save Bonfante Gardens from financial ruin by slashing its debt from $70 million to what the park has called a “manageable” $14 million. If homeowners do not approve the land deal, Bonfante Gardens creditors will foreclose on the park.
On Thursday night, the Homeowners of Eagle Ridge met at an undisclosed location to discuss taking legal action against, apparently, its homeowner’s association board of directors and Community Management Services, the company that manages Eagle Ridge.
Homeowners of Eagle Ridge is insisting that a house-by-house vote be taken on whether to approve a 33-acre land deal between Bonfante Gardens and Shapell Industries. However, under the association’s own rules, seven delegates representing one neighborhood each will cast votes on the matter.
Infuriating some Eagle Ridge residents is that District 1 (the neighborhood around Club Drive) has 62 percent of the vote. In other words, one delegate could decide the fate of Eagle Ridge and Bonfante Gardens.
“The team tomorrow will also begin the process to secure legal representation to get a legal injunction filed to allow us as homeowners to get our voice heard,” the group wrote in its latest bulk e-mail.
Ironically, as the Homeowners of Eagle Ridge fights to be heard, the group has kept itself underground. The group does not return phone call requests and will only respond to e-mails.
According to its latest e-mail, the delegate Homeowners of Eagle Ridge is endorsing will ask the following of Shapell before voting for the land deal:
• Add an entrance from Hecker Pass
This would require building a $6 million bridge, Shapell has said.
• Increase the square footage of the lot to 8,000 square feet instead of 6,000 to ensure higher-value homes are built.
“Remember, Eagle Ridge was supposed to be the next Silver Creek. We don’t need Eagle Ridge to be the biggest development in Gilroy, we need it to be the best, and of the highest quality,” the group wrote in the e-mail.
• Make the pool Olympic-size rather than junior Olympic-size to better meet expected demand.
• Move the pool next to the eighth hole of the golf course, directly across from the clubhouse.
This will ensure that food is available at the pool and that the clubhouse gets patronized. It also will alleviate what the group calls a “nightmare” parking situation.
“Can you imagine how many cars will drive to the pool in the dead of summer when it is 110 degrees? At least having the pool next to the clubhouse will allow for overflow parking,” the group wrote.
• Keep tennis and basketball courts at the proposed park location.
• Install a covered cabana at the pool to make hot summer days at the pool more comfortable.
