Tonight the Planning Commission will hear another proposal for a
small development of homes to be built on Miller Avenue. An earlier
version of this project has come before the Planning Commission and
City Council, and the developer is trying to work with his Miller
Avenue neighbors to win them over. It is my hope that this project
will be rejected again.
Tonight the Planning Commission will hear another proposal for a small development of homes to be built on Miller Avenue. An earlier version of this project has come before the Planning Commission and City Council, and the developer is trying to work with his Miller Avenue neighbors to win them over. It is my hope that this project will be rejected again.
A quick perusal of tax records shows me that there are dozens of homes on large lots in downtown Gilroy. Just because a parcel could support four or six homes on small lots doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do. I have nothing against this particular developer, and certainly nothing against small in-fill projects. This is not now and has never been an in-fill development. Allowing this project to go forth will mean opening up the possibility for many similar projects simply because this is an area where some folks are fortunate enough to have a half-acre lot in the heart of Gilroy.
Ask Miller Avenue residents, and they will tell you that they already have enough traffic congestion on their street. For the past five years, I have been driving one of my children to Brownell every school day. I have watched the traffic get a little heavier every year.
On Miller Avenue, between First Street and Sixth Street there are many beautiful homes; there is also a Church, an apartment complex, a gas station and a new office complex. Every day there are children walking or biking on Miller Avenue to Brownell Academy and El Roble School. This residential neighborhood is as built-out as it should be, and I urge the Planning Commission to stand for the interests of the neighborhood rather than the interests of one land owner.
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As many readers might recall, last year I was the co-president (and a co-founder) of the Gilroy High School Parent Club. After a series of unfriendly and unfortunate events, I resigned my position before the end of the school year.
I attended the final GHS Parent Club meeting and a new slate of officers came forward to keep the club going. For those parents who made the effort to attend, the Parent Club provided valuable information on the classes, clubs, and curriculum at the high school.
Every month, a different department would give an overview of their program, and parents could ask questions of the staff and the principal. Last year, the GHS Parent Club provided over $10,000 in financial support and supplies to the staff, provided food for staff functions, raised funds without having traditional fundraisers, and ran a successful inaugural Career Faire for the students. By all measures, the parent club is a valuable resource, especially at the high school level when parent participation traditionally drops off.
Imagine my surprise when I found out about a meeting to be held on Wednesday, Aug. 31. I didn’t find out through an auto-call, I didn’t get an announcement in the mail. I got an email forwarded to me by a friend on Tuesday afternoon, asking me if I was going to attend. Here is what was contained in the email:
“The Gilroy High School Parent/Teachers organization will be having its first meeting of the year, Wednesday, Tomorrow Night, Aug. 31 at 7pm. We will meet in the College Career Center. Principal James Maxwell will be there to meet you and answer any of your questions. Also, there will be discussion about joining the National and State PTA organization as well as electing members to the School Site Council. We hope to see you there and join in on the discussion.”
Well I am not sure how they hope to see me there, since I have not been invited. Maybe they were hoping that the group of parents who did get an e-mail invitation would pass it on. What worked for us last year was to print up a letter, translated into Spanish and send it home well in advance of the meeting to the parents of all Gilroy High students. In addition, we advertised the meetings in the Dispatch, sent e-mails and auto-calls to every family. We wanted to be sure that no parent of a Gilroy High student was left behind.
Maybe I am worrying over nothing; this meeting could be something else entirely. After all, the GHS Parent Club was organized under the name “Gilroy High School Parent Club”, that is the name on our Tax ID number, and that is the club to which new officers were elected last June. I will go, uninvited, to the Wednesday meeting, and see what this new Parent/Teacher Organization is all about.
