Officials say figure is no cause for alarm
Gilroy – City officials have approved 800 new homes beyond Gilroy’s 10-year growth cap, but they say the figure is no cause for alarm.
The overall cap of 3,450 new homes – for 2003 through 2013 – is less important than the type of growth and where it occurs, said Community Development Director Wendie Rooney.
“Most of those units allocated outside the (growth cap) are in the downtown area, which is where we want the growth because you have your infrastructure in place,” she said. “Water and sewer – we’re fine in those areas … I really don’t see this as causing a crisis.”
New roads and utility extensions are among the city’s biggest expenses, and developers typically pay so-called “impact fees” to finance public infrastructure and emergency services.
In hopes of spurring downtown revitalization, the city has freed developers of downtown buildings from impact fees that can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single project.
Developers working outside Gilroy’s historic business district must continue to pay impact fees. That group includes Glen Loma Corporation, which received 250 units outside the growth cap as part of a 1,693-unit mini-city slated for southwest Gilroy.
The 250 units were granted through a regulation that allows extra homes for projects that undergo a high level of pre-planning. The Glen Loma group spent more than six years planning the 350-acre project that will rise over the next decade.
City leaders also have approved two 99-unit housing projects outside the growth cap for Bonfante Gardens, a cash-strapped theme park in west Gilroy, and the Gilroy Unified School District. The decisions saved Bonfante Gardens from bankruptcy and allowed the school district to fast-track the redevelopment of one its school sites, the sale of which will help finance new school facilities.
At the beginning of the year, City Administrator Jay Baksa predicted Gilroy would exceed its growth cap by more than 1,000 units by the end of the 10-year period. Several new projects could tip the city well beyond that mark next year.
Former councilman Tony Sudol is seeking to transform the defunct Indian Motorcycle plant at 10th and Alexander streets into 201 units. To do so, he hopes to graft the industrial site onto zoning maps for the downtown corridor so he can tap into more than 1,500 housing units earmarked for the area.
To the south, a 236-home project proposed for a strip of fallow farmland north of the new Gilroy Sports Complex may take advantage of the same regulation that Glen Loma used to obtain additional permits. Developer Michael McDermott must first obtain some portion of the 191 building permits being doled out in a housing competition this winter.
Councilman Dion Bracco does not believe the city should cancel the competition for 191 units – an option suggested by some growth opponents – to offset the extra units awarded outside the cap.
But looking forward, Bracco said the city should lower the growth cap and stick to the figure.
“The schools aren’t keeping up with the growth and I have a problem with throwing that load onto the school district,” Bracco said. “We’re 800 units above what we planned for. The more we go above that, the more problems we cause for another day.”
Early next year, council will devote a full day to studying growth issues and setting a new growth cap. The current limit is less than the previous 10-year figure of 4,000 new homes.
