Gilroy
 – Just weeks after city leaders raised the specter of a
building moratorium, developers large and small are heeding the
school district’s cries for help.
Gilroy – Just weeks after city leaders raised the specter of a building moratorium, developers large and small are heeding the school district’s cries for help.
Worries about classroom overcrowding have taken center stage in recent months, with Gilroy Unified School District officials warning of a widening gap between the need for new facilities and their ability to pay for them. Skyrocketing construction costs have contributed to a projected $12.86 million budget deficit, while city leaders are allowing hundreds of homes to be built that were never planned.
State law prevents the city and GUSD from aggressively raising fees levied on new development, but school officials say there are plenty of other options. A ban on all construction was among the more draconian plans that school officials proposed in December.
In the weeks since, nonprofit developer South County Housing has offered to pay $280,000 in extra cash to offset the added stress on schools of 244 homes planned for north Gilroy. And private developer Shapell Industries of Northern California, the company behind the gated Eagle Ridge community in west Gilroy, has offered to donate land for a new school in the southwest quadrant. That offer would be part of a 1,000-home project the company hopes to build south of Thomas Road in coming years.
“New housing creates new families and new students in this district, and we need to find ways, working cooperatively, to mitigate those impacts,” said Chris Truebridge, a regional president for Shapell. “I also acknowledge that quite often the fees that district’s are legally allowed to impose on developers may be truly insufficient to mitigate impacts.”
Those realizations arrived long before Gilroy leaders started debating a moratorium. Shapell took a similar tack in San Ramon, where it voluntarily entered into an agreement to donate land for a new school. In Gilroy, Shapell has even offered to build the school on land its donated if GUSD reimburses it for construction costs, according to GUSD Superintendent Edwin Diaz.
“Since (the budget crunch) has become a public issue, we’ve had developers voluntarily offer to support the schools beyond what they’re legally required to do,” said Diaz.
The outpouring – and the prospect of a legal backlash – has inspired city and school officials to back off the moratorium talk, and instead focus on partnering with developers to devise creative solutions. In addition to offering up additional fees or donating land, that could mean collaborating on construction or having a developer build a street or sidewalk next to a school, thereby freeing the district from the costs.
Such “value-added” items, as city officials call them, often crop up in development agreements between City Hall and large developers. In exchange for road improvements, cash or some other wish-list item, the city loosen development requirements on a project.
In consultation with developers, the school district and city plan to craft a menu of “value-added” items appropriate for projects of differing sizes. City leaders did not go as far, however, as saying they would mandate an agreement with the school district before signing off on housing projects. They also stopped short of adding school facilities to a list of items developers can offer up to earn points in the Gilroy’s housing permit competition.
Such voluntary agreements have worked in the past, City Administrator Jay Baksa said, pointing out how developers anted up to pay for major storm drain improvements in the late ’80s.
“That led to the birth of the northwest quad,” Baksa said, referring to an area or high-end homes perched among foothills. “That’s the Gilroy way – not having to use the two-by-four.”
The hard-nose approach is counterproductive, agreed Dennis Lalor, executive director of South County Housing. In addition to offering to pay extra fees, the agency has voluntarily earmarked 28 homes for teachers in two future projects.
The affordable housing provider is also leading efforts to rally developer support for the school district. On Monday, city officials and school board members will hold a joint meeting to discuss the collaborative approach proposed by city and school officials.
“We’re interested in the school district doing well,” Lalor said. “I think all the developers want the school district to thrive, because it’s not only in the benefit of this community, it’s in our own self-interest.”
The joint meeting of city council and GUSD takes place 6pm Monday at the Gilroy High School student center, 750 W. 10th St.
