GILROY
– If union labor isn’t used to build the largest housing project
in Gilroy history, the nearly 1,400-home development off Santa
Teresa Boulevard could meet stiff resistance and delays as it tries
to pass environmental muster.
GILROY – If union labor isn’t used to build the largest housing project in Gilroy history, the nearly 1,400-home development off Santa Teresa Boulevard could meet stiff resistance and delays as it tries to pass environmental muster.
Just days ago, the unions requested, and received, a 30-day extension of the housing project’s environmental review period. And, in what city planning manager Bill Faus called a “highly unusual” move, union representatives went to City Hall to photocopy Glen Loma Ranch environmental documents “cover to cover.”
The actions raise questions about whether the unions could threaten Glen Loma Ranch developers with prolonged environmental battles if union workers are not used to build the hundred-million-dollar housing project. The lawyer hired by the building and trades unions, Daniel Cardozo, called such a concern “outrageous.”
“That’s not what we do,” Cardozo said. “We’ve always been interested in ensuring that major development projects that are approved are the most responsible projects possible.”
Glen Loma Ranch developer Tim Filice said he will meet with Cardozo in the next few weeks to “find out what’s on (the unions’) minds.”
“At this point in time, I don’t know if I should even be worried about anything,” Filice said. “This pushes back all of our meetings (scheduled with City Council and the Planning Commission for October). But it’s not a big deal for us, we were hitting right in the middle of the recall and City Council election and getting into the holidays.”
According to Faus, the Glen Loma Ranch project will not be reviewed by City Council until Feb. 9. Construction cannot begin until that review is complete.
“The unions and the developer asked for more time simultaneously. It’s in the interest of the community to accommodate any desire or need for extra review,” Faus said.
Cardozo said he has never monitored a project in Gilroy before, but the builders and trades unions he represents regularly do so across Santa Clara County.
Cardozo said projects are monitored by the unions because their workers face a “triple whammy” of negative consequences.
Whammy number one is the loss of work if out-of-state and nonunion labor is used. Whammy number two in this controlled-growth era is that housing permits get used up and less future work is available. And whammy number three is that the union worker has to suffer through the traffic impacts, overcrowded schools and bad air that poorly planned projects cause – items the environmental studies review.
“We want projects that provide a maximum employment benefit to union workers and at the same time avoid environmental harm,” Cardozo said. “It’s a pro-responsible-development balancing act.”
The balancing act may receive a warm reception from some City Council members. Councilman Peter Arellano, who has been endorsed by unions in his recent re-election bid, said unions are exercising “their right” when they review a project for its impacts. However, Arellano doesn’t seem likely to deny the Glen Loma Ranch project.
The longtime Gilroyan called Glen Loma Ranch an example of good development since it is proposing everything from affordable duplexes to million-dollar homes.
“It’s a whole planned neighborhood, and I believe they’re following the General Plan, and I want it to work,” Arellano said.
Arellano said he’d do whatever he could to make the Glen Loma project “bear fruit.”
For Filice, the idea that his development company, Glen Loma Group, could be held captive by the unions is a new concept.
“This has never really come up before,” Filice said. “We don’t have a say over who builds our projects. We sell off to contractors and their the ones who hire the workers.”
Filice said Glen Loma Group often works with the Farotte Construction and Old Orchard companies locally. He said both use union workers.
“We’ve been working with them for 25 to 30 years, and we’ve always been happy with their work,” Filice said. “I can’t see any change happening in that relationship.”
Glen Loma Ranch is located on 392 acres along Santa Teresa Boulevard on Gilroy’s west side. It has rights to build 986 homes between 2004 and 2013 at the rate of 50 per year the first four years, then 131 homes per year after that.
From 2014 to 2016, roughly 130 units a year can be built.
As part of the Glen Loma Ranch project, a number of neighborhood parks that connect to trails and bike paths will be built. Two schools – recently built middle school Ascencion Solorsano and a replacement to Las Animas Elementary School – are also part of the development.
