South County Housing has scaled back the Rancho del Sol project
and has one final chance to save the development
Gilroy – A local nonprofit homebuilder has scaled back a major housing development and proposed new regulatory language in hopes of convincing a skeptical city council to approve the project.
Nonprofit developer South County Housing has one last chance to save its Rancho del Sol project, which narrowly avoided defeat in December after a last-minute change of heart by an outgoing councilman.
After voting against the underlying zone change needed for the project, former Councilman Bob Dillon, reluctant to make his last act a vote against housing for low-income people, cast a deciding ballot to grant building permits for the project. The split vote saved Rancho del Sol from defeat, at least until a newly elected council takes up the matter in coming weeks.
Originally proposed as a 303-unit project just west of Monterey Road in northern Gilroy, South County has now reduced the project to 260 units. It has eliminated 79 units of rental housing earmarked for the poorest local families, but preserved the overall percentage of homes within each income category. That spectrum ranges from four-person families earning as little as $46,000 annually to similarly sized families earning up to $168,000 a year.
“We have made some changes and reduced the size of it, at the same time providing the same proportion of affordability we had before,” South County Executive Director Dennis Lalor said. “Our conviction that Rancho del Sol is going to be an important project for Gilroy remains the same. Our commitment to make sure that we hear and respond to all of the concerns that council members and the planning commission bring forward is still there.”
While the project has grown smaller, councilmen may still oppose it on grounds that it exceeds a regulatory cap of 225 units on affordable housing projects. During the last go-round in December, several council members balked at South County’s request to reword zoning regulations to allow nonprofit groups, under “exceptional or special circumstances,” to exceed the cap.
South County still plans to ask for such an exception, although they say they have come up with new language that is more inclusive.
Councilman Craig Gartman voted against the project last time, citing the cap and arguing that the project would glut the city’s north-central area with affordable housing. He claimed the project violates the spirit of diverse housing embodied in the recently approved Neighborhood District Policy.
“I always welcome new ideas,” Gartman said of South County’s latest proposal, “but you’re still going to cluster a bunch of affordable units in the same area.”
Proponents of Rancho del Sol counter that such a position equates affordable housing with stereotypes of dangerous, inner-city tenements.
“Affordable is not a bad word,” Lalor said. “These (homes) are built according to the criteria of the Neighborhood District Policy, which calls for a variety of styles and a variety of types. If you look at the income categories, the truth is that these homes will serve the majority of people living in Gilroy.”
South County officials plan to meet with Gartman and other council members in coming weeks to gauge concerns about the revised proposal. Before reaching council, Rancho del Sol will go before planning commissioners Feb. 2. That meeting takes place 6pm in Council Chambers at City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St.
