Developers offer various incentives to fast-track
construction
Gilroy – A group of Hecker Pass landowners are dangling $2 million before city leaders in hopes of fast-tracking construction of hundreds of homes on farmland and hillsides in west Gilroy.
The $2 million “public benefit fee” is among numerous sweeteners in a development agreement that goes before planning commissioners tonight. The dozen or so landowners behind the deal are also offering to donate a 3-acre park, to “under-ground” utility lines along Hecker Pass Highway and to extend the city’s hiking trails along Uvas Creek.
The project was approved last year, but the new agreement would allow developers to build out the project in three years instead of the six years stipulated in the original approval. The three-year difference would make it easier to secure financing for roads, sidewalks, sewers and other improvements needed for the new homes, landowner Jim Hoey said.
“Because of the significant backbone infrastructure costs that we have, we have to have the potential to squeeze the window a little bit,” Hoey said. “Our (construction permits) are spread over a six-year period and we didn’t have the cash flow for some of these things.”
The planning commission meeting is a watershed after five years of planning and legal negotiations. In addition to the development agreement, commissioners will review plans for new roads, parks and other public infrastructure in the 423-acre corridor surrounding Hecker Pass; the first major piece of the 400-plus homes slated for the area; and a proposal to eliminate one of two new intersections planned for Hecker Pass Highway. The latter move would save several dozen historic Deodara Cedar trees.
Of the four Hecker Pass related items, the development agreement remains the most controversial. Three items remain a major bone of contention between City Hall and landowners, and the Gilroy Unified School District plans to voice opposition to a project that could hasten over-crowding at schools.
The city insists that future homeowners should assume financial responsibility for maintaining a nature trail along Uvas Creek, along with shouldering liability for accidents along the trail. Public officials also want the landowners to extend the hiking trail to Hecker Pass, even if a final piece of land next to Bonfante Gardens goes undeveloped for five years or more.
But the “deal breaker” for Hoey is the under-grounding of utility lines on the north side of Hecker Pass. Landowners have agreed to perform the work between Santa Teresa Boulevard and the Elk’s Lodge – which would remove 18 towering utility poles – but refuse to remove the last three poles leading up to Burchell Road. Working beyond the Elk’s Lodge, Hoey said, would trigger the need for special permits from state transportation officials, potentially delaying the project and negating the benefits of the shorter three-year window.
“If some of these things cant’ be worked out, we might have to just move forward without a development agreement,” Hoey said.
Either option is less than thrilling for a school district scrambling to keep pace with growth by constructing new schools and adding portable classrooms to existing facilities. The development agreement would only hasten over-crowding in a school system already bulging at the seams, said Gilroy Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Steve Brinkman.
“Absent specific school mitigations, the district will be very hard-pressed to support projects of this size,” said Brinkman.
Though the Hecker Pass development will likely generate more than roughly 200 new schoolchildren, the district was not invited to sit in on negotiations for the development agreement, Brinkman said. The city says that state law bars it from negotiating fees or facilities on behalf of the school district.
“Do we agree with that?” City Administrator Jay Baksa said. “No, we definitely don’t, but until we hear something different from our attorneys, our hands are tied.”
Planning commission chairman Tim Day and Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro declined to comment on the Hecker Pass development agreement. Councilman Craig Gartman had mixed feelings on the sticking points in the agreement.
“If it’s going to delay the project for years, then of course I would have to rethink my position,” Gartman said.
The planning commission meeting begins 6pm tonight at City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St.
