Building
”
affordable
”
housing can be a real challenge, but the proposal to situate 350
prefabricated homes for
”
active seniors
”
in the middle of a cherry orchard in south Gilroy has many
pitfalls.
Building “affordable” housing can be a real challenge, but the proposal to situate 350 prefabricated homes for “active seniors” in the middle of a cherry orchard in south Gilroy has many pitfalls.
Should Gilroy abandon good planning guidelines to meet some arbitrary affordable housing goal? And, please, let’s consider the radical change in the definition of affordable housing taking place right now with many home prices in Gilroy falling into the $360,000 range.
There are so many questions associated with the Cherry Orchard Ranch proposal that it’s hard to know where to start. It’s even clearly unclear that the project would make any sales sense given that the units could end up costing $330,000 and the owners wouldn’t even own the 5,000-square feet of ground the homes were built on.
Then there are concerns about flooding, the fact that the development isn’t contiguous and therefore, by definition, leapfrog, plus the pressure that would be brought to bear to develop services near the homes.
In terms of design, there’s little question that manufactured homes have made significant construction leaps, yet the overall design of the project – as cookie cutter line ’em all up and cram ’em all in in rows as possible – is terrible aesthetically.
When Gilroy has options, like the stalled but hopefully soon to be revived South County Housing Cannery project downtown, that is attractively designed, close to existing services and a benefit to the community overall as a downtown economic engine, the direction for what the city should support comes into sharp focus.
Lastly, CW Development seems to be issuing a veiled threat in its development cover letter to the city which reads “… four overarching issues foreshadow the prospective acceptance of this application and approval of the project. They are:
1. The need for quality affordable housing in the City of Gilroy.
2. Gilroy’s state-mandated requirement to provide for affordable housing development, and;
3. State affordable housing law.”
They left off #4, but it might as well have read:
“4. If the city doesn’t approve our development we’re going to sue.”
That’s no way to partner with the community you’re asking to join.
The city of Gilroy has made an inspired effort to provide affordable housing for residents and continues to do so, far outpacing many of our northern municipal neighbors in the Bay Area.
Those efforts should continue, but Gilroy should not allow itself to be held hostage by any development proposal that comes before it. There’s no reason to jettison good planning.
