Hecker Pass landowners are advancing a plan to build
approximately 500 homes in dense clusters in an area between Uvas
Creek and Hecker Pass Highway. Mayor Al Pinheiro has voiced
skepticism regarding the proposals, which reflect the trend toward
more square footage on smaller, condensed lots.
Hecker Pass landowners are advancing a plan to build approximately 500 homes in dense clusters in an area between Uvas Creek and Hecker Pass Highway. Mayor Al Pinheiro has voiced skepticism regarding the proposals, which reflect the trend toward more square footage on smaller, condensed lots.
That skepticism is healthy – we certainly don’t want groups of enormous, bland box homes like those going up on Sunrise Drive – in the beautiful Hecker Pass corridor.
But before passing quick judgment, the mayor should review the plan with an eye toward the most positive aspects: plenty of open space with some reserved for possible agricultural uses.
This is not just another housing development tucked away in the northwest quad. The development of this swath of land is complicated by long-term implications for traffic flow, including whether and how Third Street should be extended to Hecker Pass Highway.
The land also figures significantly in Gilroy’s Trails Master Plan, which will be rolled into the city’s General Plan. It must connect trails and bikeways east of Santa Teresa with trails and bikeways that will be established north and west of town. There is also the visual beauty and integrity of the Hecker Pass corridor to consider.
In regards to the Hecker Pass housing under consideration, the philosophy of “careful planning” can’t be emphasized enough. It’s essential to avoid the planning errors evident in the northwest quad subdivisions erected without thought for communal public areas and nearly devoid of green public spaces. In terms of housing development, the northwest quad is a lesson to learn from, not a standard to imitate.
Gilroy’s city planners have failed to take careful planning to heart. Housing project designs have been perfunctorily examined and approved with expectations that the builder will do the right thing. Afterward, the community has looked at the result and wondered why it wasn’t done better. Builders should be given the flexibility to come up with creative solutions, but as Tim Filice from Glen Loma Corporation reminds, “for builders, there is always going to be the tendency to go with the cheapest solution.”
Clearly, along Hecker Pass is not the place to take a monolithic approach to housing. It’s the city’s responsibility to make clear what is not acceptable in terms of housing development design.
The Hecker Pass Specific Plan is an important piece to the city’s future. We urge scrutiny, but also openmindedness and a cooperative spirit.
In order to succeed all must work toward the community’s best long-term interest.
Success will yield a diverse development that mixes housing with the unique rural characteristics of the area. And it will be something Gilroy can be proud of for decades to come.
