Dear Editor,
In the last month or so, there has been considerable dialog
involving school site planning, impact fees, and speculation on
whether the City of Gilroy works with the Gilroy Unified School
District on such matters.
Dear Editor,
In the last month or so, there has been considerable dialog involving school site planning, impact fees, and speculation on whether the City of Gilroy works with the Gilroy Unified School District on such matters.
First and foremost, the City of Gilroy (at all levels of our organization), has a long established practice of cooperation with the school district. To cite a few examples: ALL residential development proposals are forwarded to the GUSD for comment, ALL General Plan policies are given to GUSD for review, ALL environmental impact reports are sent to the GUSD staff for analysis, ALL changes to the city’s residential development ordinance (growth ordinance) are referred to GUSD, and the list could go on.
In addition, the City Council has secured GUSD representation on many critical city committees and task forces. For example; the General Plan Update Committee, Housing Advisory Committee, Planned unit Development Amenity Work Group, all Specific Plan committees, Cultural Facilities Task Force, etc. – all had active member representation from the school district. The bottom line is that GUSD is both a significant stakeholder on many of our planning committees and is involved from the very beginning of these discussions. The City of Gilroy has always considered the school district a critical team member when growth issues are discussed.
Finally, the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees and the City Council meet at least three times per year, and I meet with Superintendent Edwin Diaz and Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella once a month to discuss areas of mutual interest, including growth issues.
Secondly, there has been some misinformation involving the current status of school impact fees, school site dedications and school mitigation in general. Following voter approval of Proposition 1A in 1998, and the passage of SB 50 [Stirling], cities and counties are prohibited from entering into the school mitigation fee business. In addition, these laws specifically prohibit cities and counties from denying approvals of legislative or adjudicative acts that involve the use, planning, or development of real property on the basis of inadequate school facilities. Fair? Not from our and the school district’s perspective; but these laws were put in place following very strong opposition from the development industry.
The City of Gilroy has not and will not sit idly by on these issues, but is continuing discussions with the GUSD and our legal staff to come up with new methods and development practices. We understand that addressing the need for adequate educational facilities is not just a GUSD problem. This has always been considered a citywide concern, where we are all equal stake holders in our city’s future.
Jay Baksa, City Administrator
