Department feels loss of Cydney Casper, who was involved in many
recent land development issues
Gilroy – Cydney Casper, a city planner who has worked on some of Gilroy’s most controversial and far-reaching development issues, died Saturday in a motorcycle accident.
News of the tragedy hit hard in the city’s planning department, where Casper, 51, worked since 1999 on some of the most important growth issues in recent years. Colleagues were allowed to go home after being informed of the tragedy.
“I called my planning staff in and spoke with them,” City Planning Manager Bill Faus said. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. They were all just completely overcome with grief.”
In her seven years with the city, Casper helped craft Gilroy’s farmland preservation policy – the first of its kind in Santa Clara County – and managed the vast majority of Gilroy’s annexation efforts. She was the lead planner on the Glen Loma Specific Plan, a set of development guidelines for nearly 1,700 homes in southwest Gilroy. The Glen Loma plan is widely considered a blueprint for intensive planning of new development – a key element in efforts to create vibrant neighborhoods and reduce sprawl.
Known for her quiet demeanor and professionalism, Casper often found herself working on some of the city’s most controversial projects. In the face of complaints from environmental advocates about loopholes in the city’s farmland preservation policy, Casper was overseeing the first successful use of the policy in south Gilroy. She also found herself in the middle of a multimillion-dollar battle between Gilroy Unified School District and the developers of Glen Loma, with the two sides still fighting in court over the value of land for a new elementary school.
Most recently, Casper was putting the finishing touches on a controversial ordinance that would allow the city to crack down on noisy businesses and neighbors.
“Cydney was a terrific planner and a wonderful person,” said Gilroy Community Development Director Wendie Rooney. “She’ll be greatly missed and her lasting influences will be felt.”
Casper was riding her new Harley Davidson shortly before 2pm in Salinas when a car pulled in front of her from a cross street, according to an accident report from the California Highway Patrol. She was traveling at an unknown speed behind another vehicle on Davis Road when Diane Erbe Dawson, 77, of Carmel, “proceeded through the intersection without noticing” the motorcycle, the report states. Casper struck the front side of Dawson’s Toyota Camry and was thrown from the motorcycle, causing major head and internal injuries. She died on the way to Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital.
Dawson, who was not arrested following the accident, did not suffer any major injuries. Casper was wearing proper safety equipment, according to the report.
A longtime boyfriend who was riding a motorcycle ahead of Casper delivered the tragic news to her colleagues Monday morning. Casper had purchased the motorcycle just one month earlier, according to Faus.
“Her boyfriend purchased a motorcycle earlier this year, and Cydney was a motorcycle rider in her college days,” Faus said. “After riding on his motorcycle for several months, she got the motorcycle bug and just picked hers up last month. She was so proud of the bike and so excited that she rode it to work one day before Thanksgiving and showed everybody.”
Casper, a Salinas resident, is survived by a daughter Heather and son Alex from a prior marriage.
Memorial services had not been scheduled as of Monday. Condolences can be sent to the planning department at Gilroy City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St.
