One year ago, 25 members of the General Plan Advisory Committee first gathered for to help revamp the blueprint for Gilroy’s future when it comes to development, housing, jobs, transportation and growth in general. The group, known as GPAC, is tasked with revising the city’s guiding principles and vision through the creation of a new 20-year General Plan.
Gilroy last adopted a General Plan in 2002, and per state law, cities and counties must complete the task every 10 years. By 2015, the City will have updated its “constitution for future development” incorporated the future California High Speed Rail station in Gilroy, the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan, the Climate Action Plan and will have adapted to any regional plans and new state laws.
Soon after the planning effort began, the two consulting firms under a $1.75 million contract with the city to drive the state mandated planning effort powered on an online forum. Residents have been chiming in with their ideas, and the creative juices are flowing.
“People who live here are coming forward with ideas we haven’t come to ourselves,” said Perry Woodward, chair of the GPAC. “We’ve done more community outreach than I’ve ever seen on any undertaking. We are capturing as broad a spectrum of opinions as we can.”
He said he’s encouraged by the amount of public participation in the process-from the number of residents who attend the meetings with ideas in hand to the citizens who participated in a number of community workshops.
The GPAC’s effort over the past year has centered on coming to an understanding of how Gilroy has blossomed since 2002—and where that growth is taking place—all the while analyzing trend forecasts, expected population growth and deciding what parts of the most recent plan need to be updated.
“The real hard work has been building the foundation, and moving forward, we’ll build on that foundation and start to really talk about the future of Gilroy over the next 20 years,” Woodward added. “We’ve done the heavy lifting.”
Still, the GPAC has hurdles ahead. The commission will debate whether the Garlic Capital grows from the north or south; where new schools can potentially be located and where the housing and jobs will be in 2040, among other topics.
“We’ve got to begin to physically develop housing in ways that provide meaningful mass transit,” said Woodward, who serves as the vice-chair of the Valley Transit Authority’s board. “In 2002, we had just opened the new lane on U.S. 101. Traffic to and from San Jose was flowing pretty well. It’s getting to the point where it’s not going so well and there’s not a lot more that can be done. We’re almost at the point where it won’t be practical for people to get in their cars and drive to the Silicon Valley. We need to have other options, whether it’s the train, express buses or the car pool lane. We have to think those things through…and it will depend on where people live.”
The GPAC’s next public meeting is scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the community room of the Gilroy Library, located at 350 W. Sixth St. Members of the public are invited to participate by attending the meetings or participating on the online forum at townhall.gilroy2040.com.
-The General Plan Advisory Committee’s next public meeting is scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the community room of the Gilroy Library, located at 350 W. Sixth St.
-Members of the public are invited to participate by attending the meetings or participating on the online forum at townhall.gilroy2040.com.
