Gilroy
– A planning commissioner voted on a boyfriend’s controversial
housing proposal last week while a second commissioner, who lives a
few hundred feet from the project, inadvertently tripped over state
law by even discussing the project.
Gilroy – A planning commissioner voted on a boyfriend’s controversial housing proposal last week while a second commissioner, who lives a few hundred feet from the project, inadvertently tripped over state law by even discussing the project.
Armed with a ruling from the Fair Political Practices Commission, Planning Commissioner Joan Spencer announced at a Feb. 1 hearing that the watchdog agency cleared her to vote on the 18-home development proposed by her boyfriend Christopher Cote.
“I have a written ruling by the FPPC that I can vote on this project and I also feel I can vote on it objectively,” said Spencer, who does not live with Cote but has dated him for more than a year.
On the same night, Commissioner Joan Lewis remained on the dais even though she lives within 500 feet of Cote’s project. The FPPC bars public officials from discussing and voting on matters in which they have a direct financial interest. And since redevelopment could potentially raise surrounding land values, the agency prohibits officials from voting on projects within 500 feet of their homes.
Lewis did not step out of the room during discussions despite a challenge on grounds that her Oak Court residence lies too close to the project, located along Gurries Drive and Hanna Street. In the run-up to the meeting, city staff accidentally cleared Lewis to vote, but afterward determined that she lives within the 500-foot radius, according to Lewis and city planning staff.
The objection was raised by Tom Howard, also an Oak Court resident who is worried about the size of the project. The 18-unit development would bring 11 three-story townhomes to a neighborhood of single-story, rental units. Howard worried that the three-story units – the project also includes seven two-story homes – would cast a shadow over his property, and said that Cote never made a meaningful attempt to discuss concerns.
Eager to push forward with approval, Cote insisted he stopped by all nearby homes to discuss the project and, despite leaving his contact information at each home, has not received a single phone call.
Commissioners Tim Day and Ermelindo Puente suggested postponing a final vote to allow more time for study and discussion with neighbors.
“I feel almost the opposite,” Spencer said of the suggestion to delay voting. “If the applicant’s been trying to reach out to them and they haven’t responded, will they respond now?”
The seven-member commission, which serves as an advisory body to the council, agreed to take up the matter again at a special Feb. 15 meeting. The two-week postponement – approved 6-0, with Commissioner Tom Boe absent – would still allow council to review the project this month. Otherwise, Cote would have been forced to wait until the next planning commission meeting in March.
Lewis said she supports the project, but has not decided whether she will try to vote Feb. 15. Under FPPC rules, she could ask a real-estate appraiser to determine if Cote’s project would affect her property value.
“I’ve thought about it, but I don’t know if I’d make the neighbors angry,” she said. “I do feel strongly about the project. We moved here 36 years ago. In the past six years it’s gone downhill a lot, and we’ve had a lot of problems in the area. … To clean it up and put something really nice back there is a real plus for the whole neighborhood.”
Commissioner Tim Day voted several years ago to annex a piece of land in southwest Gilroy for the Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ. Despite serving on a regional high council for the Mormon church, he chose to vote on that matter because he had no direct financial interest, Day explained. Last year, however, he and Ermelindo Puente recused themselves from voting on a land deal put forth by the Gilroy Unified School District. City attorneys said they could vote, even though both of their wives work for the school district.
“I did vote on the annexation for the Mormon church,” Day said, “but there was not an emotional tie and no potential financial benefit down the line. … But if I’m dating somebody, then I guess I’d have to say there is a potential down the line that I’m going to hold interest. But again, that’s something she has to decide. There’s the letter of the law and then the spirit of the law.”
Spencer has had a change of heart since last week. She plans to sit out the final vote on Cote’s project later this month, even though the project embodies many of her ideals. Spencer is a respiratory therapist who was voted Clean Air Champion for 2005 by a regional air quality agency.
“I think it’s a great project and is going to do a wonderful thing environmentally, but I don’t want there to be any question marks at all that might be caused by me voting on it,” she said Monday. “I think it will stand on its own.”
