Council Approves Controversial North Gilroy Annexation Plan

Bucking a roomful of speakers and hundreds of letters against a proposed housing project that would be the biggest in the city’s history, the city council voted 4-3 to move forward.
The next step for the controversial project of 4,000 homes, two schools and parks, is to go before the state-mandated county LAFCO organization, the group charged with not allowing urban sprawl and blight. 
The Local Agency Formation Commission will decide whether filling 721 acres of farmland between Gilroy and San Martin with a packed community of homes is blight or right.
“We’re here to take back the decision of how we will grow,” said councilman Perry Woodward, arguing that the vote will give Gilroy residents the chance to decide how to develop the property.
On the other side, councilman Dion Bracco argued that the city can’t support the housing it has now. 
“We cannot pave our streets or fix our sidewalks,” he said. “Our city is falling apart because we cannot support what we have now.”
Woodward, Peter Leroe-Munoz, Terri Aulman and Mayor Don Gage voted for it. Cat Tucker, Roland Velasco and Bracco voted against it.