GILROY
– The City Council Monday approved Bonfante Gardens’ request for
99 housing permits on 33 acres, exceptions to the city’s
growth-control law, which could save the park from bankruptcy.
GILROY – The City Council Monday approved Bonfante Gardens’ request for 99 housing permits on 33 acres, exceptions to the city’s growth-control law, which could save the park from bankruptcy.
The horticultural theme park’s board plans to pay off most of its $70 million debt by selling this housing-ready plot to developer Shapell Industries, which will use them to add on to its gated community, Eagle Ridge. The Council’s approval means he deal could save the nonprofit park from bankruptcy and would allow Shapell to build lucrative new houses it couldn’t build otherwise. It isn’t done yet, however. The city and Caltrans will still have to review Shapell’s plans for the new houses and a possible access road to Hecker Pass Highway through Bonfante Gardens.
The Council previously approved the land deal on March 8. In May, Eagle Ridge homeowners approved it.
Nevertheless, Monday’s 6-0 vote by the Council was a follow-up vote of confidence in the park’s future. Bonfante Gardens board member Joel Goldsmith told the Council Monday that even conservative estimates of income show the park paying off the remainder of its debt.
“We have a plan in place; it’s very solid,” Goldsmith said. “You give us an outstanding chance of being successful.”
Since February, when the deal was announced, some Council members have criticized the park for not disclosing its finances to them.
Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro, a Bonfante Gardens board member representing the city, decided not to excuse himself from Monday’s vote, as critics have asked him to do. The city attorney has said that this is no conflict of interest since Pinheiro makes no money from the park, but he said he still thought about the decision long and hard. He finally decided that if he excused himself this time, other Council members would have to do the same on issues related to committees they sit on.
Bonfante Gardens was originally the brainchild of former Nob Hill Foods owner Michael Bonfante and his wife, Claudia. Its first season in 2002 was a financial disaster, but it has stabilized under recent management by Paramount.
The Bonfantes themselves have faded into the background and were living in Branson, Mo. at last notice. The 33-acre property is the site of their private nursery, which they have agreed to donate to save the park.
