More than 100 members of South Valley Community Church packed
City Hall Monday night, erupting into applause and hugging one
another after council members approved their request to build 15
homes.
More than 100 members of South Valley Community Church packed City Hall Monday night, erupting into applause and hugging one another after council members approved their request to build 15 homes.
“We did it!” exclaimed one woman as she embraced a fellow church-goer after the council voted 5-2 to approve the nonprofit’s real estate request. Council members Peter Arellano and Craig Gartman voted against the proposal.
For the past 1.5 years, the church along Hecker Pass Highway has spent nearly $175,000 on paperwork and planning fees, hoping to build 15 homes. Led by Senior Pastor Eric Smith and vocal member Bob Costamagna, they have argued the houses are necessary to finance a new church and a private school for 650 students, which the Hecker Pass Specific Plan calls for.
But development opponents, including Hecker Pass resident Susan Bassi, pointed out that the 2005 plan that took residents two years to create limits the number of homes – which have yet to be built in the hilly, tree-lined area – to 506. That is a drastic increase from the 119 originally imagined and slight decrease from the 530 once approved by a planning subcommittee, according to city documents. The new homes will also once again lift Gilroy beyond its self-imposed growth limit and amounts to developer appeasement, according to Councilman Peter Arellano and residents such as Bassi.
“Approving this breaks our commitment to the entire community to stick to the 506 (units),” said Bassi, the only public speaker Monday night to oppose the plan. “This sets the precedent to undermine our general plan and our specific plan.”
But that seems to happen all the time, Councilman Dion Bracco said.
“I don’t believe this is going to open the flood gates. We’ve done this over and over again,” Bracco said. “The property owners against this will eventually come forward and will be granted units there, too.”
The previous council granted the Gilroy Unified School District 99 housing units in 2006, exceeding its growth cap so the district could finance two new schools. A year later, the same council approved the idea of the church’s 15 homes, which will sit on 6,000-square foot lots on a 6-acre portion of its 18-acre rectangular property. The property was zoned for schools and religious, recreation and other social centers.
“The council made a commitment then, and for that reason, I’m going to vote yes,” Councilman Perry Woodward said Monday night.
But back then, in November 2007, the council also hinged its “good-faith promise,” Costamagna said, on the church’s understanding that it would have to navigate a costly exemption process and later – which turned out to be Monday night – seek the council’s approval. The church’s proposal passed the Planning Commission unanimously in May.
Councilman Arellano took his time explaining his opposition to a button-wearing crowd, which included sleeping children. He bristled at the idea of the church – even if its a community group and local educator – claiming to need unapproved houses to build the school and worship hall it promised and that the Hecker Pass Specific Plan envisions.
“They’re asking for a special exemption to finance the construction of a proposed church and school. That is not, to me, a special exemption,” Arellano said. “Any one of those (Hecker Pass) property owners can come by and say, ‘I can’t make this pencil out without getting a few more units. I can’t make a profit. I can’t make a living.’ Are they any less important than the church?”
Behind the church, though, stood big business names and key property players out in the area, including Jim Hoey, Joe Giacalone of Giacalone Management, Ernie Filice, Chris Vanni of Fratelli Ranch and Joel Goldsmith of Goldsmith Seeds. Goldsmith also sat on the Hecker Pass Specific Plan Task Force along with other influential community members. In copied letters to the council, they all pointed out that the original environmental impact report for the area imagined 530 residential units in the area, not the 506 the council ultimately approved, so adding 15 to make 521 won’t require any new ecological reviews.
Gilroy’s long-term General Plan specifically addresses Hecker Pass and calls for city officials to “protect and enhance the unique qualities and character of the Hecker pass area as the City’s western gateway and as a highly valued scenic resource.” South Valley’s proposed homes would sit 115 feet back from the deodar cedar-lined street.
The city has already allocated all 2,480 of its market-rate housing units through 2013 and can only grant special exemptions for certain areas of town, senior housing, affordable projects and small developments that fill in developed areas. The council has granted an additional 1,100 units for downtown development, part of the Glen Loma Ranch along Santa Teresa Boulevard, Gilroy Gardens and the school district. South Valley’s project would add another 15 to this auxiliary pile, further exceeding the city’s self-imposed growth limit.
