San Jose – It’s not likely that Gilroy will take advantage of
money the county set aside this week to encourage cities to annex
unincorporated properties within their urban services borders.
San Jose – It’s not likely that Gilroy will take advantage of money the county set aside this week to encourage cities to annex unincorporated properties within their urban services borders.
Tuesday, the Santa Clara County supervisors set aside $700,000 to help cities and developers pay the sometimes exorbitant fees required to complete the environmental and engineering reports necessary for annexations. The county’s Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, would like Gilroy to annex three areas (two in the northwest part of town and one north of Gavilan College), but planning manager Bill Faus said Wednesday that the city won’t move on it’s own to take advantage of the incentive.
“The city is not in the business of annexing except in the case of public improvements, like the sports park,” Faus said. City planner Cydney Casper said that city is resisting annexing those properties because they are not officially “islands,” or unincorporated areas bordered by the city on at least three sides. But Faus said the incentive may matter to developers interested in annexing properties.
“It does provide a carrot,” Faus said. “If a property owner were interested in doing this, it will contribute to that argument.”
