Planning Commission recommends approval of GUSD’s request for
zoning exemption
n By brian babcock Staff Writer
Gilroy – The Gilroy Unified School District is one step closer to selling off property, which district officials say is necessary to meet other pressing needs.
The city planning commission recommended approval of the district’s request for a special zoning exemption during last week’s meeting. The matter will now go to the city council for approval. The district is attempting to sell its Las Animas Elementary School property in order to finance the construction of a new elementary school and high school.
“Obviously we’re very happy with the decision,” said GUSD Assistant Superintendent Steve Brinkman, who added the district lowered the 99 building permits it requested to 85 due to concerns of neighbors about the about density of the project. Although Brinkman said he was excited about the commission’s decision, he said the district will take a wait-and-see approach now that the matter is before the city council.
Brinkman’s hesitation comes as no surprise since council members have shown a reluctance to grant the district a special zoning exemption, similar to the one they gave Bonfante Gardens several years ago.
“My position right now is I am not in favor of bending the rules just to benefit a particular organization,” said City Councilman Craig Gartman.
Gartman said the district’s assertion that they are in the same position as Bonfante Gardens is completely untrue. He said Bonfante Gardens was going to go out of business if the city had not bailed them out, while the school district does not have those worries.
“(Approving the exemption) has the potential to allow them to continue with their mismanagement of this project,” Gartman said. ” ‘For the children’ is not an excuse for poor management.”
