GILROY
– An attorney for neighbors of a 60-acre Day Road site targeted
for a church, housing and possibly a new public high school says
more environmental studies are needed before the city can include
the land in its boundaries – but a developer backing the move said
the city should cross that bridge
when it comes to it.
GILROY – An attorney for neighbors of a 60-acre Day Road site targeted for a church, housing and possibly a new public high school says more environmental studies are needed before the city can include the land in its boundaries – but a developer backing the move said the city should cross that bridge when it comes to it.
The Glen-Loma Group, a major residential developer, is spearheading the effort to bring the farmland into city boundaries. The company, owned by the Filice family, is representing the Diocese of San Jose in its effort to purchase 10 acres of the land for a new parish and school.
Glen-Loma has also raised plans to build up to 280 homes on the rest of the site, but the Gilroy Unified School District has also expressed interest in that land for a new high school. Annexing the land allows the city to change the zoning to suit such new uses.
Bruce Tichinin, a Morgan Hill attorney hired by at least seven residents, told City Council Monday that a broader environmental impact report should be done on the proposed annexation.
Those studies should also include the new high school, he said, and should consider the effects of development on the area as it is now. He said current studies improperly judge the impacts against future plans for the area.
“You have to determine what the impact will be on the physical environment, not on plans,” he said.
Day Road resident Paul McAllister said neighbors don’t necessarily oppose residential development on the site as long as it provides a transition between the city and their rural residences. Current plans would allow for higher-density housing on part of the 50-acre site, he said.
But a high school would be such a major change that it would “totally degrade” the rural quality of life that residents moved to the area for, McAllister said. Neighbors aren’t against a new high school, but believe there are other suitable sites, he said.
“It totally changes the character of the neighborhood,” he said.
However, Glen-Loma representatives told Council the land in question has been in the city’s urban service area since 1989, and decisions on whether to allow utilities there – a major policy decision affecting development – were already addressed back then.
Glen-Loma’s John Filice also said it will likely be at least one to two decades before housing would be developed on the 50 acres. The annexation is meant to allow the property to be split for the church and school, he said. Plans for the parish will probably come in a couple of years, with construction happening in perhaps five.
“Annexation does not mean development,” he said.
And prospects for a new public high school at the site are not currently definitive and would require additional environmental reviews in the future if they go forward, he said.
“That whole process is separate … ” he said.
The city’s Planning Commission voted 6-0 in January to recommend annexation.
Council delayed a vote on the matter Monday on advice of the City Attorney.
