Gilroy
– A long-range plan that would transform Gilroy’s most scenic
gateway into a residential and commercial hub is being met with
cautious optimism from city planning commissioners and a few Gilroy
residents.
Gilroy – A long-range plan that would transform Gilroy’s most scenic gateway into a residential and commercial hub is being met with cautious optimism from city planning commissioners and a few Gilroy residents.
Along with building 530 homes, the Hecker Pass Specific Plan earmarks space for parks and recreational facilities, agricultural and commercial regions, agricultural tourism regions, open space and a church and school. The plan, presented to planning commissioners by city planner Melissa Durkin last week, left planning commissioners wanting further clarification.
“There’s a lot of good things in this plan, but there’s a lot of things that confused me quite a bit,” said commissioner Cat Tucker, adding she felt overwhelmed by the document’s sheer volume: a little less than an inch thick with double-sided pages. Commissioner Dion Bracco and chairman Thomas Boe echoed Tucker’s reservations.
Pending approval from the commission and city council, the only development definitively planned for Hecker Pass is South Valley Community Church and its Pacific West Christian Academy, currently located at 8095 Kelton Drive. Those establishments will move to considerably larger facilities just west of Santa Teresa Boulevard at Hecker Pass’ eastern gateway.
Durkin said that most likely a mixture of property owners and professional developers will develop the land. With the exception of South Valley Community Church and its private school, no development plans have been fleshed out yet.
“If city council approves the plan, I’d imagine (South Valley Community Church) will get going on their plans and break ground as soon as possible,” perhaps in November, Durkin said.
Connie Rogers, a Gilroy resident and former councilwoman, said she didn’t oppose the plan, but wondered why the property owners who helped devise it could ask the city to share infrastructure costs in order to accommodate a higher number of homes in the area than allotted by the city’s General Plan.
The Gilroy City Council initially approved 427 housing permits for the Hecker Pass development. Eighty-five additional parcels, part of Bonfante’s nursery, were granted permits after Bonfante requested them to help pay back $70 million of bond debt, private loans and unpaid property taxes. The remaining 18 permits – to total 530 – are spread over three parcels of land and are exempt from residential development ordinance competition.
But had the initial permit cap been honored, Rogers said, infrastructure costs wouldn’t be nearly as high, and the area would have more opportunity to capitalize on agricultural commercialism.
“You can build houses almost anywhere. You cannot have a tourism destination just anywhere. You must have all the elements in one location (as they are in Hecker Pass). I believe the committee has done some clever math by increasing the housing density, but making the average density not look so bad.”
Other Gilroy residents also mirrored Roger’s concern that so much residential development might contradict long-term agricultural preservation.
“The way I look at this, this plan is not just a 10- or 20- or 30-year plan,” Gilroyan Carolyn Tognetti said. “This should be, once it’s in place, a forever plan, if possible – and with protections on preservations of agriculture. I’m not talking a 40-year plan.”
But commissioner Tim Day warned that looking at the plan from a such a distanced bird’s eye view might be unproductive.
“There is no mechanism to set things in place forever,” he said. “Let’s take the policies as they come to us.”
Hecker Pass property owner and specific plan committee member Joel Goldsmith said he was happy with the plan’s progress and has high hopes for its future.
“I was a little disappointed things weren’t finalized at the meeting, but I want to make sure all commissioners feel comfortable with what’s presented in the plan,” Goldsmith said Tuesday. “I’m perfectly fine with the process as it’s going now.”
Eric Smith, senior pastor at South Valley Community Church, said he’s also crossing his fingers for approval. The church has wanted to construct a new facility for seven years, Smith said, and he said he thinks the church and school would be an effective buffer.
The planning commission has scheduled a special session Thursday to dig further into the proposal’s details. A formal meeting to decide on the proposal will follow on Oct. 14.
