Gilroy’s urban growth boundary (UGB) initiative has more than the required number of signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot.
The City Council was told on Monday that the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters has completed the verification of signatures submitted by Gilroy Growing Smarter on May 2, and found that 2743 signatures are verified as valid.
The group needed signatures from 1923, or 10 percent, of registered voters in Gilroy to qualify.
“We feel very good about it,” said Dave Lima of Gilroy Growing Smarter, the group that is leading the campaign which, if successful, would place restrictions on development around Gilroy.
“We knew we had collected enough signatures and it is good to have that validated.”
The council, in keeping with staff recommendations, moved to decide what to do with the initiative until after an independent report, called the 9212 Report, is presented at the July 5 council meeting. The council can accept the UGB initiative as a new city ordinance or vote to include the measure on the November ballot.
Lima said the group expects the report, which the council approved up to $150,000 to fund, will show that the urban growth boundary as proposed will benefit Gilroy.
“We hope that Gilroy will join the growing ranks of cities around the Bay Area that have such boundaries and have continued to develop their cities with those boundaries in place.”
Lima said the group, which includes former planning commissioners, City Council members, and those who have participated in the city’s latest general plan discussions, is thankful for the support they have received from the community.
“We are very pleased that the citizens of Gilroy have voiced support yet again for compact development,” said Lima.
He added: “We are really pleased and at the same time understand there are elements, such as the local Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation and certain politicians that are clearly not in favor of it, and we expect opposition, but we are prepared to meet it.”
Costs of democracy
The City Council adopted a resolution calling for a general municipal election on Nov. 8, for the purposes of electing a mayor and three council members, and requested the consolidation of election services with the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. The estimated budgeted cost of these services is $55,466, based on the anticipated voter count of 21,837 in November, according to the staff report presented to the council. The latest voter registration for Gilroy is 20,797. This cost does not reflect the inclusion of any subsequent ballot measure, including the potential UGB initiative.
Tiny home roadshow
After its regular meeting on Monday, the City Council got a first look at a “tiny home” demonstration unit, built with just $10,000 in funding by Santa Clara County and donated labor. The 140-square-foot unit comes equipped with a kitchen and toilet and can sleep up to seven comfortably. According to homeless advocates, the units are an affordable way to provide transitional housing to those who need it, while also allowing them to receive support services. In a previous Dispatcharticle, Jan Bernstein Chargin, who runs Gilroy’s Compassion Center, explained that because the tiny home concept is a new approach to housing, zoning codes and ordinances have not yet caught up with it. The center is currently working on a tiny home proposal for the city.
