Judge rejects estimates for contested property, ruling means
cash-strapped district will bid higher
Gilroy – The school district suffered a major setback Friday in their bid to scale back the price of 10 acres of land for an elementary school – land that has changed hands from the school district to Glen Loma Group and back in the past four years.
The dispute pits GUSD against Glen Loma, the developer of the biggest housing project ever planned in Gilroy. Glen Loma is asking $10.5 million for the land, carved out of the grandiose Glen Loma Ranch project along Santa Teresa Boulevard. GUSD, scraping for funds for its new Christopher High School, is offering several millions less.
In a pre-trial hearing, Superior Court Judge John Garibaldi rejected two appraisals submitted by the Gilroy Unified School District, calling them “speculative” and “so conjectural, it should not go to the jury at all.” The two estimates, made by Orange County real estate appraiser Michael Waldron, valued the land at $4 million and $6.6 million. The district’s most recent offer stood at $7.1 million – significantly below Glen Loma’s demand.
“We’re disappointed with the court’s ruling,” said GUSD attorney George Speir. “The new appraisal will definitely be higher than his prior opinion [$4 million] and may be higher than his second [$6.6 million].”
Glen Loma originally asked $14.4 million for the land, more than triple what the company paid GUSD for it in 2002, when the district turned its sights to a north Gilroy elementary school in need of repair. Three years later, the better option seemed to be locating a new school in the southwest portion of the city, where the housing development is taking shape. The school is already under construction on W. Luchessa Avenue in Gilroy. Now, as GUSD negotiates the cost for the same land it sold, reclaimed through eminent domain, the price tag has more than tripled.
That’s bad news for GUSD, already coming up $12 million short for its new high school, and it’s bad public relations for Glen Loma, which represents more than 100 members of the well-known Filice family. One letter to the editor called the Filices’ price “audacious” and “greedy.”
Glen Loma attorneys said the school district’s appraisals were based on the false premise that a school was integral to plans for the 360-acre development. Instead, argued attorney Norm Matteoni, the district should pay market value for the property, disregarding the school’s plans. That means taking higher density – and more expensive residential development – into account.
“It’s fundamental to condemnation law that you don’t value the land based on the public agency’s intended project,” Matteoni said.
GUSD attorneys Speir and Ethan Friedman countered that the school was a “goodie” used by Glen Loma to garner city support for their project.
“The land area committed to an elementary school was the basis of every approval they’ve gotten from the city of Gilroy,” Friedman argued.
Garibaldi was unconvinced. Though four sites were mentioned for potential schools, Glen Loma never reserved the space, he said, citing a letter written by Superintendent Edwin Diaz on July 20, 2005, asking the city to secure a location for the school. The city didn’t agree to do so, said Garibaldi – nor did they give a response.
“Bottom line, Mr. Waldron’s primary opinion is based on flawed reasoning,” Garibaldi said. “I’m going to exclude it.”
The decisions put Waldron under pressure to revise his appraisal by next Friday. Delayed by the four-hour argument over GUSD’s appraisals, five motions, two presented by Glen Loma, three by GUSD, remain to be decided by Judge Garibaldi next week, and jury selection has been pushed back to Dec. 12.
