Grading is underway for a project that will add 100 housing units at the corner of Hecker Pass Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard, a heavily traveled intersection that serves as the gateway to Gilroy from the west.
Some residents at the adjacent Village Green senior gated community, however, say they had no idea the project was in the works until the bulldozers showed up.
Jemcor Development Partners’ Hecker Pass Apartments project sits on nearly four acres at the southwest corner of Hecker Pass Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard. Plans call for 100 two- and three-bedroom units designated as “affordable” across five, three-story buildings. In addition, a 2,700-square-foot clubhouse and 200 parking spaces are also in the plans.
Gateway Park at the corner of the intersection will remain, the plans show.
Jemcor is also working on a four-story apartment complex a few blocks away at the corner of First Street and Kern Avenue.
In recent weeks, crews demolished a home on the property, and have been grading the land with heavy equipment to make way for the structures’ foundations.
The project has been in the works for more than a year. But the public noticing was inadequate, some neighbors say.
In 2010, the Gilroy City Council approved a zoning change for the property that would have allowed a skilled nursing center to be constructed. The project’s developer, which constructed the Village Green, came under fire by some members of the council, who said it needed to fix issues with the curbs first at the senior living development before proceeding. The nursing center project eventually fell through.
The City of Gilroy received a request from Jemcor to construct the housing project in June 2020. The city required a traffic study, which was completed in November 2020 and provided some recommendations to improve traffic flow around the development.
The project received a sign-off from the Community Development Department in March.
Under the California Environmental Quality Act, in-fill projects of less than five acres that conform to zoning requirements are exempt from an environmental review, and the subsequent public comment period.
While such administrative decisions do not require a public hearing or mailing of notices to the surrounding area, said city spokesperson Rachelle Bedell, an eight-by-four-foot sign is required to be posted on the property at least 10 days prior to the staff’s decision. The sign was posted on the property from March 1 until after the project was approved on March 12, according to Bedell.
Janet Larner, who lives in the Village Green community, said she and many of her neighbors were “blindsided” when they saw construction get underway without knowing what it was for.
The Village Green houses roughly 500 people.
The sign, according to Larner, was difficult to view from the road, as many RVs and semi-trucks that park on that section of Hecker Pass Highway blocked the sign.
Village Green residents are also concerned about traffic and the placement of one of the buildings, which overlooks homes on a corner of the community, she said.
“I am truly concerned,” Larner said. “The city has a responsibility to the residents. It was the lack of notification, the opportunity to make our concerns heard then, not later.”
A Jemcor representative did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
