By Connie Rogers
”
The Hecker Pass area is the jewel of Gilroy. It is valued for
its rural qualities, scenic views, containing working agricultural
lands, open spaces, and very limited residential and commercial
development. It serves as the City’s western gateway, and is a
highly valued scenic resource for residents and visitors.
… While some development should be allowed, care must be taken
to protect the scenic qualities and rural, agricultural character
of the Hecker Pass area.
”
~ Gilroy General Plan 2001
By Connie Rogers
“The Hecker Pass area is the jewel of Gilroy. It is valued for its rural qualities, scenic views, containing working agricultural lands, open spaces, and very limited residential and commercial development. It serves as the City’s western gateway, and is a highly valued scenic resource for residents and visitors. … While some development should be allowed, care must be taken to protect the scenic qualities and rural, agricultural character of the Hecker Pass area.”
~ Gilroy General Plan 2001
Save Open Space–Gilroy wholeheartedly agrees with these statements from the Gilroy General Plan and with them in mind, we have some praise and some criticism of the recently completed Hecker Pass Specific Plan.
The plan is the product of two years of work by the HPSP Advisory Committee and their consultants. It will be voted upon by the Planning Commission on Oct. 14 and will then go before the City Council on Oct. 18. for final approvals.
The good
• The HPSP has done a good job with the general layout of the area. The ratio of open space (145 acres) and agriculture (115 acres) to residential (145 acres) is very good.
• There is a 3-acre neighborhood park planned as well as the extension of the Uvas Levee walking trail by 1.7 miles to the intersection of Hecker Pass Highway and Burchell Road.
• There will be a mix of housing types on various lot sizes.
• The promotion of agri-tourism for the area along the Hecker Pass Highway will be beneficial to Gilroy’s tourism industry.
The bad
• The HPSP is proposing numerous General Plan Amendments changing and weakening the language of the Gilroy General Plan. The main purpose of a city’s General Plan is to set the vision, guidelines and policies for future development. Instead, the HPSP has developed a plan so radically different that they needed to rewrite 33 of the 36 paragraphs of the General Plan which refer to Hecker Pass. It’s clear the “tail is wagging the dog” here.
• The new language will allow 530 homes (yes, 530 homes – it’s not a typo) instead of the target number of 124 called for in the General Plan, 473 of them located south of Hecker Pass Highway. This is a monumental change in the General Plan’s vision – 349 additional houses!
• Most of the houses are clustered on the north side of Uvas Creek, a mirror image of the dense housing in Eagle Ridge which has offended many Gilroyans.
• Non-agriculture related uses will be allowed in the Hecker Pass Agriculture and Agriculture Commercial zones. Some of these uses are: outdoor amusement or recreation (what could these be – batting cages, driving ranges, water parks?), small grocery store or deli, “mom & pop” style market, and restaurant. Not one of these uses has anything to do with agriculture.
• There are no requirements for land designated as “Hecker Pass Agriculture” and “Agriculture Commercial” to be permanently protected. There is nothing to stop the property owners from applying for a Specific Plan Amendment in five or 10 years. They could change agricultural zones to “residential” and this beautiful area could look just like the housing developments in the Northwest Quad.
• The Hecker Pass Specific Plan is asking the City of Gilroy to help finance the infrastructure of the development. This is unprecedented in city history. No other residential development in the city has asked for this, including Eagle Ridge which provided hundreds of acres of hillside open space to the city.
The ugly
• The beautiful cedar trees that line the Hecker Pass Highway could be cut down because strong language in the General Plan requiring their protection will be changed. The HPSP says they will now be saved only “if possible.”
• The possibility of the Hecker Pass Highway becoming a State Scenic Highway could be in jeopardy. At some point in the future, Caltrans, who has jurisdiction over this state highway, could decide to widen it to four lanes. The HPSP is not taking this into consideration. The setbacks they are planning won’t be wide enough to qualify for the Scenic Highway status if the road is widened.
• The area could be all lit up with bright lights. The South Valley Community Church has asked for night-lighted playing fields at their school.
Save Open Space-Gilroy urges the City Council and the Planning Commission to adopt a permanent Hecker Pass Specific Plan, not a plan subject to change according to the financial aims of the property owners.
The plan should have strong policy language that ensures permanent protection of the agricultural and open space zones, prohibits additional homes, ensures the permanence of the rural, scenic nature of Hecker Pass Highway, and ensures that the costs of the development are not borne by Gilroy taxpayers. The City Council has the power to preserve a part of our community’s landscape that makes this such a special place in which to live. We hope they will use that power wisely.
Save Open Space – Gilroy is a group of residents concerned about local environmental issues, preserving open space and agricultural land, and good planning. For further information contact Carolyn Tognetti at 842-8583 or Connie Rogers at 842-8494.
Connie Rogers is a former Gilroy city councilwoman and
planning commissioner who is a founding member of Save Open Space-Gilroy. Anyone interested in writing a guest column may contact Editor Mark Derry at 842-6400, ext. 270.
