A plan to convert the abandoned Indian Motorcycle plant off 10th
Street into 178 homes cleared its first regulatory hurdle last
week.
Gilroy – A plan to convert the abandoned Indian Motorcycle plant off 10th Street into 178 homes cleared its first regulatory hurdle last week.
Planning commissioners unanimously approved a rezoning of 6.2 acres that clears the way for the project, which has been lauded as a way to redevelop an old industrial site while benefiting the city’s downtown.
The site has sat vacant since the motorcycle assembly plant closed in 2003. Before the motorcycle plant moved in, the building at 200 East 10th St. served as headquarters for Nob Hill Foods.
“It puts an anchor of growth on the south side of town,” said Planning Commission Chairman Tim Day. He added that the site would have been included in an area zoned for housing development several years ago, when a task force drew boundaries for various districts along the historic Monterey Street corridor and established allowable land uses for each area.
At the time, hopes remained that the Indian Motorcycle plant would re-open in Gilroy, brining with it 300-plus jobs.
“We were looking at Indian Motorcycles potentially coming back as a business and we didn’t want to eliminate that possibility” by rezoning the land for residential use, Day said. “Had Indian Motorcycle not been under discussion, it would have been included right from the start. Then why would we not include it now?”
City planners and business leaders welcome the prospect of rehabilitating a site they say has outlived its use for manufacturing, and project manager Tony Sudol, who could not be reached for comment, has plugged the development by arguing that traffic from housing would be far less than the round-trips generated when 350 employees worked at the motorcycle plant.
Even if he convinces city council July 16 to give final approval to the rezoning, Sudol will still have to convince officials that the project is safe for schoolchildren. The site abuts the east side of the railroad tracks and lies just south of 10th Street, a traffic corridor that connects commuters and shoppers to U.S. Highway 101 and big-box stores off Pacheco Pass Highway.
School officials raised concerns about the safety of children crossing the thoroughfare to get to school. But district officials have not yet identified which school children from the future development might attend. Busing may reduce safety concerns if students attend Glen View or the newly constructed Las Animas Elementary School. Meanwhile, Sudol told planning commissioners that a permanent crossing guard at 10th Street could be financed by the homeowner’s association planned for the site.
“I can tell you there haven’t been any drastic changes that have alleviated my concerns,” said Mayor Al Pinheiro. “I have some of the same concerns I had before – the fact that east of the railroad, I think that area is more conducive for the retail and commercial end of things, and the (safety) of kids going to school from that area.”
The recommendation for approval of the rezoning will go before council July 16 for final decision. The meeting takes place at 7pm at City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St.
