We can’t think of a better site for a new public high school and
a Catholic parish than the 60 acres at the southwest corner of Day
Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard.
We can’t think of a better site for a new public high school and a Catholic parish than the 60 acres at the southwest corner of Day Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard.
The Diocese of San Jose has an agreement to purchase 10 acres of the parcel owned by the Silveira family, and the Gilroy Unified School District is seriously considering making an offer on the remaining 50 acres.
Why is this the perfect parcel? Because it’s located in the city’s northwest quad, in the area where Gilroy’s growth has been planned. Placing a second high school here will give GUSD facilities for ninth to 12th graders at the north and south ends of town, easing transportation for students, parents and bus drivers.
It’s also an ideal site for the diocese, allowing it to build a new church and K-8 private school smack-dab between Gilroy and Morgan Hill, easing the heavy demand for services and teachers at both St. Mary and St. Catherine parishes.
Also in the plus column is the site’s location on a main thoroughfare – Santa Teresa Boulevard – which will be able to handle the traffic the facilities will generate. It also appears the site will satisfy the Field Act, the state’s stringent rules governing the location of public schools.
Predictably, neighbors have already started trying to derail the proposals. We hope that they will reconsider their strategy. Rather than trying to kill projects that are important for Gilroy and the region, we hope they’ll work with city leaders, GUSD officials, the diocese and developers to make sure the church and school district build high-quality facilities.
Yes, the projects will require a zoning change, but living near undeveloped land means accepting that risk. There are no guarantees – except perhaps for nature preserves – on what kind of development will occur on open land, or when that development will take place.
Neighbors will have legitimate concerns – including noise, lighting and traffic – and California’s stringent environmental law, CEQA, has procedures in place to make sure they are mitigated as much as possible. Neighbors should voice their concerns and remain involved in the development of the schools and church.
But killing these proposals would be shortsighted and foolish. Parcels of the right size and location for public high schools, especially, are hard to find. If you doubt this, look at the obstacles the Morgan Hill Unified School District faced in the last several years – and is still facing – in its efforts to build a second high school.
City Council and LAFCO, a county agency which must approve annexation for the projects to move forward, must keep the greater good of South Valley in mind when considering the proposals. Let’s get behind plans for a students and parishioners to learn and worship at the southwest corner of Day Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard.
