The City Council requested repeal of the
”
Shovel Ready
”
exemption to the Residential Development Ordinance is on the
agenda for the Monday, April 18 council meeting. We support the
repeal of this exemption.
Dear Editor,
The City Council requested repeal of the “Shovel Ready” exemption to the Residential Development Ordinance is on the agenda for the Monday, April 18 council meeting. We support the repeal of this exemption. Sometimes even the best intentions have unintended consequences.
The shovel ready exemption is a prime example. The normal RDO process requires developers to compete for building allotments based on a point system that adds or subtracts points for things such as location, traffic impact, and amenities. This process results in only the best projects receiving approval.
The shovel ready exemption allows developments to circumvent this system by meeting five simple requirements which are based solely on the speed by which a project can be built, not on any amenities provided or benefits to the community.
In fact, no new developments have been brought forward. In each of the applications received, all were requests for increased density of existing projects previously approved. There are more than 2,000 RDO approved housing allotments within the city, all of which are shovel ready. If built concurrently, the impact to schools and city services would be a disaster.
Allowing projects to avoid the RDO process and add more units to this mix only increases this potential problem. Please join us at the council chambers at 6 p.m. and support the mayor and Council members in their effort to regain and maintain the standards of the RDO and repeal the Shovel Ready exemption.
Thomas and Becky Fischer, Gilroy
