At first glance, the potential problems associated with building
a 7-square-mile city between Gilroy and Hollister seem so
insurmountable that it’s easy to believe the project will never be
approved.
At first glance, the potential problems associated with building a 7-square-mile city between Gilroy and Hollister seem so insurmountable that it’s easy to believe the project will never be approved.
Certainly the proposed development of Rancho San Benito faces many hurdles, including water supplies, sewer connections, potential flooding, traffic and environmental impacts, worries about noncontiguous development, and schools.
But let’s not be fooled. There’s a high-powered development company “betting on the come.” DMB Realty, the Arizona-based company that’s behind the proposal, owns the 4,500-acre Rancho San Benito property off Highway 25 near the San Benito-Santa Clara county line. The company is not new to this game.
It has already built similar communities, and has spent a boatload of money to purchase an option to buy the Union Pacific tracks between Gilroy and Hollister. This company knows what it is doing, and it wouldn’t be spending money if it thought Rancho San Benito was doomed to failure.
The continued development pressure on land just south of Gilroy in San Benito County proclaims the obvious: Leaders and representatives from Gilroy, Santa Clara County, Hollister, San Benito County and Morgan Hill should formally schedule a three-times-per-year regional planning meeting. That’s what’s needed to keep everyone up to speed on projects from Coyote Valley to the north to Rancho San Benito to the south. The flurry of recent proposals, which include the Indian casino and Sargent Ranch proposals, is an alarm bell for our communities.
It behooves our leaders to get to know one another, to think regionally and to act locally to make sure that any proposals for the region, and in particular the San Benito-Santa Clara county line, are good for all of us.
The potential impacts are numerous: Economic, educational, environmental, transit and more will be affected by these proposals.
Let’s heed the warning. Time is of the essence. Working together, we can pool our resources to influence any projects to be as beneficial as possible for the South Valley. If we allow piecemeal proposals to guide our course, the results will be hodgepodge planning and an urban environment no different than what’s 30 or so miles north of us.
