Gilroy will not join authority, but will look at other
preservation options
Gilroy – City leaders said Friday that Gilroy will not join the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority, but vowed to explore other options to preserve open space and farmland in and around the city.
Officials gathered at a City Council policy retreat said the deciding factor was the cost of polling and underwriting the special election required to join the authority, which levies a parcel tax to buy property and conservation easements.
“If you’re looking for some enthusiasm on this I’m not going to be able to do it because of the cost of putting it on the ballot,” said Councilman Bob Dillon, who had previously expressed support for the authority.
“I’ll take it one step further. I’m opposed,” Councilman Roland Velasco said. “As far as I can tell, there’s no value added.”
Gilroy is the county’s only jurisdiction that hasn’t joined the authority. Ten years ago, city voters rejected joining the land preservation agency. Now, after 18 months of meetings and negotiations, city council members have determined that there’s nothing to be gained by joining it. Instead, City Administrator Jay Baksa said, the city will work with the Silicon Valley Land Conservancy (formerly the Land Trust of Santa Clara County) and the authority to manage the city’s nascent agriculture mitigation policy, which requires builders to protect an amount of farmland equal to the size of the area they develop.
“The council has said we’ll deal with both of them,” Baksa said. “Knowing what we know, we’re going to hold off for now [on joining the authority].”
For Gilroy to join the authority, voters would have approve a $32 annual parcel tax. The tax would add about $400,000 a year to the authority’s coffers, but only 20 percent of that money would be guaranteed to be spent in Gilroy.
Alex Kennett, chairman of the authority’s board of directors, said Gilroy’s decision will not have much of an effect on the authority’s operations.
“In a sense I feel sorry for them,” Kennett said. “We hoped we could work together and now it won’t happen.”
By Matt King and Serdar Tumgoren
