Gilroy – The largest solar-powered housing project in Gilroy history has inched closer to seeing the light of day.
On Thursday, planning commissioners voted 3-1 to favorably recommend an 18-home, gated project slated for a half block on the north side of Gurries Drive. The recommendation will be forwarded to city council members later this month, when they are expected to issue a final decision on the Hanna Square project.
To win the blessing of commissioners, developer Christopher Cote had to steer past a neighbor who complained about the height of 11 townhomes planned for the rear of the property, just south of Oak Court circle.
In recent weeks, the developer’s engineers demonstrated that the homes, though three stories in height, were set far back enough to prevent shadows from blocking sunlight to nearby homes. Commissioner Art Barron said he was comfortable voting in favor of the project after speaking with Tom Howard, an Oak Court resident and the most vocal critic of the project. Howard complained, among other things, that shadows cast by the townhomes would negate his ability to also harvest energy savings by installing solar panels.
“I think Chris Cote answered a lot of (questions) by meeting with neighbors and having the shadows (investigated),” Barron said. “That was a big concern for me. That project is based on solar energy, and I thought that was good that Tom Howard would be able to do solar also.”
Commissioner Tim Day, the lone dissenting vote, said he was comfortable with the shadow issue but simply does not think three-story buildings are appropriate for the area. The neighborhood is made up mostly of single-story rentals and some two-story homes. In addition to the 11 adjoining townhomes, Cote’s project will include seven two-story houses.
Day also failed to pin Cote down on a pledge to donate $500,000 of the project revenues to a fund supporting alternative energy and biotechnology businesses. Cote has touted the “seed fund” in recent months as his solar-powered project has wound through the regulatory process. He said he has met with Mayor Al Pinheiro and City Administrator Jay Baksa in hopes of convincing the city to contribute to the fund.
On Thursday, Day proposed linking approval of the project to Cote transferring $500,000 into a city-controlled bank account.
“If a developer is going to try to sell a project based on its charitable community benefits, then he should be willing to relinquish control of those funds,” said Day, whose motion failed.
Barron said he voted against the motion because “if we attach that, other developers will say, ‘Here’s a million dollars.’ I think a project should stand on its own merits.”
In addition to Barron, commissioners Brad Bannister and Ermelindo Puente voted in favor of the project. Commissioner Tom Boe was absent and commissioners Joan Spencer, who is Cote’s girlfriend, and Joan Lewis, who lives next door to the project site, recused themselves from the vote.
City council will review the Hanna Square proposal Feb. 26. The 7pm meeting takes place at City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St.
