City Attorney Linda Callon’s sobering assessment
– that in the event of a foreclosure on Bonfante Gardens, the
City of Gilroy has no control over the zoning of the land upon
which the troubled amusement park sits – needs to be taken with a
grain of salt.
City Attorney Linda Callon’s sobering assessment – that in the event of a foreclosure on Bonfante Gardens, the City of Gilroy has no control over the zoning of the land upon which the troubled amusement park sits – needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
“I’ve just been told there’s nothing that can be done and I want to investigate that further,” Council Bob Dillon said after hearing Callon’s report.
That’s exactly the right reaction.
With all due respect to Callon, hers is just one attorney’s opinion. And clearly, given the instability of the park’s finances and the proximity to Eagle Ridge and the Hecker Pass corridor, the Council needs to explore numerous options that will retain control.
Meanwhile, Eagle Ridge residents, who are key players in the possible fate of the park, should not allow them to let the specter of liquor stores or even, alas, teenagers influence their decision-making process.
Residents of the gated community are being asked to approve expanding the development as part of a two-way land deal that would greatly ease the struggling theme park’s enormous debt burden.
It’s an important decision that should be made based upon facts, not conjecture and scare tactics.
In the meantime, we urge city leaders – as Dillon intends – to do further research. They might or might not be bound by the 1997 agreement on land-use rights for the park’s creditors upon which Callon based her opinion, but they have many more tools at their disposal.
The city can make it difficult and expensive for any incongruous proposal to use the Bonfante Gardens property. Situated on a narrow scenic highway in an environmentally sensitive area, traffic and environmental impacts will need to be closely scrutinized. That means pricey environmental reviews and lots of time-consuming hoops through which applicants will need to jump.
And let’s all remember that we might be borrowing heaps of trouble when we forecast Bonfante Gardens’ imminent demise. It’s opening Saturday for its fourth season amid rosy profit projections from operator Paramount Parks.
Eagle Ridge residents need to decide whether or not to expand their neighborhood on the merits of the proposal, not based on fears of future bogeymen selling tires or riding thrill-a-minute roller coasters.
City officials need to seek further – and possibly outside – opinions on the constraints and validity of their 1997 contract with Bonfante Gardens.
And all of Gilroy needs to remember that when we bend the rules, make exceptions, create wiggle room in policies and procedures – no matter how homegrown and enticing the cause – there will very likely be unforeseen and perhaps unpleasant consequences down the road.
