Developers give low marks to new housing grade system
Gilroy – Sweeping changes aimed at the city’s grading scale for housing projects would give a competitive edge to affordable housing and eco-friendly designs. They would also level the playing field between small and big developers, even tilting the scales in favor of the little guy.
But the proposal has earned low marks from developers big and small, who are calling the revisions arbitrary, unfair and even “a bit slimy.”
Draft revisions to the 200-point grading system, central to the housing permit competition governed by Gilroy’s Residential Development Ordinance, would give more weight to apartment complexes and affordable housing units, as well as projects that incorporate solar panels and other “green” designs. The system would also give heavy consideration to developers who ante up for sidewalk repairs, a new downtown paseo or any other item on the city’s wish-list of public improvements.
City leaders call the latter requirement “extractions.”
“It doesn’t seem to be a fair way to do things,” said Chris Truebridge, president of Shapell Homes, the company responsible for the gated Eagle Ridge golf and housing community in west Gilroy. “Developers pay a lot of fees and Gilroy has a huge fee structure. It just doesn’t feel right. It feels like you’re buying your way into the competition. You’re asking companies to start throwing money at the policymakers.”
Truebridge also said the city should let state lawmakers – and the experts who work for them – handle the business of creating baseline requirements for eco-friendly designs.
Big developers aren’t the only ones griping about the proposed changes. James Suner, who has shepherded 10 small projects through the local permitting process, also took issue with the requirement that developers pay for public improvements beyond the scope of a project.
“It doesn’t feel right,” Suner said. “It seems a bit slimy.”
But Mayor Al Pinheiro remains committed to the revisions.
“I’m very much of the opinion that if somebody is going to develop in our community, they need to bring some other benefit than housing,” he said. “They may address structural impacts through fees, but there are other needs that a city can’t keep up with. I think that it’s up to these developers to help us do that.”
Within the new system, city staff tried to give small developers an advantage by judging the value of an “extraction” against the size of a project. The creation of a $1 million park, for instance, would mean more points for a 10-unit project than one with 100 units. The system also places greater emphasis on “in-fill” projects in close proximity to existing roads, sewers and other costly infrastructure.
The latest changes, which grew from complaints and concerns from the development community, failed to satisfy planning commissioners. The commission unanimously rejected the proposal last week and called for council members to do the same when they take up the matter June 12.
“We’re doing a Band-Aid approach,” said Planning Commission Chair Tim Day. “We’re taking the existing format and trying to just change that format by putting in affordable housing, putting in environmental considerations, rather than just rebuilding from the foundation back up. To me it’s like trying to fix a leaky pipe. You need to replace the whole pipe, not just do a piecemeal approach.”
Instead, Day suggested the city may want to increase the overall number of points so no single category is weighted too heavily. The proposal he voted against last Thursday would allot at up to a quarter of the 200 points to developers who finance public improvements; another quarter would go to projects with affordable designs. For his part, Day preferred to see Gilroy graft affordable housing requirements onto local zoning laws so that all developers, not just those looking for extra points in a housing competition, would have to provide a certain number of units within reach of low-wage earners.
Before approving any changes, the commission called for greater input from stakeholders such as developers, homebuilders and the school district.
“The commission felt they needed to go back to square one,” City Planning Manager Bill Faus said, “so that everyone has an equal voice from the beginning.”
Council will discuss the RDO point-scale revisions 7pm June 12 at City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St.
Serdar Tumgoren, Senior Staff Writer, covers City Hall for The Dispatch. Reach him at 847-7109 or st*******@************ch.com.
