Opposition to a housing proposal for one of Gilroy’s showcase
streets remains strong among neighbors, but has lost ground among
city leaders.
Gilroy – Opposition to a housing proposal for one of Gilroy’s showcase streets remains strong among neighbors, but has lost ground among city leaders.
The last time the city’s Planning Commission reviewed plans to put six homes where two now stand at 7861 and 7891 Miller Ave., the seven-member body unanimously rejected the idea. During their spring debate on a zoning change to allow the development, commissioners said the housing proposal ran foul of the character of the tree-lined street, noted for a number of large lots and expansive vistas.
The decision reflected criticisms from a group of neighbors opposing the project.
Thursday night, neighbors continued to complain when Neil Mussallem Sr. and Jr., a father-son development team, brought subdivision maps before commissioners for approval.
“This is a beautiful project but I don’t think it’s for Miller Avenue,” said Naomi Murphy, a Miller Avenue resident.
Sadee Frassetti, who lived on Miller Avenue when it was incorporated into the city 40 years ago, spoke out against the project. She said she moved off the street years ago due to increasing noise from traffic – a condition she predicted would only worsen with the Mussallem subdivision.
She and other opponents are not satisfied by the series of revisions the developers have made to the project, which requires creating a private cul de sac on the west side of Miller Avenue. The changes include scaling back the number of homes, setting them farther back from Miller, and reducing the homes in the middle of the rectangular development from two stories to one.
“It’s a very carefully designed project, well located for what it is,” said Bart Hechtman, a representative for the Mussallems, referring to the nearby First Street shopping corridor and neighboring apartment complex.
But opponents have pointed to the sweeping, tree-lined lawns that also lie next door to justify their opposition.
“I’ve had a problem with the project from day one,” commissioner Tim Day said. “I’ve seen what Mr. Mussallem has done – it is a beautiful project, but it is not a project for Miller Avenue.”
While commissioners agreed with that sentiment, not all could justify rejecting the project in light of city council’s decision to rezone the land to allow the project. In May, councilmen narrowly trumped commissioners’ earlier objections in a 4-3 vote.
Thursday, commissioner Norm Thompson acknowledged neighbors’ worries about the breaking up of large lots in the city’s historic core.
“A Pandora’s Box? Possibly,” he said. “But the issue in my mind is that the applicant has followed the policies laid down by the city. … In my mind, I have no basis for denying the applicant’s request.”
As commissioners prepared to vote on approval, Frassetti, from the audience, asked chairman Dion Bracco to speak up. She also gave a final word of admonishment: “Don’t forget the people of Gilroy when you vote. You’re new here. I’ve been here a long time.”
Bracco, Tim Day, and Cat Tucker rejected the project, while Tom Boe, Joan Lewis, and Norm Thompson voted in favor. The absence of commissioner Ermelindo Puente means city council will receive word of a tie vote, rather than a positive or negative recommendation on the project.
Robb Alonzo, the leading critic of the project who lives next door at 7841 Miller Ave., has organized the Miller Avenue Neighborhood Alliance to fight the Mussallem project and to force city officials to consider new protections for large lots in the city’s historic core.
“When are you going to put your foot down and stop this from happening on Miller Avenue?” Alonzo asked, prior to the commission’s vote.
He has threatened to sue the city if the project goes through, and Mussallem Sr. has promised not to back down from a court challenge. He made clear, however, that the family has no intention of suing the city over the matter.
The Dispatch reported Thursday that Mussallem Sr. said he would take the city to court in the event councilmen reject the project. In an interview the previous day, after being informed that Alonzo threatened to sue the city over the matter, the developer was asked if he would do the same.
Mussallem replied “yes.”
In a call after the story appeared, Mussallem said he understood the question as an inquiry into whether he’d be willing to go to court if Alonzo sued him, rather than simply walking away from the project.
For the moment, it remains unclear how councilmen will vote. Alonzo believed the neighbors had won a crucial swing vote in Councilman Charles Morales, who attended a meeting of the newly formed neighborhood alliance in recent weeks. But in an interview Wednesday, Morales said that “policy-wise, the developer’s following what we have in our policies and the council has to work within those parameters.”
