Nearly two months after the Hollister City Council voted June 3 to uphold a planning commission decision to approve key pieces of the 400 block project, Mayor Ignacio Velazquez told the Free Lance he is still considering challenging the vote.
Velazquez had filed an initial appeal of the decision as a private citizen, sending a letter from his lawyers that disputed several of the controversial project’s approval points.
Velazquez’s lawyer Edward Schexnayder at the law firm Schute, Mihaly and Weinberger, said that the project’s approval violated California Environmental Quality Act, should not have been eligible for a density bonus and that the project zoning was changed during the approval process.
The council rejected the appeal 3-1, with Councilmember Rolan Resendiz voting against upholding the decision.
The city filed a notice of an environmental exemption for the project, which means the statute of limitations to file complaints under CEQA was 35 days. That time period passed, but the other aspects of Velazquez’s complaint can still be used to file complaints, according to this lawyer.
Lauren Layne, who was the special counsel appointed by the City Council in matters related to the 400 block, said that typically a suit would be filed under a CEQA violation because there is the opportunity to get legal fees covered if the case were successful.
Layne said that a CEQA lawsuit is most common in these cases and is typical what “people lump everything under.”
Velazquez had myriad problems with the project, including his contention that the city government violated the Brown Act during the approval process. He’s been a vocal opponent of the project that would create apartments, retail space and a Community Foundation office for local non-profits.
Velazquez has said he wants the currently vacant green space to become a community plaza. He abstains from council votes on the project because he owns a banquet hall, The Vault, that neighbors the 400 block.
In 2017 Velazquez gathered signatures to get the 400 block decision on the 2018 ballot. Despite having enough signatures, the California Attorney General said the matter could not be voted on.
Pieces of the project, most notable the tentative map, have been approved by the planning commission. Velazquez appealed those decisions, but the approval was upheld.
