Keep bureaucracy downtown
Seismic survey work began at the proposed site of a new San
Benito County Superior Court complex this week. The welcome
development is a step toward locating the courts at the former
Fremont School, on Fourth Street between Monterey and West in the
heart of downtown Hollister.
When the courthouse is completed, it opens more than half the
space in the current courthouse, a 1962 relic that has become
increasingly cramped.
Keep bureaucracy downtown
Seismic survey work began at the proposed site of a new San Benito County Superior Court complex this week. The welcome development is a step toward locating the courts at the former Fremont School, on Fourth Street between Monterey and West in the heart of downtown Hollister.
When the courthouse is completed, it opens more than half the space in the current courthouse, a 1962 relic that has become increasingly cramped.
But the existing courthouse building at Fifth and Monterey streets still offers vast opportunities, both for friendlier government and as a revitalizing influence in downtown Hollister.
Some time ago, Hollister and county policy-makers agreed on the concept of what came to be called a “one-stop planning shop,” a center where people would not have to figure out in advance which pocket of the local bureaucracy oversees land use on their property. The idea of making an often-confusing process simpler, while allowing local planners easier access to one another, promised to offer benefits on both sides of the reception desk.
But more recently, there’s been some equivocating.
County growth and the resulting growth in local government means that the courthouse may be filled to the brim with the same county offices already occupying the space currently available to them. The county Board of Supervisors recently discussed purchasing the city-owned Fremont School property outright, freeing the county of its former obligation to house some city offices.
That’s cause for concern. The good news is that supervisors are continuing to look for ways to put city and county land use planning near one another.
Given a soft real estate market, can there be a better time than now to consider selling surplus property and consolidating holdings in the downtown area, where the public and government workers are both best served?
We urge the county to lead by example and locate services within the heart of our community rather than sprawling to the fringes of the city.
The outcry from local residents some months ago, when the state announced that the new courts complex would be built in an agricultural field north of Hollister, made it clear that the community wants government close at hand. The state relented, and the result is the downtown site now being studied.
We hope county decision-makers understand that the public’s interest does not end with the courts. People want accessible, centralized government services.
