Measure Y could bring housing downtown
While Barack Obama and John McCain vie for the top elected
office in the nation, 41 local candidates are duking it out for 24
seats in San Benito County from city councils to school boards to
the hospital district board.
In addition, local voters will see three measures on the ballot,
including one that could change the face of Downtown Hollister.
Measure Y could bring housing downtown
While Barack Obama and John McCain vie for the top elected office in the nation, 41 local candidates are duking it out for 24 seats in San Benito County from city councils to school boards to the hospital district board.
In addition, local voters will see three measures on the ballot, including one that could change the face of Downtown Hollister.
Measure Y would exempt residential housing projects within the Downtown district from the 244-allocation cap put in place by voters in 2004 through Measure U.
“The reason the growth cap came about – at the time there were really good reasons,” said Mayor Doug Emerson, who is unopposed in the November election. “We had all this sprawl and we were trying to address that.”
The exemption through Measure Y would only apply to areas within the downtown district as described by the downtown strategic plan. The boundaries are roughly North Street to Hawkins Street and McCray Street to West or Monterey streets. The boundaries are put together by RBF Consulting, a planning and design firm hired by the Hollister Downtown Association. RBF staff have been working for more than a year on the strategic plan for Downtown that is nearing completion.
“We are using the same lines as RBF was looking at,” said Gordon Machado, a supporter of Measure Y and a county planning commissioner. “They went through the scrutiny of the community.”
Machado and Emerson both said they feel exempting residential housing in the Downtown area is in line with the vision of both the strategic plan and the city’s recently approved general plan.
Machado emphasized that there are many existing buildings where residential units could be made.
“Second stories are not being used,” Machado said. “[Measure Y] could help with remodeling. Some spaces were used before [as residential.]”
Both focused on the ability to walk to services and putting more foot traffic in the city center.
“The benefit can be seen in the vision and plan that the Downtown Association came up with,” Emerson said. “One thing is the price of gas. If you create walkability it saves money and promotes good health. Look at European cities. They have a downtown that is the center of the culture.”
If Measure Y is passed, the general city residential allocation would remain at 244, but projects within the Downtown district would not be subtracted from those allocations.
“If you look at 300 units, where are you going to find a place to put 300 units [in Downtown]?” Emerson asked.
The hope is that the owners of existing properties may decide to renovate upper floors into residential if they do not have to compete for the 244 units with larger developments. Interns for the City of Hollister Planning Department this summer worked with many property owners to get an idea of the inventory in the district that could be converted to housing.
Developing residential in existing properties comes with its own set of challenges, said Mary Paxton, Hollister’s planning manager. Though Measure Y exempts properties from the allocation, the projects would still need to go through the regular planning approval process.
“The case of the upper floor may be complex because some are not in the Downtown parking assessment, and they may need to figure out how to meet downtown parking,” she said. “Some of the buildings are historic and some have not been utilized.”
The response during the inventory project from property owners was positive.
“Property owners that participated, a lot were enthusiastic,” Paxton said. “A lot recognize that it is a really costly venture so the passage of Measure Y may take away one of the obstacles.”
All three agree that it may take a few years before Measure Y’s effect is seen due to the down economy, but they feel the long-term outcome will be positive.
“It puts more people on the streets to use the businesses downtown,” Paxton said.
Ballot line up
In addition to Measure Y, voters will have a say in plenty of local races and two other measures. Here is a round-up of the items voters should expect Nov. 4.
Hollister School District – two seats
Dee Brown, educator/realtor
Erin Gonzalez, assessment editor
Rebecca Salinas, retired education administrator
Brandon Sowards, business owner
Chuck Spandri, parent
North County Joint Union School District – three seats
Christie Cabrera, appointed incumbent
Renee Faught, incumbent
Mark Wright, incumbent
Frank O’Connell, businessman
Willow Grove Union School District – three seats
Dave Hopcroft, incumbent
Sandra Patterson, appointed incumbent
Jeanette Sharp, incumbent
Linda Naegle
San Benito High School District – two seats
Joseph Gardner, appointed incumbent
Evelyn Muro, incumbent
Ray Rodriguez, science-engineering associate
Tres Pinos Water District – three seats
Greg Alvarado, incumbent
Janie Lausten, appointed incumbent
Jeb Rowen, carpenter
Cass Spencer, county employee
Bobby Zaucha, carpenter
San Benito County Water District – one seat
Kenneth Perry, incumbent
Joseph Tonascia, farmer/businessman
San Benito Health Care – three seats
Beth Ivey, incumbent
Gordon Machado, incumbent
Janet Vervaecke, incumbent
Ernest Rivas, respiratory practitioner
Nazhat Parveen Sharma, physician
Jim West, construction materials supplier
City of San Juan Bautista council – two seats
Rick Edge, appointed incumbent
Jeff Bagley, planning commissioner
Mary Margaret (Maggie) Bilich, retired
Jim Pereyra, business owner/educator
City of San Juan Bautista treasurer – one seat
Charles “Chuck” Geiger, business educator
Colleen Johnson, paralegal
City of Hollister council district 5 – one seat
Victor Gomez, business owner/franchisee
David Huboi, architect
Roy Iler, Sheriff’s office lieutenant
Unopposed
City of San Juan Bautista city clerk – Linda McIntyre, attorney
City of Hollister district 1 – Raymond Friend, utility supervisor
City of Hollister district 4 – Doug Emerson, incumbent
Measures
Measure W – To make the city treasurer position in San Juan Bautista appointive
Measure X – To make the city clerk position in San Juan Bautista appointive
