The basic infrastructure for the development of Coyote Valley in
south San Jose could cost as much as $800 million, according to a
consultant who hedged his bets, calling the numbers
”
conceptual.
”
San Jose – The basic infrastructure for the development of Coyote Valley in south San Jose could cost as much as $800 million, according to a consultant who hedged his bets, calling the numbers “conceptual.”
These numbers are “ball park figures,” Jim Thompson, vice president of HMH Engineers, told members of a task force at a meeting held in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in downtown San Jose this week.
The San Jose city council set up the task force two years ago to start planning for urban development of Coyote Valley. The proposed community will create 50,000 jobs and more than 25,000 homes for at least 70,000 residents. The 7,000-acre development would span the now rural region between Tulare Hill and the northern border of Palm Avenue. Construction of the community will not start until the year 2007, at the earliest.
The 20-member task force voted unanimously to present the recommendations as a draft “progress report” to the San Jose City Council on Sept. 21 for its review.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage expressed reservation about voting on the draft, telling task force members that important questions still need to be addressed concerning public facilities – such as school and emergency services – as well as transit to locations
outside the proposed community.
“I’m very concerned about these issues,” he said. “There’s a lot of unanswered questions here. Forget the cost. If you don’t get answers to those questions, you’re going to have a lot of unhappy people here.”
The task force still has more than a year to come up with a specific plan. In December 2005, the San Jose City Council is expected to vote on the final plan recommended by the task force for Coyote Valley’s development.
A 3,600-acre “greenbelt” of unincorporated semi-rural land south of Palm Avenue would separate the proposed community from the city of Morgan Hill.
Coyote Valley is now in the Morgan Hill Unified School District which has a boundary extending to Bernal Road to the north. A decision must be made by school district board members on whether or not to remove Coyote Valley from the district.
Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy told the task force that development of Coyote Valley could significantly impact South County residents.
“Morgan Hill is not opposed to development of Coyote Valley,” he said. “We’re very concerned about the impact that Coyote will have on Morgan Hill, the stake holders, the schools, Gavilan College, the residents to the south.”
Increased traffic to the South Valley from the new community will affect the quality of life in the South Valley, he said. He urged the project’s consultants and the city of Morgan Hill’s engineers to start working closely together in traffic and transportation developments “before they go too far into the process.”
The infrastructure numbers presented Monday did not include costs for facilities such as schools, public parks, or fire and police stations.
“These are very conceptual,” Thompson told task force members after San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, co-chair of the group, hammered him with questions on how realistic the projected costs were. “They will change.”
The costs would be paid in part by homeowners in Coyote Valley, Thompson said. They might conceivably add $13,308 to $17,511 to the sale price of each residence built in the community. Thompson also said a “land-use” cost of $353,915 to $465,678 per acre would be assessed for development of commercial, office and retail sites. He warned these preliminary figures might rise as plans evolve.
Consultants and engineers also presented various options for designing transit systems, flood control options, a parkway and the relocation of Fisher Creek.
They recommended a “spoke” transit system of public roads. This system might also include a dedicated thoroughfare with a central track that would guide open-air buses carrying passengers to locations throughout the new community. The system would link directly to a CalTrain station along Monterey Road.
Gage questioned how increased traffic along Santa Teresa Boulevard cutting north-to-south through Coyote Valley might affect the region.
Gary Black, of Hexagon Transportation Consultants, said research showed the impact would be minimal.
“The time it would take to go on the Santa Teresa Boulevard would take longer than to go on Monterey (Road) or (Highway) 101,” Black said. Gage disagreed with the consultant’s opinion, describing how before Highway 101 was widened several years ago, commuters often took Monterey Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard during rush hour traffic.
“There are folks out there who are willing, if it takes an hour now, to go an hour and a half if they don’t have to drive stop and go,” the supervisor said.
Consultants also recommended an artificial lake holding 60 acres of recycled water as the focus point for the new community. The central lake would be used for recreational purposes such as kayaking as well as storing water during winter rains. A public swimming area would be built in a lagoon adjacent to the lake.
“A central lake best consolidates needed water retention,” Thompson said. “We (also) think it’s going to have an organizing feature, providing a town center.”
The restoration of Fisher Creek to it’s original location was another concept recommended by consultants at Monday’s meeting. Early in the 20th century, Fisher Creek was diverted to its present site. Consultants recommended that four miles of the creek passing through the western section of Coyote Valley be brought back to its natural route outlined on a survey map from the year 1876. After relocation, Fisher Creek will serve as a runoff for rain water during the flooding season.
Fisher Creek would be physically separated from the central lake to avoid contamination and disruption of the natural habitat, consultant Doug Dahlin of the Dahlin Group said.
During summer months, Fisher Creek would become a dry ditch, said Ken Kay of consulting firm KenKay Associates. It would be “naturally sculpted” to serve as a habitat for plant and animal life as well as providing a “biofiltration” system to clean water passing through it, he said. It would also have a walking/biking trail next to it for recreation purposes, he said.
“We thought we’d celebrate water,” he said, in describing ideas to focus on a lake and Fisher Creek in the proposed community. “Water is such an important part of Coyote Valley.”
