The scenic gateway into the city of Gilroy via Hecker Pass
Highway could become home to agriculture-based tourist attractions,
retail, and 530 homes in coming years, but it still will be the
”
jewel
”
of the city, landowners and planning commissioners say.
The scenic gateway into the city of Gilroy via Hecker Pass Highway could become home to agriculture-based tourist attractions, retail, and 530 homes in coming years, but it still will be the “jewel” of the city, landowners and planning commissioners say.
But the so-called Hecker Pass Specific Plan – which sets guidelines for building neighborhoods, parks and recreational facilities, agricultural tourism, agricultural commercial, and maintaining open space in that area – is being met with opposition by open space advocates and other planning commissioners.
Gilroy’s Planning Commission is expected to vote on the specific plan Thursday, and City Council will put it to a final vote on Monday, Oct. 18.
“I feel very comfortable that for many years, that property out there is still going to be a beautiful part of Gilroy,” Planning Commissioner Tim Day said.
By clustering homes, maintaining open space, and emphasizing agriculture, he said, the specific plan isn’t meant to represent a dramatic change for the area.
“I’m sure there are people that would just as soon nothing happen out there,” said Joel Goldsmith, a landowner and chair of the advisory committee that put the plan together. “There’s probably another group of people that see this as prime area for building houses.
“Neither side will be happy with what we’re doing completely, but given the parameters that we had to work with, and under, I think the plan came out really, really well.”
Unique in the way it brought roughly a dozen landowners and planners together to create the project as one, the Hecker Pass plan will help City Council and the planning commission protect the scenic Hecker Pass area, said landowner and advisory committee member Jim Hoey. Above all, the committee wanted to preserve the Uvas Creek corridor and the rural feel of 423 acres around Hecker Pass, he said.
“All this specific plan does is, it creates a more clear vision and some very detailed direction and guidance,” Hoey said, “but at the same time, allows for some flexibility out there.”
Direction given in the plan is wide-ranging: How the area will be divided into certain land uses; the number of houses that could be built and how close together; what types of roads might be needed and where; expansion of the Uvas Creek Park Preserve; and designing the community.
The specific plan allows for 530 homes, up from the original General Plan number of 124.
The 124 was based on 2.5-acre lots, Goldsmith said, and the committee wanted to see more open space.
“We started with a vision, as opposed to starting with the number, and we let the number happen,” he said.
More density of homes was needed to make the project profitable, Hoey said. The three clusters of homes will be placed back from the highway, with two adjacent to Uvas on the south and one on the north side.
Planning Commissioner Cat Tucker said the density of housing is a problem for her, and has been from the beginning, but council already gave out 427 housing permits there.
“Raising it to 530, I do not agree with,” she said.
As a commissioner, Tucker said she agrees with the property owner’s right to develop homes, and clustering them is the right way to go.
Closer to the highway are zones of agriculture – Goldsmith Seeds – agricultural tourism, open space, and agricultural commercial.
Some landowners – including Hoey – already have tentative long-term plans for their property. Goldsmith said he wanted the plan to allow his agricultural business, which is also a tourist draw, to expand and not be encroached upon by housing.
“I want to continue doing our business as we have been,” Goldsmith said.
Property owners in the future could attempt to subvert the plan and build extensively, Hoey admitted, but the specific plan will still be around for future councils to use as guidance.
“You can say that this is as strong (a plan) as you can get, it’s stronger than anything else in Gilroy,” he said.
Lori Stuenkel is a staff writer. Reach her at 847-7158 or [email protected].
