With the Hollister Municipal Airport, the city has a cornerstone
for development in its northern gateway and a natural platform for
economic resurgence.
With the Hollister Municipal Airport, the city has a cornerstone for development in its northern gateway and a natural platform for economic resurgence.
Officials have boasted of the airport as a hidden “jewel” for years. Now a developer’s interest in building a corporate jet center there and local officials’ levelheaded response show it not only has the potential to launch Hollister from its economic breakdown, but also that our leaders maintain the sensible mindset in seeing it as an opportunity, perhaps, for something even better.
Like other development in Hollister, the airport’s progress has stalled since 15 million gallons of sewage spilled into the San Benito River in 2002, followed by the state-mandated building moratorium. There’s no telling how much progress would have occurred at the airport – and in the city, for that matter – without it.
We suspect the airport would look much different, that by now it would have at least begun to infuse the economy and the overall draw to outsiders with a penchant, and money, to fly jets. But the past is the past, and the skies still look bright, even if we have pushed back the airport’s progress at least a half-decade.
A relatively early sign – in the form of serious interest from developer Andrew Barnes to build six hangars catering to corporate jet owners – indicates such talk of this “jewel” or “diamond in the rough,” as City Councilwoman Monica Johnson called it last week, has been right on.
There’s no doubt city officials will take advantage of our geography near the once again surging Silicon Valley, the airport’s convenience on the town’s outskirts and its prospects and availability for growth. At this point, it’s just a matter of how studiously officials examine our likely options before making the best decision for the community.
City officials must treat it for what it clearly is – a draw for corporate jet users, a revenue generator through rent fees and a place with boundless possibility for commercial growth, ideally from the airport’s boundaries outward.
Barnes estimated his development would generate $1.5 million annually in tax revenue to Hollister – a figure about which City Manager Clint Quilter expressed some doubt, telling by the tremendous level of property and sales tax dollars it would have to spawn to reach that amount.
Barnes also indicated his project is a no-go if Hollister sticks to negotiations started in 2001 with the California Department of Forestry and Fire to have a new 10-acre air-attack base built at the site. The city must make the Cal Fire operation a priority because, as officials have attested, there’s room for both the base and a jet center and the air-attack base could save lives.
If the city reaches a Cal Fire deal and Barnes sticks to his word, there should be other options waiting in the wings.
