LAFCO asks Hollister to explain what new homes will be exempt
from Measure U
– it could be up to 1,100 new houses on top of the 244-home cap
per year
”
I feel betrayed, used and cheap
”
– J.J. Vogel, head of WATCHDOG
Was the tweaking of Measure U a city-coordinated ruse to appease
slow-growth advocates?
LAFCO asks Hollister to explain what new homes will be exempt from Measure U – it could be up to 1,100 new houses on top of the 244-home cap per year
“I feel betrayed, used and cheap” – J.J. Vogel, head of WATCHDOG
Was the tweaking of Measure U a city-coordinated ruse to appease slow-growth advocates?
That’s what anti-development rabble rouser J.J. Vogel is beginning to think since he found out that Hollister might allow 1,100 already-approved houses to be built alongside the 244 “maximum” allowed yearly under the new growth cap, passed overwhelmingly by the voters of Hollister two weeks ago.
“We knew there were some (homes) already approved but we had no idea the number was that humongous,” said a disgusted Vogel, who along with WATCHDOG member Paul Grannis, spearheaded the Measure U initiative and worked with city staff to make the language of his group’s grassroots ordinance impervious to lawsuits.
The group gathered enough signatures to place the measure on the ballot, but City Attorney Elaine Cass felt some wording was illegal and would not stand up in court. The city drafted a new version, which was approved by 70 percent of voters Nov. 5.
Now county planners are wondering whether Hollister’s new Measure U means only 244 homes a year will be built for five years – or if hundreds of already approved houses will be allowed on top of that.
“It appears that a number of types of approvals are exempt, like development agreements and special-unit allocations that were approved as of May 30, 2001,” said Paxton.
That might include the controversial 677-home West of Fairview project, she said, but until county planners get an answer from the city, no one is sure.
“We’re trying to figure out what’s floating out there,” said Paxton.
Staff on LAFCO, the Local Agency Formation Commission, needs to know what the city’s intentions are so that they can put together their required municipal service reviews for the city and Sunnyslope Water District. The county planners wrote to the city’s planning department on Nov. 8 and are awaiting an answer.
Hollister planning manager, Bill Card, who has been doubling as the director of Hollister Community Development Department since Ray Hetherington’s recent retirement, said he still has to study the inquiry to be able to comment on it.
“We don’t have a reply to it yet,” said Card on Monday. “It’s a matter of seeing how everything fits into Measure U.”
According to LAFCO planner Paxton, the city could have 700 to 1,100 houses in the pipeline exempt from a growth cap that allows a maximum of only 244 houses a year once the new sewage facility gets built, perhaps by 2005. The city currently is under a state-imposed building moratorium because of its faulty sewage system.
Paxton said the reviews her department needs to write up are required by the state from all county LAFCOs. The reviews will address forecasts for population growth over the next five years and determine where services could be better coordinated between water districts and the city and county.
But the task is impossible without knowing how many houses Hollister will allot between 2003 and 2008, and the language in the city’s new housing ordinance, county planners have discovered, is nebulous.
“It seems that some development already approved may be additional to the 244 allowed in Measure U,” said Paxton. “We’re trying to determine if they are in addition or included. We want the city to clarify that.”
Paxton sent the letter of inquiry to both Card and Vogel. Though Card could not comment, Vogel had plenty to say about staff.
“They lied to us by omission,” said Vogel, a fixture at city council meetings. “Nothing they do surprises me. But they don’t care because they can’t be held accountable.”
When Vogel received Paxton’s letter, he promptly sent copies of it to all five council members.
“We feel it is left up to WATCHDOG to inform them,” he said, “because of past cases when staff doesn’t get important papers to them in a timely manner.”
Vogel said that after working with Cass and other city staff earlier this year on the Measure U initiative to make it legal at the ballot box, he feels he has been deceived.
“I feel betrayed, used and cheap,” he said.
But Vogel and his group isn’t rolling over on the issue.
“We may have a couple of things up our sleeves too,” he said. “The more they pull this stuff, the better we get at catching them at it. I have zero trust in these people.”
