Hollister
– City leaders are starting to take a close look at plans for
residential development after Hollister’s sewer moratorium is
lifted.
Hollister – City leaders are starting to take a close look at plans for residential development after Hollister’s sewer moratorium is lifted.
Development Services Director Bill Avera said that on Thursday, he will present the Planning Commission with a draft schedule for post-moratorium development. City staffers have been projecting growth of 350 units per year from 2008 to 2010 and 315 units per year until 2015, Avera said, but it’s time for the Planning Commission and the City Council to weigh in.
A planning department report shows that Hollister has a backlog of 1,194 residential units that have already received their allocations, which a developer obtains before submitting a tentative site map or undergoing site and architectural review. Those units were put on hold after the state-imposed sewer moratorium brought a halt to local development in 2002.
Avera said that under the proposed schedule, projects that don’t already have an allocation won’t move forward until 2010 at the earliest.
Planning Commissioner David Huboi said that at first glance, he doesn’t see anything wrong with the proposed build-out schedule.
“We certainly do need development, but there needs to be a sensible pace,” he said.
Local developer Tod duBois has told the Free Lance that 2010 is a long way down the line, and he’s hoping projects like his proposed senior housing on Vista Park Hill can move to the front of the permit line.
Huboi said he sympathizes with duBois’ plight, but he said the city needs to take care of already allocated projects first.
Planning Commissioner Chris Alvarez said it’s going to be “a balancing act” between the needs of new and old developers.
“We also need to make sure we take care of the people who have been waiting patiently,” he said.
Planning Manager Mary Paxton said the city plans to revise its rating system – which prioritizes new allocations – in the coming month. Both Huboi and Alvarez said they would support giving affordable housing projects and in-fill development an advantage in the competition for new allocations.
Voters approved a 244-unit cap on residential allocations on 2002, but Avera said that cap won’t apply to units that already have an allocation.
Paxton compared the moratorium to turning off a hose; the already-allocated units, she said, are “like the water that’s still in the hose.”
The city’s tentative build-out schedule is dominated by the Award Homes subdivision west of Fairview Road. The schedule calls for construction of 125 Award Homes units in 2008 and 2009, and more than 50 units built every year through 2015.
Another large project coming down the pipeline is the Annotti homes senior development; plans call for construction of 170 units in 2009 and 2010.
Marilyn Ferreira, one of the project’s developers, said the development – 40 percent of which will be available at less-than-market rates – has been in the works for 11 years.
“There were seniors waiting to live there who have died,” she said.
Ferreira said she’s excited about finally starting construction.
“We’re optimistic about the work that’s being done (on Hollister’s new wastewater treatment plant),” Ferreira said. “After all, we’ve waited this long.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or ah*@fr***********.com.
