The Hollister City Council identified small projects and
downtown mixed-use development as the city’s top growth priorities
at a meeting Monday.
The Hollister City Council identified small projects and downtown mixed-use development as the city’s top growth priorities at a meeting Monday.
Local growth has been at a standstill since 2002, but city leaders hope to end the state-imposed building moratorium by the end of 2008. The city has already created a build-out schedule for the 1,194 units approved before the moratorium, and on Monday, council members discussed the project applications that will start rolling in once the moratorium ends.
The voter-approved initiative Measure U limits the city to 244 new building allocations annually, said Development Services Manager Bill Avera.
Avera wants to divide those allocations between among uses and areas of town so the city’s future growth isn’t dominated by large developers.
“A developer who has a potential project downtown has his own pool to be vying for,” he said.
Councilwoman Monica Johnson said she supports Avera’s plans because the city needs apartments, condominiums and other homes beyond the traditional single-family house.
“As we go forward, I just think we should be more balanced,” Johnson said.
Avera also ranked different land-use designations according to their priority to the city. Those rankings are important, he said, because high priorities such as small projects and downtown mixed-use development are more likely to receive extra allocations.
The city hopes to have a final growth management rating scale approved in March – and to start accepting applications in January 2009, Avera said.
