A draft of the update to the Hollister General Plan is finished,
and with it ends a year of meetings and research by the document’s
conductors.
A draft of the update to the Hollister General Plan is finished, and with it ends a year of meetings and research by the document’s conductors.
Significant changes to the city’s blueprint for growth include plans for more mixed-use zoning to allow for an array of building uses in one area; an emphasis on in-fill development; and stimulation of more affordable housing, according to Hollister’s head planner Bill Card.
Tonight’s joint meeting between the City Council and General Plan Steering Committee will be the last gathering of the nine-member ad hoc committee. It has included all five city planning commissioners and four members at large.
The new General Plan isn’t radically different, Card said. But it has a “different focus” than the previous 20-year approach.
“I think its focus is on economic development,” he said.
The 100-plus page update is the first since 1995, when the city was in pro-growth mode.
With that philosophy changing, the policy document reflects altered priorities such as commercial development and residential growth only when matched by adequate infrastructure.
That strategy stems from a 15-million gallon sewer spill in May 2002 and ensuing economic doldrums – which many blame on booming residential growth of the 1990s.
Mayor Tony Bruscia believes a benefit from the moratorium has been the allotted time, he said, “to breathe and take a step back.” The update is a result of that opportunity, he said.
Bruscia said the General Plan – the update of which cost more than $500,000 in consultant fees – provides a framework for potential developers. They know by reading it, he said, where and what could potentially be built.
Seven different elements, or chapters, make up a General Plan – which is required by state law. Housing and land use elements are the most pivotal sections, and often dictate the balance between residential and business development.
One unique aspect of the updated General Plan, according to Card, is an emphasis on development of “gateways” – the four entrances into town.
The gateway on the west side of Hollister – as envisioned in the update – could significantly change its look in the coming years, Card said.
It was previously designated as “neighborhood commercial” the past 20-30 years, which hasn’t been successful, he said.
The update recommends higher density along Fourth Street toward Highway 156 along with smaller pockets of businesses – an arrangement Card called “commercial residential nodes.”
Steering Committee member at large, David Huboi, a local architect, called the previous plan’s scheme “segregation of uses” and the update “integration of uses.”
That type of previous planning has tended to cause long traveling distances between residents’ homes and destinations throughout town, he said.
One deficiency Huboi wants more intertwined into the community, and what he believes the update fosters, is affordable housing, namely rentals.
He said the Steering Committee discussed the hopes of an amendment to the city’s growth cap – 244 units a year – to allow for additional housing, if its affordable, each year.
“The old one was prohibitive,” he said.
Next, an environmental review will last about 45 days before a final approval, Card said.
He particularly thanked the volunteers on the Steering Committee.
“I think what was good – they became a cohesive group,” he said.
