Hollister
– The Hollister Planning Commission ap-proved more than 25,000
square feet of new commercial space on McCray Street late last
month, topping off a previous decision to allow a Kentucky Fried
Chicken franchise to set up shop in the same area.
Hollister – The Hollister Planning Commission ap-proved more than 25,000 square feet of new commercial space on McCray Street late last month, topping off a previous decision to allow a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise to set up shop in the same area.
Architect Christina Perez said she is busy prepping the final drawings to apply for a building permit from the city.
“We are in the final phase,” she said. “Once the permit is issued construction can start.”
The four-building project entered a final phase Wednesday after the San Benito County Environmental Health Department issued a permit for a 7,500-gallon sewage holding tank that will handle waste for the entire property. The city planning commission has approved the permit with some stipulations prior to occupancy.
“They can install it,” said Mary Paxton, associate city planner, “but they can’t activate it until they meet a list of specific conditions.”
With the moratorium on sewer connections hampering growth in Hollister, this project will give a much-needed boost to the local economy, said Hollister Planning Commissioner David Huboi.
“I think it will be good for the city to provide it with sales tax and jobs,” he said. “As a planning commissioner, I look at what’s going to benefit the city.”
Besides the KFC eatery, which comes with a 1,200-gallon grease pit, he said he expects retail outlets to fill the three remaining slots because of a city ordinance limiting the number of restaurants per complex.
The new center is located between McCarthy and Meridian streets and will connect to the Albertson’s shopping complex. The area will also get a facelift with new landscaping, and has already gotten some new sidewalks.
“We just made it more pedestrian friendly,” said Anne Hall of San Benito Engineering.
The planning commission also added a last-minute condition that requires any graffiti on the new property to be painted over within 48 hours.
“It’s a disturbing problem,” Huboi said.
It’s the latest project that takes advantage of a 2005 City Council resolution that skirts the sewer moratorium by allowing new construction in industrial and commercial areas to use holding tanks.
Finding a way to spur some growth was “the bottom line” in the council’s decision last year, said Vice Mayor Brad Pike.
“We’re not trying to do anything that goes against the regional water board,” he said. “But anything that puts people to work is something we should all be in favor of.”
The state placed a moratorium on sewage connections after the existing plant dumped 15 million gallons of sewage into the San Benito River in 2002. Once the moratorium is lifted, which hinges on the completion of a new treatment plant in 2008, all businesses currently using holding tanks will be required to connect to the city’s system.
“The only thing holding (the project) back would be hooking up to the sewer, and the holding tank mitigates that,” City Planner Maria De Leon said.
In the meantime, any property owner using a holding tank must submit a pumping contract to the county showing that a licensed waste handler will service and pump waste from the premises. The city follows this up with a decision on the contract.
Former county supervisor Richard Scagliotti, who owns the land where the project will be developed, refused to comment.
Banks Albach covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335.
