Hollister
– Pulte Homes announced this week that more than 2,000 local
voters signed its petition, giving the developer more than enough
signatures to add an initiative to the November ballot amending
Hollister’s general plan and exemption from growth controls.
Hollister – Pulte Homes announced this week that more than 2,000 local voters signed its petition, giving the developer more than enough signatures to add an initiative to the November ballot amending Hollister’s general plan and exemption from growth controls.
Pulte representatives say that the number of signatures gathered last week shows public support for the developer’s proposal to build a 4,400-house community for those 55 and older on the northern outskirts of Hollister. In February, Pulte and subsidiary Del Webb announced plans to build the community, including a public golf course and walking trails, on about 1,300 acres near Highway 156 and the Hollister Municipal Airport. Though the site is in the county’s jurisdiction, Pulte plans to have the land annexed into Hollister.
“We are pleased to have received such a warm reception from Hollister voters,” Pulte representative Wendy Elliott said. “The rapid success of the signature drive demonstrates the voters’ interest in the long-term planning of their community and the potential that a Del Webb neighborhood and its associated benefits will bring to Hollister.”
To accommodate the project – which will build about 600 houses per year during its approximately seven-year build-out – voters will have to approve amending Hollister’s general plan to create a “mixed-use residential growth community” land use designation. Voters will also have to give the project an exemption from the city’s growth restrictions, which limit allocations for new residential units to 244 per year.
The type of senior community proposed, according to Elliott, would bring Hollister unique benefits and less impacts than a standard all-ages development. Residents at a senior community are less likely to contribute to rush-hour traffic congestion, she said, and they will shop downtown and add to the city’s tax base. Also, Elliott said, the Pulte project includes its own water and wastewater system.
Some agree that the Pulte project will be a good thing for the city. Hollister Downtown Association President Sheila Stevens, who is also a downtown merchant, said that she thinks the senior community would help rejuvenate the city. Some local elected leaders have also said that they see potential in Pulte’s proposal, but want to see more details.
“I still want to see their plan,” Councilman Brad Pike said. “I’m looking for people who will put Hollister first. That’s all I care about. I’m optimistic about it.”
Others, however, have recently voiced opposition to the project and the route that the developer is taking to see it through.
Hollister Councilman Doug Emerson said that he doesn’t think an initiative is the right way to change the city’s new general plan, which was adopted last year after two years of discussion between residents and the city. Also, he said, the Pulte project runs counter to the general plan, which calls tight growth outward from the city’s core.
“I want people to understand that the ballot measure is really going to change the general plan,” he said.
Elliott said that Pulte chose to take the project before voters because the city had asked that the developer not get involved with the general plan revision process.
San Benito County Supervisor Anthony Botelho said that such a large development, even if it is annexed into Hollister, will burden county infrastructure. He also accused Pulte of trying to circumvent the county by having the property annexed into the city.
The county, Elliott said, will have numerous chances to voice concerns, which Pulte must address, during the state-mandated environmental review process and when the project goes before the Local Agency Formation Commission for annexation.
Hollister City Councilwoman Monica Johnson said that the size of the Pulte project is a concern for her. But ultimately she will let voters decide the fate of the project. If they support it, she said, it is the City Council’s job to make sure it moves forward in a way that benefits Hollister.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
