The Santana Ranch development off Fairview Road offers an
opportunity for economic advancement, but there is more to the
equation than merely building the homes.
The Santana Ranch development off Fairview Road offers an opportunity for economic advancement, but there is more to the equation than merely building the homes.
Supervisors in the coming weeks are set to consider the first of several items on the 1,100-unit development proposal, with the environmental impact report up first. They will follow up with other considerations, such as zoning and general plan amendments, in looking at a series of resolutions that mark what should become a long-awaited approval for a proposal that has been on the books for about two decades.
Santana Ranch makes sense for a variety of reasons. It moves the growth of Hollister and San Benito County in a logical direction, fitting in line with a decades-old, favored consensus. They are the right types of homes for the community’s current economic needs. And the project serves to enhance the desirability of the area for prospective new residents and businesses.
If San Benito County is going to make progress in economic development, then these types of projects must move ahead to reach the necessary, structured population targets for which retailers and industry leaders watch.
Incidentally, the city and county’s situation with Lowe’s is a good example. The Guerra family, partners in the Santana Ranch proposal, also owns the Hillcrest Road property where the mega-store corporation has delayed its plans to build. Though the slow economy in itself likely plays a role in the uncertainty surrounding the Lowe’s development, those are precisely the types of companies that use population figures as strict barometers for spurring interest in certain areas for new stores. Stagnant growth, and lacking interest from developers, sends the wrong kind of message to those companies.
Aside from merely being satisfied with the prospects for adding relatively higher-quality homes to the market, though, the county must take advantage of the additional rooftops with foresight in planning for that area – with a keen sense of fostering other types of commercial and retail progress to correlate with the residential outgrowth.
Santana Ranch’s progress is a positive step for this area. But city, county and economic development leaders would be wise to prevent allowing the development – with its variety of housing types and pedestrian-friendly atmosphere – to become just another neighborhood that feeds into the community’s standing as a bedroom community.
