Hollister
– The Gavilan College Board of Trustees voted Tuesday night to
acquire land for the school’s new satellite campus in San Benito
County.
Hollister – The Gavilan College Board of Trustees voted Tuesday night to acquire land for the school’s new satellite campus in San Benito County.
Despite strong objections from the community, the board chose to move forward on the purchase of the campus site on the northeast corner of Fairview Road and Airline Highway.
The board voted unanimously in favor of the resolution, with one abstention from trustee Tom Breen of Hollister. The board’s decision drew criticism from numerous members of the community who attended the meeting.
“I’m very disappointed. Why hold a meeting if you’re not going to listen to people?” San Juan Bautista resident Ruben Lopez said.
Lopez was one of more than a dozen community members who spoke against the selected property.
The public meeting drew more than 50 people from the San Benito County community.
Several people spoke out of concern for the effect the site – which is located near Ridgemark Golf Course – would have on Hollister’s traffic.
“By the site, there’s a dangerous mix of slow-moving farm equipment and fast-moving commuters. Adding students makes it even more dangerous,” Supervisor Pat Loe said.
Loe said she thought it was important to look at mitigating the traffic before moving forward on the purchase. This idea was echoed by several other community members.
Many other individuals expressed concern over the distance from downtown.
“I believe in concentric growth, so that you can utilize walking and mass transit,” Hollister resident Gordon Machado said. “Gavilan College will be in the very northeast of Hollister. It just seems that there are better locations to the south and west of town.”
The location was also of concern to Lopez, who said he thought the citizens of San Juan Bautista and Aromas had been overlooked in the selection process. He said he had hoped the board would pick a location on the west side of town, between Hollister and San Juan Bautista.
Trustee Kent Child said the board had taken all of the public comments into consideration in the selection of the site, but he thought it was important to move forward in the purchase of the property.
“I think everything that I heard tonight are issues that (we’re) aware of and have worked considerably to address. Don’t think that we’re ignoring issues that are critically valid,” Child said. “But we have to be realistic and deal with the situation at hand.”
The campus site was selected by administrators from a group of 16 proposed properties in the greater Hollister area. The site was primarily chosen for its size – which met the minimum of 80 acres, and its proximity to the downtown area. The final decision was announced in late April.
“A lot of it was a process of elimination,” Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella said. “This really looks like a good site for us, and it seems to be the most viable.”
Kinsella said the area of the site was where growth was foreseen in the future of Hollister.
The selection of a Hollister location has been a nearly three-year process.
Now that the board has approved the purchase, it will enter into a due diligence period where it evaluates the property in terms of the habitat, seismic factors, water and sewer capabilities, and several other factors.
The board will also be asking for feedback from the public on the shape that the college will take in terms of what type of programs will be offered.
During the next six months, the board can break the contract with Fairview Corners Dividend Home Property, which is selling the land.
The cost of the property is $8 million – $100,000 per acre for the 80-acre lot. This is almost double the cost of the initially proposed site, located near the Hollister Municipal Airport. The purchase of the site will be funded through Measure E funds, which were approved in March 2004.
Alice Joy covers education for the Free Lance. She can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 336 or at aj**@fr***********.com.
