By Mark Dover
At our last meeting on May 8, the Gavilan College Board of
Trustees authorized an agreement to purchase land in San Benito
County, following a search of more than two years.
At our last meeting on May 8, the Gavilan College Board of Trustees authorized an agreement to purchase land in San Benito County, following a search of more than two years.
If it meets with state approval, these 80 acres at the corner of Fairview Road and Airline Highway in Hollister may someday become a college campus.
On behalf of the board of trustees, I want to thank district voters who approved Bond Measure E in March 2004, which provided the funds.
Our study of projected growth in the area for the next 30 years, combined with comments from the community helped us to make an important decision. We considered the needs of the future, our significant responsibility to provide for the educational needs of many generations of students.
We determined that San Benito County would eventually need, not just a satellite site, but a full-service college campus.
Some community members assert that San Benito County does not need a full-service college campus, and for now they are right. However, can we really say that, 20 years from now, the communities of San Benito County and surrounding areas will not have grown to the point where a full-service campus is not only desirable, but essential?
It is prudent to purchase enough land now, while the land is available, so that future generations will have the opportunity to complete a college degree and benefit from a full range of college services and experiences close to home.
Gavilan College is one of 110 California community colleges, regulated by the state of California. The state sets a minimum campus size of 80 acres for a campus. It also has specifications regarding minimum distances between colleges, seismic character, flooding concerns, topography and more to ensure that campuses are located where it will be possible and cost-effective to build.
This minimum size substantially reduced the number of land parcels we could consider.
We also decided not to acquire land designated as “prime agriculture” or to use the eminent domain process to take land from an unwilling seller.
A number of community members have expressed their wish for a campus in or near downtown Hollister, and we investigated these options and visited the locations they suggested, none of which met state specifications.
We eventually compiled a list of every appropriately sized parcel in the county, and narrowed it down based upon property availability, seismic and flood plain considerations.
Sixteen properties met the criteria for a more in-depth consideration, which then narrowed our focus to four.
The site at the corner of Fairview Road and Airline Highway proved to be the best fit with both state criteria and community concerns.
While the site at Fairview Road and Airport Highway is not downtown, it is on a major thoroughfare and close to present and future communities of residents. It is likely that, in the future, this area will be served by public transportation.
If it passes scrutiny, the setting will provide a beautiful campus to be used and enjoyed by all.
Gavilan College will now enter the “due diligence” process, a more thorough study of specific site concerns, creating a detailed profile of the site’s seismic and drainage characteristics, a traffic analysis, infrastructure access, and a preliminary environmental analysis.
Over the next six months, the board of trustees will also initiate an open community dialog to create a vision for the look, feel, and educational services to be provided at the future college campus.
In addition to the traditional university transfer courses, colleges across the state offer more than 400 different career-technical programs. Some of these require unique laboratories, or specially designed buildings.
It is important that the community assist in choosing which career-technical programs will be offered at the San Benito County campus. Early identification of these programs will help us to plan for them as permanent buildings are designed.
Gavilan College hopes to begin offering limited services at the new site as soon as possible, after due diligence, planning, and creation of infrastructure.
Complete build-out of the campus could take place over a period of 20 to 30 years.
We hope that members of the community who are committed to education will join us in the exciting task of building the future.
Mark Dover, Elvira Robinson, Laura Perry, Kent Child, Leonard Washington, Deb Smith and student trustee Jesse Sandow voted “aye” on the proposal. Trustee Tom Breen abstained from discussion and the vote due to a family member’s interest in the land.
Mark Dover is president of the Gavilan College Board of Trustees.
