Hollister
– Pulte Homes’ plans to build a 4,400-home retirement community
near the city’s municipal airport recently came under additional
fire, as some community members joined together to oppose the
Pulte-sponsored Measure S.
Hollister – Pulte Homes’ plans to build a 4,400-home retirement community near the city’s municipal airport recently came under additional fire, as some community members joined together to oppose the Pulte-sponsored Measure S.
If passed, the measure would amend the city’s general plan to redesignate 1,300 acres of agricultural land as a “mixed use residential community.” Once the city’s moratorium on development is lifted, this land would be exempt from the 244-unit annual limit on residential allocations imposed by Measure U; instead, Pulte subsidiary Del Webb could be issued up to 650 building permits a year.
Gordon Machado of Rustic Turtle Embroidery Works is heading the anti-Measure S campaign, and he said his opposition to the project stems from the fact that “it’s just poor planning.”
Machado pointed to the project’s size and distance from the city as some of his major concerns; he also said it was unfair for one developer to receive around 600 building permits while everyone else has to make do with 244.
“It’s a big disadvantage to Hollister’s development community,” he said.
Annette Giacomazzi, a local resident hired to by Pulte Homes to lobby for the project, disputed Machado’s assertion that the retirement community will be too large and too far away.
“The city planning department and all relevant agencies will be involved in determining how many houses there are,” she said, adding, “Measure S is not about project approval, it’s about changing the land’s designation. … We’re not trying to bypass any of the necessary steps.”
City Councilman Doug Emerson is also part of the anti-Measure S group, and he said he recently finished drafting a resolution in opposition to Measure S that the council will vote on next Monday. Although Emerson echoed many of Machado’s criticisms, he said he objected primarily to the process, not the project.
“We’re going to be changing the general plan without using any of the planning process,” he said. “The real danger is that if this passes, and if Del Webb decides to pull out, the citizens are still stuck with the revisions to the general plan.”
Earlier this month, the city issued a report that cast the project in a highly critical light. This report was commissioned by the City Council and conducted by three independent consulting firms; it stated that the proposed project would burden city roads, erode prime agricultural land through “leapfrog” development and cost the city up to $2.7 million annually.
Giacomazzi de-scribed the report as “fatally flawed” and said Pulte’s lawyers had given a list of objections to the city; according to Emerson, former city attorney Elaine Cass worked with the consulting firms to make “slight changes” incorporating Pulte’s criticisms.
When asked about the revenue shortfall, Giacomazzi said it stemmed from the city’s revenue-sharing agreement with the county.
“Pulte Homes can mitigate that to being inconsequential,” she said. “It’s a non-issue with an easy and flexible solution.”
Emerson agreed that Pulte and the city would probably be able to solve the shortfall, but he said he was still concerned because the initiative doesn’t commit Pulte to anything except building 35 housing units.
One of the major challenges facing Machado, Emerson and their allies is funding. As of June 30, Pulte’s pro-Measure S campaign group had already spent nearly $190,000, and Machado acknowledged that he would be unable to match the development company’s deep pockets.
However, both Machado and Emerson said they were optimistic that they’d be able to get their message out.
“When I campaigned for City Council, I spent $800, while my opponent spent $10,000,” Emerson said. “I just walked door to door, and that’s what we have to do now. This has to be a grassroots effort.”
Anthony Ha covers city and county government for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 637-5566 ext. 320.
