Hollister
– In an effort to show off the benefits that its proposed Sun
City project could bring to the community, representatives of
developer Del Webb and its pro-Measure S campaign drove 25
residents of Hollister and San Benito County to the town of
Lincoln.
Hollister – In an effort to show off the benefits that its proposed Sun City project could bring to the community, representatives of developer Del Webb and its pro-Measure S campaign drove 25 residents of Hollister and San Benito County to the town of Lincoln.
Lincoln, just north of Sacramento, is the home of the recently completed, 6,800-home Sun City Lincoln Hills retirement community, and city officials said the development has dramatically improved life in their town.
The journey began at the San Juan Oaks country club, where attendees boarded two limo-buses. During the three-and-a-half-hour drive, Del Webb representatives described Measure S, which will amend the city’s general plan to redesignate 1,300 acres of agricultural land near the municipal airport as a “mixed use residential community.” Once the city’s moratorium on development is lifted, this land would be exempt from the annual 244-unit limit on residential allocations imposed by Measure U; instead, Del Webb could be issued up to 650 building permits a year.
On one of the buses, Del Webb’s Bay Area Brand Manager Michael Serpa explained the reasoning behind the proposed development’s size, which could be as large as 4,400 homes. Serpa said Del Webb has built communities as small as 500 homes before, but they haven’t been very successful because, “We really couldn’t deliver the lifestyle.”
Serpa added that if Measure S passes, Del Webb and its parent company Pulte Homes will have to go through every other step of the planning process, and in that process, the number of homes typically decreases.
He concluded, “If Del Webb isn’t the answer for this community, I’d like to know what is.”
After a rest stop, Serpa switched buses with Lincoln Councilman Tom Cosgrove, who’s currently working for the Yes-on-S campaign. Cosgrove, who is a former mayor of Lincoln, described the ways in which the development improved his town and said Hollister will be in bad shape without those benefits.
“At a cap of 244 permits a year, Hollister will wither and die,” he said.
Before entering the Del Webb development, the buses first toured Lincoln, where Cosgrove pointed out a number of new commercial developments. While driving through the city’s downtown, Cosgrove also noted that nearly all the parking spaces were full.
“We would not have been able to do this redevelopment without the new development,” he said.
Once they reached Sun City Lincoln Hills, the visitors were given a tour of the main activity center, which featured a number of classrooms, a fitness center and a dining room, where they were treated to a free lunch.
During the tour, Hollister resident Howard Evans said he was “amazed at how beautiful everything is.” And San Benito resident Linda Ramirez declared, “This could save the county.”
The visitors were eventually herded into an auditorium, where a number of Lincoln officials spoke about the benefits that the development has brought to the larger community.
Former Placer County Superintendent of Schools Roger Yeohe said volunteers from Sun City had organized a tutoring program that, among other things, helped at-risk students pass the high school exit exam. He also said the development’s impact fees had helped to build three new schools.
“I defy you to find better physical facilities,” he said.
Police Chief Brian Vizzusi said Sun City residents had also provided the core of an enormous and helpful volunteer police program.
“They’re not replacing officers – they actually enhance what we do,” he said.
Steve Art, Lincoln’s economic development manager, said extra sales tax revenue has been a boon to the city.
“Sun City’s been nothing but a positive influence,” he said.
After the tour, architect David Huboi said he was impressed with what he’d seen, but it hadn’t convinced him to support Measure S.
“It’s nice to see that it works for them,” said Huboi, who was appointed to Hollister’s planning commission by Councilman Doug Emerson, an active Measure S opponent. “The question is, will it work for Hollister?”
He added, “It’s hard for me to accept this as a panacea. If we need a large group of seniors coming in to help our community, boy, we must be in bad shape.”
However, the discussion on the ride home – which was accompanied by wine, cheese and crackers – indicated that Huboi was in the minority. Both buses were full of people saying they were very impressed by the project and that it could really help the community. Some also had harsh words for the City Council, which passed a resolution opposing Measure S on Monday.
“If we turn this down, I’m leaving town,” said one attendee.
But did anyone actually make a decision based on the visit? Steve Breneman, who used to run a business in downtown Hollister, said he hadn’t known much about the measure beforehand, and that the trip had convinced him to support it.
“I’m 100 percent for it,” he said. “This is the best thing going for Hollister, and we’ve already missed too many opportunities.”
Afterwards, Serpa said he was glad people attended and came away with such a positive impression.
“Once I can get people on that bus, I’m happy,” he said.
This is the second trip to Lincoln that the pro-Measure S campaign has offered. Serpa said he was frustrated that none of the measure’s most vocal opponents had accepted invitations.
Gordon Machado, who owns Rustic Turtle Embroidery Works, is heading the opposition campaign. He said he hasn’t traveled to Lincoln because, “It’s not a good comparison.” He pointed to the development moratorium, the proposed project’s distance from the city and Hollister’s sewage problems as things that set the two towns apart.
Machado also said he wasn’t convinced that the taxes and business that the development could bring into town would benefit downtown Hollister.
“It might help downtown initially,” he said. “But then you’re going to have 7,000 voters concentrated four miles from the city center, and they’re going to demand commercial activity in that area. That’s going to compete with downtown, and we’re just going to see continued deterioration at a faster rate.”
Emerson, who authored the Council’s anti-Measure S resolution, said that even if he’d gone to Lincoln and seen a great development and a thriving community, it wouldn’t have affected his opposition.
“It’s got nothing to do with Lincoln or Del Webb,” he said.
Instead, Emerson said he opposes Measure S because it asks voters to change the general plan without going through the proper analysis or planning process. He acknowledged that Del Webb would eventually have to get voter approval if it wanted an exemption from the Measure U that Serpa claims is necessary to make the project feasible. But Emerson said the company should have done more research to address voters’ concerns before bringing the measure forward.
Serpa said he doesn’t understand critics who base their opposition on the planning process.
“If you’re going to hold up Sun City Hollister and all the benefits it could bring to the town because of process, that seems almost bureaucratic, almost like red tape,” he said.
Citing another of Machado and Emerson’s criticisms, Serpa said that if Measure S is passed and Del Webb eventually decides not to build a Sun City community here, the change to the general plan won’t necessarily lead to greater development, because all proposals will still go through the normal approvals process.
“Our detractors make it seem like if the measure gets passed, we’re going to be building the next day, and if we don’t build there, any builder can build what they want,” he said. “That’s just not the case.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566, ext. 330 or [email protected].
