By Tina Bertuccio
I have lived here almost 40 years. As a child I helped load
boxes of tomatoes for my family in San Jose. Farming was my
life.
Those fields are now homes. My parents came here to farm, their
land is now homes. People here act like the world ends at the
County Line. Well, they develop Ag land into houses every day,
everywhere. Whose fault is it? The developers? No, they rescued the
American farmers (not just Hollister). Prime ag has a lot of
meanings. Sometimes it is the profit it brings in, sometimes it is
just that it is irrigated,. The Del Webb land is hay and pasture
and clay.
I have lived here almost 40 years. As a child I helped load boxes of tomatoes for my family in San Jose. Farming was my life.
Those fields are now homes. My parents came here to farm, their land is now homes. People here act like the world ends at the County Line. Well, they develop Ag land into houses every day, everywhere. Whose fault is it? The developers? No, they rescued the American farmers (not just Hollister). Prime ag has a lot of meanings. Sometimes it is the profit it brings in, sometimes it is just that it is irrigated,. The Del Webb land is hay and pasture and clay.
What caused this development on Ag land, everywhere? The biggest thing is all the fees in the farmers, and the labor laws, and the pesticide and herbicide laws. Then everyone who buys produce and all the other things made in other countries that do not have labor or other laws that cost the farmers. It is the government’s fault for the big imbalance between our things and things imported. The fact that foreigners come and buy our land. The fact that you came to live here, and that immigrants keep needing to come here and want homes too. Where do you think the houses come from? Ag land.
My husband and I are responsible for most of this “growth” here that all of you are now against. You who live in the homes we sold our land or developed the land so you would have houses. Other people just don’t want growth. They have their little niche. Control. People don’t want to pay for the mistakes that the officials made during the growth more than 10 years ago. If you don’t have growth, the officials and all the government workers still get their raises, things wear out, and you still have to pay for them. Without growth, open your pocketbooks real wide.
My husband and I developed Southside Estates, Gateway (Tiffany commercial area), Northpointe (Industrial Park). We sold the developments to Kaufman and Broad, Scott Ranch and Ladd. We began the Airpark that was a promised industrial park years ago. Del Webb isn’t to blame for the roadblocks that are costing everyone money to hold onto the promised industrial park that would have brought industry, money, and jobs in the last 10 years. The officials in charge don’t want growth. In other places they work to get it. They put in temporary above-ground septics. Not us. They don’t want growth. Don’t blame Del Webb and “old growth” for not moving forward, for no jobs.
Developing is a process. It takes years to go through the planning, tests, zoning, subdivisions. Del Webb is not going to go up overnight. There are not going to be 4,000 houses in one day. It will take until 2023 to build out. It will take years for another developer like Del Webb to come that close to town to help us economically, and to add such a good group of citizens.
All developments have impacts, good and bad. That is why they pay impact fees. all the impacts happen in phases, as the development gets built. The governments are in charge of the money. Sometimes the developer has to pay the city or county share of impact fees. Then the developer is to be reimbursed. We put money into a development more than 10 years ago; we still have not received the money. Don’t blame growth on the developer. What did the city do with the money? Who was their auditor or accountant, and where do these funds that are due developers show in their statements. It is probably the “no growth” that is keeping our bill continuing to collect interest, unpaid. Ten years. We can’t even take the government to small claims court or to the credit bureau? Growth means money; no growth means no money.
Del Webb is the best development, and many cities want it, just like the casino, and other developments we turned down. Seniors need housing, and they need care, The healthcare profession and business will boom. That is a good group of people. “Care givers.”
There is another small senior development approved in the city. Waiting for the sewer to be complete. Impacting an already congested area. The developers should pay their impact fees also. We need all the senior developments we can get. None of us is getting younger.
Resorts and golf courses are usually not built downtown, they leapfrog like Ridgemark and San Juan Oaks. There is another development leapfrogging to the county line. they might as well be Santa Clara County. They will be doing most of their shopping, and work in Santa Clara County. We won’t see much but property tax. It might even hurt our downtown even more.
What is this about the airport? Most cities have airports near industrial and hotels, and a lot of people are there every day inside the airport. More than in our whole county. They are like a little city. Houses are under flight paths? all planes in cities go over a certain amount of houses. Those are usually lower cost. Del Webb is planning greenery under the path. Our airport didn’t grow because they are all still fighting. And someday we will probably need a new one anyway.
Commuters have caused a lot of congestion; Del Webb people are not commuters. You can get reports to tell you anything you want. Good and bad.
Del Webb will make our entrance better. If they put in sewer ponds, I bet they will hide them, they would never make them an entrance like we did. If they want to pay us money and help us with ours, well, who is going to do that next year?
When you have a business, you pray for growth. Sometimes you get it when you don’t expect it. You make mistakes. You try to learn and go on. Otherwise I might as will help all of you out by putting a sign on my property on 25 “Go away developers and businesses, we are against growth, go build on ag land in Salinas, Los Banos, and Gilroy, they love growth.”
Yes on S is for seniors and money.
Tina Bertuccio is a longtime area resident.
