The nonprofit group looking to build a large soccer complex with
some two dozen or more fields in San Benito County moved a step
closer to scoring that goal this month when it got word that its
offer to purchase 170 acres in the county had been accepted.
Hollister – The nonprofit group looking to build a large soccer complex with some two dozen or more fields in San Benito County moved a step closer to scoring that goal this month when it got word that its offer to purchase 170 acres in the county had been accepted.
Before the deal is final, however, the San Jose Soccer Complex Foundation has 90 days to conduct feasibility studies, according to the Dave Morton, the foundation’s president. These can include looking into the traffic impact, environmental issues and zoning regulations.
“It’s been a long road to get to this point. Now we have a lot of work to do,” Morton said.
The foundation hopes to build 24 to 26 soccer fields on Highway 25 near Shore Road, as well as some permanent buildings. The complex would draw people for youth league soccer games from throughout the region – and even the nation – 45 weekends per year.
“It’s envisioned right now as a complex used for league play as well as tournaments,” Morton said.
Morton did not have an estimate of how many people would go to the soccer complex each weekend. But fields currently used by the California Youth Soccer Association in Morgan Hill get a lot of use.
“In Morgan Hill we have 12 fields. They are used consistently at least four games per day,” he said.
Before any turf can be laid for the complex, the SJSCF needs to start raising the $7 to $8 million needed to fund the initial construction of the complex.
According to Morton, the foundation is laying the groundwork for a fundraising effort that will focus on the parents of young soccer players, businesses in the Silicon Valley and California Youth Soccer Association District 2, which includes San Benito, Santa Clara, Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties.
Having a site will be crucial to the foundation’s fundraising efforts, Morton said.
“Without a site it is difficult to raise money on ‘we think it’s going to be here, we think it’s going to be there, but we don’t know,'” he said.
Morton declined to speculate on when construction could begin or when the complex might be finished. Initially, the foundation has plans to build 12 to 14 fields, with further construction happening in phases.
“The entire complex won’t be constructed at once – it will be phased in,” he said.
San Benito County Supervisor Don Marcus believes the complex would bring revenue into the county and provide a recreation opportunity for local children. The property on which the proposed complex would be built is in Marcus’ district.
“I continue to support it,” he said. “The organization can provide needed activity for young people in the county.”
Sheriff Curtis Hill, who has met with Morton, is also a proponent of the soccer complex coming to San Benito County.
“I think it’s a great idea,” he said. “We have a tremendous soccer base in this part of California, including Hollister.”
Though county officials are enthusiastic about the idea, increased traffic on Highway 25 is a concern.
“You put up a complex of that scope and size, you’re going to have a lot of traffic,” Hill said. He suggested that the foundation make the ingress and egress for the complex on Shore and Frazier Lake roads, not on Highway 25.
Marcus said that he didn’t anticipate increased traffic causing too much of a problem because the complex would host weekend events, so weekday traffic would not be affected.
Before looking to San Benito, the SJSCF had been trying to come to an agreement to build a soccer complex in Morgan Hill. That deal fell apart in June over a lack of utilities and not being able to erect permanent buildings on the proposed site.
Morgan Hill plans to convert its current facility into an outdoor sports complex that would include baseball, softball and football.
The SJSCF, an offshoot of the California Youth Soccer Association North, was formed in 2003 to find a new place for the soccer association to hold games and tournaments.
Luke Roney covers politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
