Hollister Councilman Victor Gomez caused a stir Tuesday by
telling county supervisors they should deny the flea market idea
near the airport
– the board delayed the decision – or it might affect their
relationship with the city.
”
Supervisors, remember one thing. Two-thirds of this county lives
within the city of Hollister,
”
Gomez said during the public comment time of the board
meeting.
Hollister Councilman Victor Gomez caused a stir Tuesday by telling county supervisors they should deny the flea market idea near the airport – the board delayed the decision – or it might affect their relationship with the city.
“Supervisors, remember one thing. Two-thirds of this county lives within the city of Hollister,” Gomez said during the public comment time of the board meeting.
Gomez, who finished his one-year term as mayor Monday and is entering his third year on the council, went on: “Remember how long it took to build a strong relationship? I’m not saying that this will change that or not, but it will definitely not help out.”
Gomez’s comment stunned supervisors.
“I take that as an insult,” Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz responded during the meeting.
Supervisor Reb Monaco agreed.
“I am offended by it as well,” Monaco said.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho said the board has to give the appellant a chance to be heard.
“Mr. Rodriguez deserves the process. That’s how we operate,” he said.
Gomez also accused supervisors of already coming to a decision before hearing the public comments regarding the flea market.
“I am disappointed that it seems some of you already made up your minds before you came here today,” he said.
The board never did make a decision regarding the appeal of the flea market proposed by Robert Rodriguez and rejected by the planning commission in October. Instead, supervisors pushed the decision to the Jan. 11 meeting so Rodriguez could come up with a more detailed plan regarding security and clean-up on the project site. Because of the election results, a different board will continue the review of the appeal. Jerry Muenzer and Robert Rivas will replace supervisors Monaco and Pat Loe.
Gomez’s comments were among nearly 20, as the board was reviewing an appeal of the planning commission Oct. 7 decision to reject the proposal for a flea market near the airport. It was the applicant’s, Rodriguez, second proposal for a flea market in Hollister, after he applied for a smaller scale flea market off Shore Road in January.
The proposal was for a weekend-only flea market on San Felipe Road calls for 100 vending booths, parking for 350 or more vehicles, portable concession stands, chemical toilets and live music.
The planning commission cited issues with its close proximity to the airport and that the location is in an industrial zone.
The city council sent a resolution to the board on Nov. 15 urging the supervisors to support the planning commission’s decision. In June, the Hollister Airport Commission opposed the project because it would rest inside the airport’s runway protection zone.
Because of the project’s location inside the protection zone, there is a limit of around 535 people on the property at one time, according to Rodriguez’s engineer, Matt Kelley, who spoke at the meeting.
Instead, opponents of the site – including an array of business leaders – want Rodriguez to move elsewhere.
If the flea market were too close to the airport, funding for the airport’s growth would be hard to come by, said Ken Lindsay, developer of Northpoint Business Center.
“It puts the funding at risk,” Lindsay said.
The Hollister Municipal Airport is trying to find funding to expand its class from B1 to C1, which would attract more flights and possibly money.
Lindsay added that the addition of a flea market could turn off new businesses from coming to the area, and his business center, because it is a “beauty contest.”
“The companies want to be in an industrial setting and this is just not compatible,” he said.
Rodriguez called it all politics and thought his project would bring an economic benefit.
“The economic development agency is supposed to help businesses, and when I met with (President) Nancy Martin one time, and she plain out told me, dragged me to the side at the airport, ‘Robert your project does not bring any economic value to the county,’ and I was very upset,” he said.
Rodriguez said the flea market could create millions of dollars of revenue and nearly $700,000 in tax benefit to the county.
Rodriguez expressed an interest in changing his proposal, making it smaller and creating a security plan.
“Let’s all get on the same wavelength,” he said. “If something needs to be done – it happens.”
