Young woman says floods, earthquakes could cause trouble for
proposed Westgate mall
A glance at Katrina Sherwood and one might mistake her for the
typical teen. Sitting in a coffee shop in Gilroy last week, she
rummaged through a pink handbag, her long, blond hair falling in
waves down her back.
This 18-year-old has other things on her mind than hanging out
in the mall. In fact, if she had her way she would keep a mall from
locating in Gilroy.
Young woman says floods, earthquakes could cause trouble for proposed Westgate mall
A glance at Katrina Sherwood and one might mistake her for the typical teen. Sitting in a coffee shop in Gilroy last week, she rummaged through a pink handbag, her long, blond hair falling in waves down her back.
This 18-year-old has other things on her mind than hanging out in the mall. In fact, if she had her way she would keep a mall from locating in Gilroy.
“There are so many houses. They had to move the ‘Welcome to Gilroy’ sign out,” she said. “There definitely used to be a lot less traffic and more farmland.”
Sherwood hopes more of that farmland is not lost to a Westfield Shopping mall. In July, Westfield filed the first of many applications with the Gilroy Planning department in a process that could take years. If all goes well for Westfield, Gilroy may eventually have a 1.5 million square-foot shopping center. The initial application requested an annexation of land outside the city limits into the urban area.
“I heard someone mention it and thought, ‘Oh God, here we go again,'” Sherwood said. “With Super Wal-mart, it seemed like a lot of people complained about it, but didn’t do anything about it.”
Sherwood doesn’t want that to happen again. Though Westfield has not defined the area they would develop, Sherwood has pulled floodplain maps and looked at seismological data in the areas near the old Wal-Mart site.
She scoured the Internet for floodplain maps and found 1998 floodplain maps on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Web site. The maps show some land east of Gilroy is in the 100-year flood zone, meaning there is a 1 percent chance of flooding in any year. It is not clear if Westfield is looking at land within the floodplain or outside of it. As Westfield and the city of Gilroy are still in initial talks about a project, such documents as an environmental impact report are not yet available.
“I want to do something and educate people,” Sherwood said. “I’m looking at scientific and economic impacts.”
Economic effects of a mega mall in Gilroy would spread to surrounding cities such as Morgan Hill and Hollister. Many Hollister residents have said they already shop in Gilroy at the big box stores such as Best Buy and Costco.
Sherwood, a music and theater student at Gavilan College, is concerned a mall would drain more dollars from local downtowns.
“I understand growth is important, but too much too fast causes more problems,” she said. “One of my biggest concerns is traffic and it will effect all of us.”
As an employee at a coffee shop in the Pacheco Pass shopping center, she deals with the traffic whorl created by the expansive shopping centers on the East side of town.
“I don’t think [Hwy] 101 can handle it,” she said. “It’s dangerous.”
Still, working on that side of town, Sherwood acknowledges that new developments sometimes have benefits. She took her job at a chain coffee shop after a locally-owned shop didn’t have the hours she needed to work around her class schedule.
“There’s nothing I can do about this [shopping center] but if I can keep it from getting worse, I am going to,” she said.
Still she is trying to keep an open mind about the project.
“If they can fix the traffic, ensure the buildings will be safe and save farm land in another area that’s OK,” she said.
Sherwood is still in the research phase of her opposition movement. She plans to put together a presentation and fliers to draw more people to her cause. She has posted some of the facts she has gathered on a myspace.com blog, trying to recruit friends.
From conversations with coworkers and colleagues, she knows plenty people support a new mall.
“But most of the reasons I have heard have been selfish,” she said. “One guy said maybe we will finally get a Red Lobster and he wouldn’t have to drive to San Jose or Salinas. He said Gilroy is already dead.”
Sherwood is a full-time student and works nearly full-time. She volunteers with the Gilroy Rainbow Girls’ Assembly, a group that teaches public speaking and does community service, so she is doing research on the mall project in what little spare time she has.
“There aren’t many opportunities for people my age to make a difference,” she said. “I want to connect with people who feel the same way and do something about it.”
Sherwood can be reached at
ye**********@ho*****.com
for this interested in finding out more information.
