Tuesday, August 30, 2005
By Matt King, Gilroy Dispatch
San Jose - The task force directing Coyote Valley growth voted Monday to replace the economic prerequisites needed to build in the area with a policy statement that allows any development - residential or commercial - that will pay for itself. At least that's what some task force members think.
Dan Hancock, a developer with Shappell Industries who helped create the so-called triggers in 1993, said the policy statement alone will be enough to protect the city against ruinous growth.
"In my judgment, the triggers were created to ensure that development would not be a drain on city services," Hancock said after a unanimous vote to forward the policy statement to the San Jose City Council. "If a plan proves to not be a drain on city services, I don't see how the triggers are needed."
But interviews with several members of the task force revealed confusion about the policy statement's implications. "It isn't clear whether it replaces the triggers or supplements the triggers," Eric Carruthers, a retired planner, said. "I think we have a flowing process here. The actions we're taking are provisional, so we can move forward. If we have aspects that need to be changed, we'll change them."
Those attending the meeting were as mystified as the task force members about what the vote will mean.
"They don't know what they voted for," said Brian Schmidt, a legislative advocate with the Committee for Green Foothills and a frequent critic of the Coyote Valley Specific Plan. "They don't know if they just removed a major provision of the city's general plan. Does city staff know? Will the City Council know?"
The triggers, which call for residential development of Coyote Valley only after there are 5,000 new jobs in the area and firm financial footing for San Jose, will prevent development until they are removed or Silicon Valley undergoes a economic renaissance. San Jose is projecting several years of budget deficits and no major employer has expressed interest in the area since Cisco Systems pulled out of a deal to build a campus there when the technology bubble burst.
But two weeks ago, economic consultants said that the housing market is hot enough to enable residential developments to pay for the massive infrastructure needed in Coyote. Homebuilders and officials have said that new homes could be built as soon as 2008 if a housing-first policy is adopted by the San Jose City Council.
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