Even in rural, unincorporated San Martin, imminent growth is increasingly an issue among residents, but they’re excited about at least one forthcoming project that recently reached a crucial planning stage.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman announced at an Oct. 21 San Martin Neighborhood Alliance town hall meeting that a committee he serves on has recommended funding for a new San Martin Animal Shelter—an effort that has been in the process for several years.
The Housing, Land Use, Environment and Transportation (HLUET) committee Oct. 20 unanimously agreed the county should fund a new shelter, which is estimated to cost more than $20 million. The committee sent their recommendation to the full five-member elected board of supervisors, which will consider approval at an upcoming meeting.
Partial funding for construction of the new facility could come from at least two key potential sources, according to the HLUET meeting staff report: a September 2017 lease revenue bond for a new county jail project and one-time funds from an upcoming county general fund budget.
The current budget already includes $4 million for the design of the facility at the county’s former courthouse complex on Highland Avenue. A 2009 county study identified the need for up to a 32,600-square-foot new animal shelter in order to “safely and effectively care for the increased number of animals anticipated and to provide expanded services of an updated” facility, the Oct. 20 staff report continued.
The existing shelter currently operates at maximum capacity, with excess animals often placed in foster care or with rescue organizations. The current space also has limited ability to handle stray or abandoned livestock.
“A new, expanded facility…in San Martin could become a regional shelter with the capacity to fully serve both the unincorporated areas and the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy,” reads the Oct. 20 staff report.
Morgan Hill and Gilroy contract with the county to house stray pets at the existing San Martin shelter.
The board of supervisors has not scheduled a meeting date in which to consider funding the new shelter’s construction.
“My desire is to get it to the board as soon as possible so we can keep the project moving forward,” Wasserman said.
Lists of concerns
SMNA President Trina Hineser said Wasserman’s announcement, which came toward the end the Oct. 21 meeting at the San Martin Lion’s Club, was the “highlight” of the session. More than 200 attendees erupted in applause as soon as the supervisor informed them of the HLUET committee’s endorsement.
But Hineser added SMNA members felt Wasserman didn’t give the definitive answers they were seeking to questions about the growing impact of development in San Martin—including a slew of large-scale projects on the horizon in the rural hamlet.
“Supervisor Wasserman’s presence was greatly appreciated, however the answers provided to community questions lacked substance,” SMNA President Trina Hineser said after the meeting. She said many of Wasserman’s answers to community questions were “passed off” as not the county’s responsibility, or residents were urged to contact a different agency with their concerns.
Specifically, a request to hold a joint meeting with other South County agencies on the California High Speed Rail project, and questions on updates to the county’s “local serving” ordinance were met with such disregard, Hineser said.
Joining Wasserman on the panel of county representatives at the front of the meeting hall were Santa Clara County Planning Commissioner Marc Rauser and County Planning Director Rob Eastwood.
The Oct. 21 meeting agenda consisted of SMNA board members and residents asking the panelists questions about what they see as an encroachment on their bucolic lifestyle, and how to prevent the coming development from clogging up traffic, depleting or contaminating water sources, producing more garbage, creating more noise and visual impacts and impacting public safety.
Among the approaching large projects that concern San Martinians are the state’s High Speed Rail project, which will cut through San Martin no matter which alignment alternative officials choose next year; a 124-space RV park at California Avenue and Monterey Road; and the South Valley Islamic Center’s Cordoba Center mosque and community center, on Monterey Road just north of the proposed site of the RV park.
Wasserman explained numerous times throughout the meeting that these projects are in various stages of early planning. Environmental studies are yet to begin on the HSR and SVIC projects.
An underlying issue among the local residents is the county’s update of its local serving ordinance. The ordinance was updated last year to exclude religious institutions—such as the Cordoba Center—from a requirement that they must serve a portion of the nearby residents, according to county staff.
The county planning commission approved this change about a year ago, but it still doesn’t sit well with some residents in San Martin.
Rauser said the amendments to the local serving ordinance were made for the “protection of religious organizations.”
“‘Local serving’ implies someone has to check the residence (of those attending) at the door,” Rauser said. “That’s not something the county wants to do. We don’t need any case law. It’s pretty clear” in the federal law that protects religious institutions.
Any privately owned projects such as the mosque and RV park will be held to the same standards regarding “scale, use and intensity” as any other applicant in the county’s unincorporated areas, Eastwood explained.
The planning commission will consider further amendments to the county’s local serving ordinance Nov. 17, in order to address questions on “how mixed uses would be addressed,” according to a county staff report.
Wasserman referred a number of questions—such as how to report illegal dumping and any potential building code violations—to the county’s code enforcement office. These violations are “complaint driven,” Wasserman said. The county is in the process of hiring two more code enforcement officers to pick up some of the burden of existing staff.
Hineser and other residents also expressed frustration at the county’s alleged lack of acknowledgment of San Martin’s autonomy.
Specifically, board members of the SMNA nonprofit take issue with the planning commission and supervisors’ disregard, in some instances, of input relayed to them by the San Martin Planning Advisory Committee. Wasserman and Rauser explained that decisions by those bodies have to stand up to existing laws and ordinances, sometimes in spite of the community’s expressed preferences.
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Residents in San Martin can call Santa Clara County’s Code Enforcement office to report any potential violations such as illegal dumping, building code offenses and noise complaints.
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Business, trailers, junkyards, secondary dwellings, signs, parking on lawn, vehicles on private property: (408) 299-5770
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Construction, add-ons, building, mobile homes, living in garage or shed: (408) 299-5700
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Digging, dumping, dirt, drainage, grading, water issues: (408) 299-5700
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Fire hazards, hydrants blocked/not working, sprinklers, road blocked, hazardous materials, unsafe bridge: (408) 299-5760 (Fire Marshal’s office)
