Gilroy – A proposed 1.5-million-square-foot mall in east Gilroy and other ambitious growth plans could fare better under a membership change at the Local Agency Formation Commission, a powerful land use body that has criticized the city’s past expansion efforts.
Newly elected San Jose Councilman Pete Constant was appointed Tuesday as a new representative to the five-member land-use commission, which has veto power over cities’ annexation requests in Santa Clara County.
The former San Jose police officer is a self-described property rights advocate who plans to meet with Gilroy and Morgan Hill leaders to discuss growth issues.
Gilroy officials hope that attitude bodes well for the city, which received a proposal for a new mall in July from Westfield Corporation, which also owns Valley Fair in San Jose. City officials warned the company of the tough road they would face convincing LAFCO to permit annexation of 119 acres of farmland just east of the Gilroy Premium Outlets. Westfield hopes to combine the property with surrounding land already inside city borders.
The area targeted for the mall is part of a broad swath of farmland that inspired a fierce debate six years ago. City council members defied the wishes of LAFCO, which has pushed for a permanent urban edge around the city, by voting to include the land in Gilroy’s 20-year growth boundaries. The move set the stage for development of the land, though LAFCO retains authority over when Gilroy can bring the property within city borders for development.
Complicating the issue is the agency’s efforts to create a farmland preservation policy with tougher requirements than a similar regulation in place in Gilroy. Both versions call for an acre of farmland to be preserved for every acre brought into city borders and developed. But the LAFCO draft contains strict provisions that could force developers to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps millions, on preservation years before any development takes place. It also seeks to restrict new growth until developers preserve land to offset prior annexations.
Developers, city officials and other pro-growth interests in South County view the provisions as a straight-jacket on growth and have called for a softening of the policy.
San Jose’s prior representative to LAFCO, former Councilwoman Linda LeZotte, was so concerned about the influence of development interests that she sought to prevent Supervisor Don Gage, who represents South County on the commission, from serving on a subcommittee reviewing the regulation.
LeZotte’s effort failed when the commissioner she nominated to serve in Gage’s stead declined to serve.
Speaking on LAFCO’s farmland preservation policy, Gage said that “even though you want to preserve land, you have to have a balance. You don’t want to choke the cities off because that’s where the growth should occur.”
Constant was just appointed Tuesday to a slew of boards and commissions and admitted he has not yet explored LAFCO issues in detail. He said he “tentatively” agreed with Gage’s perspective on growth, but stressed that he had not yet reviewed the policy.
“It’s no secret that I’m more conservative than Linda (LeZotte), especially when it comes to property rights,” Constant said. “But it’s hard to say what I think (of the policy) because I haven’t seen the facts yet.”
A cautious but open approach is fine with Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro, who has spent the last few years trying to heal relations between City Hall and LAFCO. Last winter, he gave commissioners and LAFCO staff members a tour of land the city hopes to annex in coming years. The tour included a stop by 26 acres of south Gilroy farmland now surrounded by car dealerships, homes and hotels. Less than a year later, LAFCO officials begrudgingly agreed to let the city annex the land, citing the city’s adoption of a farmland preservation policy as the key factor in approval.
Serdar Tumgoren, Senior Staff Writer, covers City Hall for the Dispatch. Reach him at 847-7109 or st*******@************ch.com.
