Project Makes It Easier to Leave the Car at Home

I’d first like to start off with a message to those that use active transportation and transit to commute, by saying thank you. We see you and support you. We are providing year-round education and encouragement through Measure B funds. We have programs and policies that promote our community leaving their car at home and choosing to walk/bike/roll/ and take transit. This helps teach our residents safe walking and biking skills, reduces traffic and air pollution, and helps you get more physical activity. 

I’d like to take you into my mind as a Gilroy City Council Member and show how we are able to shift to alternate modes of transportation by legislating policy. Last November the Gilroy City Council approved Royal Way Townhomes, a forty-five-unit townhome development near Gilroy High and the Uvas Creek Levee Trail. For the second time we approved that each new residence be given a $100 pre-loaded Clipper card. Clipper is the all-in-one transit card used for contactless fare payments throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. After the first year these Clipper cards will be auto-loaded annually by the HOA. The nearest VTA bus stops serving the development are Route 86 (Gavilan College/Downtown Gilroy) located at the intersection of Princevalle/Johnson, .17 miles east of the project site, Route 568 Rapid stops are located at Gilroy Transit Rail Station .85 miles northeast of the project and Route 121 Express Gilroy-Lockheed Martin at the Gilroy Transit Center. Additionally, the Gilroy Transit Center serves connections to Caltrain. Caltrain provides service from Gilroy to San Francisco (2-Hour Train Ride) Monday to Friday. Three trains leave the Downtown Gilroy Station at 5:54am · 6:31am · 6:52am. You can take your bike with you or park it at a locker at the Gilroy Transit Center. Caltrain currently serves riders from Gilroy to San Francisco and a future extension south to Salinas. This is just one way in which we will be reducing the vehicle miles traveled by cars from the development. 

With its convenient location to transit, shopping, schools, and off-street bike/ped facilities there are few barriers to reducing VMT at Royal Way Townhomes. In our City’s General Plan 2040, we as a community called for bold actions that include providing high density housing options, affordable housing for all, and continuing to promote cleaner modes of transportation. We encourage existing and proposed development to incorporate Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures such as car-sharing, transit passes, and unbundling of parking (requiring separate purchase or lease of a parking space) where such measures will result in a reduction in vehicle miles traveled, reduction of required amount of parking or an increase in the use of alternate transportation modes.

Gilroy’s multi-modal transportation infrastructure consists of buses, trains, bikes, scooters, and walking. While there might be portions of our city that are isolated from transit, there are many ways to continue to draw residents towards transit. Gilroy has a fully connected bike network and transit options. Many residents are employed outside of Gilroy, but we have a large population that work, attend school, and are retired in Gilroy. They benefit from local transit and rideshare. Gilroy has the vision that the glass is half full, and we have the ability to innovate and adapt to programs that will further reduce our VMT.

According to a public comment letter submitted for the Royal Way Townhomes Project, “Providing an incentive that rewards the effort of biking/walking/transit is important. Thank you for the mentioning of bike parking around the project, a new sidewalk enhancing the pedestrian experience around the site, and requiring a Transportation Improvement Fee in proportion to the project's share of transportation improvements needed to serve cumulative development within the City of Gilroy. The funds shall be used to fund improvements identified in the City Traffic Circulation Master Plan, which includes bikeways”, said Sean Reedy Community Organizer Gilroy Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (#GilroyBPAC)

My office and others will work with the HOA to develop a voluntary TDM Travel Behavior Change program for the residents. This would include monthly language in their communications to HOA members that promote the City of Gilroy work plans that focus on active transportation, current transit options, bike/walk infrastructure, bike/walk events, and safe routes to school. Including an annual presentation from our City’s Bicycle Pedestrian Commission. The City of Gilroy has work plans and incentive funding available through Santa Clara County’s Measure B Education & Encouragement Program. 

We are actively advancing ideas and projects that promote the concept of free-range people in the City of Gilroy. We advocate for building and planning that considers future generations as well as current residents who don’t own cars. Advancing mobility options reflects what we are teaching the youth in our community through Safe Routes to School and why we are nationally recognized as a Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists, as well as recognized by the World Health Organization as an Age-Friendly Community. The City of Gilroy is a Complete Streets and Recreation Destination community by resolution. If you haven’t taken the Gilroy Bike Pledge yet, you still can! See you on the road and I am proud to represent Gilroy on the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) in 2023.

Working Towards Housing Equity

Gilroy has a housing shortage and our low and middle-income households face historic rent burden. Undersupply of “Missing Middle” housing, or medium density housing near jobs and transit, is one of the key factors contributing to the displacement and rent burden of our residents. In Gilroy we have 75% of our land zoned for single family homes, 10% were small multifamily (2-4 units), and 12% were medium or large multifamily (5+ units). Our Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) are minimum mandated State standards and we should strive to reach higher than the minimum.   

Thankfully millions of dollars in funding have poured into Gilroy to help our most vulnerable address their rent burden. Data from our housing element shows 21% of households are considered extremely low-income, making less than 30% of AMI. According to recent data provided by ABAG, 59.1% of Gilroy’s population in 2020 was Latinx, 28.0% was White, 9.1% was Asian, and 1.1% was African American. As we finalize the next Housing Element, we will need to examine the ways at which the 75% zoning can be the limiting factor as we work towards affordability, equity, and not continue to have communities that are segregated based on incomes and race. 

SB9 allows duplexes on lots currently zoned for single family use only. If your lot is big enough you can split it, and then build up to two units on each of the lots. SB9 contains important protections against displacement of existing tenants. Duplexes contribute needed housing to the City of Gilroy’s housing stock and enhance housing opportunities. ADUs and junior ADUs are allowed on single-family, duplex and multifamily dwelling zoned properties that include a proposed or existing primary residential dwelling. Grant funding available too!

The consequences of failing to effectively and aggressively confront this crisis is hurting thousands of our residents, robbing future generations of the chance to call Gilroy home, stifling economic opportunities for workers and businesses, worsening poverty and homelessness, and undermining our environmental and climate objectives. State Housing Community Development (HCD) cautioned that jurisdictions with non-compliant Housing Elements will be ineligible for, or face delays in receiving, state funding. Jurisdictions would also be unable to use inconsistent zoning/general plan standards to deny affordable housing projects, and could be subject to additional legal ramifications and fines. HCD will review actions and inactions submitted in the Annual Progress Report by local jurisdictions and they will take action on jurisdictions that are inconsistent with their Housing Elements. HCD will respond to public complaints if a jurisdiction's actions are in violation with state law.

With the recent adoption of our City’s General Plan 2040, we as a community called for bold actions that include providing high density housing options, affordable housing for all, and continuing to promote cleaner modes of transportation. We encourage existing and proposed development to incorporate Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures such as car-sharing, transit passes, and unbundling of parking (requiring separate purchase or lease of a parking space) where such measures will result in a reduction in vehicle miles traveled, reduction of required amount of parking or an increase in the use of alternate transportation modes.

The adoption of an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance is an important ordinance that has been overlooked, and was included as an action item in our 2007 housing element, but never implemented. Then again in 2018 according to Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report “Affordable Housing: Density is Our Destiny” included a recommendation stating that “Gilroy (should) increase inclusionary housing requirements for the below market housing to at least 15% (of new dwelling units) by the end of 2019. That was never implemented.

Cities and counties subject to SB 35 streamlining provisions when proposed developments include ≥ 50% affordability. Gilroy is one of the jurisdictions that has insufficient progress toward their lower income RHNA (Very Low and Low income) and are therefore subject to the streamlined ministerial approval process (SB 35 (Chapter 366, Statutes of 2017) streamlining) for proposed developments with at least 50% affordability. 

I am supportive of the staff's recommendation to City Council on October 17, 2022. Make a meaningful effort to get a draft submitted to HCD that won’t fail. We have many organizations that have provided public comment letters that stand with us getting this right the first time. Without a complete site inventory to analyze, transparency of pending projects being carried over, proof that some non-vacant sites are willing to build affordable housing; it's not a fair statement to say that rezoning is not needed yet. The final draft for approval will come before the newly elected City Council in early 2023. It’s time to Get Out The Vote (GOTV) and support candidates that are pro-housing, our future generations are counting on us. 

Advance Mobility Options by Eliminating Parking Minimums

In Gilroy, we have many examples of properties where we used to not require vehicle parking many decades ago, before a majority of zoning codes have been adopted that require more land to be developed for parking. With the recent implementation of Vehicles Mile Traveled we look towards increasing alternative options to the single occupant vehicle and creative solutions like those mentioned in our General Plan 2040 to continue to push us all forward. 

In response to the pandemic and the closure of restaurants and small shops, local governments have allowed businesses to expand into on-site and street parking spaces to allow for safe outdoor dining and shopping. These new and more productive uses of parking spaces have shown us the way forward to create more inviting and sustainable neighborhoods, and allow small businesses to survive and in some cases thrive. 

With the recent adoption of Gilroy’s General Plan 2040, we called for bold actions that included continuing to promote cleaner modes of transportation. We encourage existing and proposed developments to incorporate Transportation Demand Management measures such as car-sharing, transit passes, and unbundling of parking. We have planned for projects and have the resources in 2022 to make them successful, but it’s “political will” that keeps getting in the way. Recently, the City of Gilroy, VTA, and Transportation Agency for Monterey County signed an MOU for rail improvements of the Monterey County Rail Extension Project to include Bay Area CalTrain service connection to Salinas. Gilroy, like Salinas, is building future public transportation options within our Downtowns. 

The goals and policies of our General Plan 2040 address a variety of topics, including multimodal transportation, complete streets, pedestrian facilities, bikeways, public transit, vehicular transportation, parking, and goods movement. Consider Transit in Planning and Development Proposals Coordinate with VTA on advance planning projects and development proposals that may have implications for public transit and consider the VTA’s Transit Sustainability Policy/Service Design Guidelines. Coordinate with VTA on the planning of new transit routes within Gilroy and maintain a strong relationship with VTA management to ensure continued cooperation. Our entire Zoning Code is currently being updated to reflect the values of our General Plan 2040 and should be coming to the City Council for adoption soon. By eliminating arbitrary parking minimums and allowing in-lieu fees we can prevent the wasteful overproduction of parking spaces, reduce car dependency, and carbon emissions. It will encourage greater transit usage and more housing and business growth near transit, helping to create revitalized and pedestrian-friendly commercial corridors and our Downtown. This would not prohibit property owners from building on-site parking. Rather, it gives them the flexibility to decide on their own how much on-site parking to provide, instead of requiring compliance with a one-size-fits-all mandate.

Parking lots, especially empty ones, do nothing for us at the local level to be able to maximize our collection of property taxes and a mixed-use project will generate significant property and sales tax. When transit riders shift their modes in getting to transit by walk/bike/ride- share/carpool, they will visit and spend money locally. We are creating more walkable/bikeable places to live that don't require you to own a car while providing much needed housing for our graduating high school seniors, teachers, city employees, and college grads to come home to. 

On-site parking reduces the housing supply by taking up space that could otherwise be used for additional apartments. Providing on-site parking is also very expensive, costing $30,000 to $75,000 per space to build. This cost is passed on to renters and home buyers, regardless of whether they own a car. In fact, in a recent study by Santa Clara University, researchers found that the cost of garage parking to renter households is approximately $1,700 per year, or an additional 17% of a housing unit’s rent. 

Lastly, we are actively embracing, advancing ideas, and projects that promote the concept of free-range people in the City of Gilroy. We advocate for building and planning that considers future generations as well as current residents who don’t own cars. We are a Recreation Destination and Complete Streets community by resolution. Advancing mobility options reflects what we are teaching the youth in our community through Safe Routes to School and why we are nationally recognized as a Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists, as well as recognized by the World Health Organization as an Age-Friendly Community.