Citizens exercised their power in 2002 when they approved a 1 percent growth cap citywide, and it'll be up to voters again, six years later, to curtail that measure's broadness a bit.
Voters in November will consider Measure Y, which would exempt the downtown district from the 244-unit annual cap while giving potential developers, supports contend, flexibility in an area leaders hope to further saturate with residential housing.
Now that Mayor Doug Emerson will run for reelection unopposed on the same ballot - he's an active supporter of the exemption - he'll have more time to devote toward campaigning in favor of Measure Y.
Emerson acknowledged larger residential developments are unlikely in the near future, but stressed that the exemption would curtail delays for builders interested in smaller projects and potentially "encourage developers to look downtown."
Government and business leaders have pushed for bold change downtown through greater use of mixed-use developments and some of the district's existing properties for housing, which would presumably create more foot traffic for nearby businesses.
The Hollister Downtown Association has commissioned a consultant to create a strategic plan for the district. That planning tool is currently in the works.
The exemption, measure supporters say, is necessary to allow for the consultant's strategic plan to move forward as it stands.
"It's fairly simple, fairly basic and fairly understandable," said Gordon Machado, a member of the local New Urbanism Committee that broached the exemption idea.
If approved, it would eliminate a growth cap for properties between North and Hawkins streets, and between Monterey and McCray streets, Machado said, nothing that those are the same boundaries in the HDA plan.
Measure U, approved after many naysayers argued rapid growth led to the 15-million gallon sewer spill that prompted the building moratorium, caps growth at 1 percent for five years once the sewer-connection ban officially ends, expected in December.
Kollin Kosmicki Kollin Kosmicki is editor of the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 337 or editor@freelancenews.com.
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