MorganHillTimes.com | Gavilan, too, asks San Jose for seat on Coyote task force

Gavilan, too, asks San Jose for seat on Coyote task force

Apr 30, 2004
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Gavilan College is asking the City of San Jose to let the college add its voice to the planning process for the 25,000-home Coyote Valley development.

Gavilan College President and District Superintendent Steve Kinsella drafted a letter requesting that the community college be included on the Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force that makes decisions about the future of the area.

"The intent of my letter is to be respectful, but to indicate that we have an expectation that they will include us as the planning process moves on," Kinsella told the college's board of trustees. "I'm requesting that they recognize Gavilan College's responsibility for providing services within the Coyote Valley. I have no reason to think that they won't, but we need that in writing ..."

The Gavilan District, which stretches from San Benito County in the south to San Jose's Bernal Road in the north, is solely responsible for serving the Coyote Valley and clearly has an interest in the planning process, Kinsella said.

Gavilan currently offers classes in Morgan Hill and, due to the recent passage of a $108-million bond initiative, plans to purchase land and build a permanent satellite location there in the future.

Morgan Hill's City Council and School District have been pushing for months for additional representation on the Coyote Valley task force.

While the Morgan Hill School District will be a major player in the new development - at least eight new elementary schools, two new middle schools and a new high school will be needed - it has no representation on the 20-member planning task force.

San Jose resident Russ Danielson - who owns a business in Morgan Hill and was once appointed to the school board in that city but lost his bid for re-election - and Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage, whose district includes Gilroy, are the lone South Valley representatives.

Morgan Hill City Council has repeatedly requested more "meaningful" representation on the board, only to be rebuffed by San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales.

A member of the city's planning department is on the task force's technical advisory committee.

At a special meeting of the Morgan Hill School Board recently, San Jose planners presented the Coyote Valley plan update told trustees they would recommend district staff also joining the technical advisory committee.

There is no firm timetable for the development, but a formal plan is expected by December 2005.