With five loud and definitive “ayes,” the Gonzales City Council unanimously approved the 3,498-unit Vista Lucia project on Tuesday, Sept. 2, before a packed council chamber. During the meeting a number of residents shared their excitement for a housing development that’s been a dream of the community for 24 years.
“This has been a labor of love for all of us because we know how hard it is for people right now not to have a home, and we want people to have a home,” Councilmember Lorraine Worthy said before the vote to approve the master plan for a community that is slated to be developed over a 30-year period on 771 acres of agricultural land.
The project includes 995 traditional single-family homes, 1,239 smaller lot single-family homes, 504 apartments and townhomes in medium-high density zones, 104 mixed-use units in commercial zones and 620 apartments in high-density areas. Nonprofit developer CHISPA has been selected by the developer Pembrook Development Group to build 211 low-income units.
Pembrook donated eight acres for an elementary school and the plan includes 79 acres of parks, playing fields, trails, plazas and community gardens. It also includes a “pedestrian promenade system” of walkways, as well as bikeways, to connect neighborhoods and commercial areas.
“The premise that outsiders believe that Gonzales should maintain its socioeconomic footprint is crap.”
LandWatch Deputy Director Laura Davis urged the council to adopt a higher-density alternative laid out in the environmental impact report, arguing it would provide more affordable housing by design for working families.
“Given that only a tiny percentage of Gonzales residents could afford the large-lot units projected to cost $650,000, increasing the number of denser, lower priced units would increase the actual purchase opportunities for the vast majority of Gonzales’ residents and workers,” she said.
Residents and councilmembers rejected that idea. “The premise that outsiders believe that Gonzales should maintain its socioeconomic footprint is crap,” Councilmember Scott Funk said. “Why shouldn’t our local community have opportunities for growth?”
The council approved the EIR, an amendment to the city’s general plan and a tentative map, as well as ordinances approving pre-zoning and a development agreement with Pembrook. The city still must pursue an annexation request with the Local Agency Formation Commission of Monterey County (LAFCO) before the project can move forward.
