Consultant Hired to Review Rancho Hills Development Plan

Gilroy city officials have hired a third-party consulting firm, CSG Consultants, Inc., to double-check the final proposed map for a 71-lot subdivision west of Rancho Hills Drive, according to Kristi Abrams, the city’s Community Development Director.

Consultants at CSG, which specializes in municipal work, said that they expect the review to cost between $3000–$4,000, said Abrams.

The San Mateo-based firm will analyze if the final map that developers proposed is in “substantial compliance” with a tentative map approved in 2007, Abrams said. State law requires that, if compliance is met, a final map be approved.

City staff have already reviewed the final map over “many many many hours” and found it to be in compliance, she said. However, with well-organized opposition lobbying against the development, the Gilroy City Council narrowly approved the hiring of an outside reviewer last Monday.

A final map includes the specific measurements and tweaks made after the general proposal of a tentative map.

The Gilroy City Council is expected to hear the findings of the study and vote on the map during their regular meeting Aug. 1.