Developer Ken Lindsay, who had several deals in place to move major industrial businesses to Hollister before the building ban started in 2002, says it's a much different world these days and that it'll take a while to "get back on everybody's radar."
Despite that challenge, Lindsay called the city's move this week "great news" to allow issuance of building permits for the first time in more than six years. With the Hollister City Council's approval this week - coming after the state water board's staff OK'd it - many people here who've depended on the construction industry are, as Lindsay put it, "back in business."
The entrepreneur - owner of land near the airport, including a business park - expects some initial activity but not much in his primary sector, industrial development.
"We just got hammered," said Lindsay, whose deals before the state moratorium included leasing to a semi-conductor equipment company for its headquarters and a software firm that planned to keep jets at the airport. "We're essentially back in business. But it's going to take a while to get back on everybody's radar."
That next step started Monday when council members lifted the city's ban against issuing building permits, and those documents should be allotted to eligible developers by the end of this week or early next week, City Manager Clint Quilter said.
The city manager said officials still need to work out details regarding the forms' language - such as a notation that developers can't connect to the sewer system until the new wastewater treatment plant is completed and the regional water board lifts the building moratorium, expected in December.
Those eligible for the building permits - allowing construction to begin - are developers who already had received allocation approval from the city before the moratorium began in 2002. Quilter noted how there are about 1,100 of those units, and builders still must wait until the new wastewater treatment plant's completion to actually hoop up to the sewer system.
Even with so many allocations on the table, local Realtor Marilyn Ferreira said an economic turnaround here will be "very gradual."
"It's not going to happen overnight," said Ferreira, who pointed to a "depressed" housing market as a key reason the impact should be drawn out instead of immediate.
Overall, like others, Ferreira is optimistic about opportunities that are now possible. She also pointed out how San Benito County's real estate market has experienced improvement for two or three months now.
"I'm really optimistic and I think the city did a great job, and the city council should be commended for making this happen," Ferreira said.
Mayor Doug Emerson, who joined the council in late 2004 in the midst of the moratorium, this week called the building permit issuance the "greatest news" since he joined city ranks.
Developers like Lindsay, however, know it's not an easy road ahead.
"I'm delighted we're finally through this," he said. "I'm just hopeful we can begin to make a few deals."
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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