After 10 years in development, the new Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan and the combined permitting process that accompanies it is getting one of its first big tests. The Glen Loma Specific Plan in Gilroy, California (pop. 51,000), obtained its first set of permits under the habitat plan's streamlined permitting system this past summer. The project is a new 300-acre mixed use neighborhood within the southwestern area of Gilroy, located in southern Santa Clara County. It will include more than 100 acres of open space and parks, two new schools, mixed housing types, and a subregional town center. The habitat plan area, encompassing more than 500,000 acres of land, covers roughly two-thirds of Santa Clara County. The northern portion of the county is better known to the outside world as Silicon Valley, and development pressure in the area is fierce. Fueled by continued growth in the high-tech industry, Santa Clara County was California's fastest growing county (in population) in 2012. The median home price increased by 16 percent in 2014 and is now over $800,000.
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