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Gilroy council directs staff to require Planning Commission review for projects with unmitigable EIR impacts
Summary
After hours of testimony over a data center, Gilroy council directed staff to draft a zoning code amendment combining earlier public outreach and Planning Commission review for projects with CEQA "significant and unavoidable" impacts, and to return with language in August 2026.
Following extended public comment about the Amazon data center and community concerns over notice and environmental impacts, Gilroy's City Council on June 15 gave staff direction to pursue a zoning code amendment that would change when large projects receive public hearings. The amendment couples better up-front public outreach with a new rule: projects that require an environmental impact report (EIR) and have "significant and unavoidable" impacts would be required to go to the Planning Commission and would therefore receive earlier public hearings.
What staff proposed: Planning staff outlined three options: (1) add mandatory outreach and public meetings when a project application is deemed complete; (2) set SQA-based thresholds so only projects with EIR-level significant impacts go to the Planning Commission; or (3) an alternative approach proposed by council. Staff recommended combining options 1 and 2, arguing it a balance of transparency and administrative efficiency.
Council direction: After questions about how "significant and unavoidable" impacts are determined under CEQA, how appeals would work, and whether the Amazon project would have triggered the new process, councilmembers broadly supported the combined approach. City Attorney and planning staff clarified that the change would reserve public hearings for projects with impacts that cannot be mitigated and that appeals of Planning Commission decisions would still go to council.
Next steps: Staff will draft a zoning text amendment to require enhanced outreach (developer-hosted notice and community meeting when an application is complete) and to reserve Planning Commission hearings for projects whose EIRs identify unmitigable impacts. Council asked for the item to return with draft ordinance language in August and for staff to improve project-level web disclosure in the interim.
Why it matters: The change is intended to make the code align with community expectations after a high-profile approval was processed administratively, rather than before the Planning Commission, leaving some residents feeling blindsided.
