The San Benito County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to
rescind the long-standing growth management ordinance. The four
supporting supervisors stressed how the ordinance has impeded
development by discouraging projects and creating a more complex,
time-consuming process for approvals. During Tuesday’s meeting,
Planning Director Gary Armstrong pointed out how eliminating the
growth ordinance is a big step in efforts to streamline the
planning process
– which supervisors had emphasized doing in recent years.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to rescind the long-standing growth management ordinance that some officials said has bogged down the permitting process and pushed away developers.
Supervisors voted 4-1 to rescind the ordinance, with Robert Rivas dissenting. Officials are expected to make the change official in August after conducting the necessary studies to halt such rules.
When officials adopted the “Growth Management Ordinance” in October 2000 as an urgency ordinance, they intended for it to slow the population spurt of a rapidly developing area. But in the past 10 years, the housing climate has been hampered quite a bit, and a majority of supervisors decided the annual caps – and processes that come with the ordinance – were no longer necessary.
The four supporting supervisors stressed how the ordinance has impeded development by discouraging projects and creating a more complex, time-consuming process for approvals. During Tuesday’s meeting, Planning Director Gary Armstrong pointed out how eliminating the growth ordinance is a big step in efforts to streamline the planning process – which supervisors had emphasized doing in recent years.
Supervisor Jerry Muenzer noted how he campaigned “on the promise” of removing roadblocks for development. He hopes that once the economy turns around, such decisions will help spark some growth.
“The GMO was probably right for its day when growth was going rapid,” Muenzer said. “Now we’ve had no growth. We’ve had no growth for 10 years.”
Recent census numbers showed that from 2000 to 2010, San Benito County grew by about 2,000 people, or an average of less than 0.5 percent per year.
Rivas in opposing the decision said he felt “uninformed” and needed more information to make such a major move.
He said he listened to tape of the recent county planning commission meeting where officials discussed repealing the law – and that he heard “hearsay” and no “compelling arguments” during the session.
He said the law isn’t perfect and contended officials should revise the ordinance instead of rescinding it.
“As a county, we need to strive to achieve a level of development that is economically profitable, but at the same time is socially and environmentally acceptable,” he said.
Other supervisors were firm in their stances supporting the move.
Supervisors Anthony Botelho and Margie Barrios were part of a subcommittee of the board that decided it was appropriate to bring forward the proposal about the repeal.
Botelho said if the current general plan under revision “is a good plan,” then the county does not need a growth ordinance or other similar restrictions.
Barrios reiterated how proper planning will get the job done.
“It’s not intended to have San Benito County grow by leaps and bounds,” she said.
Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz said the “timing’s perfect.”
“I think we need to move forward. The economic conditions will dictate itself.”
