A project that could land 4,000 homes and 13,000 people on San
Benito County’s doorstep is under fire and may be consigned to the
dustbin by Monterey County voters come November.
San Juan Bautista – A project that could land 4,000 homes and 13,000 people on San Benito County’s doorstep is under fire and may be consigned to the dustbin by Monterey County voters come November.
The Rancho San Juan Project, located just west of San Juan Grade Road and three miles north of the San Benito County line, has been about two decades in the making. But opponents collected more than 16,000 signatures to allow voters to decide whether to put a halt to the project, according to Julie Engell, an opponent of the project. The signatures will allow Monterey County voters to decide whether to change provisions in the county’s general plan that would allow the massive housing project to go forward.
Engell is fiercely opposed to the projects’ construction because she believes the area’s infrastructure can’t handle a project of that scale. Engell is confident the referendum will pass, however Monterey County Planning Director Scott Hennessy said the battle is far from over. As long as there’s open land in that area, developers will be vying to build on it.
“And anything that happens in the north end of Monterey County has an impact on San Benito County,” Hennessy said.
Former Supervisor Ruth Kesler, a slow-growth advocate, said she would fight the project if it came to fruition because San Benito County isn’t equipped to handle the environmental and traffic impacts such a large development would bring.
“But I don’t think it’s going anywhere right now,” Kesler said. “When the snake gets so you can see his head, that’s when you do something.”
While local officials are keenly aware of the impacts a development so near the border could have on the county, it’s simply not a top priority at this time, according to Supervisor Pat Loe.
“I think it’s a leap-frog development that could impact us greatly,” Loe said. “But I believe we have our own issues in San Benito County, and they (government officials) haven’t paid attention to that. And because of where it is, it’s not like we’ll see it all the time. Because of the hills, it’s a little more isolated.”
Engell said people in San Benito County should be taking the project more seriously, however, because she believes it will adversely affect the cultural demographic of the area.
“It will turn Monterey County and Salinas into bedroom communities for counties to our north, which I think would be a mistake,” Engell said. “And it’s a domino effect. Once our area becomes a bedroom community there’s no reversing it, and as the trend accelerates, there will be a lot more traffic going through San Benito County.”
It is unclear how much traffic the development would put on Highway 101, but it would increase it significantly and could result in inadequate emergency services on the highway, according to the project’s environmental impact report.
Although the project could be derailed at the polls this November, Loe also said she has serious concerns about what thousands of more vehicles could do to the already congested Highway 101 corridor, and whether county resources would ever be called upon to provide mutual aide due to the proposed development’s remote location.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho, who represents the San Juan Bautista area, was also cautiously concerned about the project, and while it may not ever come to fruition said it highlights the fact that county governments need to start working together on a regional scale, not just a local one.
“Policy makers hesitate to get too involved in other county’s affairs, but you hope as the counties are having bigger and bigger projects that we’re looking at the regional impacts to the roads and environment,” Botelho said. “It’s on the other side of the border, but it could add business to San Benito County, but it could also screw things up, too.”
Voters will vote on the referendum Nov. 8
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected].
