So now what?
With Measure G’s defeat at the polls Tuesday after a year of
contentious debate, those who both adamantly supported and opposed
the growth control initiative say the issue won’t go away.
So now what?
With Measure G’s defeat at the polls Tuesday after a year of contentious debate, those who both adamantly supported and opposed the growth control initiative say the issue won’t go away.
But they’ll take some time to relax, at least a few days, or maybe a few months, before continuing the process of planning how San Benito County should grow.
Foremost, they say, torn relationships throughout the community must be mended. Measure G, many observers say, has been the most divisive issue among San Benito County residents in years.
“It has really done some damage,” said county Supervisor Bob Cruz, who unofficially won his re-election bid Tuesday. “And now that it’s all over with, let’s get back on the winning track – on both sides.”
Measure G, defeated by a margin of 69 percent to 31 percent, was a proposal intended to preserve undeveloped agricultural land in unincorporated San Benito.
It would have changed zoning to highly restrict new development on certain properties. It also included a provision that left most decisions on changing the pace of development to voters, and another program to promote development near Hollister while compensating landowners affected by the measure.
Janet Brians, a farmer from the group that drafted the initiative in late 2002, vowed growth control planning would continue.
Over the past year, she said, measure opponents have committed to finding a better solution. She said her group would “gently put pressure” on their former opponents to come through.
“We can live with what we have now. It’s where we are going,” she said, that concerns her.
She mentioned some members of the No on Measure G committee had brought up the idea of placing a different growth control initiative on the November ballot. It is unclear, however, whether everyone is willing to organize that promptly.
With the measure’s defeat, Brians believes the “impetus” for the next step is on the agriculture and business communities.
Dara Tobias and her husband Tom were among the most active members of the No on Measure G campaign.
“We definitely are, after a couple days rest of course, ready to go back and participate in the process as it should have been done in the first place.”
Tom Tobias, the Farm Bureau president, agreed they wouldn’t let the issue disappear. But after a year of campaigning and anxiety, he wants to take a break, he said, “to cool down” before entering into more intense talks on another plan.
One difference the next time around, Measure G opponents hope, is for involvement from more segments of the county. Tobias mentioned minorities and school districts. Many people have said the City of Hollister should have an influential role.
Measure G had included a “transferable development credit” (TDC) program that would have encouraged more residential growth in or near Hollister. City officials, though, have said Hollister is not interested in annexation or residential growth of the town’s outskirts anytime soon.
“I think we’re going to have a process that brings together all the vested parties within the county,” said Anthony Botelho, an adamant opponent of the measure who will face Anthony Freitas in a runoff election for the District 2 supervisor seat.
Tobias said he envisions two options in the coming months: Wait for the new Board of Supervisors’ debut to explore an update to the entire General Plan, or revisit a “consensus building” process between the two sides before then.
The last major revision of the county General Plan, which addresses housing and land use issues, was conducted in 1994, according to county planner Susan Heiser. Piecemeal changes have taken place since, she said.
Supervisor Reb Monaco, the only Board member to vote the initiative down in April, said the election Tuesday sent a message: “that people don’t want dictatorial kinds of policies.”
“We need to take a quick breath, roll up our sleeves, and see what to do with the General Plan,” Monaco said. “It’s obvious to me people are concerned about this issue.”
Brians is ready for that process to begin as soon as possible, she said.
She expects a few influential members of both sides to attend a San Benito Agricultural Land Trust meeting Saturday. And a TDC committee meeting is scheduled for next week.
She’s confident, she said, major players on both sides of the Measure G issue want to avoid chopping up all the open space of San Benito County. And a need for more affordable housing, she said, remains.
Kollin Kosmicki can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 331 or at [email protected].
