The Monterey County Planning Commission recommended dropping a
4,000-home project near the San Benito County line from the
county’s General Plan on Wednesday.
The Monterey County Planning Commission recommended dropping a 4,000-home project near the San Benito County line from the county’s General Plan on Wednesday.
The Monterey County Planning Commission instead recommended the specific plan for Rancho San Juan gain approval from the Board of Supervisors on its own merits; not by riding the coat-tails of the General Plan, said Lynn Burgess, senior administrative analysts with Monterey County.
The development would be built about three miles southeast of the San Benito County line and has been 20 years in the making.
The specific plan is a detailed master plan only for the geographic area of the county where Rancho San Juan would be built, while the General Plan includes every part of the county, Burgess said.
San Benito County officials have said the proposed urban village would have little to no effect on the county whether it is built or not, aside from the potential of increased tourism traffic to the community of San Juan Bautista.
The city of Salinas opposes the project because the original Environmental Impact Report didn’t give an adequate assessment of impacts on the city, Salinas City Manager David Mora said.
“It should be built to city standards,” Mora said. “It could be taken care of with a redesign.”Most importantly, the commission thought the project would draw more resources than it could ever support.
“The Planning Commission feels that the extent to the infrastructure of the county to support a large, new community would be so costly to the future residents and the county, that it doesn’t make fiscal sense anymore,” Burgess said.
The specific plan for the development will be included on a future Monterey County Board of Supervisors agenda, to be ultimately decided on by the Board, Burgess said.
“If (the Board) adopts it, then the General Plan can be amended at that time,” she said.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors will hear public comment and decide the fate of Rancho San Juan at future meetings yet to be scheduled.
The specific plan for the development is available to the public. For more information, visit the county’s Web site at www.co.monterey.ca.us.pbi/
