The San Benito County Board of Supervisors once again sent plans
for the San Juan Oaks golf and housing resort back for more study,
specifically on fire issues, Tuesday.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors once again sent plans for the San Juan Oaks golf and housing resort back for more study, specifically on fire issues, Tuesday.
Upon Supervisor Richard Scagliotti’s direction, the Board said the project would have to build a fire station and equip it before they grant approval. Once completed, the county would take over staffing and maintenance of the station; the funding coming out of the General Fund and servicing the entire county.
Scott Fuller, general manager of San Juan Oaks, objected to the building of a new station benefiting the entire county, not just those involved in the San Juan Oaks project area.
“We feel it is excessive for us to do ourselves,” Fuller said to the Board. “If every 186 lots required a fire station you’d have 70 fire stations in the county… But the vote is up to you guys.”
Because the response time for current emergency personnel to the project site is approximately 8 to 10 minutes, and possibly longer during morning and evening commutes, some type of additional fire protection must be included in the plan, said Fred Goodrich, assistant planning director.
“Response times of that long tend to put life and property in jeopardy,” Goodrich said.
The project, which has been in the works for several years, would include two golf courses, a 200-room resort and 186 lots for low-income housing. It also coincides with the county’s 1-percent growth cap.
Originally, San Juan Oaks indicated they would be willing to pay their fair share toward fire protection services, including allocating the land for a station to be built on.
The scope of the project and the fact that the project will require a General Plan Amendment warrants allocating the necessary money to provide adequate services, Scagliotti said.
“For the amount of money they’re going to receive for their investment… I think it’s a small price to pay for the good of the community,” Scagliotti said. “Mr. Fuller should be applauded because he has shown everybody that it can be done in an appropriate fashion, and if I was him I’d be arguing harder than he is about the fire station, but unfortunately I’m on this side and he’s on the other side.”
Fuller and the Board compromised on the timeline of the station’s construction. They agreed that it could be phased in over a period of time, which would allow the resort to generate some revenue first.
Both sides also agreed to allow San Juan Oaks to set up a benefit assessment area larger than the project’s scope, which would reimburse them for some of the costs of the station.
A benefit assessment area would affect anyone in the defined area surrounding the project to pay a fee if they made any new developments on their property, Fuller said. The project still must define the benefit assessment area to the county supervisors.
“If you have a home there right now it doesn’t affect you. If you go and subdivide your property because you’re going to develop, then you pay a flat fee for the fire protection,” he said. “On our property and in the general area, that’s the benefit of the fire station.”
That fee would go to San Juan Oaks, essentially reimbursing them for the fire station costs.
The Board asked for several items to be written into a resolution and brought back to them at their May 4 meeting.
They approved a motion requesting the resort begin construction within three years, more information on the benefit assessment area be compiled and the tentative vesting map be brought back before them.
The tentative vesting map includes more than 200 conditions needed for approval to implement the project’s development.
Supervisor Ruth Kesler was the only dissenting vote concerning the project’s advancement.
“I’m not ready to cement our environment over at this point,” she said.
