A proposed revision to the county’s hillside ordinance would
strike a good balance between protecting property rights and
preserving local hillsides, San Benito County Planning Commissioner
Dan DeVries said Friday.
HOLLISTER
A proposed revision to the county’s hillside ordinance would strike a good balance between protecting property rights and preserving local hillsides, San Benito County Planning Commissioner Dan DeVries said Friday.
The board of supervisors is set to vote on the ordinance – which DeVries called “my baby” – at its meeting today. The planning commission approved the ordinance unanimously, but commissioners and supervisors have told the Free Lance they have reservations. Commissioner Gordon Machado, for one, said he would have preferred “more teeth,” while Supervisor Reb Monaco said it’s too restrictive.
According to a planning department report, the proposed ordinance would replace existing restrictions on size, color and other attributes of a project with a “flexible design review.” The planning commission would perform that review whenever a project is located at least 200 feet above the county’s “transportation corridors” – including Fairview Road, Highway 101, Highway 156 from 101 to Union Road and portions of Highway 25.
The old rules don’t work, DeVries said. He pointed to the San Juan Vista Estates development as evidence. Despite being located at different points on the hillside, all 14 homes were subject to the exact same restrictions, he said.
“The existing ordinance doesn’t really get you where you need to be,” DeVries said.
The board of supervisors voted to repeal the existing hillside ordinance earlier this year, but asked the planning commission to draft a “stopgap” ordinance that would still give the county some control over hillside development. Since then, DeVries said he has worked with the planning department and other commissioners to write an ordinance that makes everyone happy. DeVries also looked at the rules in other counties and was most impressed by Monterey County’s use of design review.
Such review, DeVries said, allows the planning commission to judge each project based on its quality and context. The real issue is not the number of houses in a development or how large they are, he said. Rather, he believes it’s the quality of the design that matters.
“The No. 1 thing we hear is, ‘Those houses wouldn’t have been so bad if we could just plant some trees,'” DeVries said.
For Example, he said that the massive 22,000-square-foot mansion “Ranchomai” sits on the hills above the San Juan Valley, but is invisible to people below.
“I challenge anyone to find it out there, because it’s designed really well,” DeVries said.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: San Benito County Board of Supervisors
WHEN: 1:30 p.m. today
WHERE: County Administration Building, 481 Fourth St.
