Hollister
– County planning commissioners expressed their support on
Wednesday for an ordinance that would loosen restrictions on
hillside development. However, many details are still being
hammered out.
Hollister – County planning commissioners expressed their support on Wednesday for an ordinance that would loosen restrictions on hillside development. However, many details are still being hammered out.
At Wednesday’s meeting, County Planner Byron Turner presented the Planning Commission with preliminary revisions to San Benito’s hillside development ordinance; those revisions replace the county’s existing restrictions on new developments’ height and size with non-mandatory design guidelines.
Commissioner Dan DeVries said the guidelines make more sense than the existing rules.
“That’s the kind of balance we’re looking for,” DeVries said. He later added, “If a project is low-profile and melds into the hillside or existing scenery … I don’t care how big it is.”
However, one of the toughest questions remains unanswered, DeVries said.
“The hard thing is determining where these hillsides are,” he said.
Turner’s draft ordinance calls for county planners to perform a design review whenever a property owner applies for a grading permit – namely, when they’re going to move more than 50 cubic yards of soil. That doesn’t directly tie the ordinance to hillside development, Turner acknowledged, but a grading application is a good sign that the project should be examined by county staff.
Turner said other counties identified important hillsides through data gathered via Geographic Information Systems technology, but San Benito doesn’t have that capability yet.
Scott Fuller, general manager of the San Juan Oaks Golf Course, said it’s more logical to apply the ordinance based on how visible a building will be, not the steepness of the hill.
He also said that although the ordinance is ostensibly a placeholder until the county finishes revising its general plan, the planning commissioners need to proceed carefully.
“What you come up with, people may have to live with that for years,” Fuller said.
The ordinance will likely affect any future development at the golf course, he added.
Turner said he will continue revising the ordinance and present the commission with another draft for further comment on June 6.
“You’re not going to get a finished product in three weeks,” he said.
Once the Planning Commission is satisfied with the ordinance, it will move to the Board of Supervisors for final approval. On April 3, the board voted 4-1 to repeal the existing ordinance, which supervisors said was confusing and overly restrictive.
The ordinance’s defenders have said restrictions are necessary to prevent local hillsides from being covered with houses.
Beverly Bryant, southern division director for the Home Builders Association of Northern California, told the Free Lance before the meeting that she hasn’t read the revised ordinance. However, she said flexible guidelines tend to work out better for anyone.
“It sounds like they’re on the right track,” Bryant said.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or ah*@fr***********.com.
