A lame duck County Board of Supervisors passed a controversial
ordinance to restrict hillside development this week.
A lame duck County Board of Supervisors passed a controversial ordinance to restrict hillside development this week. That was a mistake. As soon as the new board is sworn in in January, they should pass an ordinance that holds the current Hillside Ordinance in abeyance until a comprehensive update of the county General Plan is adopted.
We had urged the Supervisors to hold off on adopting hillside restrictions and focus instead on a General Plan update. Going that route would have accomplished two things: It would have avoided the perception that the board was trying to slip through pieces of the Measure G, a development-restriction proposal overwhelmingly defeated at the polls in March, before they left office. And it would create an important blueprint for the county’s future.
Instead, the majority of the board passed the restrictions even though most of the people who attended the public hearing spoke against the ordinance and the County Planning Commission recommended against it. Now, another development battle is brewing. Supervisor-elect Jaime De La Cruz is vowing to try to overturn the Hillside Ordinance after he is sworn in.
Until something changes, we will continue to have these types of fights because there are competing views for the county’s future.
A better idea than fighting over small pieces of the growth puzzle, would be to do a sweeping update of the county’s General Plan. Then, the Hillside Ordinance, which will prevent developments of more than five houses on the peaks, can be modified to fit into a broad vision for the county’s future.
A General Plan is an essential planning tool for local governments. It designates areas for agriculture, residential development and open space. It can address our economic needs by setting aside areas for commercial or industrial growth and pinpointing other areas for tourism. Updating our General Plan would incorporates the public into the county’s planning process from the beginning. The public would be directly involved in striking a balance between open space and individual property rights, the debate that stirs so many people’s passions now.
De La Cruz should join with Supervisor Pat Loe, a champion of well-planned growth, and Supervisor-elect Anthony Botelho, who has said he wants to update the plan, to get the ball rolling on this important project early in their tenure.
