The attorney for the Los Valientes group of residents trying to
abolish the Growth Control Initiative owns land within Hollister
limits
– property, however, that would be unaffected by the county
measure’s approval.
Salinas lawyer Michael Pekin co-owns 12 to14 acres on San Juan
Road in Hollister. He has owned that property with business partner
Vince Pryor for about five years, he said.
It is designated by the Hollister General Plan as
”
light industrial,
”
or a district reserved for commercial or manufacturing-type
developments.
The attorney for the Los Valientes group of residents trying to abolish the Growth Control Initiative owns land within Hollister limits – property, however, that would be unaffected by the county measure’s approval.
Salinas lawyer Michael Pekin co-owns 12 to14 acres on San Juan Road in Hollister. He has owned that property with business partner Vince Pryor for about five years, he said.
It is designated by the Hollister General Plan as “light industrial,” or a district reserved for commercial or manufacturing-type developments.
The proposed changes to the county’s General Plan within the Growth Control Initiative would restrict only residential development of unincorporated areas within county limits, according to county planner Byron Turner.
“If it’s in city limits, then you’d have to talk to the city,” Turner said.
The city’s growth regulations are wholly separate from the county’s, according to Bill Card, Hollister’s lead planner. Hollister residents approved Measure U in 2002, which restricts residential growth in Hollister to 244 units a year.
Pekin emphasized maintaining no financial interest in the growth measure’s fate. Moreover, as a lawyer, there are no rules against attorneys representing themselves, he said.
“There are not (regulations),” he said. “However, there are maxims. The surgeon does not operate on his own family member and a lawyer does not litigate on his own matter.”
Pekin represents the Los Valientes group that commissioned a private investigation into alleged corruption in San Benito County government. The first resulting report of that probe recounts six cases of alleged wrongdoing, one of which accuses the five county supervisors of conspiring to help draft the Growth Control Initiative.
On that basis, Los Valientes – arguing the initiative should be axed – joined a legal battle over the initiative.
It accompanied a lawsuit filed by a resident requesting the measure be taken off the ballot and reenacted as an ordinance. Though Los Valientes’ arguments were dismissed from the case during a hearing Thursday.
“I am not a member of Los Valientes,” said Pekin, who has previously declined comment, or laughed, when asked if someone is a member of the group.
Pekin and Pryor have no current plans for the property on San Juan Road, Pekin said. Meanwhile, Pryor also owns two other tracts of land – one being within unincorporated county limits.
“Vince Pryor owns land; therefore, what?” Pekin said. “We pay taxes. We’re on the tax rolls.”
