A consulting firm doing work in both Hollister and San Juan
Bautista is hatching a grand vision for a largely undeveloped swath
of land at the edge of San Juan.
A consulting firm doing work in both Hollister and San Juan Bautista is hatching a grand vision for a largely undeveloped swath of land at the edge of San Juan.
RBF Consulting’s staff is studying the area south of Highway 156 that was the site of Ideal Cement Co. until the early 1970s.
The history of Ideal Cement is indelibly bound up with that of San Juan Bautista. A careful look at many of the town’s older bungalows reveals a certain sameness. That’s because a generation or two ago, San Juan was a company town. Few dared to complain about the patina of gray dust that coated everything, because the plant that created it also created the jobs that sustained the town. An enormous quarry in San Juan Canyon carved half of a mountain away for limestone that was the basic component of cement.
Ideal Cement is long gone and today the only sign of its presence is a pile of white dust.
RBF this week presented four alternatives for what is known as the South San Juan Specific Plan. All call for transforming more than 650 acres of what now holds a handful of homes and some small farm tracts into a new neighborhood that would be the largest single development the city has ever seen. In addition to housing, plans describe commercial and guest services enterprises.
While the city council mulls the alternatives outlined, some local residents fear that a project of the size envisioned will change the very thing that makes the town attractive to visitors – its history and small-town charm.
Those are legitimate concerns, but it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that the plan is just that, a paper document.
Costing in the neighborhood of $300,000, RBF’s study is being paid for mostly by property owners who hope that it leads to annexation and economic opportunity.
A project of this size deserves deliberation and as much public input as can be gathered.
But the location in question seems to be well suited to development. It is separated from the historic town center by a busy state highway flanked by a sound wall. The physical barrier is enough to make it clear that whatever occurs south of Highway 156 is not downtown San Juan.
The study comes as San Juan works to finish a municipal water project. The timing is apt.
Once San Juan’s infrastructure meets current standards, pressure to develop will return. Absent a clear vision, San Juan can only get less than it deserves.
Senate should pass solar bill
Anyone who has visited Hawaii with any frequency has probably taken a shower with water warmed by a solar-powered water heater. Because of its combination of plentiful sunshine and high energy prices, Hawaii promotes and subsidizes this clean form of water heating more than any other state.
Most of California – and especially the San Joaquin Valley – has more sunny days than Hawaii, but as yet the state hasn’t seen the light of solar water heaters. Only about 1,000 of them are installed statewide.
That could change dramatically if lawmakers approve Assembly Bill 1470, which would help homeowners reduce the costs of heating water with the rays of the sun.
AB 1470, by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, would set a small surcharge on gas bills to generate $250 million over 10 years. Combined with a federal tax credit, this pool of funding would help homeowners halve the cost of installing solar water heaters.
Such installations now cost roughly $4,000 to $6,000 per home and pay for themselves, in reduced utility bills, in about 20 years. If Huffman’s bill were to be enacted, homeowners could install solar water heaters at a cost of $2,000 to $3,000 per home and have the units pay for themselves in as little as 10 years. …
More solar means less air pollution, fewer greenhouse gases and more protection against gyrations in wholesale energy prices.
Of course, making solar more viable also means that gas producers and some utilities may lose some business.
This appears to be a main reason that Sempra Energy, parent of the Southern California Gas Company, is opposing Huffman’s bill. (To its credit, Pacific Gas and Electric is supportive).
AB 1470 has passed the Assembly, but could face a tough ride in the Senate Energy Committee on Tuesday. We’ll be watching to which senators warm up to this worthy legislation, and which ones are carrying Sempra’s cold water.
