Striking a balance between preserving San Benito County’s rural
roots while making the county welcoming to new businesses and their
employees will be at the forefront in the coming months as
supervisors prepare to update San Benito’s general plan and
possibly reevaluate the county’s growth cap.
Hollister – Striking a balance between preserving San Benito County’s rural roots while making the county welcoming to new businesses and their employees will be at the forefront in the coming months as supervisors prepare to update San Benito’s general plan and possibly reevaluate the county’s growth cap.
“I see (fostering economic development) as part of a philosophy that will go into the general plan,” Supervisor Reb Monaco said.
Supervisors will likely begin to tackle the arduous task of reviewing and updating the county’s general plan – a long-term land use document that guides growth in the county – this spring, according to Supervisor Anthony Botelho. State law requires that general plans – which are comprised of several elements, such as land use, open space and housing – be updated every eight years. Over the past eight years, only two elements of San Benito’s general plan have been updated. Some elements have not been revised in more than 25 years.
As they work through the process of updating the general plan, supervisors say that attracting new businesses, and the jobs that come with them, will be a major consideration.
After adopting an $80.9 million budget balanced with about $2 million in county reserve funds in September, supervisors are eager to find ways to turn financial tide in San Benito. Attracting new business that will contribute to the government’s tax base as well as provide jobs is the way to accomplish that, supervisors say.
“Economic development is going to be spurred by the private sector,” Supervisor Don Marcus said. “We need to ask ourselves, ‘what can the county do to encourage that?'”
In answer to that question, Marcus and others on the board say that the county should rezone agricultural land along highways and railroad tracks so that businesses and industry can use it.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho agrees, saying that making such zoning changes will be a good sign to business and industry that San Benito is serious about them coming to the county.
“I think in the past this county has been anti-everything – anti-growth, anti-business,” Botelho said, adding that he thinks that needs to change.
While zoning changes addressed in a general plan update may help to create a business-friendly environment in San Benito County, some say that the county’s 1 percent cap on residential growth cap will continue to stifle economic development.
“In my view, new businesses and industries will not locate in San Benito County because of the high cost of housing caused by the limited inventory of housing as a direct result of the 1 percent growth cap,” County Planning Commissioner Mike Smith said. “I believe the 1 percent growth cap directly stymies economic development. Without new businesses and industries, the county will continue to suffer from lack of economic development opportunities.”
Adopted by a previous Board of Supervisors in 2000, the growth cap was aimed at slowing the rapid residential growth that the county experienced during the 1990s and preventing the area from further becoming a bedroom community for Silicon Valley.
Though they agree that the growth cap was needed at the time it was passed, some supervisors think that it’s time to take a look at the cap and see if it is currently a help or a hindrance to the county as it makes an effort to attract new business.
Marcus said that he thinks that tweaking the growth cap is in order.
“A small increase to the growth cap is not going to have a huge negative impact on this county,” he said. “My feeling is that it’s too restrictive at this point. Good, logical growth is okay.”
Botelho said that he was also open taking another look at the growth cap. But, he said, he would want to insure that agricultural land and open space are protected before agreeing to any change.
“I think without question (the growth cap) is restrictive for business. But with saying that, I think we have an obligation, before reviewing or reevaluating that cap, to make sure that we have our resources protected through an updated general plan,” he said. “Through the general plan, we need to make sure our rural character is preserved and that appropriate areas are designated for increased growth.”
Board Chair Pat Loe says she supports the growth cap as it stands, but would be open to modifying it for projects that use some sort of density transfer program – through which farmers and ranchers to sell their rights to build residential units on their property to another party, in the form of credits. That party could then use those credits to build homes in other areas designated for higher density.
A group of several county residents is currently working to draft a density transfer program for San Benito.
Monaco said that if the growth cap has become restrictive, then it should be modified.
“Maybe it needs to be looked at,” he said.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
