Planning commissioners’ stipends double to $100 per meeting and
training sessions
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved pay
increases Sept. 5 for planning commissioners while giving the green
light to a luxury housing project.
Planning commissioners’ stipends double to $100 per meeting and training sessions
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved pay increases Sept. 5 for planning commissioners while giving the green light to a luxury housing project.
During their morning session, the board approved an increase from a $50 stipend per meeting to $100 a meeting for publicly held meetings and mandated training sessions – up to three meetings a month. The commissioners will also be reimbursed for mileage, travel and other expenses incurred during their duties as planning commissioners. The board will review the resolution and consider revisions every four years, starting in January 2009.
As they reconvened in the afternoon, Supervisors revisited an appeal submitted against a luxury home estate in San Juan Bautista. The San Juan Vista Estates project appeal came from Tracie Cone, a candidate for supervisor in District 4. The board first discussed the appeal Aug. 22 and continued the discussion to the Sept. 5 meeting.
While the board denied the appeal and upheld the planning commission’s decision to grant a use permit for the project, the board did require several amendments to the conditions of the project.
Conditions discussed at the August meeting include the right to require applicants to submit information for review by planning department staff. The information can include landscaping plans, color palettes, grading plans, elevations and photo representations of the proposed structures. Another condition stated that the lots may not be subdivided further from what is recorded in the final map of the project.
One of the touchier subjects included an in-lieu fee for affordable housing. The board voted that the applicant, developer or owner must pay $444,747.60 for affordable housing if they do not provide onsite affordable housing.
Other conditions deal with wastewater, deed restrictions and environmental impact measures.
