Lea este artículo en español aquí.
A joint session of the San Juan Bautista City Council and the Urban Growth Committee (UGB) preceded the regular July 16 city council meeting. Under consideration were final changes to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding the development of properties directly outside the city limits.
The memorandum, originally proposed by UGB committee members Dan DeVries and Chris Martorana, would designate three concentric areas of county property outside the city limits as being of interest to the city, and propose that the city would have varying levels of input into any possible developments.
The MOU was drafted as a response to the city’s proposed sphere of influence (SOI), which is tightly drawn to match the city limits as a means of controlling growth. It affords some of the protections of a more broadly drawn SOI and would make the city the lead agency for decisions made in the immediate vicinity of the city. Final decisions would need to be approved by the Board of Supervisors.
“We are not expecting a yes or no from the county,” said Planning Commissioner Dan DeVries. “Our intention is to start a conversation that will end up with a friendly MOU with the city and the county as to what the expectations are should there be a development application within the area we care about.”
Council member Jackie Morris-Lopez voiced her support of the MOU, saying she would vote to approve it because “this is not the right time to have a conversation about having a conversation.” Council member Leslie Jordan agreed that creating an agreement with the Board was important before “something Amazon-like happens to us.”
Other participants were less supportive of the MOU. City Council member John Freeman said he opposed tightening the SOI and thought the MOU was “not ready for primetime.” City Council member E. J. Sabathia said he was fine with the three levels of concern but did not see a mechanism for making the memorandum work.
While complimenting the UGB committee on their work, Arial Goodspeed, principal planner for San Benito County, questioned the legality of making the city the lead agency on projects outside its boundaries.
Following the discussion, the meeting was adjourned for a closed city council session. Afterward, the city council meeting was called to order, and the vote to approve the MOU was moved to the top of the agenda. The council members had a final discussion, repeating comments made in the joint session.
During public comment, Chris Martorana said that he had felt “hobbled” by directions from the committee of Mayor Scott Freels not to solicit public opinion outside city government. He suggested that a wider discussion between city and county officials would be beneficial.
Following a short discussion, the council agreed to table the motion to accept the MOU and take up Martorana’s suggestion to invite the county’s legal staff to meet with the Urban Growth Committee to revise the MOU’s language and bring it back for a vote later.
The revised motion passed, with Freeman, Jordan, and Sabathia voting yes, and Morris-Lopez voting no.
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.
The post San Juan Bautista City Council to revisit memorandum on growth appeared first on BenitoLink.