Lea este artículo en español aquí.
San Juan Bautista’s Urban Growth Boundary Committee has revised and simplified a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the San Benito County Board of Supervisors to be sent to them for review and possible revision. If an agreement is reached on the terms of the MOU, it would give the city more significant input into construction projects in areas adjoining the city limits.
The committee reviewed the first draft of the agreement at its May 28 meeting. Committee members Dan De Vries and Chris Martorana proposed the original concept, which would have designated three concentric areas surrounding the city as being of varying degrees of interest to the city government.
In the previous MOU, the area closest to the city, the committee proposed that San Juan would be the lead agency in making construction project decisions, which would have to gain approval from both the San Juan Bautista Planning Commission and City Council. There would be less influence on the two areas further away from the city, with planners and the council having more of an advisory rather than controlling interest.
That MOU received a less-than-enthusiastic response from the City Council during a July 16 joint meeting. Councilmembers Jackie Morris-Lopez and Leslie Jordan agreed that some form of agreement needed to be made before, as Jordan said, “something Amazon-like happens to us”—referring to the Amazon warehouses that sprouted up in Hollister with little public notice.
Councilmember John Freeman described the previous MOU as “not being ready for prime time,” and member E. J. Sabathia said he “did not see a mechanism for making the memorandum work.”
The new stripped-down version of the MOU, drafted by Martorana, asserts interest in only the area closest to the city as defined by the planning area. Proposals for developments would go through the following process:
- City and county planning staff will meet to discuss proposals, inquiries and development interests at least quarterly or as they arise.
- When a paid development application is submitted to the County Resource Management Agency, the completed application will be shared immediately with the City Planning Commission.
- The project will be scheduled for an “informal project” presentation on the earliest possible Planning Commission agenda.
- The Planning Commission will provide formal feedback to the applicant and county staff. That communication will be a letter to the Resource Management Agency staff and Planning Commission for consideration.
- County and city staff will develop project conditions for the project that reflect city feedback.
- When the final draft of the conditions of approval is prepared, the Planning Commission will be provided a formal opportunity for input at their next public meeting. At that time, environmental studies will have been completed, and the mitigation of environmental concerns (traffic, noise, etc.) will be included.
- Feedback from the second or latest Planning Commission meeting summarizing the city’s analysis of the project and vote for or against support shall be sent in a letter to the Resource Management Agency staff and Planning Commission for consideration.
- If appropriate, the San Benito County Planning Commission will consider and approve the final conditions for the development. The city’s feedback will be given great weight in those deliberations. If approved, the final approval conditions and project documentation will be shared with the city Planning Commission staff.
During the discussion, Sabathia asked what would happen if a potential developer ignored the MOU and refused to consult with the city.
After a short discussion, it was agreed that Martorana would prepare a draft, with the assistance of planning consultant Erica Frasier, that would incorporate language saying that a developer’s application would not be deemed complete until they have satisfied the city’s requirements on new projects.
Since the meeting’s goal was to produce a draft MOU to present to the county as a conversation starter, the committee voted unanimously to allow Martorana and Frasier to make the modifications and begin a conversation with the supervisors without any further discussion.
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 to propose growth-limiting agreement to county supervisors appeared first on BenitoLink.