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The San Benito County Planning Commission has approved the subdivision of the property where the 30-acre commercial development known as the Betabel Road Project would be located. At a Sept. 25 special meeting, the commissioners passed a resolution that reconfigures property lines in agreement with the previous rezoning of the 111-acre property on Hwy 101 north of San Juan Bautista.
“The subdivision does not increase density or introduce new uses beyond what is permitted by the current zoning,” said Jonathan Olivas, an associate planner with San Benito County. “The proposed lot configuration aligns with current land use and density standards.”
The approval doesn’t change much in practice. The proposed visitor center and fruit stand, gas station and motel remain in the plan. The property lines have been redrawn to make them agree with the land use designations approved by the San Benito County Board of Supervisors in 2022.
Before the Planning Commission’s decision, the 111-acre parcel was divided into three lots: one zoned for commercial use and the other two for both commercial and agricultural use.
The approved resolution divides the parcel into four lots, two for exclusive commercial use and two for agricultural use, without modifying the proposed development. In total, as it was agreed two years ago, 30 acres will be developed and 81 will remain agricultural.
“The current designation of commercial and agricultural use doesn’t follow the property lines,” Anne Hall, one of the project’s leading engineers, told BenitoLink. “This resolution is trying to make the property lines agree with the zoning that was approved.”
This change in the Betabel Road project’s map doesn’t affect the legal battle in which it is immersed.
Pending lawsuit
In December 2022, Protect San Benito County, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the Center for Biological Diversity took the Betabel project to court, alleging that the county, in the process of approving the project, violated the California Environmental Quality Act, as well as state planning and zoning laws. They also charged that the approval violated Assembly Bill 52, which requires public agencies to consult with tribes when assessing a project’s environmental impact.
San Benito County Superior Court Judge Patrick Palacios dismissed the case in May 2023, ruling the petitioners did not file the lawsuit before the 30-day deadline.
In July 2024, the California Sixth District Court of Appeals reversed Palacios’ decision. It ruled that the challenge was filed in time to be considered. The case was sent back to San Benito County Superior Court, which is now studying it.
Several opponents of the development—among them, members of Protect San Benito County, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band—spoke against the adjustment the Planning Commission approved last week. They claimed that this modification, technically an addendum to the approved environmental impact report (EIR), can’t be made, as the project’s current EIR is being disputed.
“If the EIR is invalidated by the court as expected, then this addendum will itself become a nullity,” said Mary Hsia-Coron, reading a letter from the Center for Biological Diversity and Protect San Benito County. “The Planning Commission, at the very least, should wait for the outcome of the litigation.”
The new subdivision specifications resolved none of the opponents’ concerns about the project.
“We’re still concerned that there will be development in an area that serves as a corridor for mountain lions and other imperiled wildlife,” said Peter Broderick, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We should take the time to consider the environmental costs now. Once a commercial project like this is built, it’ll be too late to fix a terrible land-use mistake.”
During the Sept. 25 meeting, Herman Garcia, the head of the nonprofit Coastal Habitat Education and Environmental Restoration (CHEER), defended the project. He argued that those who claim the project had environmental issues “are all wrong.”
García spent more than six years clearing the portion of the San Benito River that runs along the property. Since he began restoring the river, steelhead trout returned to its waters after a 75-year absence.
“San Benito County is at the bottom of the barrel as far as the economy,” Garcia said. “We always have been. This is the first step for economic development in the county.”
Peter Prows, attorney for the Betabel project, said he is confident in the project’s merits. “We expect to prevail in this lawsuit so that this important charity project for children’s cancer can proceed,” he said. “The approval process fully followed the law.”
County planners argue that there is no need to wait for a decision on the lawsuit or to do a new EIR.
“Under the criteria of California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15164, the Betabel Commercial Development EIR adequately evaluates potential environmental effects of the currently proposed subdivision and that no preparation of a subsequent EIR is necessary,” the proposed addendum reads.
Commissioner Richard Way, who represents the district where the project would be built, opposed it. “This is being rushed through;” he said at the Sept. 25 meeting.
But the rest of the commissioners—with the exception of Vincent Ringheden, who was absent—voted in favor.
“Our community needs revenue,” said Commissioner Celeste Toledo-Bocanegra. “We don’t want more houses, and I understand that, but we need revenue; if not from homes, we need revenue from businesses. We do need businesses.”
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