This public letter was contributed by Richard Way, San Benito County Planning Commissioner. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent BenitoLink or other affiliated contributors. BenitoLink invites all community members to share their ideas and opinions. By registering as a BenitoLink user in the top right corner of our home page and agreeing to follow our Terms of Use, you can write counter opinions or share your insights on current issues.
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Not so long ago, voters made it abundantly clear that they didn’t like the board of supervisors’ decision to create a new zone type, C-3, to permit development at their newly-designated commercial nodes. Although it was clear that the voters believed the referendum would stop development at these nodes, the supervisors simply rezoned them as C-1 to permit development anyway.
More recently, Newport Land Development pushed a measure to bypass the required environmental studies and commission/board approvals to construct the Strada Verde development. Although this measure was also soundly defeated, they have come back to the commission/board in the hope they will be approved regardless.
Even more recently, the massive Betabel project, including a 500-person event center, a 3-story motel, a gas station, convenience store, restaurant, outdoor movie theater, and more (yes, including – very incidentally – a “fruit stand”) was approved by the planning commission despite the vast majority of public speakers and comments being in opposition.
All of these show that the political process is broken in our county. If the appointed planning commission and the elected board of supervisors could be trusted to listen to the voters, we wouldn’t need something like Measure Q. Sadly, that’s not the case.
Having sat on the planning commission for a little over a year now, I have seen how it operates, and I’m not satisfied that we are performing the role intended for such a body. In particular, although we do always “tick the box” for having a public comment period at each hearing, it feels like most of us have already made up our minds by then, and the public comments are often largely ignored. We’re just going through the motions.
One way to solve this is with Measure Q, which eliminates the commercial nodes and requires a vote of the public before certain land uses can be converted to commercial.
A fellow commissioner recently wrote an opposing view, stating that he’d noticed in the “fine print” that the measure is about slowing growth. Sorry, that’s not the “fine print!” That’s printed on the campaign signs; it’s not some dark secret. He also stated that it would never hold up in court – but neither he nor I are attorneys or judges, and very similar measures in other counties already have held up in court, even on appeal.
Major projects, including the landfill expansion, are being rushed through the commission and the board for fear that Measure Q may pass. Acting to ensure these approvals are expedited while simultaneously pointing out the thereby-induced impotence of the voters is, at best, cynical.
The money against Measure Q is coming almost entirely from two sources – the Strada Verde developer and the landfill operator. These people are not “your neighbors.”
Please join me and take back our power by voting yes on Measure Q.