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The San Benito County Planning Commission voted Jan. 31 against certifying the environmental impact report for the John Smith Road Landfill expansion project following a three-month hiatus on the topic.
The commission also voted to deny a conditional use permit for the landfill and declined to recommend that the San Benito County Board of Supervisors certify the EIR or approve a General Plan amendment to change the land use designation from rangeland and agricultural to quasi-public.
The commission met Oct. 25, Oct. 27 and Oct. 30 to discuss various elements of the environmental report for the landfill expansion project. The project proposes to expand the existing 95-acre landfill by 388 acres to a total of 483 acres. According to the environmental documents, the waste footprint would increase from 58 acres to 311 acres. It would increase in altitude from 920 feet to 949 feet, which would make the landfill higher than the surrounding hills. The waste tonnage would also increase from 1,000 tons to a potential 2,300 tons per day.
The Planning Commission voted 4-1 to close the public hearing, reject the EIR and direct staff to return with a written finding for the denial of the conditional use permit. Commissioner Robert Scagliotti was opposed.
The recommendation to the Board of Supervisors to not approve the general plan amendment was passed in a 4-1 vote. Commissioner Richard Way was opposed.
Bre Moebius, legal counsel for the Planning Commission, said Waste Connections may appeal the commission’s decision. The appeal would be heard by the Board of Supervisors.
Any appeal must be made within 10 days of the decision, according to the county’s zoning policy. The cost for an appeal is $1,192, Victor Tafoya said Feb. 1 via email.
Before the vote was taken, Commissioner Celeste Toledo-Bocanegra said, “There is absolutely no one in our county or city that I know, personally, that would like to approve the expansion of the landfill.”
Commissioner Vincent Ringheden said he’d spoken to many people in the community and has not found anyone who wants out-of-county trash brought to San Benito County.
“I think I understand what the people that I’ve talked to want,” Ringheden said. “I think I’ll just end it like that.”
Scagliotti had no comment.
Commissioner Robert Gibson had concerns about changes to the EIR.
“We’ve been working on this thing for months. We’ve added and changed conditions and are trying to be fair to the applicant,” Gibson said. “But in good conscience, I cannot accept the statement of overriding considerations as-is.”
Forty-one people spoke during the public comment period. Thirty-nine speakers were against the landfill expansion. One speaker wanted the project approved and another was impartial.
Elia Salinas asked about the consequences of rejecting the project and the lifespan of the existing landfill.
“Because when the landfill closes in 12 years, not 15 years, what is the next option? A transfer station,” she said.
“You have three options before you tonight. Rezone, conditional use permit and EIR. Approve it,” Salinas said.
Salinas urged the Planning Commission to approve all three recommendations so that the Board of Supervisors can put the project on the ballot.
Robert Bernosky said the applicant, Waste Connections, should be allowed to respond to each concern before the board, the commission or voters decided on the expansion.
Bernosky told BenitoLink on Feb. 2 that he was not in support or against the landfill, but wanted to see a solution.
Speakers who opposed the expansion cited traffic congestion, noise and groundwater contamination as concerns.
Rudy Piche said his parents live on Fairview Road and knows many people who felt the impact of trucks driving on that road to the landfill.
“My friends and family and they lived there and they felt those changes,” he said. “They felt the trucks pounding along the roadways.”
Piche said if the project is approved and 1,000 to 2,300 tons are allowed on county roads, there will be a need for more than one proposed haul route.
“People are still going to hear, they’re going to feel their windows rattling especially during the summer months,” he said.
Tarasa Bettencourt also spoke about the project’s negative impact on the community.
“I am gravely concerned about the potential contamination of groundwater and air quality from the increased traffic fumes, landfill waste gasses and fire potential from those gasses,” she said.
She went on to say the EIR included mitigation measures, but that nothing is “fail-safe.”
Before the commission voted to deny the EIR, it voted 4-1 to deny Waste Connection’s request to continue the hearing on the project to March 6. Scagliotti was opposed.
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