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In a meeting that appeared to underscore the county’s staffing issues, the San Benito County Planning Commission gave the green light on April 15 to Pescadero-based Hippo Harvest to build a 45,000-square-foot central processing building to grow, pack, and ship organic leafy greens.
The project, which would be located at 2370 Shore Road near the intersection with Frazier Lake Road, was approved unanimously after commissioners discovered during the meeting that road improvement conditions the county had negotiated with the applicant never made it into the draft resolution they were asked to approve. Commissioners rewrote those conditions from the dais before voting.
“It’s not the applicant’s fault,” commissioner Robert Gibson said. “This is staff’s fault—squarely.”
The new conditions include $180,000 toward turn lanes on Shore Road, a widening of the entire property frontage along Frazier Lake Road, $100,000 toward the design and construction of a future roundabout at the Shore Road and Frazier Lake Road intersection, and a commitment to make sure sales taxes from construction materials go to the county.
“We are really excited about the project in San Benito County,” Hippo Harvest CEO Eitan Marder-Eppstein said, “and of continuing the rich agricultural history of the county, working with growers and bringing business to the county.”
The project would demolish the existing residence and barn on the 80-acre property to build a central processing building and 30 acres of hoop house greenhouses, where mobile robots water, move, spray and collect data from crops.
“It’s kind of like a little automated tractor,” Marder-Eppstein said.
Three 1-megawatt combined heat and power microturbine generator units will power the greenhouses, while 25 acres of outdoor row crops will remain. The project will be built in four phases through 2029, reaching up to 60 employees at full buildout. Most of those employees, Marder-Eppstein said, will be hired locally.
The project was presented to the commissioners by Troy Lawson, an associate planner at EMC Planning Group. Director of Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement Abraham Prado said EMC had been hired to help with Hippo Harvest’s application after the county planning department went from five planners to one between August and November 2025.
Commissioners Robert Scagliotti and Robert Gibson raised questions about traffic impacts.
“I’m very concerned about the traffic impact,” Scagliotti said. “I don’t think it was done with a brand new type of traffic study. I think they just pulled some old numbers. There’s been 2,000 homes built south of where the project wants to be, and those commuters use it every day.”
Commissioner Vincent Ringheden said $50,000 for road improvements was not sufficient. The transportation assessment estimated a total of 102 daily trips of trucks and employee vehicles, Lawson said.
“It seems like they are getting off really easily,” he said.
Gibson responded that lack of attention to detail was “the issue we had with the previous public works director,” referring to Steve Loupe, who left the role in February.
After learning from Interim Public Works Administrator Deems Katada that road improvements had been negotiated but were not included in the draft resolution, commissioners discussed tabling the item.
Marder-Eppstein warned that a delay could cost the company the property, as the seller was unlikely to grant another extension.
County Executive Officer Esperanza Colio Warren then stepped in and told commissioners they could approve the project with the changes incorporated.
“All your concerns are addressed,” she said. “I know the applicant is more than willing to commit to the changes. They want to continue with the project.”
All four commissioners present approved the project—the District 5 seat is vacant—and construction is expected to begin this year, according to the project’s phasing plan.
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