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The San Juan Bautista City Council on Jan. 20 approved the city’s Housing Element, elected a new mayor and mayor pro tem and, after debating three options for re-striping Third Street, decided to maintain it as a one-lane/one-way street.
The major item on the agenda was the approval of the state-required 6th Cycle Housing Element, which followed a presentation by City Planner Arielle Goodspeed, an abridged version of the one she gave on Jan. 20 before the Planning Commission.
Housing elements are state-required documents that outline how a city or county will address housing needs for various income levels during a given planning period through “Regional Housing Needs Allocations” as set by the San Benito County Council of Governments.
San Juan Bautista failed to file a housing element for the State’s fifth housing cycle (2015–2023) and has already lagged behind in the sixth cycle (2023-2031), placing the city out of compliance with state regulations.
Not being in compliance has consequences, including up to $600,000 in monthly fines, limited access to state infrastructure funding, potential lawsuits from the attorney general or advocacy groups, and the loss of control over building permits, leading to the so-called “builder’s remedy.”
Asked by Councilmember Scott Freels for a “Cliff’s Notes” version of the builders’ remedy, Goodspeed replied that it allows applicants to “essentially submit a housing project that is not complying with your zoning.”
“It streamlines the permanent process,” she said, “so you don’t go through the normal planning process, so you lose control of the type of development and project review that goes into it.”
Under the current Housing Element, San Juan is required to account for enough available properties to build at least 88 housing units by 2031. The Housing Element itself does not authorize or approve any projects, but serves as a framework for filling the state’s requirements.
The Housing Element was approved by Councilmembers Aranda, Freels, E. J. Sabathia and Mayor Leslie Jordan. It will now be submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development and, if approved, will place the city in full compliance.
The meeting began with Jordan being re-elected to her sixth non-consecutive term as mayor, and Sabathia re-elected as mayor pro tempore. Jordan previously served as mayor from 2021 to 2023, then again from 2025.
As part of the agenda, the council formalized the process for electing the mayor, deciding against the idea that appointment as mayor pro tempore should, the following year, lead to the position of mayor, a subject of occasional discussion.
Stating that “nothing in this policy shall be construed to require or imply rotation, succession or advancement to either office,” it requires that the selection of mayor and mayor pro tempore be determined by majority vote of the council.
The council was also asked to make a policy decision on whether to permanently designate Third Street between Franklin and Muckelemi Streets as one-way or two-way.
Three options were offered:
- Keeping the current single-lane/one-way configuration with parallel parking on both sides of the street, for 72 parking spaces
- Restoring the pre-parklet configuration of a two-way street with parallel parking on both sides of the street, for 72 parking spaces
- Keeping the current single-lane/one-way configuration with angled parking on both sides of the street, for 81 parking spaces
According to the report submitted to the council by Douglas Pike, principal engineer at MNS Engineers, the three alternatives “provide distinct tradeoffs between traffic flow, parking capacity and street character, allowing Council to consider how best to balance mobility, economic vitality, and historic context.”
After debating crosswalk striping, the amount of striping necessary, the colors of the tactile warning pads to be installed at corners for disabled access, and the advantage of adding more parking to the often-crowded street and other issues, the council voted unanimously for the third option, the current configuration, but with angled parking.
The new striping will be implemented as an interim solution pending the more comprehensive final master plan, which may take up to three years. Along with the striping, the city may also include pothole repairs, crack sealing, new signage and a rejuvenating oil application.
In other business, the council approved street closures for the Arts and Crafts Festival (March 27–29) and the Great San Juan Bautista Rib Cook-Off (May 8–10). Roy Morales also announced that the city had ordered the fire engine approved by the council at the Dec. 16 meeting, which he described as “huge.”
The meeting began with a resolution honoring resident Georgana Gularte, who died at 90 on Dec. 21. It recognized her importance to the community as a founding member of the San Juan Bautista Historical Society, her leadership roles in the Native Daughters of the Golden West, the VFW Post 6359 Auxiliary, and the San Juan Bautista Library Auxiliary, and her work as a planning commissioner and member of the Historic Resources Board.
“The City Council of the City of San Juan Bautista,” it read, “expressed profound gratitude for her extraordinary contributions and extending heartfelt condolences to her family, friends, and all who were touched by her life.”
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