Lea este artículo en español aquí.
After a couple of heated encounters regarding proposed changes to San Benito County’s zoning rules, county officials, agricultural leaders and other members of the community have resumed meetings aimed at shaping the future of the county’s farmland.
These meetings will culminate in the Ag Element, the long-term effort to update the county’s agricultural policies and embed them into the county’s General Plan.
Although the General Plan has a land use element, it doesn’t have a specific one focused on agriculture. The Ag Element is meant to fill that gap by establishing strategies to support and protect farmland. The agricultural policies update project is funded through a $500,000 grant from the California Department of Conservation aimed at strengthening ag policies, preventing farmland from being developed, preserving open space and supporting the local economy and food security.
At the July 1 meeting at the county building on Technology Parkway, the 10 stakeholders present—out of a group of 26—tackled three key issues: how farmland is defined, how it’s protected through mitigation, and which land should be prioritized for conservation.
County staff opened the conversation with two working definitions.
Prime farmland refers to land with the ideal combination of soil quality, water supply and growing conditions to consistently produce high-yield crops.
Farmland of local importance doesn’t meet that threshold but still supports, or could support, key crops that are economically or culturally important to the region.
The group agreed to use maps from the Department of Conservation’s Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program to identify these lands. But it also agreed to depart from the program’s requirement that land must be irrigated for at least four years. Several stakeholders expressed concern that developers could exploit this criterion by simply ceasing irrigation.
“Well, you just stop irrigating land for four years, and then all of a sudden you can develop it,” said San Benito County Supervisor Angela Curro.
The group reviewed a proposed mitigation policy that would require developers to compensate for farmland loss by preserving agricultural land elsewhere. County staff suggested a 3 to 1 ratio whereby, for each acre developed, three would be preserved. Stakeholder Joe Tonascia said the ratio should be lower.
“Two-to-1 seems more reasonable to me,” he said. “I sit on both sides of the fence. I haven’t developed any ground, but I’m also a farmer. If you’ve got a piece of ground that there’s no choice but to develop it, why should I have to go do 3-to-1?”
Jessica Wohlander from the nonprofit Green Foothills defended the 3 to 1 standard. “At 2 to 1, we’re still losing a lot of prime farmland,” she said.
The group also discussed where those mitigation efforts should take place. There was general agreement that the county should prioritize conserving farmland near Hollister’s sphere of influence, the area where the city is expected to grow over time. Planning Commissioner Robert Gibson suggested creating a permanent buffer zone between urban growth and working farmland.
“We have to figure out how to make a buffer so that you don’t keep encroaching,” Gibson said. “Otherwise, this whole thing is pointless. You can’t just say, ‘Well, we’re going to preserve this,’ and hope that this doesn’t happen here.”
None of the issues were resolved, and discussion will continue. Two more Ag Element sessions are scheduled, for July 22 and August, after which a draft will be released for public review. The meetings usually take place at the Epicenter on San Benito Street in Hollister. The final document is expected by winter 2026.
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.
You must be logged in to post a comment.