Lea este artículo en español aquí.
Two weeks after dozens of farmers and ranchers pushed back against a proposal to change how farmland can be split, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors agreed to revisit the issue.
On June 24, the board voted to form a committee that will gather public input and suggest updates to the county’s regulations on agricultural land subdivision.
The committee will include representatives from the county’s planning department and assessor’s office, five members of the agricultural community, two county supervisors, one member from the real estate sector and one from a conservation group. The county plans to accept applications over the coming months so that the group can start discussing the issue in the fall.
Supervisors Dom Zanger and Kollin Kosmicki said it was urgent to revisit what they referred to as the “five-acre parcels.” Under current zoning rules, parcels designated as Agricultural Productive—intended primarily for farming—can be subdivided starting at 10 acres, with a minimum lot size of five acres.
The concern, Zanger said, is that this threshold allows land meant for farming to drift toward other uses.
“[We need] to preserve the ag productive land for legitimate farming,” he said. “What you have is a lot of five-acre parcels that are not ag productive, essentially. They are ag productive on paper, but they’re not actually ag productive in the real sense.”
The plan to change the minimum lot sizes was first introduced by county staff during an April meeting on the Ag Element as part of the county’s effort to update its long-term agricultural policies. Although the proposal was barely discussed and many of the stakeholders were opposed, the San Benito County Planning Commission not only approved it on May 21, but also increased the thresholds.
Under that proposal, subdividing land zoned Agricultural Productive would have required at least 80 acres, with a minimum lot size of 40 acres. For Agricultural Rangeland, typically used for grazing, the minimum would rise to 320 acres, with 160-acre minimum lot sizes—four times the current threshold. Rural zoning, which allows for very low density housing, would have retained its five-acre minimum lot size, while Rural Transitional zoning would have seen its minimum lot size double from 2.5 acres to five acres. When the proposal reached the Board of Supervisors on June 12, it was rejected. The board at that time agreed to create a public committee to ensure broader community input before moving forward.
Supervisors Angela Curro and Mindy Sotelo said the committee should also weigh in on another major issue under consideration: a proposed setback between grazing land and neighboring crops.
To address food safety concerns, the county is proposing an 800-foot buffer between livestock areas and adjacent commercial crop fields. That distance could be reduced to 300 feet if the landowner installs a barrier to prevent animal encroachment and receives approval from the agricultural commissioner.
“I understand we’re talking about ag zoning, but I promise you, we’re going to have the same issue come up when we start talking about the animal ordinances,” Sotelo said. “We could get ahead of that right now. We need the public’s input on this. We need the people who are in this industry to help us figure out some of these issues.”
Setbacks were also discussed at the April Ag Element meeting, with farmers and ranchers also expressing concerns. Following recommendations from Principal Planner Arielle Goodspeed and Director of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Abraham Prado, the board agreed to let county staff complete a first draft of the Ag Element before forming the committee. That draft is expected to be ready for public review in September or October.
“In planning, it is a good idea to outline your general plan policies,” Goodspeed said. “So all policies underneath, your zoning code or ordinances, fall in line with the general plan policies.” The next Ag Element meeting is on Tuesday, July 1, at the county building, 2301 Technology Parkway, or on Zoom through this link.
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.