GILROY
– The chairman of the city’s farmland preservation task force
wants fellow members to consider saving open space, even though the
group is developing a plan aimed at saving agricultural land.
GILROY – The chairman of the city’s farmland preservation task force wants fellow members to consider saving open space, even though the group is developing a plan aimed at saving agricultural land.
Richard Barberi says the various interest groups involved with the city’s controversial farmland preservation bill should stop playing games. To appease developers, open space activists and farmland owners who want to sell their property, the task force should write a policy that allows for the preservation of ag land and open space, Barberi says.
Barberi believes such a policy would give developers more flexibility than a purely agricultural preservation policy. He also says the name of the most active ag preservation groups – Save Open Space Gilroy – characterizes its true mission.
“Let’s call this what it is,” Barberi said.
Barberi, who owns a 23-acre farmland parcel off Luchessa Avenue in Gilroy, says a recent court case between the California Department of Corrections and the Friends of the Kangaroo Rat – an endangered species – buttresses his opinion.
The case found that buying and preserving existing agricultural land did not mitigate for the loss of farmland when it gets developed into a commercial or residential use.
“It tells me that ag mitigation may not always be the way to go,” Barberi said.
Barberi is hoping a policy could be written that allows developers to preserve ag land or open space, depending on which version is most feasible per situation.
“Personally, I feel the goal of saving ag land is the purpose, and that’s what I’d like to see happen. I’d like to see open space get preserved, too, but it is a different goal,” said Connie Rogers, a representative of Save Open Space Gilroy. “There is a real issue here that this country is getting depleted of the land that supplies its food.”
In other ag preservation matters, the Home Builders Association of Northern California is roundly criticizing the city’s farmland preservation plans. The HBA is claiming that the plan will reduce the amount of housing that gets developed in Gilroy and would increase the price of homes that do get developed, among other complaints.
The ag preservation policy is not the only Gilroy item the HBA has contested. The association is watchdogging a city effort to redo its development impact fees after claiming they were set too high.
