Lack of public support and criticism from city officials urged
agency to rework their policy
n By Serdar Tumgoren Staff Writer
Gilroy – A regional land-use agency has significantly modified its draft farmland preservation policy in the face of criticism from Gilroy officials.
The Local Agency Formation Commission will hold a meeting 6pm Monday at City Hall to discuss the latest version of its Agricultural Mitigation Policy, which would require developers to preserve one acre of farmland for every acre of tillable soil they bring into city borders for development. Winning public support for the policy has proven difficult in Gilroy and Morgan Hill, the Santa Clara County cities most affected by the policy since their future growth will likely involve swallowing up unincorporated farmland.
LAFCO officials have tried to meet South Valley’s most serious concerns by extending the deadline for developers to preserve farmland, or in LAFCO jargon, perform mitigation. The options for developers include buying farmland or its development rights (a cheaper preservation alternative), or paying fees in lieu of purchasing land outright.
In the first draft, mitigation had to occur within two years of an annexation approval by LAFCO; in the latest draft, the time period has effectively doubled to three years with the possibility of a one-year extension. If preservation does not occur in that time frame, the city and developer must start the annexation process from scratch.
The agency has also softened its stance on new annexation requests. The first draft of the policy said LAFCO would not accept new requests unless mitigation had been completed on prior annexations. The latest draft states that new requests can be submitted, though the agency will consider the status of prior preservation mandates when considering new proposals.
“These were primarily recommendations from the city of Gilroy’s leaders,” said LAFCO Executive Director Neelima Palacherla. “We are still open to comments and that’s why we’re going out to the community.”
At the same time, the agency is being pulled in the opposite direction by environmental groups, whose leaders have demanded a tougher stance on the timeline for mitigation and have called the preservation ratio (one acre of farmland for every acre developed) woefully inadequate.
The Monday meeting is open to the public and will take place at City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St. The policy can be found online at www.santaclara.lafco.ca.gov.
