A farmland preservation policy could force developers to ante up
early
Gilroy – A regional land-use agency is asking cities for feedback on a farmland preservation policy that could spell big up-front costs for developers.
The Local Agency Formation Commission, an agency with veto power over cities’ annexation requests, is holding an Aug. 28 workshop for city leaders, developers and others interested in its proposed Agricultural Mitigation Policy.
The draft proposed by LAFCO staff members would require preservation of one acre of farmland for every acre developed. But unlike a similar policy in place in Gilroy, the LAFCO version would require developers to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars – perhaps millions – before they collect a cent on leases to restaurants or stores.
The LAFCO policy would apply to all of Santa Clara County and would trump Gilroy’s policy in any attempts to incorporate and develop land outside city limits. The workshop comes a month after Westfield Corporation, a leading developer of malls, filed a formal application at City Hall to annex 119 acres of farmland on Gilroy’s eastern border. The move represents the first step in the company’s plans to build a 1.5 million square foot mall east of the Gilroy Premium Outlets.
In its current form, the LAFCO policy could mean millions of dollars in up-front development fees for Westfield Corporation. Both the LAFCO preservation policy and the one in Gilroy target thousands of acres east of Gilroy as suitable for preservation. Both give developers the option of paying “in lieu” fees rather than purchasing land or its development rights, a cheaper alternative.
But whereas the city’s policy enables developers to pay fees or preserve land as they lease out spaces in a development, the LAFCO policy would require such mitigation to occur within two years of annexation approval by LAFCO.
The agency will hold a public workshop on the policy Aug. 28 at 10am on the 11th floor of the county government center at 70 West Hedding St., San Jose. LAFCO will hold a public hearing on the policy Oct. 11.
– The city will have to pay a $115,000 final tab for repairs to the newly widened Santa Teresa Boulevard, the city’s western traffic artery, according to City Transportation Engineer Don Dey. That figure is less than the $150,000 officials originally expected to pay to repair the western lanes of the road, damaged by water infiltration during the course of construction. In an effort to wrap up the project before the recent Garlic Festival, city officials agreed to split final repair costs with contractor Granite Construction, of Watsonville.
