County Supervisor Don Gage still seeking legal opinion
Morgan Hill – Some environmentalists are worried a regional land-use agency is drafting polices that are weak and unclear.
“It’s unclear if the (proposed agricultural mitigation) policies are weaker than other policies that aren’t described as advisory,” said Gilroy activist David Collier, accusing the Santa Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission of crafting “two tiers of advice.”
“If so, it’s bad practice for the commission to create weighted policies,” Collier said.
He made his point Tuesday Morning at a special meeting hosted by LAFCO’s agricultural subcommittee at Morgan Hill’s city hall.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage, a LAFCO commissioner and chair of the agricultural policies subcommittee, said he’s still unsure of how enforceable the proposed policies would be.
“I’ll ask (Santa Clara County Counsel) Ann Ravel for another letter of clarification so we know what direction we’re headed in,” Gage said. “The last thing I want is to open ourselves to a lawsuit.”
Since April 2006, LAFCO’s five-member governing board has endeavored to strengthen its state mandate to protect open space, focusing on generations-old farmland surrounding Gilroy, Morgan Hill and south San Jose. The commissioners asked LAFCO’s staff to draft a policy, resulting in a proposal for cities to preserve prime agricultural land as they expand their borders. Preservation would occur on a one-to-one-acre basis, meaning one acre of land preserved for every acre developed. Approval of land annexations from LAFCO would hinge on that environmental protection.
But city officials from Morgan Hill and Gilroy have attacked LAFCO’s “one-size-fits-all” approach to preserving farmland as cities grow. Gilroy Planning Division Manager Bill Faus, speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, said he envisions situations where parcels on the rural outskirts of town cannot be fully developed because they have roads and easements. Faus asked for an understanding on LAFCO’s part to lessen mitigation requirements in such situations.
“Roads across private property, that have been there for decades, should not be included in mitigation requirements,” Faus said, saying the same for drainage channels, utilities and other easements.
The issue ties to the Westfield Mall project in Gilroy, still in early planning stages, involving the conversion of roughly 120 acres of farmland outside of the city’s urban service area. Within the vicinity of the proposed mall lies a 230-acre easement along Llagas Creek, where farming exists today but development is restricted. If a mall goes up next door, there’s some fear the value of farms could decline.
“There’s 230 acres of agricultural land that could be lost without mitigation,” said Carolyn Tognetti, a Gilroy resident, suggesting the mall’s environmental impact would go way beyond pouring concrete.
David Bischoff, Morgan Hill’s former community development director who now works part-time for the city, said the sheer cost of preserving some farms while developing others might discourage private investors.
“Much of the unincorporated land around Morgan Hill has been subdivided into 10-acre lots,” Bischoff said. “That land value is much greater than other surrounding agricultural land. We may have a very difficult time preserving agricultural land within our sphere of influence.”
LAFCO’s commission will vote on whether to enact the policies at their April 4 board meeting.
