“Our peaceful, rural lifestyle is disappearing” — San Benito County voters will decide whether to limit growth.
Mission San Juan Bautista, left, and farmland are seen from this drone view in San Juan Bautista, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. Hollister is 45 miles south of downtown San Jose — a small town that can seem a world away from the freeways and office towers of Silicon Valley. But a measure heading to voters this fall could have big impacts on both communities.
As housing prices in the Bay Area have continued to surge, more development in San Benito County is bringing a new generation of commuters, a need to build new schools and stores, and losses of orchards and farmlands to become suburbs — not unlike what happened in Santa Clara County in the 1950s and 1960s, some say.
From 2020 to 2023, San Benito was the fastest growing of all 58 counties in California, according to the U.S. Census, growing by 5.6%. By comparison, the nine Bay Area counties each lost between 1% and 7% of their populations over that same time. Napa, Sonoma and Ventura counties already require voter approval to change the zoning and develop orchards, ranchlands, vineyards and farms. Backers of the ballot measure say San Benito County needs that protection also.
Ten years ago, San Benito County voters shocked the oil industry when they passed a ban on fracking. In 2020, voters also killed a plan to build hotels, gas stations and restaurants at four locations along Highway 101 south of the Santa Clara County line.
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