When most Bay Area residents think of San Benito County, they picture rolling ranches, majestic condors at Pinnacles National Park and the 227-year-old Spanish Mission of San Juan Bautista, which was featured in the Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1958 film “Vertigo.” .”
But increasingly, they also view the rustic county 5 miles south of Gilroy as a place to live.
The median sales price for a home in San Benito County is $790,000, half the cost of $1.6 million in neighboring Santa Clara County. Proponents of slow growth — arguing that Silicon Valley residents seeking cheaper housing bring too much traffic, sprawl and destruction of the region’s rural character — proposed on the November ballot in the San Benito County a measure that could significantly curb new development in that area. .
Measure A would require voter approval before agricultural or ranch land in the county is rezoned for residential, commercial or industrial use. This would require the construction of new housing, mostly in already developed areas, such as in the town of Hollister. And it would halt plans for truck stops, restaurants and hotels at four locations along Highway 101 west of Hollister. A simple majority vote is required for the ballot measure.
“We are heavily impacted by Silicon Valley,” said Larry Rebecchi, a retired professor who has lived in the Hollister County seat for 50 years and supports the measure. “People came here because housing is cheaper. The roads are terrible. Schools are overcrowded. We just need to slow down a little.
San Benito County had the fastest growth of California’s 58 counties between 2020 and 2023. In the previous decade, it was the second fastest growing, behind Placer County near Sacramento . Since 2010, San Benito’s population has jumped 23%.
Measure A is supported by a coalition of environmental groups from across the Bay Area, including the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, Green Foothills and Save Mount Diablo. They note that Napa, Sonoma and Ventura counties adopted similar measures years ago.
And they argue that San Benito County’s future is best built around agriculture, wineries, wildlife and tourism, rather than becoming a bedroom community filled with people who leave their cul-de-sacs at 5 a.m. morning to make a grueling commute to their jobs in San Jose. and the peninsula.
Opponents, however, say Measure A goes too far, limits property rights and could block local economic growth.
“This will harm the county’s ability to raise tax revenue for basic government services like public safety and road repairs,” said Anthony Botelho, a former San Benito County supervisor. “It would be devastating in the long term. This would stop economic development.
Botelho works for a Newport Beach company that is proposing to build a large project, Strada Verde, that would include a testing facility for self-driving cars, warehouses, stores and a hotel on 2,777 acres near the intersection of Highway 101 and 25.
He cited a study commissioned by the county this summer, which concluded that Measure A would cost the county $751,000 a year in lost taxes from hotels, retail sales and other sources through 2035 and eventually up to $14.8 million per year in subsequent decades.
Opponents include the San Benito County Farm Bureau, San Benito County Sheriff Eric Taylor, developers and some unions.
San Benito County may be growing rapidly, opponents note, but its population is starting from much smaller. Although its area is the same size as Santa Clara County, its population is only 3% larger – 68,175 residents in 2023 – about the same as Santa Clara County’s population in 1910.
Two years ago, voters rejected a similar question, Measure Q, 56% to 44%.
But this time, participation should be higher because of the presidential race. Like this year, the measure is attracting considerable attention from outside the region.
The No on A campaign website warns that “outside donors” are “spending a lot of money to deceive local voters.”
The No campaign, however, raised more money than the Yes campaign – $270,000 in total, compared to $166,000 on Tuesday – and most of it came from outside donors. Of the No campaign funding, 71 percent, or $191,000, came from the California Association of Realtors in Los Angeles and the National Association of Realtors in Chicago. Another $25,000 came from Bristol SB, a company controlled by Newport Beach developer John Patterson.
“Measure A would strip homeowners of the rights they have held for generations and local county government of its decision-making power,” said Beth Carbone, president of the San Benito County Association of Realtors.
The Yes campaign also has major outside donors.
Among them is Patty Quillin of Santa Cruz, a documentary film producer who donated $49,000. Quillin is married to Reed Hastings, the billionaire chairman of Netflix. Another Silicon Valley donor who contributed $49,000 is Charles Knowles of Los Altos, a Stanford-educated entrepreneur who started Rubicon Technology in the 1990s and then founded the Wildlife Conservation Network, a group that conserves cheetahs , elephants, snow leopards and other species around the world.
Save Mount Diablo, based in Walnut Creek, donated $40,000 to the Yes campaign. It says the area provides a critical link for deer, mountain lions, tule elk, condors and other wildlife moving through the area.
“San Benito County is the largest part of the Diablo Range,” said Seth Adams, land conservation director for Save Mount Diablo. “He has incredible resources. It’s a gem. This is a more important wildlife corridor than Altamont Pass. Any pressure we can remove from open space and agricultural land will lead to better preservation.
