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Save Mount Diablo, a 53-year-old conservation group based in Walnut Creek, has thrown its support behind a San Benito County ballot initiative that would require a public vote for future conversions of open land to commercial, residential or public use, the group’s conservation head said last week.
The organization, which has advocated for preserving open space in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is helping local proponent Andy Hsia-Coron campaign for the Empower Voters to Make Land Use Decisions Initiative, which qualified in June for the Nov. 5 ballot, said Seth Adams, Save Mount Diablo’s land conservation director.
Save Mount Diablo has distributed an undisclosed number of fliers and large-scale physical maps to conservation organizations in San Benito County for their comment, Adams said. The group’s website lists San Benito County as one of 12 that it follows in its work of protecting open space in the Diablo Range, which runs through the eastern portion of the county. Its map shows all of San Benito County, including the Gabilan Range, as belonging to the Diablo Range.
“San Benito County is the largest part of the Diablo Range and it has pretty tremendous growth pressures, and we’re pretty good at being involved,” Adams said.
San Benito is one of the fastest growing counties in California largely because of its proximity to Silicon Valley.
The conservation group’s support comes as the initiative’s proponents and opponents begin squaring off less than three months before the election.
The measure proposes requiring voter approval of any project in unincorporated parts of the county that involve zoning changes from agricultural, rangeland or rural to commercial, neighborhood, public or quasi-public. San Benito County’s Planning Commission, which is appointed by the Board of Supervisors, makes those decisions today.
Opponents of the measure say its passage would deter developers from pursuing beneficial projects because it would cost too much to run campaigns to woo voters.
They advocate new commercial use of land in four locations along Hwy 101, among other places, to create jobs for locals and bring in tax revenue that would go toward fixing roads, expanding the public library and improving parks.
Save Mount Diablo’s work shows that people from outside the county are trying to influence San Benito County’s direction, said Bob Tiffany, a former county supervisor and spokesman for the opposition. Save Mount Diablo had also supported Measure Q, 2022’s Let Voters Decide initiative, which was rejected by 56% of voters.
“Once again it’s outside money and people from outside our county that are trying to influence the direction of our county,” Tiffany said. “I much more respect disagreements coming from our own residents than when outside residents step in.”
Proponents of the measure point to wildlife protection and the county’s appeal as a scenic tourist destination as reasons for their support.
Anthony Botelho, also a former county supervisor and opponent of the ballot measure, said tourists who visit San Benito County contribute little to the tax base because they seldom stay long enough to use local services.
“We have tourism coming through here,” Botelho said. “We have Pinnacles National Park and that has made hardly a dent in our revenue stream. We have nothing to sell them. We don’t have gas stations. We don’t have hotels.”
The conservation group says it hasn’t yet gauged how much of San Benito County—which by area is mostly ranchland and farms—is publicly accessible. The group’s “Diablo Range Public Access Map” shows about 19% of San Benito County as “protected” land.
“The intent is to show San Benito residents what exists in the county and give them the big picture,” Adams said, though he cautioned that it’s “not a trail map.”
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