Buena Vista Rd. residential project receives permit extension 

This article was written by BenitoLink intern Camille Mattish. Lea este articulo en español aquí.

On March 28, the Hollister Planning Commission approved on a 4-1 vote a one-year permit extension for a 100-unit residential project on Buena Vista Road. Commissioner Bella Rosales Castillo cast an opposing vote. 

Senior Planner Erica Fraser said the permits for the project were set to expire Aug. 26 and that the Municipal Code requires applicants to request an extension prior to the permit expiration. She also said it gives the Planning Commission the option to impose new conditions on a project as part of the extension review request. 

The project is known as the Woodle subdivision by Stonebridge Homes and is located on 9.3 acres at 1070 Buena Vista Road. It was previously approved by the Planning Commission on Aug. 25, 2022, said Fraser.

Location of the Woodle subdivision project. Image from the March 28 agenda packet.

Chris Patton, civil engineer with the firm Ruggeri Jensen Azar, said Stonebridge Homes expects to have the project to the Hollister City Council for consideration by August 26 but preferred to be cautious.

“We would rather not lose the current entitlements we have, so this is just a safety measure of taking this extra step to make sure that should anything happen, we’ve got our entitlement still intact,” he said.

According to Fraser, the developer is working on the final map which still needs approval. She added the developer applied for their grading and improvement plans and submitted the landscape plans for the developments.

Woodle subdivision site map. Image from the March 28, 2024 agenda packet.

She said on March 28, the Hollister Planning Commission received a letter from San Benito Agricultural Trust requesting mitigation to off-set the loss of farmland. Fraser noted that in the Mitigated Negative Declaration, which is required by the California Environmental Quality Act in some projects such as this, was used for a car rebuild shop and not farmland activities. Fraser did not clarify what type of mitigation was requested and the letter was not included in the agenda packet. 

“The city does not have any policy or program requiring that loss of farmland to be mitigated or offset, so we’re not recommending a change at this point to this project,” Fraser said. 

Commissioner Kevin Henderson said he liked the components of the project.

“It’s a good project,” he said. “I like the density, the way they reduced the lot size to allow for more density, which is greatly needed in the community.”

There were no other comments by the rest of the commission on the project or extension.

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