Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Zoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board removes gas stations, mini‑marts and fueling uses from agricultural zoning; votes 3‑2
Summary
The Board of Supervisors voted to remove gas stations, mini‑marts, alternative‑fuel and standalone charging stations from agricultural zoning tables, while asking staff to explore limited on‑site charging for existing ag businesses and to return with Measure A implications.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted 3‑2 to remove gas stations, mini‑marts, alternative fuel and standalone charging stations from the county’s agricultural zoning land‑use tables.
Planning staff had proposed multiple zoning code updates tied to the county’s ag element and broader cleanup; Ariel Goodspeed, principal planner, told the board the redlined draft inserted items the board had already directed staff to postpone and identified a subset of code clarifications that should return for adoption.
Goodspeed said staff had highlighted items to remove permanently from agricultural zoning and other items to postpone until the ag element is adopted. She told supervisors that uses such as wineries, tasting rooms and agritourism were already addressed in the county’s general plan and that the zoning code adjustments were meant to align the land‑use tables with those policies.
Board members who supported the change said agricultural zoning should not be the default path for fueling or retail uses that can become commercial traffic generators. Several supervisors asked staff to include language allowing existing ag businesses to apply for a limited number of charging stalls for customers rather than enabling standalone fueling sites across ag parcels.
The board also asked staff to return with analysis of Measure A and how general‑plan amendments and rezoning requests would be affected. Goodspeed told the board a general‑plan amendment and corresponding zone change typically require a deposit and can trigger California Environmental Quality Act review; for larger changes the environmental review can include an environmental impact report that may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The motion to remove the listed fueling and mini‑mart uses from ag zoning carried on a 3‑2 recorded vote. The board directed staff to prepare the implementing ordinance language and to bring back an analysis of Measure A’s effects and options for limited, site‑specific charging allowances.
