This article is here in Spanish.

Save Mount Diablo, a 53-year-old Walnut Creek-based conservation group, is supporting a ballot initiative in San Benito County that would require a public vote on future conversion of open land to commercial, residential or public use, the group’s conservation director said last week.

The organization, which works to preserve open space in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is supporting local advocate Andy Hsia-Coron in his campaign for the “Empower Voters to Make Land Use Decisions” initiative, which qualified in June for the Nov. 5 ballot, said Seth Adams, director of the conservation group Save Mount Diablo.

Save Mount Diablo has distributed an unknown number of fliers and large-format maps to conservation organizations in San Benito County seeking input, Adams said. The group’s website lists San Benito County as one of 12 counties it supports in its work to protect open space in the Diablo Range, which runs through the eastern part of the county.

“San Benito County makes up most of the Diablo Range and is under tremendous pressure to grow. We’re pretty good at being part of that,” Adams said.
San Benito is one of the fastest growing counties in California, largely due to its proximity to Silicon Valley.

The environmental group’s support comes at a time when supporters and opponents of the initiative are facing off for the first time, less than three months before the election.

The measure would require voter approval of any project in unincorporated parts of the county that involves a change in zoning from agricultural, pastoral or rural to commercial, neighborhood, public or quasi-public. The San Benito County Planning Commission, appointed by the Board of Supervisors, will make those decisions today.

Opponents of the measure say its passage would discourage developers from pursuing profitable projects because voter recruitment campaigns would be too expensive.

They advocate new commercial uses of land at four locations along Highway 101, among others, to create jobs for local residents and generate tax revenue that would go toward road repairs, expanding the public library and improving parks.

Save Mount Diablo’s work shows that people from outside the county are trying to influence the direction of San Benito County, said Bob Tiffany, a former county executive and opposition spokesman. Save Mount Diablo had also supported the “Let Voters Decide” initiative of Measure Q, 2022, which was rejected by 56% of voters.

“Once again, it’s outside money and people from outside our county trying to influence the direction of our county,” Tiffany said. “I respect the disagreements of our own citizens much more than outside citizens getting involved.”

Proponents of the measure cite the protection of wildlife and the attractiveness of the district as a picturesque tourist destination as reasons for their support.

Anthony Botelho, also a former county commissioner and opponent of the ballot measure, said tourists visiting San Benito County contribute little to tax revenue because they rarely stay long enough to use local services.

“We have tourism here,” Botelho said. “We have Pinnacles National Park and that has barely affected our revenue streams. We have nothing to sell them. We have no gas stations. We have no hotels.”

The conservation group says it has not yet estimated how much of San Benito County – which is mostly pasture and farmland – is open to the public. 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’s in the county and give them an overview,” Adams said, but cautioned that it’s “not a hiking map.”

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