Santa Clara County officials remain out of compliance with state housing laws, which could put their agricultural tourism efforts in a race against developments proposing to pave over the Valley of Heart’s Delight remaining farmland — with or without their approval.
A San José Spotlight review of county builder’s remedy applications shows at least 20 projects, if built as proposed, would pave over land zoned for agricultural use near Morgan Hill and Gilroy in unincorporated South County. The projects would total more than 6,500 homes across at least 330 total acres of land, with 4,300 single-family homes and 1,200 affordable homes.
While developments are usually subject to scrutiny, these specific projects could bypass local building rules under builder’s remedy because the county lacks a state-certified plan to build 3,125 more homes by 2031. Of that total, 1,305 must be affordable to residents making less than 80% of the area median income. In Santa Clara County, that’s $146,100 for a family of four.
Santa Clara County’s housing element only pertains to unincorporated areas, including some agricultural regions.
It’s one reason District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas last month proposed creating a new Office of Economic Development, to build a regional brand identity around South County agriculture as orchards and crops become strip malls and offices. Proponents argue it could make farmlands more commercially viable as they are — and breathe life into the sweeping rural landscape as a major destination for fruit-picking, wine tasting and weddings.
“I am committed to making sure that agricultural land stays agricultural and the county takes appropriate action to ensure that developers are held fully accountable to complying with every state law and local planning requirement,” Arenas told San José Spotlight.
But it could lead to another showdown between housing advocates and residents opposed to new developments changing their community. Arenas said she’s trying to work with both ideas — and agrees the heart of the issue is the county’s noncompliance with state housing requirements.
County officials submitted their fourth draft of the housing element for state approval on Nov. 1. The housing element details how the county plans to meet state mandates, as California sets new goals every eight years to account for population growth. The deadline for cities and counties to have their housing element approved was Jan. 31, 2023. All 15 municipalities in the county have had their plans approved, though most approvals came in late. Santa Clara County is two years behind.
“We must tackle our pressing housing challenges, while also safeguarding our invaluable agricultural lands, which are vital to our region’s economy by standing up for the needs of our community to provide opportunities for agricultural worker housing and support agritourism in Santa Clara County,” Arenas said.
Morgan Hill Mayor Mark Turner said there are multiple threats to South County’s romantic agricultural image. Some farmers are selling their lands because there’s no “next generation” to step up and take on the business.
“The county or state could step in and purchase those lands at a fair market value, that’d be great,” Turner told San José Spotlight. “These builder’s remedy projects do potentially threaten some of the land that could be used for agritourism. We’re seeing them pop up around our city, bumping up against Morgan Hill’s borders. (This) could create infrastructure problems for us because we would be assisting in calls for service that might be occurring in unincorporated areas, which puts a strain on our city services.”
South Bay YIMBY, the local branch of a statewide housing development advocacy group, hasn’t taken a position on the South County projects.
“Although we appreciate all efforts to remedy our regional housing shortage, we strongly prefer multifamily infill development that safeguards open space and encourages transit use,” Ilya Gurin, a South Bay YIMBY volunteer, told San José Spotlight.
But Gurin said these project applications only exist as a result of the county’s failure to complete its state-mandated housing plan.
“Any effort to specifically protect agricultural lands from builder’s remedy projects should not divert attention and effort from fulfilling the state-mandated housing element process,” Gurin said. “Even beyond the mandate, the county has a moral obligation to act quickly to ensure housing abundance, fair housing and long-term demographic and economic viability in its unincorporated areas. The two-year delay is not acceptable.”
Gurin said ensuring agriculture’s viability in South County doesn’t end with preserving the farms, it also involves planning for farmworker housing. Expanding agritourism, he added, would require an enlarged workforce, even as increasing amounts of South County housing are taken up by commuters from elsewhere.
It’s a brewing political fight that Visit Gilroy Executive Director Frank Johnson declined to weigh in on. But he agrees the time is right for South County to organize around tourism.
“I think we’re even behind places like Sacramento,” Johnson told San José Spotlight, referring to a city that has put its farming image to the forefront of city tourism promotion.
Sacramento started marketing the city’s agricultural image in 2012, and now hosts annual farm-to-table festivals. The city shuts down the Tower Bridge every year to line it with dining tables full of food picked from the fields surrounding the State Capitol.
“They call themselves the farm-to-fork capital. And guess what, they are,” Johnson said. “Perception is reality. They built a beautiful culture around it. Silicon Valley hasn’t.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.
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