Supervisors locked in a 20 year extension on old rules as a favor to developers.
The Merced County Board of Supervisors continues to cow-tow to outside developers at the expense of smart planning and taxpayers’ pockets. On Tuesday, they unanimously voted to exempt the Villages of San Luis development, a project with no water and built on our pristine Westside foothills, from any new planning guidelines over the next 20 years. This exemption is before the project’s plan is even approved, and it comes right near the end of our General Plan Update. As the Merced Sun-Star reports, “The agreement will exempt the project from the possible effects of the Save Farmland initiative (Measure C) and other land-use changes coming down the line.” This is more about skirting new laws than making better planning decisions.
Supervisor Kelsey is quoted in the Sun-Star as saying it is just not fair to the developers to change the rules before they build, so that’s the reason our BOS granted an unprecedented 20-year free ride to ignore new planning rules that are put into place to improve our quality of life. What about the unfairness to people who live here, the local property owners and taxpayers who are left to clean up the mess from poorly planned developments? This project will be no different.
Another residential project, a 26-acre subdivision on the southeast corner of Henry Miller Avenue and Volta Road, was opposed by several groups but the Board voted to move forward with more sprawl when we have so many empty houses and plenty of land already planned for building houses.
The local housing-bubble burst resulted from this business-as-usual approval of ridiculous amounts of housing – beyond any reasonable planning for a sustainable, healthy community. It’s like our Supervisors are addicted to the false promises of developers. They just can’t resist housing tracts on ag and open space land.
It’s time for an intervention. That is exactly why Measure C was easily qualified for the ballot. Housing should be built in our cities with smart, urban-centered growth. Supervisors need to focus on true, sustainable economic development. We need the Save Farmland Initiative before it’s too late to ensure the vitality of our communities.
