The San Benito Blueprint

1. Before You Begin
2. Rezone Strategy to Bring Higher Density
3. Development Examples In The Housing Element
4. Site Maps
5. Where Are We In The Housing Element Process?

Before You Begin

The San Benito County Board of Supervisors recently adopted its 6th Cycle Housing Element by a unanimous vote at the meeting held on May 20, 2025. The Housing Element is a policy document that outlines how a jurisdiction can reach its state-mandated housing goals. The full document can be viewed here.

Note: These sites represent the county’s obligation to fulfill their housing element requirements and are a separate process from the upzoning initiative discussed recently.

Rezone Strategy to Bring Higher Density

The county identified that with currently approved projects or projects in the pipeline that it had an additional unmet need of 168 lower-income units needed to address the 754 assigned units number from SBCOG and the state. In order to accommodate those units the county will implement what it calls a rezone strategy. This strategy is deemed necessary by the county because the amount of affordable units being constructed by developers in the county currently does not meet the number of affordable units needed. In order to meet the necessary amount of units the county used a complex formula that assumes 20% of units on this site will be affordable. The county notes the maximum number of units possible is 4,497 due to the zoning change but assumes that development will bring somewhere in the middle at 2,094 units.

The rezone strategy involves implementing a new zoning designation dubbed “Residential High.” Development on sites with this designation will be allowed for 25-40 units per acre. In this case, units could mean apartments, townhomes, or single-family homes. The rezone strategy involves 12 specific sites totaling ~99 acres that will be given this new designation. Further, the strategy also involves raising the unincorporated county’s maximum height limit to 36 feet (or about 3 stories) on these specific sites.

These 12 sites noticeably are in county pockets throughout Hollister or along the city’s borders. Projects submitted utilizing these properties will need to conform to the new zoning standards and any objective standards that the county currently has. Because these sites are listed on the county’s sites inventory, development on these lands that conforms with objective standards listed by the county will be difficult to deny. This will put pressure on future boards/planning commissions to see them through.

Development Examples In The Housing Element

The county mentioned several developments in Morgan Hill and Gilroy as examples of the potential development that could happen on these 12 properties. Mind you, the county’s height limit is 3 stories (36 feet).A few of the properties mentioned were:

The Magnolia’s Morgan Hill

Tenant-Ten Morgan Hill

Harvest Park Apartments Gilroy

Alexander Station Apartments – Gilroy

Site Maps

The maps below come directly from the county’s housing element. Properties in green will be given the new designation while properties in orange are projects that are currently proposed, approved, or under construction. The maps are divided into sections Southwest, East, and Northwest Hollister.

Where Are We In The Housing Element Process?

The county is heading towards the finish line in the housing element process. The county has adopted its housing element at the May 20th meeting but due to the delay the county now must complete the rezoning of these parcels by December 2025 or risk having the compliance revoked.

This is because the county submitted and received compliance more than a year beyond the initial 6th cycle deadline. Until the rezones are complete, the county is still susceptible to builder’s remedy projects along with the cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista.

Stay tuned for more!