Before You Begin
- Hippo Harvest, an organic greens AgTech startup that uses controlled environment agriculture, robotics, and AI, to focus on growing sustainably while remaining affordable, previously filed a use permit application to build at Frazier Lake and Shore Roads.
- Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND): A Mitigated Negative Declaration is an environmental review document used under California law when a project could have environmental impacts, but those impacts can be reduced to a less-than-significant level through required mitigation measures. These measures can include things like traffic improvements, noise reduction, habitat protections, or construction restrictions. In simple terms, an MND means a project can move forward without a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) as long as specific conditions are followed.
Project Updates
On April 15th, the San Benito County Planning Commission approved the use permit and mitigated negative declaration (MND) with a 4-0 vote to allow the Hippo Harvest Project to move forward. The initial proposal, which included more employees at full buildout and a taller processing facility, needed to be changed due to environmental impacts. Those changes are as follows:
| Previous Project | Approved Project |
| 28 acres of greenhouses at full buildout | 30 acres of greenhouses at full buildout |
| 30- foot height of central processing facility | 23-foot height of central processing facility |
| 120 employees per day at full buildout | 60 employees per day at full buildout |
| Three detention ponds located within the project site | Eight detention ponds located within the project site |
The project will include four phases between 2026 and 2029 to full buildout, which will result in the construction of the 45,000 square foot facility, hoop houses, detention ponds, and traffic improvements. The full project will have 38 parking spaces, 2 semi-truct parking spaces, and ev chargers.
Hippo Harvest Conditions
The approval was not granted without conditions for traffic improvements. In addition to the concessions in the initial project design, the applicant will be required to:
- Prior to phase 2 occupancy, contribute $180,000 towards turn lanes on Shore Road.
- Prior to phase 3 occupancy, the applicant shall be required to improve the roadbed along the frontage of the property along Frazier Lake Road.
- Prior to phase 4 occupancy, contribute $100,000 towards the construction of a roundabout at Frazier Lake and Shore Roads (which was recently awarded federal monies as well).
- The applicant shall be required to retain a traffic engineer to monitor traffic impacts during the building of the project and recommend improvements.
The Hippo Harvest Project can now move towards the construction of the project.
Stay tuned for more.
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