For years, farmers in South Santa Clara County have complained
that the many county offices in charge of approving new building
plans and permits are inefficient, disengaged and unresponsive,
resulting in lengthy delays in the construction process and
additional costs to the property owners.
Morgan Hill
For years, farmers in South Santa Clara County have complained that the many county offices in charge of approving new building plans and permits are inefficient, disengaged and unresponsive, resulting in lengthy delays in the construction process and additional costs to the property owners.
Wednesday, those farmers were given a chance to air their long-standing concerns to county officials at a forum in Morgan Hill organized by the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau.
In response, county staffers said they plan to improve the permitting process in the coming months.
Supervisor Don Gage, who represents South County on the board of supervisors, said improvements in the permit approval process are overdue. He said the inefficiency and redundancy in that process has been among the most frequent complaints heard at his office for a decade, but Wednesday’s meeting was the first time he can recall that farmers had a chance to voice their grief directly to top officials in charge of building permit approvals.
“Everybody (in county offices) talks about how they want to preserve farming, but you end up running them out of business because they can’t go through the process,” Gage said after the meeting. “These guys are working really hard to make it work, and if they don’t get a little help they’re going to stop doing it.”
County Director of Planning and Development Jody Hall Esser told farmers that one way they hope to help is by conducting regular “round table” discussions among the different departments involved in reviewing and approving site plans. They will also take a closer look at the use of arcane “ag-exempt” permits which do not allow more contemporary uses of many agricultural structures.
“We want to streamline the communications so you understand (your requirements) up front, and we can expedite the process,” Hall Esser said.
Most of the dozen farmers at the forum, which was also attended by Gage, Hall Esser and a handful of other county employees, shared his or her own horror story of epic delays in building permit approvals.
Pete Aiello of Uesugi Farms in Morgan Hill said he waited six years and applied for 14 different permits before the county approved his plans to build a 30,000-square-foot cold storage facility. He said he ended up spending “about a million dollars” in architectural, design, and other costs associated with multiple changes required by the county.
“What a grind,” Aiello said. “We found that the different departments were not talking to each other. I’d like to see the communication tightened up.”
He, and others in attendance, described how they would often submit plans and while one department said they were acceptable, another pointed out changes that had to be applied. They also complained that county staff reviewing their plans do not visit construction sites.
Furthermore, almost everyone complained that the county fire marshal’s office is “difficult to work with” because it imposes stricter regulations than many farmers believe are necessary for their property. Aiello said the fire marshal demanded that he purchase and install a 211,000 water tank for fire suppression, as well as half a million dollars worth of equipment “that’s probably never going to be (needed),” to diffuse potential ammonia leaks.
Hall Esser said she hopes to have another similar meeting later this year, partly to update the farmers on efforts to re-examine the ag-exempt permit process. These permits are issued for certain agricultural buildings and do not require the builder to get a structural permit, but prohibit some farm-related uses such as processing or storage. That makes it difficult for the owner to change the building’s use in the future, Hall Esser said.
Farm Bureau Political Affairs Director Jenny Derry said while local farming is perceived to be on the decline and acreage devoted to agricultural uses may be shrinking, the industry is rather still bustling with modern and consolidated operations.
“What we’re seeing is a new generation of farmers who are replacing the old generation with more, and younger, farmers who are bringing new thoughts,” Derry said. The volume of farm-related operations such as processing is growing in Santa Clara County, she said, and financially the local industry has “remained steady.”
