What is Strada Verde? Why do you oppose Strada Verde? Who is this group? Who is paying for this? Are you against all development? You say it will add to traffic, but didn't the developer plan to mitigate the traffic impacts? Isn’t the project going to create good-paying jobs for local residents? So what do we have to do to kill the project? Didn't we vote on this already? If the voters already voted to kill this project, why is it still in consideration? Even if this project isn’t ideal, isn’t it worth it for the money that it will bring in, given our current financial challenges? Where can I read more about the project?

FAQ

The Strada Verde project is bad for San Benito. It will replace our local farmland with warehouses, increase traffic and decrease safety in the county. Learn more about why we oppose Strada Verde below.

  • Question: What is Strada Verde?

    Out-of-town developers are trying to turn over 2,000 acres of farmland into industrial space with warehouses and an autonomous vehicle racetrack. Newport Beach developer Newport Pacific Land, Long Beach developer Floriani Development and cross-Pacific real estate investor Chenco Holding are backing the project. They estimate that their project will add 25,000 daily truck and vehicle trips to our local roads and leave us with low-paying jobs and pollution. The proposed entrance/exit point to the Strada Verde project at Betabel and US 101 will require all vehicles accessing the site from San Benito County to either travel north on Hwy 25 to US 101 South or travel west on Hwy 156 to US 101 North. Many of those 25,000 vehicles will be coming from San Benito County, thus adding to the already untenable traffic on Hwy 25 and Hwy 156.

  • Question: Why do you oppose Strada Verde?

    Strada Verde will make our traffic congestion worse, take away agricultural and open space in a prominent part of our county, and put our residents at unnecessary health risk. The site is right next to a chemical plant where large quantities of lethal chemicals are located and nothing should be built there. San Benito County residents deserve better than the proposed Strada Verde project. We already turned this project down at the ballot in 2020 (Measure N).

  • Question: Who is this group?

    This is a grassroots effort of several of the folks who helped defeat Measure N and/or helped Concerned Citizens of San Benito County. We have been discussing this issue for over two years and are frustrated. We are residents, business owners, and community leaders who value the unique character of San Benito County and want to protect it. We believe that the proposed project will permanently damage our community.

  • Question: Who is paying for this?

    There are many residents, business owners and community leaders who have come together to run this group and raise some money to get the word out. We are frustrated that the Board of Supervisors keeps wasting time and taxpayer money reviewing this project that the voters already turned down in 2020.

  • Question: Are you against all development?

    Absolutely not, we support growth. But this development makes no sense for San Benito County. The warehouses Strada Verde wants to build would bring hundreds of diesel-spewing tractor-trailer trucks into and out of the site every day, and provide low-wage jobs we don't want. The site is also right next to a chemical plant where large quantities of lethal chemicals are located. The chemical plant was intentionally located away from urban areas to prevent public exposure to lethal chemicals.

  • Question: You say it will add to traffic, but didn't the developer plan to mitigate the traffic impacts?

    The Strada Verde developers are offering to fund less than 5% of the transportation improvements needed to accommodate their traffic, leaving taxpayers to pay for the other 95%. That math simply does not work!

  • Question: Isn’t the project going to create good-paying jobs for local residents?

    No. The vast majority of the jobs created will be minimum wage, warehouse jobs for storage and distribution. According to Indeed.com, the average wage for warehouse workers in California is $18.30/hour. The developer is simply misleading our community by claiming that there will be plenty of high paying jobs. We deserve better.

  • Question: So what do we have to do to kill the project?

    We need to put pressure on the Board of Supervisors to stop reviewing this project, wasting time and taxpayer money. We do not trust the board of supervisors or their staff to act in the best interests of our community. The voters REJECTED this project and REJECTED development at this site. Despite this landslide vote the majority on the board of supervisors is still trying to move this project along toward an approval.

  • Question: Didn't we vote on this already?

    Yes! San Benito County voters rejected a very similar project in 2020 with almost 60% of the vote. How many times does the public and the voters have to say NO!

  • Question: If the voters already voted to kill this project, why is it still in consideration?

    The developers simply went back to the Board of Supervisors and asked them to reconsider it. Now the Board is wasting time and taxpayer money reviewing the project, when we have other important issues that need to be addressed and that require significant capital investment by our county.

  • Question: Even if this project isn’t ideal, isn’t it worth it for the money that it will bring in, given our current financial challenges?

    No - we can’t jeopardize our residents’ safety at any price. This developer has consistently overstated the benefits and understated the dangers to our community. The County’s own expert recently concluded that the maximum benefits of this project to the county would be less than 5% of the amount claimed by Strada Verde.

  • Question: Where can I read more about the project?

    Here are some of the publicly available documents that can help you understand the project:

    General Information:
    1. Project-Specific Plan
    2. Website screenshots
    3. Elections Code 9111 report (County commissioned in 2020)

    Information on Hazards:
    1. Offsite Consequences Analysis and Hazards Buffer Report - 1-page summary
    2. Offsite Consequences Analysis and Hazards Buffer Report - Executive summary
    3. Offsite Consequences Analysis and Hazards Buffer Report - Full report

    Information on County Deception:
    1. County Deception Report - Summary
    2. County Deception Report - Full Report

    Information on Traffic:
    1. CHP comment letter to Project
    2. Engineering report on Betabel/Y Rd access
    3. Hwy 25 Value Analysis Study
    4. Strada Verde Greenhouse Gasses technical report
    5. Strada Verde Noise technical report