PLN210005 (Guerra Walnut Harvest Warehouse Use Permit)

APPLICANT: Frank Guerra, Guerra Nut Shelling Co. OWNERS: Lorraine Guerra, Lorraine and Louis Guerra Trust, Albert Frank Guerra, Gary Anthony Guerra, Frank Vincent Guerra, Donna G. Howe Trust, Bruce H. and Donna G. Howe Living Trust, Anthony Andrade Trust, Gina M. Ryssemus, Mark J. Guerra, Curtis R. Miller Family Trust, Francine Ann Reich, Albert F. Guerra, Gary A. Guerra, Frank V. Guerra, Jeffrey A. Guerra. LOCATION: 1550 Fallon Road, ?-mile west-southwest of Fairview Road–Fallon Road intersection. APN: 017-060-009. REQUEST: To construct and operate a 33,120-ft² warehouse for walnut harvest storage with paved entry and parking areas on 3.15 acres as part of an existing walnut processing business operating elsewhere, which when established on this site would involve 10 on-site employees and five arriving trucks each 12-hour operating day at peak during October harvest, with reduced operation November through May and minimal activity June through September. GENERAL PLAN LAND USE DESIGNATION: Agriculture (A). ZONING DISTRICT: Agricultural Productive (AP). ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: State CEQA Guidelines §15061(b)(3) (common sense exemption with certainty of no significant environmental effect). PLANNER: Michael Kelly (mkelly@cosb.us)

The applicant proposes to construct and operate for storage of harvested walnuts from owner's walnut orchard.  A portion of the walnut orchard currently present on the land would be removed for the building plus its parking areas and paved entry, which together would cover 3.15 acres of the 20-acre walnut orchard property.  The warehouse would be part of the owner’s existing walnut processing business, which operates primarily in its main facility located inside Hollister city limits.  The great majority of the building would consist of goods storage, while 2,250 square feet would contain an office area, including reception, an employee break room, and bathrooms.  Additional storage would be found on a second level above and near the offices and would contain 3,000 square feet of storage.  Vehicular traffic arriving at the site would meet a 200-square-foot gatehouse.  Grading would take place with 250 cubic yards of cut material and 250 cubic yards of fill to form the building site, entrance and surrounding driveway, and drainage swale.

The applicant describes October as walnut harvest season, the warehouse’s busiest time of the year.  At this time 10 employees would be on-site with five trucks arriving each operating day.  The business would operate 12 hours per day, from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., on each day of the week in that month.  From November through May, one or two trucks would arrive daily.  In the remaining months from June through September, minimal activity involving weekly site maintenance and preparing for the following harvest would take place.  The applicant specifically acknowledges that the business’s walnut processing such as shelling would not take place here, with the current proposal limited to storage.

The 20-acre project site, mapped as Prime Farmland, has been used for orchard for many decades, with this proposal the site’s first building.  Properties in the area are all agricultural, including row crops and trees.  The site is not mapped as having biological or archaeological sensitivity and contains no Grade-1 soil.

The site is under the Agriculture (A) land use designation in the San Benito County 2035 General Plan.  This designation intends “to maintain the productivity of agricultural land” while also allowing “agricultural support uses, such as processing, wineries, and other necessary public utility and safety facilities ... .”  The plan includes a policy to “encourage services such as trucking, warehousing, and distribution centers in appropriate locations, to provide support for the economic viability of commercial agriculture.”

This property is also currently subject to the Agricultural Productive (AP) zone, a designation very similar to the General Plan A designation.  The AP zone allows agriculture in general.  The proposed storage is consistent with the AP listed land uses.  General Plan Policy LU-3.6 supports this by encouraging appropriately located warehousing in service of agriculture and its economic viability.

The draft Planning Commission resolution contains findings including one to state that the project can be seen with certainty that no significant environmental impact would occur and that the project is exempt from CEQA review.  Any impact would be limited to a level less than significant provided conditions of project approval, including standard practices and regulations.

Staff recommends that the Planning Commission review the staff report, hold a public hearing, and hear any proponents and opponents of the proposed project.  Staff further recommends that the Planning Commission consider Resolution 2021-___ and adopt said resolution, subject to the findings and conditions of approval included therein, in order to approve the conditional use permit under County Planning file PLN210005.