Santa Clara County officials remain out of compliance with state housing laws, which could put their agricultural tourism efforts in a race against developments proposing to pave over the Valley of Heart’s Delight remaining farmland — with or without their approval.
A San José Spotlight review of county builder’s remedy applications shows at least 20 projects, if built as proposed, would pave over land zoned for agricultural use near Morgan Hill and Gilroy in unincorporated South County. The projects would total more than 6,500 homes across at least 330 total acres of land, with 4,300 single-family homes and 1,200 affordable homes.
While developments are usually subject to scrutiny, these specific projects could bypass local building rules under builder’s remedy because the county lacks a state-certified plan to build 3,125 more homes by 2031. Of that total, 1,305 must be affordable to residents making less than 80% of the area median income. In Santa Clara County, that’s $146,100 for a family of four…