Board denies appeal and approves River’s Edge tentative map with conditions addressing water and fallowing

The Board of Supervisors on June 2 denied an appeal by Scott Raven and upheld the Planning Commission’s approval of the River’s Edge phase vesting tentative map and conditional use permit for a 43.26‑acre site in the San Miguel area.

Planning staff presented an addendum to the previously certified EIR and an amended project water demand estimate. The applicant’s updated materials including the amended water demand projected net water use of roughly 41 acre‑feet per year. The applicant also voluntarily registered about 42.5 acres of irrigated vines with the Paso Basin fallowed‑land registry; staff provided a revised condition that requires registration of those parcels prior to recordation of each tract phase.

The record includes technical disagreements raised by the appellant and public commenters about basin overdraft, prescriptive groundwater rights and whether the San Miguel Community Plan needs an update. Public commenters urged returning the matter to the Planning Commission; other commenters and the applicant argued the EIR addendum and evidence supported approval. County counsel advised the board that the Planning Commission had previously considered water impacts and that the revised addendum did not preclude the board from taking final action.

After deliberation the board adopted revised findings and conditions of approval (including a condition requiring registry of approximately 42.5 acres in the Paso Basin fallowed‑land registry and a standard indemnity clause), denied the appeal and approved the project.

What’s next: conditions of approval and the EIR addendum are part of the record; the applicant must satisfy conditions (including the fallowed‑land registry registration per the revised condition) before recordation of phased tract maps.