Land Conservation (Williamson) Act Advisory Committee STAFF REPORT September 15, 2014 Prepared by: Claudia Stuart, Williamson Act Program Manager and Nick Hernandez, Planning Intern Subject: Discussion: Williamson Act Contracts for Properties with Conservation Easements Action Requested: Discuss the preliminary information provided by staff and provide feedback, including any additional information the Committee needs for its review and consideration of this issue. SUMMARY The Butte County Assessor s Office has requested that the Land Conservation (Williamson) Act Advisory Committee discuss whether parcels which have entered into perpetual conservation easements with private or governmental organizations should be allowed to enroll in the County s Williamson Act program. The Committee is asked to discuss whether this should be allowed, including what are the benefits to the County (if any) for extending Williamson Act benefits to properties where development is already restricted by conservation easement. At its meeting on June 2, 2014 the Committee responded to the Assessor s Office request by directing staff to provide relevant information for the Committee s consideration, including information about existing easements on Williamson Act lands. Staff requests that the Committee discuss the preliminary information provided below and provide feedback to staff, including any additional information the Committee needs for its review and consideration of this issue. BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION Staff provides for the Committee s consideration the following discussion of lands which have been placed under permanent protections in Butte County; as well as information about relevant policies and standards for the use, conservation and protection of agricultural lands under the Butte County Williamson Act program and the Butte County General Plan and zoning. Existing Protected Lands in Butte County The Butte County Geographic Information System currently shows approximately 1,450 parcels and 222,000 Butte County acres in the Williamson Act. Limited information is available regarding the location, extent, and characteristics of existing conservation easements in Butte County. The County Assessor s Office has been able to confirm that a minimum of 43 parcels comprising approx. 18,036 acres is under some form of conservation easement. Of these, 18 parcels comprising approx. 5,369 acres are also protected under the Williamson Act. Approximately 336 of these doubly protected acres are in nonrenewal and will exit the Act within 9 years.
Staff conducted visual inspections and GIS analysis of publicly available information to more closely estimate the extent and location of existing conservation easements in the County, using the following sources: Butte County Williamson Act lands (Butte County Geographic Information Systems) Butte Regional Conservation Plan (BRCP) State of California Conservation Easements Registry (www.easements.resources.ca.gov/) As shown in Table 1, the staff analysis identified the following acreages under various types of protections in Butte County. Staff estimates that a total of 106,357 acres, or approximately 10 percent of the County, is protected under some form of easement or other non-williamson Act protection. The extent of overlap between existing conservation easements and the Williamson Act is shown in Table 2. Easement Type (Information Source) Acreage Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area 3,903.7 Sacramento WMA 1,915.0 North Central Valley WMA 5,663.9 Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge 1,917.9 Additional Parcels Identified by Assessor 9,589.9 Existing Protected (per BRCP) 62,626.6 Other Protected (per BRCP) 20,740.6 TOTAL 106,357 Table 1. Acreages with Conservation Easement or Other Protections (estimated) Based on a visual inspection of aerial photos, the largest contiguous areas of conservation easements appear to be wetland habitat and rice-growing areas in the southwest corner of the County, adjacent to the Grey Lodge Wildlife Area; wetland and upland areas east of the Sacramento River in the central-western area of the County; the foothill oak-woodland area east-northeast of the City of Chico; and a pocket of parcels east of SR 70 immediately north of the Butte County line in the Honcut Creek area. Staff further estimates that a minimum of approximately 21,700 acres (20 percent of the area under conservation easements and 10 percent of all Williamson Act lands) are protected under both the Williamson Act and existing conservation easements (Table 2). Due to the limitations on readily available information about existing conservation easements, it is possible that a greater area is actually doubly protected in this way. Areas shown without acreages in Table 2 are assumed to be under state or federal ownership, and are thus not subject to Williamson Act contract. Easement Type (Information Source) Acreage Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area 1,524.7 Sacramento WMA N/A North Central Valley WMA 293.3 Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge N/A Additional Parcels Identified by Assessor N/A Existing Protected (per BRCP) 19,845.7 Other Protected (per BRCP) N/A TOTAL 21,662 Table 2. Lands with Williamson Act Agreement and Conservation Easement (estimated)
Key Existing Policies and Standards for Agricultural Land Agriculture Land Use Designation The Butte County General Plan provides the most fundamental level of local regulatory protection for agricultural lands through its Agriculture land use designation. The Agriculture land use designation allows the cultivation, harvest, storage, processing, sale, and distribution of plant crops, as well as roadside stands for the sale of agricultural products grown or processed on the property. The Agriculture designation also allows livestock grazing, animal husbandry, intense animal uses, and animal matter processing. More intensive agricultural activities such as animal processing, dairies, hog farms, stables, forestry and logging, and mining and oil extraction, are permitted with the approval of a Conditional Use Permit. As discussed below, alternative energy facilities are allowed in the Agriculture designation, subject to permit requirements. Residential uses in the Agriculture land use designation are limited to one single-family dwelling and a second dwelling per legal parcel. Farm labor housing is also permitted. The minimum parcel size is between 20 and 160 acres, although existing parcels smaller than the minimum may remain as legal parcels. Changes to the standards, location, or extent of the Agriculture land use designation must be approved by the Board of Supervisors. Permitting for Solar Energy Facilities on Agricultural Land Alternative energy facilities are allowed in the Agriculture designation, subject to permit requirements. Minor and accessory solar energy systems of up to five acres are allowed in Agricultural zones on all types of agricultural lands. Intermediate and major public utility-scale systems are allowed on grazing lands, subject to Minor or Conditional Use Permit approval and Williamson Act restrictions. General Plan Policies Limiting Other Conversions of Agriculture Lands to Urban Uses It is a goal of the General Plan that Butte County shall protect its agricultural lands from conversion to non-agricultural uses (Goal AG-2). Under General Plan Policy AG-P2.2, the County supports private conservation easements as a tool for agricultural conservation, continued agricultural use, agricultural supportive uses, tax breaks and similar goals. Under Policy AG-P2.3, redesignation and rezoning of land designated as Agriculture to an urban designation shall be allowed only when the applicant can demonstrate specific criteria, including the following: a. The lot(s) for which the conversion are requested is adjacent to uses other than agriculture or agricultural support uses. b. The conversion will not be detrimental to existing agricultural operations. c. The conversion land is adjacent to existing urban infrastructure and conversion will constitute a logical contiguous extension of a designated urban area. d. No feasible alternative exists that is less detrimental to agriculture. Policy AG-P2.4 directs that rezoning of agricultural land to agricultural zones with lower parcel size restrictions shall be minimized and allowed only if specific criteria are met. Section 24-14.F sets forth these requirements, including: 1. The rezoning must comply with Agricultural Buffer requirements. 2. Building envelopes must comply with the Agricultural Buffer. 3. The County Agricultural Commissioner must verify an Agricultural Production and Stewardship Plan for the property. 4. The reduced parcel size must meet the terms of the applicable Williamson Act contract.
The General Plan includes a number of other goals and actions related to conservation easements for habitat, including Policy COS-P7.1: Conservation easements that protect habitat areas, habitat corridors and sensitive biological resources shall be promoted. Future development is also required to be consistent with the Butte Regional Conservation Plan (see below) under General Plan policies COS-P7.4, COS-P7.5 and COS-P7.6. Agricultural Mitigation Ordinance General Plan Action AG-A2.1 directs preparation of an agricultural mitigation ordinance in which developers will be required to permanently protect agricultural land of equal or greater value in place of land that is redesignated from Agriculture to a non-agricultural designation. The ordinance may include the option of paying an in-lieu fee that would contribute to an agricultural resource protection fund that could be used to purchase voluntary conservation easements or complete other projects that would protect and conserve agricultural land. The ordinance would establish mitigation standards that address the valuation and geographic location of agricultural lands. Action AG-A2.2 directs that the County shall encourage municipalities in Butte County to adopt similar agricultural mitigation ordinances. The Board of Supervisors discussed the draft Agricultural Mitigation Ordinance on March 25, 2014 and directed staff to bring it back with further information, including a discussion of changing the use of affected lands designated Agriculture to a habitat use only, as well as options for mitigation ratios (i.e., the amount of ag. land to be placed in an agricultural conservation easement for every acre of agricultural land converted to another use). Staff expects to return to the Board with this discussion in early 2015. California Environmental Quality Act The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) provides another layer of consideration prior to the conversion of key agricultural lands. The analysis of environmental impacts under CEQA requires local governments to evaluate the potential impacts of converting Prime Farmland, Unique Farmland, or Farmland of Statewide to non-farming uses. In 2006 the California Department of Conservation Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program (FMMP) estimated that there were over 649,000 acres of Prime Farmland, Farmland of Statewide Significance and Unique Farmland in Butte County. The conversion of Prime agricultural land to a non-agricultural use, or impairment of agricultural productivity on Prime agricultural land, is normally considered a significant impact under CEQA and would require preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Treatment of Conservation Easements under the Williamson Act Section 51256 allows rescission of Williamson Act contracts in order to simultaneously place other land within the county under an agricultural conservation easement (i.e., easement exchanges), as long as the land to be placed under easement is equal in size or larger than the land under the rescinded contract, is of equal or better quality for agricultural production, and subject to other findings and conditions. State statute also provides for rescission of Williamson Act contracts in order to enter openspace easements that are consistent with the Act. Under Section 51255, the easement must restrict the same property for a term not less than 10 years.
Under Rule 4.E (Procedure Regarding Existing Conservation Easements) of the County s Williamson Act Policy, Procedures and Rules Declaration, as instances of existing habitat conservation easements on Williamson Act land come to the attention of the County, the County will consult with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in determining if the land in question could be determined to meet the Williamson Act definition of a wildlife habitat area. The Butte County Williamson Act Advisory Committee s agenda for future meetings includes planned discussions of two properties (Circle 6 Ranch and Little Dry Creek Ranch) where habitat conservation easements have come to the County s attention. Other Habitat Conservation/Preservation Planning Butte Regional Conservation Plan Butte County is coordinating with the Butte County Association of Governments to finalize and implement the Butte Regional Conservation Plan (BRCP). The BRCP is intended to achieve regional land conservation and protection of species and habitat through future actions such as land acquisition and conservation easements. For example, the Plan includes the objective for vernal pools and seasonal wetland areas of protecting these by acquisition and/or conservation easements at a ratio of three protected acres per acre of vernal pool permanently removed. REQUEST Staff requests that the Committee discuss the preliminary information provided above and provide feedback to staff, including any additional information the Committee needs for its review and consideration of this issue. Should you have questions or need additional information for the meeting, please do not hesitate to contact me at cstuart@buttecounty.net or 530-538-7604.