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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 10191993 - IO.2 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 1 .0.-2 .. .. �_ ---� -°F INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Contra COSta FROM: f o; s County October 11, 1993 qsr�2'ourc c DATE: REPORT ON LARGE LOT REZONING SUBJECT; SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . REQUEST the Community Development Director, as staff have time available, to develop an overall strategy for the appropriate use of agricultural lands lying outside of the urban limit line and outside of the agricultural core, based on the attached "Agricultural Enhancement and Open Space Preservation Strategies" document. 2 . DIRECT the Zoning Administrator, effective November 1, 1993, to exercise discretion pursuant to Ordinance Code Section 26- 2 . 1206 to refer to the appropriate planning commission for review and decision all applications for minor subdivisions containing land outside the urban limit line to determine the appropriateness of the development in termsof its compatibility with agriculture, surrounding uses, and the topography of the area. 3 . ENCOURAGE all interested parties to submit issue papers to the Community Development Department on the subject of large lot rezoning so that the Community Development Department staff can take those viewpoints into account in preparing the agricultural strategy paper noted above. 4 . DIRECT the Community Development Director to report back to the Internal Operations Committee on January 3, 1994 on the progress which has been made on this subject. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: - YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOAR M I T APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE TE SHOWN. ATTESTED Conta'ct: County Administrator PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF cc: Director, GMEDA SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Community Development Director Jim Cutler, CDD County Counsel BY 'DEPUTY I .O.-2 BACKGROUND: On August 3, 1993, the Board of Supervisors directed that our July 26, 1993 committee report and the accompanying staff report on this subject be circulated to all of the cities, agricultural interests and environmental groups in the County for comment and that this matter be reported back to the Internal Operations Committee. On October 11, 1993, our Committee met with County staff and representatives from the Citizens Land Alliance, the Greenbelt Alliance, East County Farmers, the Agricultural Task Force, and the Audubon Society and again reviewed the staff report dated July 20, 1993 . No additional written comments have been received from any of the parties who were contacted following the August 3, 1993 Board of Supervisors meeting. Val Alexeeff, Director, -drowth Management and Economic Development Agency, distributed the attached "Agricultural Enhancement and Open Space Preservation Strategies" document which identifies the subjects on which the Agricultural Task Force is working, major staff efforts which impact this subject and other strategies which might be pursued. Staff noted that rezoning publicly-owned land would be a relatively straight-forward job, requiring some staff time and money. It is likely, however, that when the issue of rezoning privately-owned land is undertaken, considerably more controversy may be encountered, resulting in substantial delays in accomplishing what the Internal Operations Committee is interested in pursuing. Supervisor Smith suggested that the "Agricultural Enhancement and Open Space Preservation Strategies" document is a good start and that he agrees with the direction which is taken in that document. He suggested that it be expanded into a more detailed strategy guide. Supervisor McPeak suggested that as land gets steeper outside of the urban limit line, the County should consider going to larger lot rezoning, perhaps progressing from 20 to 40 to 80 area parcels . The other alternative would be for all minor subdivisions to go to the Board of Supervisors for approval so the Board can review development applications from the perspective of its compatibility with agriculture and surrounding uses . Following further discussion of this issue, our Committee has agreed on the above recommendations . We will review the progress which has been made in this area on January 3, 1994 and will report the matter back to the Board of Supervisors following that meeting. In the meantime, we are encouraging all interested organizations or individuals to submit issue papers, suggestions or concerns to the Community Development Director as quickly as possible so that they can be taken into account. In addition, it is our intent that the Zoning Administrator immediately begin to refer to the appropriate planning commission for review and a decision all minor subdivisions to insure that we are not inappropriately allowing development to occur in areas that would be incompatible with surrounding uses or with agriculture or with the topography. 2 isJ. -;a 41 Agricultural Enhancement and Open Space Preservation Strategies • Agricultural Task Force -An Agricultural Task Force has been established to assist the County on agricultural issues. That committee is considering the following issues: a. Drgft Right-to-Farm Ordinance - Agricultural Task Force developed a draft right-to-farm ordinance, which is an extension of existing State law, to provide more protection to agricultural operations. Status: Task Force recommends taking draft ordinance to public hearing pending County Counsel review. b. Agricultural Zoning Ordinance Revisions -Agricultural Task Force has met and discussed various ways to revise existing regulations which would benefit agriculturalists. Status: Being considered as part of countywide P-1 rezoning effort. C. Consider Establishment of an Agricultural/Conservation Easement Program - Agricultural Task Force examined the program in place in Sonoma County which relies on sales tax revenues for purchasing easements. Voluntary program by nature but because of reliance on sales tax (need vote) and because of present-day recession, the Task Force thought timing was inappropriate. Endorsed for future study. d. Agricultural Signage Program - The Task Force has developed specific signage recommendations as well as tentative locations for new signs which would be located in eastern Contra Costa. County staff is finalizing conceptual signage materials prior to routing to CalTrans staff for their review and approval. e. Transfer/Purchase of Development Rights Program - The Task Force discussed this concept.and felt that although concept provided an interesting way of allowing the transfer of development potential, there were too many technical issues to resolve. Thought additional expertise was needed to seriously consider this idea further. As part of Community Development Department sta,fs current work program, the following efforts are presently under way: • Agricultural Core Rezoning - As a follow-up to the adoption of Measure C, the County Planning Commission is currently considering rezoning of the Agricultural Core to A-40. It is expected to be forwarded to the Board in November, 1993. • Large Lot Rezoning Effort - The Board has authorized a rezoning effort to A-80 for 4 ' large publicly-owned major open space properties. Staff is awaiting further direction from the Board on rezoning of privately held agricultural lands. 1 • Clayton Area Agricultural Preservation Area - Clayton, Concord, Pittsburg and County staff have discussed the possibility of establishing an agricultural preservation area north, east and south of Clayton. Since Pittsburg had some reservations on this concept, efforts should focus on Concord and Clayton. Staff has discussed this approach recently and a follow-up meeting will be undertaken soon. • Keller Mitigation Funds-The board has established separate trust funds for agricultural lands and open space acquisition and related actions as mitigations to the Keller Canyon approval. Procedures for dispersal of funds have been devised and will soon be made operational. • Wetlands - The County has established a wetlands program committee to develop new programs and projects for wetlands enhancement and to increase the acreage of wetlands over time to conform with general plan policy. Mitigation banking is also being addressed. Other Strategies and Ideas • Involve the UC Cooperative Extension, the County Farm Advisor and other relevant agencies in terms of developing a program which focuses on sustaining the economic viability of agriculture here in Contra Costa County. Such a program would extend beyond the realm of land use planning and delve into and study the nature and characteristics of the various components of the county's agricultural economy. This effort could then be used to help further refine existing land use policy and regulations. • Develop a Land Use and Economic Strategy Document for Rural Contra Costa County - This planning document which like urban, land use planning documents would be targeted to those areas which are designated as non-urban by the County General Plan. The report would focus on land use .and economic issues facing agriculture. The document would examine the functional and operations aspects of the various components of agriculture in the County, and make recommendations regarding how to improve the regulatory environment to help sustain agricultural operations. Part of the study could be devoted to looking at perceived or real constraints which face agriculture today. Part of the document would focus on devising more refined policy strategies for retaining and enhancing the viability of agriculture in the County. It could discuss such things as agricultural land use issues, characteristics of the various agricultural activities (space requirements, use of chemicals, characteristics of a growing season and what types of crops are grown throughout the year, how urbananization affects ability to sustain a viable operation, etc.) the economics of maintaining various agricultural operations (row crops, field crops, ranching, orchards, etc.). Mat/AgSwmp.Txt 2 x U CONTRA COSTA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT DATE: October 1, 1993 TO: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator Claude Van Marter, Assistant County Administrator FROM: Harvey E. Bragdon, Director of Community Development James W. Cutler, Assistant Director of Comprehensive Planning� Y'�I l SUBJECT: LARGE LOT REZONING INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MATERIAL The report previously submitted to Internal Operations is still before the Committee to give direction to our Department on how to proceed on this subject. I am attaching 6 copies of that report for your use. On August 3, 1993 the Board directed we send this report to cities and potentially affected citizen groups for comment. We complied according to the attached mailing list and as of this writing our Department has not received any written response but several cities did call to get a better understanding of the content of that report. On Monday, October 11, 1993 at 9:30 a.m., 1 need to sit as Zoning Administrator on an item. I should be done by 10:15 a.m. If I could be scheduled after that time, it would be helpful. Thanks. JWC:gms p13:LgLotRZJwc Attachments (6) Ms2/RezBoard.Lab David Rowlands, Jr., City Mngr Donald Russell, City Mngr p City of Antioch City of Brentwood /t'1Q� 212 H Street 708 Third Street Antioch, CA 94509-0504 Brentwood, CA 94513 Thomas Steele, City Mngr Farrel Stewart, City Mngr Joe Calabrigo, Town Mngr City of Clayton City of Concord Town of Danville 1005 Oak Street 1950 Parkside Drive 510 La Gonda Way Clayton, CA 94517 Concord, CA 94519 Danville, CA 94526 Gary Pokorny, City Mngr Marilyn Leuck, City Mngr Robert Adams, City Mngr City of El Cerrito City of Hercules City of Lafayette 10890 San Pablo Avenue 111 Civic Drive 3675 Mt. Diablo Blvd., #210 El Cerrito, CA 94530 Hercules, CA 94547 Lafayette, CA 94549 Jim Jakel, City Mngr Ross Hubbard, Town Mngr Tom Sinclair, City Mngr City of Martinez Town of Moraga City of Orinda 525 Henrietta Street 350 Rheem Blvd. 26 Orinda Way Martinez, CA 94553 Moraga, CA 94556 Orinda, CA 94556 Donald E. Bradley, City Mngr S. Anthony Donato, City Mngr Joseph Tanner, City Mngr City of Pinole City of Pittsburg City of Pleasant Hill 2131 Pear Street 2020 Railroad Ave. 100 Gregory Lane Pinole, CA 94564 Pittsburg, CA 94565 Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 Jay Goldstone, City Mngr Rory Robinson, City Mngr Herb Moniz, City Mngr City of Richmond City of San Pablo City of San Ramon 2600 Barrett Ave. One Alvarado Square 2222 Camino Ramon Richmond, CA 94804 San Pablo, CA 94806 San Ramon, CA 94583 Donald Blubaugh, City Mngr Citizens Land Alliance Delta Board of Realtors City of Walnut Creek Attn: Tony Souza 3711 Sunset Ln., Ste. A 1666 N. Main Street 105 East 10th St. Antioch, CA 94509 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 Tracy, CA 95376 Contra Costa County Board of Realtors Building Industry Association National Audubon Society 111 No. Wiget Eastern Division Mt. Diablo Chapter Walnut Creek, CA 94596 PO Box 5160 PO Box 53 San Ramon, CA 94583-5160 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 Sierra Club Contra Costa County Tom Brumleve Diablo Chapter Cattlemen's Association Farm Bureau 21 Anderson Circle Tom Brumleve, President 1512 Northgate Road Walnut Creek, CA 94595 5554 Clayton Rd. Walnut Creek, CA 94598 Concord, CA 94521 Greenbelt Alliance 116 New Montgomery Suite 640 San Francisco, CA 94105