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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10191993 - IO.3 -3O. TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS I . £=E-.�•, Contra FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Costa County October 11, 1993 DATE: f>a c6U SUBJECT: REPORT ON PROPOSAL FOR 40 ACRE MINIMUM PARCELS IN THE AGRICULTURAL CORE AREA OF THE COUNTY (CLUSTERING) SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . RECOMMEND that the Board of Supervisors be prepared to act on the zoning proposal for 40 acre minimum parcel size for prime productive agricultural land located outside the Urban Limit Line within a month, when it is anticipated that the County Planning Commission will be prepared to make its recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, unless there is a full package of standards and policies available as is provided for in Measure C-1990. 2 . In the event that a full package of standards and policies is available at the time the 40 acre minimum parcel proposal is received from .the County Planning Commission, CONSIDER referring the entire matter back to the Internal Operations Committee for further consideration. 3 . FORMULATE recommendations enhancing the economic viability.of agriculture through expansion of permitted uses in the A-40 District, including but not limited to, bed and breakfast facilities, firewood sales, mushroom houses, and other similar uses . 4 . DIRECT the Community Development Director to add as a permitted use in the A-2, A-3, A-20, A-40, and A-80 Districts, with a land use permit, a regional produce stand which sells only agricultural produce but which is not limited only to produce grown on the premises . 5 . REMOVE this matter as a referral to the Internal Operations Committee. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOAR O 1 T E APPROVE HER r � ` SIGNATURE(S)- ACTION OF BOARD ON Gat o ber 19, 3993 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE -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 DATE SHOWN. G ATTESTED / �� Z 7 Contact: County Administrator PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF. CC: Director, GMEDA SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Community Development Director Dennis Barry, CDD County Counsel BY 'DEPUTY I.O.-3 BACKGROUND: One provision contained in Measure C-1990 provides as follows : The County shall establish standards and policies designed to protect the economic viability of agricultural land. These standards and policies shall include a minimum parcel size for prime productive agricultural land located outside the Urban Limit Line to 40 acres . These standards and policies may also include, but shall not necessarily be limited to, preservation agreements, conservation easements, clustering, establishment of an agricultural soils trust fund, and agricultural mitigation fees . On June 22, 1993, the Board of Supervisors acknowledged that the agricultural core rezoning was in progress and would be coming to the Board of Supervisors in a timely manner. On October 11, 1993, our Committee met with staff from the Community Development Department and the County Counsel . Also present were representatives from the Citizens Land Alliance, the Greenbelt Alliance, East County Farmers, the Agricultural Task Force, and the Audubon Society. Dennis Barry from the Community Development Department reviewed the attached report with our Committee. Supervisor McPeak had hoped to establish a "clustering" policy which would allow for up to four residences to be clustered on adjoining one acre parcels with the development rights on the remaining 36 acres of a 40 acre parcel to be permanently dedicated to the County. Both Community Development Department staff and the County Counsel 's Office have some problems with actually subdividing the property in this way because it may conflict with the adopted General Plan. A General Plan amendment would be required in order to allow clustered, rural residential units in the Agricultural Core at greater than 40 acre densities . Supervisor McPeak expressed her view that the Board should move ahead with the 40 acre minimum parcel rezoning in the Agricultural Core, regardless of whether the entire package of standards and policies referred to above is ready to go at the same time, particularly in view of the fact that Measure C-1990 was approved by the voters nearly three years ago and the rest of the standards and policies are optional, as opposed to the 40 acre minimal parcel size, which is mandated by Measure C-1990. It is noted that the implementation of whatever standards and policies are agreed to may require a General Plan amendment. Supervisor Smith expressed some concerns about moving ahead with the rezoning in the absence of the entire package of standards and policies . He asked staff what surrounding counties have done with similar situations . Mr. Barry noted that Contra Costa County has one of the lowest minimum parcel sizes for agricultural land in California. Other counties have minimum parcel sizes for agricultural land of 40-160 acres per parcel . We have also attached for the Board members information, the ,staff report from the General Plan Congress which provides additional background on this subject. The representative of the East County Farmers urged that the Committee' s report include a policy statement supporting clustering along the lines suggested by Supervisor McPeak, particularly if it is not going to be possible to actually subdivide the land as proposed by Supervisor McPeak. The representative from the Greenbelt Alliance urged the Committee to move ahead with the 40 acre minimum parcel rezoning, even in the absence of the standards and policies . Our Committee has urged the Agricultural Task Force and staff to move forward with the complete package of standards and policies . Mr. Barry anticipates that the County Planning Commission will forward its recommendations to the Board of Supervisors within a month. If the entire package of standards and policies is ready for the Board' s review at the time -2- I.O.-3 the County Planning Commission's recommendations are ready to go to the Board of Supervisors, our Committee would be happy to have the entire matter referred back to us for review and further consideration with all interested groups . Otherwise, we would urge the Board to move forward with the 40 acre minimum rezoning when the Planning Commission' s recommendations go to the Board. We also discussed the advisability of making some changes to the permitted uses within the A-40 District. Mark Evanoff, representing the Greenbelt Alliance, recommended that firewood sales be permitted at produce stands . We agree with this suggestion. Supervisor McPeak also suggested allowing produce stands which not only sell their own produce, but could also sell the produce of neighboring farms, thus allowing the economy of a somewhat regional produce sales operation. This type of produce stand should require a land use permit. Mr. Barry also noted other economic uses which had been suggested to staff, but which are not currently clearly permitted, with or without a land use permit. -3- Contra Costa County Community Development Department Date: October 6, 1993 TO: Internal Operations Committee er FROM: Harvey Bragdon, Directo SUBJECT: 1.0. Committee's Referral to Consider Clustering in the Agricultural Core This is a follow-up report responding to the Internal Operations Committee's request, from its June 14, 1993 meeting, on a proposal to allow clustering in the Agricultural Core. The direction given at that time was to consider a proposal which allows clustered rural residential development and the creation of four, one acre parcels to support clustered units, with the development rights on the remaining 36 acres dedicated to permanent agricultural use. Subdivision within the Agricultural Core - Based on an analysis of the requirements of Measure C- 1990, the subdivision of property within the Agricultural Core area to parcels smaller than 40 acres would be in conflict with the measure and its provisions as incorporated in the County General Plan. Although the law is clear in terms of this issue, there are provisions within Measure C-1990 to consider clustered, rural residential units. Clustered Units in the Agricultural Core as an Allowable Use- Although Measure C-1990 allows clustering of units, exisiting County General Plan policies limit clustering at the allowed residential density based on the 40 acre minimum parcel size requirement now in effect. If the intent is to allow clustered, rural residential units in the Agricultural Core at greater than 40 acre densities, a general plan amendment could be initiated which would allow more clustered, rural residential units, but without the benefit of subdivision. Zoning Issues In terms of allowable uses differences exist among the various agricultural zoning districts. The Agricultural Core Rezoning proposal, now before the County Planning Commission, is to rezone all properties in the Agricultural core to A-40. For instance, the A-2 (General Agriculture) and A-20 (Exclusive Agricultural District) allows for some uses, both as a matter of right and through issuance of a Use Permit, which are restricted in the A-40 (Exclusive Agricultural District) district. These differences are shown in Attachment B. Consideration might be given regarding how the A-40 district could be amended in order to reconcile the differences allowingfor expanded economic use of these 40 acre parcels. Design Guidelines - The Agricultural Task Force's subcommittee working on the clustering issue has drafted some preliminary provisions related to design standards for clustered developments and are included in Attachment A. These should be considered along with the clustering provisions outlined above. Attachment A Design Guidelines for Clustered Developments in the Agricultural Core Design Guidelines for Clustered Developments in the Agricultural Core - To provide assistance to Community Development Department planning staff in processing clustered development applications in the Agricultural Core area, the following design guidelines have been suggested and are described below and are intended to be administered at a staff level. • Architectural design, landscaping and fencing shall reflect a rural atmoshpere. These objectives can be accomplished by using traditional ranch-style or other appropriate architecture; low, open rail fencing is allowed and encouraged, provided that additional screening (chicken wire) is installed to sufficiently contain domestic animals; and appropriate, drought-tolerant landscaping to minimize the demand on the water supply. • To the extent which is architecturally feasible, new residential structures shall complement and enhance existing homes near the site, especially if those existing structures are historic to the agricultural use. • Location of clustered units shall be located, to the extent possible, next to existing roads and public services or on the highest part of the parcel (next to roadways). These design guidelines discourage the creation of new public streets to serve clustered residential uses to minimize maintenance obligations to the County. Private streets would be allowed if homeowners assume maintenance responsibilities. • The land area where the residential units are to be located shall be of sufficient size to support septic systems,if no public sewer is available. Alternatively,the leachfield for all residential units could be placed on the remainder parcel provided it does not affect the agricultural use. • Any landscaping or other amenities which are introduced by the clustered development shall not create any conflicts or problems with the surrounding agricultural uses. Attachment B Allowed Uses in the A-2;A-20;and A-40 Districts A-2 (General Agricultural A-20 (Exclusive Agricultural A-40 (Exclusive Agricultural District) District) District) Allowed Uses: Allowed Uses: Allowed Uses: (1) All types of agriculture, (1) All types of agriculture, (1) All types of agriculture, including general farming, including general farmin, including general farmin, horticulture, floriculture, nurseries horticulture,floriculture, dairying, horticulture, floriculture, dairying, and grenhouses,mushroom rooms, livestock production and breeding, livestock production and breeding, dairying, livestock production,fur poultry and grain-fed rodent raising, poultry and grain-fed rodent raising, farms,poultry raising, animal aviaries, apiaries,forestry, and aviaries, apiaries,forestry, and breeding, aviaries, apeiaries, similar agricultural uses; similar agricultural uses; forestry,and simililar agricultural (2) Other agricultural uses, (2) Other agricultural uses, uses; including the erection and including the erection and (2) Other agricultural uses, maintenance of sheds, maintenance of sheds, including the erection and warehouses, granaries, warehouses, granaries, maintenance of sheds, dehydration plants, huyllers, fruit dehydration plants, huyllers, fruit warehouses, granaries, and vegetable packing plants and and vegetable packing plants and dehydration plants, huyllers, fruit buildings for storage of agricultural buildings for storage of agricultural and vegetable packing plantes and products and equipment; products and equipment; buildings for storage of agricultural (3) A stand not exceeding four (3) A stand not exceeding four products and equipment; hundred square feet for sale of hundred square feet for sale of (3) A stand not exceeding two agricultural products grown of the agricultural products grown of the hundred square feet for sale of premises. The stand shall be set premises. The stand shall be set agricultural products grown of the back at least twenty-five feet from back at least twenty-five feet from. premises. The stand shall be set the front property line; the front property line; back at least twenty-five feet from (4) a detached single family (4) a detached single family the front property line; dwelling on each parcel and the dwelling on each parcel and the (4) a detached single family accessory structures and uses accessory structures and uses dwelling on each parcel and the normally auxillary to it; normally auxillary to it; accessory structures and uses normally auxillary to it; (5) Foster home or family care home operated by a public agency, or by a private agency which has obtained state or local approval (license)for the proposed operation,where not more than sic minors reside on the premises with not more than two supervisory persons; (6) A family day care home where care,protection and supervision of twelve or fewer children inthe provide's own home are provided for period of less than twenty-four hours per day,while the parent or guardians are away. Attachment B Allowed Uses in the A-2;A-20;and A-40 Districts A-2 (General Agricultural A-20 (Exclusive Agricultural A-40 (Exclusive Agricultural District) District) District) Land Use Permit Required Land Use Permit Required Land Use Permit Required (1) Allowable uses designated (1) Merchandising of (1) Merchandising of in §84-36.404; agricultural supplies and services agricultural supplies and services (2) Merchandising of incidential to agricultural use; incidential to agricultural use; agricultural suplies and services (2) Canneries,wineries,and (2) Canneries,wineries,and incidential to an agricultural use; processing of agricultural products; processing of agricultural products; (3) Canneries,wineries and (3) Cold storage plants; (3) Cold storage plants; processing of agricultural products; (4) Rendering plands and (4) Rendering plands and (4) Cold storage plants; fertilizer plants or yards; fertilizer plants or yards; (5) Slaugherhouses and (5) Livestock auction or sales (5) Livestock auction or sales stockyards; yards; yards; (6) Rendering plants and (6) Living acoomdations for (6) Living acoomdations for fertilizer plants or yards; agricultural workers employed on agricultural workers employed on �7) Livestock or sales yards; the premises; the premises; (8) Living accomodations for (7) Home occupations; (7) Home occupations; agricultural workers to be primarily (8) Nurseries and (8) Nurseries and used for temporary housing of greenhouses; greenhouses; agricultural workers while (9) Mushroom houses; (9) Mushroom houses; performing seasonal agricultural (10) Processing of milk not (10) Processing of milk not work on the owners property; produced on premises; produced on premises; (9) Commercial recreational (11) Dude ranches,riding (11) Dude ranches,riding facilities when the principal uses is academies, stables, dog kennels; academies, stables, dog kennels; not in a building; (12) Hospitals,eleemosynary , (10) Boat storage areas within and philanthropic institutions, one mile by public road of a boat convalescent homes and animal seRyaleseem hemse and an* launching facility open to the hospitals; public; (13) Churches,religious , (11) Retail firewood sales; institutions, parochial and private Astiluliene, pa (12) Recycling operations schools, including nursery schools; 99149818, inglud, , intended to sort and/or process (14) Community buildings, , material for reuse except for those clubs, activities of a quasi-public, , activitiies descriubed in §88-4.206; social,fraternal or recreational , (13) Museums in which character; ShafaeteF,- oibjects of historical, artistic, (15) Medical and/or dental scientific or cultural importance are offices and clinics; , preserved and displayed. (16) Boat storage area within one mile by public road of a public boating facility; beating leeiiity (17) Oil and gas drilling and production including the installation and use of only such equipment necessary and convenient for drilling and extraction operations; , (18) Commercial radio and (18) Commercial radio and television receiving and television receiving and transmitting facilities other than transmitting facilities other than broadcasting studios and business broadcasting studios and business offices; offices; (19) One additional single (19) One additional single famiiydwelling for members of the famiydwelling for members of the family within the third degree of family within the third degree of consanguinity; consanguinity; (20) Wind energy conversion (20) Wind energy conversion systems, except when used only systems, except when used only as as as accessory to an allowable as accessory to an allowable residential or agricultural use. residential or agricultural use. NOTE: Those uses ine4ikeewl are prohibited in the A-40 district. 1. Introduction r (2) Changes to the 65/35 Land Preservation Plan No change shall be made in the New General Plan after its adoption that would result in greater than 35%of the land in the County being permitted for urban development. This limitation shall not prevent any increase in agriculture, open space, parks, wetlands or other nonurban uses to greater than 65% of the land in the County. (3) Urban Limit Line To ensure the enforcement of the 65135 standard set forth in (BX1)above,an Urban Limit Line shall be established,in approadmately the location depicted on the illustrative 65135 Contra Costa County Land Preservation Plan Map attached as Exhibit A. The Urban Limit Line shall be incorporated into the Count y's Open Space Conservation Plan. The Urban Limit Line shall limit potential urban development in the County to 35%of the land in the County and shall prohibit the County from designating any land located outside the Urban Limit Line for an urban land use. The criteria and factors for determining whether land should be considered for location outside the Urban Limit Line should include (a) land which qualifies for rating as Class I and Class II in the soil Conservation Service Land use Capability Classification, (b) open space, parks and other recreation areas, (c) lands with slopes in excess of 26 percent, (d) wetlands, and (e) other areas not appropriate for urban growth because of physical unsuitability for development, unstable geological conditions, inadequate water availability, the lack of appropriate infrastructure, distance from existing development, likelihood of substantial environmental damage or substantial injury to fish or wildlife or their habitat, and other similar factors. (4) Growth Management In accordance with the Contra Costa Transportation Improvement and Growth Management Program adopted on August 3, 1988, the County shall manage growth by allowing new development only when infrastructure and service standards are met for traffic levels of service, water, sanitary sewer, fire protection, public protection, parks and recreation, flood control and drainage and other such services. Land located inside the Urban Limit Line may be considered for changes in designated land uses,subject to County growth management policies and any-other applicable requirements. Location of land within the Urban Limit Line shall provide no guarantee that the land may be developed. If land is developed within the Urban Limit Line, a substantial portion of this land shall be retained for open space, parks and recreational uses. (5) Agricultural Protection Policies; Minimum Parcel Sizes The County shall establish standards and policies designed to protect the economic viability of agricultural land. These standards and policies shall include a tmM*!*mum Darrel*j=for prime productive agricultural PRS �cz� land located outside the Urban Limit Line to 40 acres`—'mese standards and policies may also include, "/'T but shall not, necessarily be limited to, preserva—�ioonn agreements, conservation easements, clustering, establishment of an agricultural soiis'trust fund, and agricultural mitigation fees.. (6) Hillside Protection Development on open hillsides and significant ridgelines throughout the County shall be restricted, and hillsides with a grade of 26% or gmatershail be protected through implementing zoning measures and other appropriate actions (7) Changes to the Urban Limit Line There shall be no change to the Urban Limit Line that violates the 65/35 standard set forth in B(1) above. After adoption of the New General Plan,as long as there is no violation of the 65135 standard, the Urban limit Line can be changed by a 4/5 vote of the Board of Supervisors after holding a public hearing and making one or more of the following findings based on substantial evidence in the record: (a) a natural or man-made disaster or public emergency has occurred which warrants the provision of housing and/or other community needs within land located outside the Urban limit Lane, (b) an objective study has determined that the Urban Limit Line is preventing the County from ' providing its fair share of affordable housing,or regional housing,as required by state law,and 1-36 CONTRA COSTA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO: Members of the Agriculture/Open Space Subcommittee FROM: Eric Parfrey, Senior Planner Walter Kieser, Economic and Planning System Douglas Duncan, Duncan & Jones RE: Staff/consultant recommendations regarding minimum parcel sizes DATE: January 21, 1988 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This memorandum outlines the recommendations of the Community Development Department staff and its General Plan consultants regarding setting minimum parcel sizes in the rural areas of Contra Costa County. The memo responds to the action taken at your meeting of November 12, 1987, when the subcommittee voted to retain the five acre minimum parcel size in the A-2 zoning districts. Minimum Parcel Sizes in Other Bay Area Counties In a previous report, you will recall that staff summarized- the -range of minimum lot sizes that are applied in other counties of the region. Staff found that nearby counties such as Alameda, Solano, Sonoma, San Mateo, Santa Clara all have adopted minimum lot sizes for agricultural lands that are significantly larger than Contra Costa's predominant five acre minimum. For example, Alameda County employs a 100 acre minimum for much of the farmland in the Livermore-Amador Valley. In Solano County, most of the prime soils and grazing lands have been placed in districts that require 20, 40, 80, and 160 acre minimum parcel sizes. In San Mateo County, agricultural lands receive a density credit in the General Plan which allows one residential unit per 40 to 160 acres. Santa Clara County employs minimum acreage sizes of between 20 to 160 acres, while Marin County has zoned much of the agricultural land in the western part of the County in 60 acre districts. The proposed Sonoma County General Plan, which is now pending approval before the Board of Supervisors, sets parcel sizes for agricultural lands in the range of 10, 20, 60, and 100 acres. Napa County has protected its vineyard areas from urban encroachment by instituting a predominant minimum lot size of 40 acres. Thus, out of the eight counties in the San Francisco Bay Area that include substantial areas of agricultural lands, Contra Costa is alone in its practice of applying an extremely small minimum parcel size (5 acres) in most of its agricultural areas. 1. State Guidelines Regarding Minimum Parcel Sizes There are no State General Plan laws or guidelines specifically relating to minimum parcel sizes in rural or agricultural areas. However, there is a General Plan law that requires legal consistency between the policies of a jurisdiction's Open Space Element and the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances. In 1973, the State Attorney General offered an opinion that a two acre parcel zoned for residential use allowed within an area designated in a General Plan for open space or agricultural use would not meet the consistency requirement, while a ten acre parcel zoned for agricultural use would be consistent with the General Plan designation (California Attorney General , Indexed Letter 73-84) . This State legal opinion seems to indicate that zoning. which allows residential uses on minimum parcel sizes of less than 10 acres in areas designated as open space or agriculture in an adopted General Plan would be inconsistent with the plan, and thus subjected to legal challenge. In addition, the California Subdivision Map Act- includes a section which suggests appropriate minimum parcel sizes necessary to sustain agricultural use. The State Map Act prohibits the subdivision of lands under Williamson Act contract if the resulting subdivided parcels "would be too small to sustain their agricultural use. For purposes of this section, land shall be presumed to be in parcels too small to sustain their agricultural use if the land is (1) less than 10 acres in size in the case of prime agricultural land, or (2) less than 40 acres in size in the case of land which is not prime agricultural land" (California Subdivision Map Act, Government Code 66474.4) . Existing General Plan Policies Regarding Minimum Parcel Size- The current County General Plan, in conjunction with the Zoning Ordinance, allows a property owner the right to apply for subdivision down to a minimum parcel size of 5 acres in most rural areas of the County which are designated as "General Open Space" in the plan and zoned General Agriculture (A-2) . Lands under Williamson Act contract are currently designated "Agricultural Preserve" in the General Plan and are zoned A-4, which requires a 20 acre minimum parcel size. A smaller number of areas in the County are zoned Heavy Agriculture (A-3) , which carries a 10 acre minimum. However, there are several locations in the County where policies in the General Plan are more restrictive, and thus over-rule, the lot size allowed in A-2 districts. Prime farmlands around Brentwood are designated as "Agricultural Core" in the East County Area General Plan, adopted in 1978, which requires 10 acre lots. Lands in the Delta area are designated in the same area plan as "Agriculture-Recreation" and carry a 20 acre minimum parcel size. In addition, the Port Costa Area General Plan, adopted in 1980, includes a policy that mandates a 20 acre minimum parcel size for all lands designated as open space. And in the Morgan Territory Road area, the adopted General Plan discourages all further subdivisions of designated agricultural lands. In the Dougherty-Tassajara area east of San Ramon, the Board of Supervisors in 1981 rezoned a very large area of approximately 28,500 acres from the predominantly A-2 zoning to new zoning categories of A-20, A-40, and A-80, which require minimum parcel sizes of 20, 40, and 80 acres, respectively. In the Orinda area, the County has also adopted A-80 minimum lot sizes for most of the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) watershed lands. 2. ,f Housing in Agricultural Areas Under the proposed agricultural land use categories outlined below, one residential unit may be permitted per parcel , resulting in a maximum residential density equal to the minimum parcel size applicable in each category. Two exceptions to this density regulation are recommended by staff, when either an Agricultural Housing Provision or a Planned Agriculture Combining District is applied to the property. An Agricultural Housing Provision section would be included in the zoning ordinance under each agricultural zone. This provision would permit a one-time minor subdivision of any parcel within an agricultural category area into two parcels: a residential parcel no smaller than 2.5 acres and no larger than 5 acres in size; and a remaining agricultural parcel that must be determined to be of an adequate size to permit feasible agricultural operations. In return, the land owner would be required as a condition of subdivision approval to deed all future development rights of the agricultural parcel to the County or another appropriate agency, or record a deed restriction prohibiting further land divisions. The residential parcel created in this one-time minor subdivision would be intended for farm family member housing. This regulation is based upon a similar process that has been successfully implemented in Sacramento County. The proposed Planned Agriculture Combining District would be an "overlay zone" included in the zoning ordinance that could be combined, following a rezoning action, with any agricultural zone within the Rangeland General Plan category. The combining district would permit small , clustered residential developments in agricultural areas, subject to a "development plan" approach typical of planned unit development regulations (e.g. Contra Costa County's '- current P-1 zoning district) . This process has been sucessfully implemented in Marin County. The combining district would allow creation of a clustered residential subdivision with the number of lots equal to the original parcel size divided by the minimum residential density of the applicable agricultural category. This clustered development would only be permitted through the minor subdivision process. For example, a 320 acre parcel in an area designated as Rangeland, with an 80 acre minimum lot size, could be permitted four residential parcels and a remaining agricultural parcel , for a total of five parcels. As in the case of the Agricultural Housing Provision, the Planned Agricultural Combining District regulations would require that, as a condition of approval of the subdivision, the remaining agricultural parcel deed all future development rights to the County or other appropriate agency, or record a deed restriction prohibiting further subdivision of the property. Parcel sizes within a planned residential cluster would need to be large enough to permit on-site sewer and water systems (septic tanks and wells) , where they can meet applicable health and safety standards. Generally speaking, this requirement would result in parcels approximately 2 acres in size. 3. Proposed New General Plan Categories and Parcel Sizes t The Planning Congress was presented with staff recommendations regarding proposed new General Plan categories at their meeting of October 15th. The new urban and open space categories were outlined in a memorandum dated October 9, 1987. The open space/agricultural land use categories that are described below are generally consistent with that memorandum and with the categories that have been used by staff in the preparation of the draft land use sketch plan presented to the Planning Congress in January, 1988. The only deviation from the land use categories originally proposed by staff is the inclusion of one additional category ("Intensive Agricultural Lands"), which is one more subgroup under the broad "Agricultural Lands" category. Agricultural Core This category would be applied only to those lands in the Brentwood area which are described as Class I or II soils by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service. The area would correspond with the "Agricultural Core" designation now used in the 1978 East County Area General Plar. The category would not be applied to, isolated areas of prime lands, such as narrow bands of land along water courses outside irrigation district boundaries. The current minimum lot size allowed for properties included in the Agricultural Core category is 10 acres. Staff believes this minimum should be raised to 40 acres in order to prevent further parcelization of the prime lands. Raising the minimum lot size for prime lands to 40 acres would then ensure consistency between the stated General Plan policies to protect these Class I and II soils from urban encroachment and the implementing zoning laws. Instituting a 40 acre minimum would bring Contra Costa County into the parcel range employed by the State of California and most other jurisdictions when designating prime agricultural lands. Intensive Agricultural Lands This new land use designation would be applied to agricultural lands that are not within the Agricultural Core, are not within flood prone areas in the Delta, and are not hilly areas in the County used primarily for livestock grazing and related activities. The category would include generally flat agri- cultural lands capable of intensive production of orchard fruits and nuts, row crops, and other irrigated and dry crops. 4. v � . Staff recommends that the new Intensive Agricultural Lands designation carry a minimum lot size of 20 acres. This minimum lot size would recognize that many of the agricultural operations in this category in the East County area, such as the small to medium size orchards, have historically been in relatively small parcels. Rangelands The Rangelands category would be applied to lands that are primarily in production for cattle grazing or associated dry grain farming. Much of these ranch and grazing lands are located in the Mt. Diablo and Briones Hills areas of steep terrain with slopes over 20%. Staff proposes that these grazing lands be designated with a much higher minimum parcel size than is currently in effect. The reasons for raising the minimum lot size are several . The new County General Plan is intended to include the adoption of an urban limit line, which would effectively place many of these hilly areas off limits to urban development during the planning period. Any significant new residential uses would not be permitted to be introduced into these areas through conventional minor subdivision applications based upon the current five acre minimum, but would be regulated through the adoption of the proposed Agricultural Housing Provision and Planned Agricultural Combining District, which will allow a limited number of nonconforming, smaller parcels to be created. Thus, adopted General Plan policies and accompanying zoning should not encourage the incremental parcelization of these areas over time. Rather_, the updated plan should seek to retain these agricultural lands in viable economic grazing units, which are generally of large size (a quarter section, 160 acres, or more) . Staff recommends that the Extensive Agricultural Lands category require a minimum parcel size of 80 acres. This lot size would be consistent with the zoning that has already been adopted for a large section of grazing land in the Tassajara area, and .would bring General Plan policies and the Zoning Ordinance into greater legal consistency. Delta Recreation The lands in the Delta area of Contra Costa County that are now designated in the East County Area General Plan as "Agri- culture-Recreation" would be placed in this category. The intent of this category when created in 1978 was to encourage compatible low intensity recreational uses, such as marinas and duckhunting, in the Delta Island areas that are subject to periodic flooding. The designation encourages the continued predominant agricultural uses in the area. 5. Staff recommends that the minimum parcel size for these lands be set at 80 acres. Most of the ownership in this area is already in fairly large parcels, so only a small number of legal non-conforming - lots should be created with this increase in minimum parcel size. Open Space This category would be applied to all public and private lands that are not planned for any future urban development and/or are restricted by deed to open space use (e.g. some tidal lands; areas of common open space in PUD-type developments for which development rights have been deeded to a public agency, etc. ) . Staff recommends that no minimum parcel size be applied to Open Space properties. No additional residential density would be permitted in these areas, which are not planned for urbani- zation in the future. Watershed This category includes all watershed lands owned by a public utility, e.g. EBMUD or the Contra Costa Water District. As in the case of the other open space categories, staff recommends that no minimum parcel size be adopted for this•. category, in effect locking in the existing parcel pattern. Parks and Recreation This category would be applied to all public and some private lands that have been acquired for recreational purposes. The category would remain substantially unchanged from the current Contra Costa County General Plan, except that additional properties that have been acquired for park use since the last plan update would be designated. Staff recommends that no minimum parcel size be established for Park and Recreation properties. As is the case with Open Space and Watershed lands, these properties are not expected to be urbanized during the period of the General Plan. While some of these areas are composed of very large parcels, many of the community and neighborhood parks are of much smaller size. 6. _ h v 1 4 ' Water This General Plan category is applied to the 75+ square miles of County and city jurisdiction which is reservoirs, bay, or Delta sloughs. Most of this land use consists of the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bays, and the EBMUD reser- voirs. As in the case of the other open space categories, no minimum parcel size is recommended. eric 6/parcel .mem 1/19/88 rev. 1/19/88 1/21/88 7.