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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 06151996 - 1.73 . . 1 -w f� 1 . 73 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS -L-- _ Contra �. FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator Costa •`< County June 9 1993 DATE: 'Ta Co yr SUBJECT: DRAFT COUNTY RESPONSE TO LAFCO ON SPHERES OF INFLUENCE SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: REFER the attached staff-prepared draft response to LAFCO on Spheres of Influence to the Internal Operations Committee for an in-depth review and report back to this Board in time to comply with LAFCO' s request for a response by June 30, 1993. BACKGROUND: On February 12, 1993, the LAFCO Executive Officer sent a memo to the County requesting input on the 1993 (ten year) review of spheres of influence. The Director, Growth Management and Economic Development Agencyhas requested that the proposed response be referred to the Internal Operations Committee so that it can be reviewed thoroughly in that setting before being brought back to the Board of Supervisors for final approval . LAFCO has asked for all comments by June 30, 1993 . CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: �Yy RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE �L APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE (S): ACTION OF BOARD ON Tune 15, 199' 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 T E DATE SHOWN. ATTESTED v /v -3 Contact: PHIL CHELOR.CLERK OF THE BOARD OF CC: SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY DEPUTY CONTRA COSTA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT DATE: May 25, 1993 TO: Internal Operations Committee Supervisor Sunne Mr-Peak, Chair Supervisor Jeff Smith FROM: Harvey E. Bragdon Director of Community D4 e SUBJECT: Draft County Response LAFCO on Spheres of Influence (SOI) On February 12, 1993, the LAFCO Executive Officer sent a memo to the County requesting input on the 1993 (ten year) review of spheres of influence. Her memo and the criteria for review are attached. Our staff has prepared the attached memo for consideration by the County in response to the Commissions request. Many proposed SOI changes are currently under active review on a project by project basis. These are being processed using the Commission practices in place since the last comprehensive review in 1984. That process has worked well for the County and has kept the County in charge of environmental review for these proposals. If the county were to request major shifts in urban service spheres, LAFCO, not the County would be Lead Agency. Financing might need to be generated from County revenues rather that by developers for EIR which could be required. HEB:JWC:aw miscawl/jcsoi.mcm DRAFT CONTRA COSTA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT DATE: May 25, 1993 TO: Annamaria Perrella LAFCO Executive Officer FROM: Harvey E. Bragdon Director of Community Development SUBJECT: 1993 Review and Update of Spheres of Influence (SOI's) This is in response to your February 12, 1993 memo asking the County's input on SOI's for Urban Service Agencies and for County Service Areas and Special Districts governed by the Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors has reviewed this response and directed it be forwarded to you. Due to the large and complex nature of governmental service within the County and to the broad range of County services provided to our citizenry, no simple line on a map or statement can adequately respond to your request. This response attempts to respond philosophically to the issue. As other agencies make specific SOI proposals, the County may further respond to those proposals. My office has been designated as the clearinghouse for review of such proposals. The main issues we see are: O AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION AGREEMENTS The Briones Hill Agricultural Preservation Agreement was originally approved in 1987, and called for the preservation of a 68 square mile area in the Northwest portion of the County. Because of the continual changing of staff and elected officials, the reasons for this political compact have dimmed in people's perception. In 1991 Pinole urged a SOI change to place EBMUD lands within the city's SOI in order to "control development." This lead to additional discussion with the nine signature agencies and that request was withdrawn. This simple agreement has been exemplary in unifying jurisdictions around the need to preserve the Briones Hills area in both public and private ownership. Unfortunately, staff and elected officials will continue to change and not know about the purposes of this agreement, some may request SOI changes into the area. Perrella, Page -2- May 25, 1993 It is our view that LAFCO should resist all efforts to expand SOI's into the Briones Hills Agricultural Preservation Area. If other preserves are established within the County, they too should be protected. 0 URBAN LIMIT LINE (ULL) In November, 1990 the voters of this County adopted an Urban Limit Line. On one side of the line included lands which could be considered for development and lands which were beyond.this line would remain rural. While this ULL is technically limited to restricting the actions of the County, it was voted on countywide and has moral weight which should effect the entire County. The text accompanying the adoption of the ULL "advised" LAFCO to observe the ULL. While the Urban Limit Line describes the development potential of an area rather than jurisdictional boundaries, it is directly relevant to section #56425 of the Government Code, especially as it relates to "the present and planned land uses in the area, including agricultural and open space lands." We feel LAFCO should utilize the Urban Limit Line as an important basis for reviewing SOI proposals submitted by agencies and cities. a TIGHT SOI BOUNDARIES It appears to us that LAFCO has generally maintained tight SOI boundaries and has modified them on occasion to respond to individual needs and specific requests. We feel this is an appropriate approach. This allows LAFCO to make specific judgements to growth issues as they occur. With growth management becoming more important in terms of controlling quality of life, this independent review process appears more important than having extensive SOI's within which annexations are automatic. o PENDING APPLICATIONS WHICH AFFECT SOI's The County has under current review a number of development application within the adopted Urban Limit Line which would affect SOI deliberations. The approach for their review is based upon the existing process where the County, as the land use jurisdiction, completes an EIR on the proposal. That EIR also covers LAFCO issues, such as, SOI and annexation impacts. Since your agency has been involved in these applications review, I won't describe them here. Should you have questions on them please contact Jim Cutler of my staff. They are: Perrella, Page -3- May 25, 1993 Wickland Oil (Crockett) - EIR underway Albers (Discovery Bay area) - EIR Complete Byron 78 (Discovery Bay area) - EIR Complete Discovery Bay West (Discovery Bay area) - EIR underway Allied Investments (Moraga area) - EIR complete Dougherty Valley (San Ramon area) - EIR complete Tassajara Valley (Danville area) - EIR underway Cowell Ranch (Brentwood area) - EIR underway Cypress Lakes (Oakley area) - EIR complete Lesher Landing (Oakley area) - EIR underway o FIRE DISTRICT BOUNDARIES The existing SOI for fire districts currently provides for the merger or consolidation of districts. The County currently is undertaking a functional consolidation of several districts. While this type of consolidation requires no LAFCO action, SOI designations should continue to provide for legal consolidation, should that be requested at later date. o COUNTY SERVICE AREAS The existing SOI approach to County service areas appears to be working well with each project application being considered under its own merits. This approach should be continued. o ADDITIONAL MATERIAL Should you wish additional material or specific guidance on any agency under the jurisdiction of the Board, feel free to contact our Department. HEB:TWC:aw miscawl/jdafco.mem