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Home My WebLink About15-112 Flpilinfrat ''',I,c4i,,,,',ogwegfi,wrTT0Fvkf/7rET/17FFfvmwrxortprizopqpyrfyymnrrAftirli 141011141#;,°" 10#1,0704 .1„iiptivi#A,710, r 1)/,00tbp, 11,4forp,41,40(06,7 ti )4;torNiii),07„(eV % 10,0,/,', "''/APN:Vt Vimoy,701)1,i),0,/,1,,r;7,6 Resolution No. 15- 112 A RESOLUTION OF THE BUTTE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS APPROVING THE APPLICATION FOR GRANT FUNDS FROM THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION'S CALIFORNIA FARMLAND CONSERVANCY PROGRAM FOR 75+ACRES LOCATED AT4471 NORD AVENUE,WEST OF CHICO WHEREAS, the Legislature has established the California Farmland Conservancy Program within the Department of Conservation and through a grant program is providing assistance to conserve important agricultural land resources that are subject to conversion pressures; and WHEREAS, The Butte County General Plan Agricultural Element includes numerous goals and policies in support of Agriculture in Butte County,including Goa|AG-1to°Prmtect, maintain,promoteandenhance@utteCountY'sagricu|ture uses and resources, a major source of food, employment and income in Butte County, " Goal AG-2 to "Protect Butte County's agricultural lands from conversion to non-agricultural uses," and Policy AG-P2.2 which states "The County supports private conservation organizations that utilize voluntary conservation easements as a tool for agricultural conservation, continued agricultural use, agricultural supportive uses, tax breaks, and similar goals"; and WHEREAS, The Butte County General Plan Land Use Element contains a goal and policies relevant to the Chico area Greenline, specifically: Goal LU-13 to "Plan for growth and protect agriculture in the Chico area through the Chico Area G/een|ine''; Policy LU-P13.1to "Maintain the Chico Area Greenline,which shall be located as shown on Figure LU-7"; and Policy LU-P13.3 to "Recognize the Chico Area Greenline as the boundary between the "Urban Side of the Chico Area Breen|ine" andthe "A8ricu|tura| SideoftheChicVAreaGreen|ine''; furthermore Policy LU-P13.2 states "Should a dispute arise or ambiguity appear as to the exact location of the Chico Area Greenline, apply the following rules in determining the exact location of such line: a. The Greenline is specific; large scale maps certified by the Development Services Director shall be consulted in the event of a dispute. b. Where the Greenline is indicated as approximately following a street, alley, railroad right-of-way, creek or channel lines, the centerline of such street, alley, railroad right-of-way, creek or channel lines shall be construed to be the location of the Greenline. c. Where the Greenline is indicated as approximately following a lot line, such lot line shall be construed to be the location of the Greenline. d. With respect to property that is not subdivided, and where the Chico Area Greenline bisects a lot or parcel, the location of the Greenline, unless the same is indicated by dimensions shown upon the Official Chico Area Greenline Map, shall be determined by the use of the scale appearing on the Official Chico Area Greenline Map, and WHEREAS, lands in the vicinity of the McClintock Easement, west of the City of Gridley in unincorporated Butte County have experienced and will continue to experience non-agricultural development pressures; and WHEREAS, the Northern California Regional Land Trust (NCRLT) intends to acquire an agricultural conservation easement on approximately 75 acres of agricultural lands located approximately 0.1 mile west of the City of Chico's western sphere of influence boundary and Greenline, for the purpose of conserving priority agricultural land resources; and WHEREAS, the agricultural easement would enable the property to remain in agricultural production while preventing non-agricultural uses and development that would "impair or interfere with the property's agricultural productive capacity, its soils, and its agricultural character,values, and utility." NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors makes the following findings relative to the subject property, approves of the filing of an application for funding from the California Farmland Conservancy Program, and certifies that the easement meets the eligibility criteria set forth in Public Resources Code Section 10251. 1. The parcel proposed for conservation is expected to continue to be used for, and is large enough to sustain, commercial agricultural production.The land is also in an area that possesses the necessary market,infrastructure, and agricultural support services, and the surrounding parcel sizes and land uses will support long-term commercial agricultural production. a) Soils on the subject property have been classified as Prime Farmland by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, and by the California Department of Conservation's Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program. Prime Farmland, has the soil quality, growing season, and water supply needed for sustained agricultural production. b) The 75+ acre property is not enrolled in the Williamson Act program, but currently supports an almond orchard, and has been primarily farmed to almonds over the last two decades.The property is large enough to support continued commercial agriculture. The property is serviced and irrigated by an existing agricultural well, in proximity to Mud Creek. c) The subject property is located along the Mud Creek overflow on the agricultural side of the Chico Greenline. More generally, the property is located within the unincorporated portion of western Butte County, an area characterized by commercial agriculture and infrastructure necessary to support commercial agriculture,the necessary market as evidenced by infrastructure and agricultural support services in the Chico area. d) Surrounding parcel sizes and land uses are consistent with commercial agriculture. The subject property is surrounded on all sides by property that is designed Agriculture in the Butte County General Plan and is zoned AG-20(Agriculture-20-acre minimum). 2. The applicable city or county has a general plan that demonstrates a long-term commitment to agricultural land conservation.This commitment shall be reflected in the goals,objectives, policies, and implementation measures of the plan, as they relate to the area of the county or city where the easement acquisition is proposed: a) The Butte County Board of Supervisors affirmed its expectation that the subject property should continue in agriculture production through 2030 in a recent General Plan update. The property is designated as Agriculture by the County's General Plan Land Use map, adopted October 26, 2010, and the property is zoned AG-20 (Agriculture - 20'acre minimum parcel size) by the County's official zoning map, adopted November 6, 2012. The previous General Plan and zoning designations for this property also reflected agricultural land uses. b) Butte County General Plan goals and policies support long-term agricultural practices at the subject site and throughout agricultural areas, including Goal AG-1, Goal AG-2, and Policy AG-P2.2, as well as Goal LU- 13andPn|iciesLU'P13.1andLU'P135. asnotedabove. 3. Without conservation, the land proposed for protection is likely to be converted to non-agricultural use in the foreseeable future: a) The subject property is surrounded by a range of parcel sizes. The parcel immediately to the west of the subject parcel is approximately 80 acres, reflecting commercial agriculture use. b) Parcels to the north, east and south of the subject parcel are between 5 and 16 acres and contain both residences and agricultural uses. These smaller parcels in the immediate vicinity of the subject parcel have resulted in loss of prime arable acreage and increase development pressure on lands in the vicinity to be re-designated and subdivided in the future. While the subject property is encumbered by both a Williamson Act contract and AG-20 zoning, which encourages continued agricultural operations, the potential value of this land for rural residential development is acknowledged. c) The conservation easement supports economic viability of agricultural operations on the property by conserving agricultural land at an economically viable scale. A conservation easement on the subject parcel could substantially influence whether the subject property converts to rural residential uses, like the land use pattern to the north, east, and south, or whether it remains in commercial agriculture, like parcels to the west. d) The conservation easement would preclude conversion of prime farmland on the subject parcel into rural residential development or other non-agricultural uses. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Butte County Board of Supervisors on this 25th day of August 2015, by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Connelly, WahI, Kirk, Lambert and Chair Teeter NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAINED: None Doug Teeter, Chair Butte County Board of Supervisors ATTEST: Paul Hahn, Chief Administrative Officer And Clerk of the Board of Supervisors