Banning Municipal Code Ch. 15.56 Land Conservation Contracts

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Code, applications for the establishment, enlargement, diminishment, or cancellation of a land conservation contract established pursuant to the California Land Conservation Act of 1965 (Williamson Act) may be made only by the property owner or his or her authorized representative.

Any application shall include:

A. A delineation of the boundaries of the entire parcel subject to the land conservation contract;

B. If different than the boundaries in subsection A of this section, a delineation of the boundaries of the portion of the parcel affected by the application.

(Code 1965, § 22H-1; Ord. No. 1360, § 1 (part).)

A. An application for cancellation of a land conservation contract shall include a proposal for a specified alternative use of the land. The proposal shall list the governmental agencies known by the applicant to have permit authority related to the proposed alternative use. The proposal must be specific enough for the city council to make the findings required by Section 15.52.070 of this chapter.

B. An analysis of the amount of cancellation fee that the applicant believes is due the county treasurer upon cancellation. That fee shall be an amount equal to twelve and one-half percent of the cancellation valuation of the property.

(Code 1965, § 22H-2; Ord. No. 1360, § 1 (part).)

An application for the establishment, enlargement, diminishment, or cancellation of a land conservation contract shall be accompanied by an application fee. The city council shall set the amount of the fee by resolution.

(Code 1965, § 22H-3; Ord. No. 1360, § 1 (part).)

A. Upon the acceptance of a completed application, the community development director or his or her designee shall review the application for conformance with the provisions of this development code. The director shall prepare a recommendation and forward the recommendation, application, and other relevant materials to the clerk of the city council. The clerk shall schedule the matter for public hearing before the city council pursuant to this chapter.

B. The city council shall hear and take action upon the application pursuant to the provisions of Section 15.56.060 of this chapter. The council may continue the hearing from time to time, and no additional notification shall be required.

C. The Council shall act to approve, approve with modifications, or deny the application. Action by the city council to approve in any form shall be by ordinance.

(Code 1965, § 22H-4; Ord. No. 1360, § 1 (part).)

A. Upon the acceptance of a completed application for enlargement, diminishment, or cancellation, the community development director or his or her designee shall review the application for conformance with the provisions of this development code. The director shall prepare a recommendation and forward the recommendation, application, and other relevant materials to the clerk of the city council. The clerk shall schedule the matter for public hearing before the city council pursuant to this chapter.

B. The city council shall, prior to approving cancellation of a contract, determine and certify to the county auditor the amount of the cancellation fee that the landowner shall pay the county treasurer upon cancellation. Pursuant to the Williamson Act, that fee shall be an amount equal to twelve and one-half percent of the cancellation valuation of the property.

C. The city council shall hear and take action upon the application pursuant to the provisions of Section 15.56.060 of this chapter. The council may continue the hearing from time to time, and no additional notification shall be required.

D. The council shall act to approve, approve with modifications, or deny the application. Action by the city council to approve in any form shall be by ordinance.

(Code 1965, § 22H-5; Ord. No. 1360, § 1 (part).)

A. Setting hearings.

1. There shall be a public hearing before the city council on all applications for the establishment, enlargement, diminishment, or cancellation of a land conservation contract.

2. The date of the hearing shall be not less than ten days nor more than sixty days from the time of filing of a complete application.

B. Notice of time and place of public hearings shall be given in the following manner:

1. Notice of any public hearing upon an application for the establishment, enlargement, diminishment, or cancellation of a land conservation contract shall be given by at least one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Banning at least ten days before the date of said hearing.

2. Notice of public hearing to consider the establishment, enlargement, diminishment, or cancellation of a land conservation contract shall also be given by posting or by mailing a written notice not less than ten days prior to the date of such hearing to the owners or property within a radius of three hundred feet of the exterior boundaries of the property subject to or to be subject to the land conservation contract.

C. Not less than the following information shall be given in all notices.

1. Description of property under consideration.

2. The nature of the proposal.

3. Time and place at which public hearing or hearings are to be held.

D. The City Council shall cause to be made by its own members, or members of city staff, such investigation of facts bearing upon an application set for hearing, including any analysis of precedent cases, as will serve to provide all necessary information to assure action on each case consistent with the purpose of this chapter.

E. Hearings may be continued without recourse to public notice. If, for any reason, testimony on any case set for public hearing cannot be completed on the day set for such hearing, the council members presiding at such public hearing may, before the adjournment or recess thereof, publicly announce the time and place to, and at which, said hearing will be continued and without recourse to the form of public notice as provided for in the first instance.

(Code 1965, § 22H-6; Ord. No. 1360, § 1 (part).)

The city council shall be required to make one of the following findings before acting to cancel a land conservation contract:

A. That the cancellation is consistent with the purposes of the Williamson Act. For purposes of this section, "consistent with the purposes of the Williamson Act" means:

1. That the cancellation is for land on which a notice of nonrenewal has been served pursuant to Section 51245 of the California Government Code;

2. That cancellation is not likely to result in the removal of adjacent lands from agricultural use;

3. That the cancellation is consistent with the city's general plan goals, policies, and objectives;

4. That cancellation will not result in discontiguous patterns of urban development; and

5. That there is no proximate noncontracted land which is both available and suitable for the use to which it is proposed the contracted land be put.

B. That the cancellation is in the public interest. For purposes of this section, "in the public interest" means:

1. That other public concerns substantially outweigh the purposes of the Williamson Act and that there is no proximate noncontracted land which is both available and suitable for the use to which it is proposed the contracted land be put; or

2. That development of the contracted land would provide more contiguous patterns of urban development than development of proximate noncontracted land.

(Code 1965, § 22H-7; Ord. No. 1360, § 1 (part).)

Upon cancellation of a land conservation contract, the applicant shall be required to pay to the county treasurer the amount determined as the cancellation fee pursuant to Section 15.56.020 of this chapter. The planning department may withhold any and all permits, maps, or other approvals necessary for the development of land formerly subject to a conservation contract pending proof of payment of the cancellation fee.

(Code 1965, § 22H-8; Ord. No. 1360, § 1 (part).)