Chapter 17.98 — WETLAND AND RIPARIAN HABITAT MANAGEMENT

The 1988 city general plan identifies wetlands and riparian habitats as featured resources for preservation, enhancement and management for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The city council finds that the importance of wetlands and riparian habitat as open space, wildlife habitat and an educational resource as well as for the maintenance of water quality, flood control and groundwater recharge has made wetland and riparian habitat protection and enhancement vital to the general welfare of all residents. Therefore, a wetland and riparian habitat management ordinance must be established for the preservation and enhancement of the city’s wetlands and riparian habitats. It is necessary for the city to ensure maximum protection for these resource areas by discouraging development activities in wetlands and riparian habitat and those activities at adjacent sites that may adversely affect functions and values, to encourage restoration and enhancement of wetland and riparian systems, and to encourage creation of new wetland and riparian habitat.

It is the intent of the city to require site planning that avoids or minimizes damage to wetlands
and riparian habitat, and to require restoration or enhancement of wetlands or creation of new
wetlands and riparian habitat to offset losses that are unavoidable. In addition, it is the intent of
the city that activities in affected wetlands and riparian habitat not threaten public safety, cause
nuisances, or destroy or degrade natural wetland functions and values.

The city requires that site planning and management of wetland and riparian resources meet the
following performance standards:

A. Increase public awareness of wetland and riparian habitats as an important factor by
incorporating wetlands and riparian habitats in the layout and patterning of the
development;

B. Increase the preservation and protection of the city’s natural beauty, diversity, natural
resources, and a high quality of life for current and future residents of the city;

C. Preserve, protect, restore and enhance wetlands and riparian habitats and their buffers;

D. Provide city officials with information to evaluate, approve, condition or deny public or
private development proposals;

E. Recreate wetlands and riparian habitat within the same watershed location and setting, and
achieve no net loss of wetlands function, values and acreage;

F. Locate mitigation wetlands and riparian habitat within the city or within the city’s sphere
of influence;

G. Link preserved or created wetlands to adjacent existing wetlands, buffer areas, open space
areas or parks, when possible;

H. Utilize created wetlands as a natural filtration system for meeting National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements (created wetlands for water quality functions can not be used as credit for mitigation of lost habitat values);

I. Develop aesthetic designs and provide diverse habitats for created wetland areas;

J. Incorporate mosquito abatement measures into the planning of wetland and riparian
mitigation.
(Ord. 783 § 1 (part), 1994)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings. These definitions are to be broadly interpreted and construed to provide maximum protection to the environmentally sensitive lands and resources.

“Buffer areas” means land surrounding wetlands which provides area of an appropriate size to
protect the environmental and functional habitat values of the wetland, or which is integrally
important in supporting the full range of the wetland and adjacent upland biological community.

“Creation” means actions performed to intentionally establish a wetland or riparian area at a site
where it does not presently exist.

“Ecosystem” means a system made up of a community of organisms and its interrelated physical
and chemical environment.

“Enhancement” means actions performed to improve the condition of existing wetlands or
riparian area so that the functions they provide are additional, and are of a higher value.

“Functions,” or “functions and values” means the beneficial roles served by wetlands or riparian
habitat including, but not limited to, water quality protection and enhancement, fish and wildlife
habitat, food chain support, flood storage, conveyance and attenuation, groundwater recharge
and discharge, erosion control, aesthetic value protection, and recreation. These beneficial roles
are not listed in order of priority.

“Riparian habitat” means an ecosystem associated with the banks and other land adjacent to
freshwater bodies, rivers, streams, creeks and surface-emergent aquifers (such as springs and
seeps). Riparian habitat is characterized by plant and animal communities which require high soil
moisture conditions maintained by transported freshwater in excess of that otherwise available
through local precipitation.

“Riparian woodland” means a grouping of alder, willow, sycamore, cottonwoods, oak trees or
other woody species commonly associated with riparian habitat.

“Sensitive habitat” means habitat which supports unique vegetation communities as defined in
the 1988 Folsom general plan open space and conservation element goal #25, or the habitats of
rare or endangered species or subspecies of animals or plants as defined by Section 15380 of
the State of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines (14 Cal. Admin. Code
Section 15000 et seq.). Sensitive habitat includes the area which is necessary to support a
viable population of any of the above species in perpetuity, or which is critical to the proper
functioning, of a balanced natural ecosystem or which serves as a functioning wildlife corridor.

“Vernal pools” means specialized habitats that are typically inundated long enough into the
growing season to prevent colonization by grassland plants but usually too dry in summer to
allow the establishment of marsh species.

“Wetlands” means lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water
table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by permanent or seasonal shallow
water. For the purposes of this definition, wetlands are lands which have all of the following
attributes:

1. At least periodically, the land supports predominantly hydrophytes;

2. The substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil; and

3. The substrate is nonsoil and is saturated with water or covered by shallow water at some
time during the growing season of each year.

Examples of wetland areas include swamps, freshwater marshes, bogs, vernal pools, wet
meadows, wet pastures, springs and seeps; portions of lakes, ponds, rivers and streams; and all
other areas which are periodically or permanently covered by shallow water, or dominated by
hydrophytic vegetation, or in which the soils are predominantly hydric in nature.

(Ord. 783 § 1 (part), 1994)

A resource protection management plan shall be prepared and submitted to the community development department concurrently with the associated discretionary entitlement permit application if the property contains sensitive habitat. The plan shall address site planning and management methods to preserve, enhance or create wetland and/or riparian habitat. The resource protection management plan shall be accompanied by a plot plan and any such information, maps, plans, documentation, data and analyses as may be required by the director of community development.

Applicable discretionary entitlements are as follows:

A. General plan amendments;

B. Specific plans;

C. Rezones;

D. Tentative parcel and subdivision maps;

E. Planned development permits;

F. Use permits;

G. Development agreements.
Where any portion of a parcel contains sensitive habitat, this chapter shall be applicable to the
portions of the parcel containing the sensitive habitat, and to the remainder of the parcel only to
the extent necessary to achieve the purpose and intent of this chapter.
(Ord. 783 § 1 (part), 1994)

Exemptions from this chapter may be granted at the discretion of the community development director in the following circumstances:

A. Condominium conversions;

B. Wetland or riparian areas less than 1 acre, unless the wetland area is a vernal pool;

C. The community development director may identify additional exemptions on a case-by- case basis subsequent to the ratification by the city council by resolution.
(Ord. 783 § 1 (part), 1994)

A. If the resource protection management plan identifies the presence of environmentally sensitive habitat, 1 or more of the following actions may be required as a condition of approval for the discretionary entitlement:

1. Apply open space easements to portions of the project site that contain sensitive lands;
or

2. Rezone the sensitive habitat area to the habitat conservation district zone; or

3. Require that wetland and riparian habitat buffer zones adjacent to regulated resources
shall be of sufficient size so as to preserve the biological and hydrologic functions
and values of the resource area protected; or

4. Require a mitigation plan outlining specific criteria such as water quality standards,
survival rate of planted vegetation, species abundance and diversity targets, habitat
diversity indices, or other ecological, geological or hydrological performance
standards; or

5. Require a contingency plan if the goals and objectives of the mitigation plan are not
met; or

6. Require an annual monitoring report documenting milestones, successes, problems
and contingency actions for a period not less than 5 years from when wetland
mitigation is implemented, or for 10 years from when riparian mitigation is
implemented; and

7. Other actions as determined by the decision-making body.

B. For approvals of any applicable entitlements, the decision-making body considering an
application shall make the following findings:

1. The facility or project is consistent with the provisions of this chapter;

2. Feasible mitigation measures have been incorporated into the facility or project, and
there are no feasible, less environmentally damaging, location, alignment or
nonstructural alternatives that would meet project objectives;

3. Where the facility or project encroaches into a wetland or riparian habitat, mitigation
measures are required that result in a net gain in the wetland and/or riparian habitat;

4. No mature riparian woodland is destroyed or reduced in size due to otherwise allowed
encroachments;

5. Mitigated wetlands are located within the city or within the city’s sphere of influence.
(Ord. 783 § 1 (part), 1994)

This chapter shall be enforced pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 17.03 of this title.

(Ord. 858 § 16, 1997)

A. The community development director shall have the responsibility to administer and interpret this chapter in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the instructions of the planning commission.

B. A determination or decision of the community development director pursuant to this chapter may be appealed to the planning commission within 10 days of the determination or decision. The appeal shall be in writing, must state the grounds for the appeal, and shall be accompanied by a fee for the costs of processing the appeal.

The hearing on appeal shall be set for a time not later than 30 days from the date the appeal is filed.

C. When an appeal is filed, no action shall be taken in reliance on the decision being appealed until the appeal is decided.

D. A decision of the planning commission pursuant to this section may be appealed to the city council within 10 days of the date of the planning commission’s decision pursuant to the procedures in Section 17.60.070 for use permits. (Ord. 783 § 1 (part), 1994)

Any condition of a discretionary entitlement imposed pursuant to this chapter may be appealed at the same time and in the same manner set forth in Title 16 or Title 17 for the underlying entitlement to which the condition is attached. (Ord. 783 § 1 (part), 1994)

Fees to defray the cost of processing applications pursuant to this title shall be established by resolution of the city council. No part of such fees are refundable. (Ord. 783 § 1 (part), 1994)