Mendocino County Municipal Code Ch. 22.07 Timberland Production Zoning

(A) The legislature of the State of California in enacting AB 1258 Z'berg-Warren-Keene-Collier Forest Taxation Reform Act of 1976, found that the forest resources and timberlands of the state are among the most valuable of the natural resources of the state.

It is essential to the objectives of the Forest Taxation Reform Act of 1976 that an orderly system be established whereby property within Mendocino County may be incorporated into Timberland Preserves by individual property owner request.

The Board of Supervisors of the County of Mendocino concurs with the findings of the California State Legislature.

(Ord. No. 3453, adopted 1983.)

(A) Property within the County of Mendocino may be incorporated into Timber Land Production Zones through the following procedures:

(1) Applicants shall file, or cause to be filed, an application for rezoning pursuant to the Mendocino County Code.

(2) In addition, applicant shall submit, pursuant to California Government Code, Section 51113:

(a) A map showing the legal description or the Assessor's parcel number of the property to be zoned.

(b) A plan for forest management for the property prepared or approved as to content by a registered professional forester. Such a plan shall adhere to the minimum standards for format as prescribed by the County and shall provide for the eventual harvest of timber within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the preparer of the plan.

(Ord. No. 3453, adopted 1983, as amended by Ord. No. 3482, adopted 1984.)

(c) A statement signed by applicant(s) and registered professional forester stating the parcel(s) under consideration currently meets timber stocking standards as set forth in Section 4561 of the California Public Resources Code and the forest practice rules adopted by the State Board of Forestry for the district in which the parcel is located.

(Ord. No. 3453, adopted 1983, as amended by Ord. No. 3482, adopted 1984.)

(d) If condition 2c cannot be immediately met, owner shall sign an agreement with the Board of Supervisors to meet such stocking standards and forest practice rules by the fifth anniversary of the signing of the agreement. At that time, condition 2c shall be met. Upon the fifth anniversary of the signing of such an agreement, the Board shall determine whether the parcel meets the timber stocking standards in effect on the date the agreement was signed. If the parcel fails to meet the timber stocking standards, the Board shall immediately rezone the parcel and specify a new zone for such parcel which is in conformance with the county General Plan and whose primary use is other than timberland.

(e) Applicant shall sign and file a statement for the parcel(s) under consideration stating the ownership is of one person as defined in Section 38106 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code, and said parcel(s) are comprised of single or contiguous parcels.

(Ord. No. 3453, adopted 1983, as amended by Ord. No. 3482, adopted 1984.)

(3) Before application is presented to the Planning Commission, said application shall be circulated for review and comment to the County Farm Advisor, the County Assessor, the County Agricultural Commissioner, and the California Department of Forestry.

(4) Prior to rezoning pursuant to this section, all uses on property shall be in compliance to those uses as established under Section 20-121, et seq., which govern permitted and compatible uses.

(Ord. No. 3453, adopted 1983.)

Timberland (as defined in Section 20-31) eligible for incorporation into a Timber Land Production Zone shall meet each of the following qualifications to site quality class as such terms are defined in Rule 1021 Title 18 (Public Revenues), California Administrative Code.

(A) The ownership shall contain at least 40 acres of Site Quality III or better.

(B) Those ownerships of greater than 80 acres shall contain at least 50% of the property under consideration in Site Quality III or better.

(C) Parcels zoned as timberland production (TPZ) shall be zoned as such for an initial term of ten years. On the first and each subsequent anniversary date of the initial zoning, a year shall be added to the initial term of ten years unless a notice of rezone has been given in accordance to (D) below.

(D) Rezoning.

(1) If an owner desires in any year to rezone a parcel from its current Timber Land Production Zone, those procedures as detailed in Section 51120 et seq. of the California Government Code shall be applied.

(2) If an owner desires to rezone from a Timber Land Production Zone immediately, those procedures as detailed in Section 51130 et. seq. of the California Government Code shall be applied.

(Ord. No. 3453, adopted 1983, as amended by Ord. No. 3482, adopted 1984.)

With respect to property under the Timberland Production (T-P) Zoning, all regulations listed under Section 20.121 et seq. (or Section 20.10.4 for land within the Coastal Zone until such time as the Local Coastal Plan is adopted and certified) which govern permitted and compatible uses shall apply.

(Ord. No. 3453, adopted 1983.)

This ordinance shall be constructed as if it were operative on April 12, 1983, to the extent that such retroactive construction does not impair the constitutional rights of any person. This ordinance shall continue in full force and effect until such time as the Board of Supervisors adopts an ordinance establishing criteria for Timberland Production Zoning after the public hearings and recommendations of its Planning Commission as required by the California Timberland Productivity Act of 1982 (Government Code Section 51110, et seq.). Upon adoption of said ordinance, this emergency ordinance shall be automatically repealed and of no further force and effect.

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors declares that the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety necessitates the immediate passage of this ordinance as an urgency measure by reason of the following facts:

The California Timberland Productivity Act of 1982 requires that the County of Mendocino, on or before March 1, 1977, by resolution, adopt procedures for initiating, filing and processing petitions for Timberland Production Zoning and for rezoning and to adopt by ordinance a list of criteria required to be met by parcels being considered for Timberland Production Zoning pursuant to Government Code Section 51113 (2). The County of Mendocino had adopted an ordinance and procedures complying with this section which was inadvertently repealed by adoption of Ordinance No. 3428 adopted April 12, 1983. There are landowners within the County of Mendocino who desire to petition the County for inclusion of their lands as Timberland Production and have expended monies in preparing plans or having plans approved as to content by registered professional foresters and allege that their properties will meet all State and local criteria for their inclusion. But for the absence of an ordinance and procedures, these lands could be considered for inclusion as Timberland Production lands.

The absence of a local ordinance may subject the County to litigation and attorneys fees pursuant to the California Timberland Productivity Act of 1982 and the recent holding in this case of State of California v. County of Santa Clara (May 1983) 142 Cal. App. 3d 608.

(Ord. No. 3453, adopted 1983.)