§ 9-702

The purpose of this Chapter is to provide a method for establishing, disestablishing, or altering the boundaries of agricultural preserves to implement General Plan policies for agricultural preservation and the Williamson Act as set forth in the Government Code.

Creation of an Agricultural Preserve may be initiated by the Board of Supervisors, the Planning Commission, the Zoning Administrator, or a qualified applicant. Applications from qualified applicants shall be filed with the Community Development Department and include all of the information prescribed by the Zoning Administrator and the required fee. Agricultural Preserve applications must meet the following requirements:

(a)

Minimum Size. The minimum size necessary for the establishment, or resulting alteration of, an Agricultural Preserve is 100 acres of contiguous land.

(b)

Zoning. All land for which Agricultural Preserve status is being sought, or which currently is in an Agricultural Preserve, must be in an AL, AG, or AU zone.

(c)

Zoning Reclassification. If the subject property does not have the required zoning, an application for Zone Reclassification shall be made and processed concurrently with the Agricultural Preserve application. However, such Zone Reclassification application must be approved prior to the establishing of an Agricultural Preserve.

• The review procedure for Agricultural Preserve applications shall be the Common Procedure in Chapter 9 802 and shall be subject to all of the following additional requirements:

(a)

Director Report. Within 30 days after the Zoning Administrator has determined that an Agricultural Preserve application is complete, the Director shall prepare and submit a report to the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors as to whether the Agricultural Preserve application is consistent with the General Plan.

(b)

Planning Commission Review. The Planning Commission shall make a recommendation for approving or denying an Agricultural Preserve application after holding a duly-noticed public hearing. The Planning Commission shall forward its recommendations to the Board of Supervisors.

(c)

Board of Supervisors Hearing. The Board of Supervisors shall conduct a duly-noticed public hearing on the Agricultural Preserve application. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board shall take final action to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the application.

(d)

Notification. In the event any proposal to disestablish or alter the boundary of an Agricultural Preserve will remove land under contract from the preserve, notice of the proposed alteration or disestablishment and the date of the hearing shall be furnished by the Board by certified mail to the owner(s) of the land. Such notice also shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation and shall be furnished by firstclass mail to each owner of land under contract, any portion of which is situated within one mile of the exterior boundary of the land to be removed from the preserve.

Prior to acting on an Agricultural Preserve application, the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors shall find that the following are true:

(a)

Consistency. The establishment, disestablishment, or alteration of an Agricultural Preserve is consistent with the General Plan; and

(b)

Establishment or Enlargement. The area specified in the Agricultural Preserve application for establishing or enlarging an Agricultural Preserve must be designated as General Agriculture, Limited Agriculture, or Agriculture-Urban Reserve on the General Plan Map and zoned consistent with this designation; or

(c)

Disestablishment. The area specified in the Agricultural Preserve application for disestablishing the Agricultural Preserve is designated for residential, commercial, or industrial land uses on the General Plan Land Use Map, and development is expected to occur within 10 years.

A Williamson Act contract application shall include all documentation, maps, or other information required by the Zoning Administrator; it may be filed concurrently with an application for establishing or altering an Agricultural Preserve designation. These applications may be initiated only by a qualified applicant and shall be subject to the following requirements:

(a)

Location Within Agricultural Preserve. A parcel for which contract status is sought must be located within an Agricultural Preserve.

(b)

Minimum Parcel Size.

(1)

The minimum size parcel of prime agricultural land that qualifies for a contract is 20 acres if the land is classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service as prime farmland, farmland of statewide or local importance, or unique farmland; and

(2)

The minimum size parcel of all other agricultural land that qualifies for a contract is 40 acres.

(c)

Farmland Security Zone. A parcel for which a 20-year contract status is sought must also be located within a Farmland Security Zone.

(Ord. No. 4671, § 31, 5-13-2025)

(a)

Board Resolution. The contract shall be subject to the Resolution of the Board of Supervisors concerning the Williamson Act.

(b)

Allowable Land Uses.

(1)

The following use types, if allowed in the zone where the property is located, are allowable on land subject to a Williamson Act contract:

(A)

Residential Housing—Single-Unit Dwelling;

(B)

Day Care—Large or Small Family Day Care;

(C)

Farm Employee Housing;

(D)

Aerial Facilities - Agricultural; Agricultural Land Strip; Agricultural Excavation;

(E)

Agricultural Industry;

(F)

Agricultural Warehousing;

(G)

Animal Care, Sales, and Services;

(H)

Animal Feeding and Sales;

(I)

Animal Raising;

(J)

Commercial Cannabis - Cultivation;

(K)

Crop Production;

(L)

Dairies and Creameries;

(M)

Equipment Sales, Repair, and Storage - Farm Machinery, Sales and Repair;

(N)

Industrial Hemp Production

(O)

Nursery Sales and Landscaping Services;

(P)

Produce Sales - Agricultural Store, Small and Large

(Q)

Quarry Operations;

(R)

Renewable Energy;

(S)

Utilities - Minor;

(T)

Water Storage; and

(U)

Wine Facilities.

(2)

Accessory and temporary uses allowed in the zone where the property is located.

(3)

Sales and distribution of agricultural chemicals and fertilizers if the operation consists primarily of dispatching less than truckload lots and/or the delivery of agricultural chemicals and fertilizers is by means of grower-operated equipment.

(4)

Such outdoor recreational activities that can be carried out in conjunction with the continued agricultural usage of the land.

(5)

Other uses that are comparable to or no more intensive than those uses enumerated in subsection (b)(1) shall be permitted with a Conditional Use Permit only if the Planning Commission determines that such use(s) will not:

(A)

Significantly compromise the long-term productive agricultural capability of the property, or of other contracted land;

(B)

Significantly displace or impair current or reasonably foreseeable agricultural operations on the parcel or on other contracted lands; and

(C)

Result in significant removal of contracted land from agricultural or open-space use.

(6)

The Review Authority for a specific project application for an allowable use listed in subsection (b)(1), can determine that the project is not compatible with the Williamson Act if the use will:

(A)

Significantly compromise the long-term productive agricultural capability of the property, or of other contracted land;

(B)

Significantly displace or impair current or reasonably foreseeable agricultural operations on the parcel or on other contracted lands; and

(C)

Result in significant removal of contracted land from agricultural or open-space use.

(c)

Staff Review. The Zoning Administrator and County Counsel shall review and approve the proposed contract prior to its submittal to the Board. The Board shall take final action on the contract application.

(d)

Required Findings. Prior to approving an Administrative Use Permit or a Conditional Use Permit for a project that will be subject to a Williamson Act contract, the Zoning Administrator or the Planning

Commission, whichever has approval authority, must find that all of the following are true:

(1)

Conditions are included in the contract that mitigate or avoid those on-site and off-site impacts that would otherwise render the proposal inconsistent with the Williamson Act principles of compatibility;

(2)

The productive capability of the land has been considered as well as the extent to which the proposed use(s) may displace or impair agricultural operations; and

(3)

The proposed use(s) are consistent with the intent of the Williamson Act to preserve agricultural and openspace land.

To facilitate a lot line adjustment on contracted land, property owners must submit a Rescission of Planning Activity for any current contracts and simultaneously submit a new Williamson Act contract application prior to recordation of the Notice of Lot Line Adjustment.

(a)

Pursuant to Government Code Section 51257, the Board of Supervisors must make the following findings to rescind and enter into a new contract for the purposes of a lot line adjustment:

(1)

The new contract or contracts would enforceably restrict the adjusted boundaries of the parcel for an initial term for at least as long as the unexpired term of the rescinded contract or contracts, but for not less than 10 years.

(2)

There is no net decrease in the amount of the acreage restricted. In cases where two parcels involved in a lot line adjustment are both subject to contracts rescinded pursuant to this section, this finding will be satisfied if the aggregate acreage of the land restricted by the new contracts is at least as great as the aggregate acreage restricted by the rescinded contracts.

(3)

At least 90 percent of the land under the former contract or contracts remains under the new contract or contracts.

(4)

After the lot line adjustment, the parcels of land subject to contract will be large enough to sustain their agricultural use, as defined in Government Code Section 51222.

(5)

The lot line adjustment would not compromise the long-term agricultural productivity of the parcel or other agricultural lands subject to a contract or contracts.

(6)

The lot line adjustment is not likely to result in the removal of adjacent land from agricultural use.

(7)

The lot line adjustment does not result in a greater number of developable parcels than existed prior to the adjustment, or an adjusted lot that is inconsistent with the general plan.

The procedure for nonrenewing a contract, as provided in the Williamson Act, is as follows:

(a)

Notice of Nonrenewal Notice Required. A written Notice of Nonrenewal must be served in any of the following situations:

(1)

Minimum Size. If any property under contract is less than 10 acres in size, the County shall serve a Notice of Nonrenewal on the owner of such property.

(2)

Division of Land. If any property under contract is being divided, the owner of the property shall serve a Notice of Nonrenewal on the County for any resulting parcels less than 10 acres in size in the case of prime agricultural land, or less than 40 acres in size in the case of land which is not prime, prior to obtaining map approval.

(3)

Change in Preserve. If any property under contract is removed from an Agricultural Preserve by either a change in the boundaries of the preserve or disestablishment of the preserve, the County shall serve a Notice of Nonrenewal on the owner of the property.

(4)

Change in Zoning. If any property under contract is reclassified to a zone other than that required for an agricultural preserve, the County shall serve a Notice of Nonrenewal on the owner of the subject property.

(b)

Timing of Notice. Either party to the contract may submit a notice of nonrenewal pursuant to the terms of the contract.

(1)

County Initiated. A Notice of Nonrenewal initiated by the County shall be served on the owner, or the agent for Notice as designated in the contract, at least 60 days before the annual renewal date of the contract.

(2)

Owner Initiated. A Notice of Nonrenewal initiated by the owner shall be served on the County at least 90 days before the annual renewal date. Failure to meet this requirement shall result in the renewal of the contract as provided by Resolution by the Board of Supervisors.

A request for contract cancellation as to all or part of the subject property may be made only by the owner or their designated agent.

(a)

Review Procedures. A request for a Williamson Act contract cancellation request shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator; upon finding the request to be complete and the required fee paid, a duly-noticed public hearing shall be scheduled following the procedures in Chapter 9-802.

(b)

Planning Commission Review. After the public hearing, the Planning Commission shall make recommendations for approving or denying the Contract Cancellation request. The Planning Commission shall forward its recommendations to the Board of Supervisors.

(c)

Board of Supervisors Hearing. The Board of Supervisors shall conduct a public hearing on the Contract Cancellation request. Notice of the hearing shall be given pursuant to Section 51284 of the Government Code and Chapter 9-802.

(d)

Required Findings. Prior to giving approval to any Contract Cancellation request, the Board shall make either of the findings specified by subsection (1) or (2) below, as required by Section 51282 of the Government Code:

(1)

Consistency with Act. The cancellation is consistent with the purposes of the Williamson Act. In order to make this finding, the Board must specifically find that:

(A)

The cancellation is for land on which a Notice of Nonrenewal has been served pursuant to Section 51245 of the Government Code;

(B)

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

(C)

The cancellation is for an alternative use that is consistent with the applicable provisions of the General Plan;

(D)

The cancellation will not result in non-contiguous patterns of urban development; and

(E)

There is no proximate noncontracted land both available and suitable for the use to which the contracted land is proposed to be put, or development of the contracted land would provide more contiguous patterns of urban development than development of proximate noncontracted land.

(2)

Public Interest. The cancellation is in the public interest. In order to make this finding, the Board must specifically find that:

(A)

Other public concerns substantially outweigh the objectives of the Williamson Act; and

(B)

There is no proximate noncontracted land both available and suitable for the use to which the contracted land is proposed to be put, or development of the contracted land would provide more contiguous patterns of urban development than development of proximate noncontracted land.

(3)

Farmland Security Zone. For Farmland Security Zone contract cancellations, the Board must either make both findings (1) and (2), or determine that no authorized use may be made of a remnant contract parcel of five acres of less left by public acquisition pursuant to Section 51295 of the Government Code. Additionally, the Board must make the following findings:

(A)

That no beneficial public purpose would be served by the continuation of the contract.

(B)

That the uneconomic nature of the agricultural use is primarily attributable to circumstances beyond the control of the landowner and the local government.

(C)

That the landowner has paid a cancellation fee equal to 25 percent of the cancellation valuation calculated in accordance with subdivision (b).

(e)

Cancellation Fee. Prior to giving approval to any contract cancellation, the Board shall determine and certify the cancellation fee pursuant to Section 51283 or 51297 of the Government Code.

(f)

Recordation. The cancellation of a contract shall not be final until the cancellation fee is paid, and the certificate of cancellation is recorded pursuant to Section 51283.3 of the Government Code.

Chapter 9-703 - Flood Hazards