No impact to the General Fund. Costs incurred processing the proposed GPA are covered by DCD's regular operating budget (100% Land Development Funds).

California Government Code Section 65302(a) sets forth the requirement for each general plan to contain a land use element that designates the general distribution and location of the various land uses (housing, industry, open space, agriculture, public use, etc.) within a jurisdiction’s planning area. The County General Plan Land Use Element (LUE) Map satisfies this requirement.  
  
Over the last 10 years many thousands of acres throughout the county have been acquired by public agencies, but these acquisitions are not reflected on the current LUE Map. The proposed GPA involves changing the land use designations for these parcels to reflect their public ownership and use. This GPA also includes changes to the land use designations for numerous parcels throughout the county that already contain public infrastructure. The proposed revisions involve 284 parcels containing approximately 19,893 acres, and are shown in the series of maps in Attachment 1.  
  
New Public Agency Land Acquisitions  
  
While numerous public agencies acquired land throughout the county over the last decade, acquisitions by the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD), East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), Contra Costa Water District (CCWD), and Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC) account for 18,516 (93.1%) of the acres involved in this GPA. These lands were purchased for use as regional parkland, habitat preservation, watershed protection, and mitigation for environmental impacts associated with other projects. Nearly all of this acreage is currently designated Agricultural Lands (AL) and would be redesignated to either Parks and Recreation (PR), Watershed (WS), or Open Space (OS).  
  
Many small land acquisitions were made by various agencies for a variety of purposes including construction of fire stations, schools, parks, community centers, and flood control infrastructure. The land use designations for these parcels would be changed to Public and Semi-Public (PS), PR, or OS depending on the use.  
  
Existing Public Agency Land Uses  
  
While reviewing the LUE Map, staff noticed numerous instances where a parcel’s land use designation does not match the actual public use already established on the site. Examples include, but are not limited to, parcels containing schools, post offices, fire stations, neighborhood parks, and utility infrastructure. Specific examples include the Byron Sanitary District's treatment facility, which is located on land designated AL, and John Swett High School in Crockett, where the wood/metal shop building is partially located on land designated Multiple-Family Residential – Low Density. Staff proposes changing the land use designations for these properties to PS, PR, or OS as appropriate, given the established uses. The only exception is at Buchanan Field Airport, where staff proposes slight modifications to the boundary of the exiting Airport Commercial (ACO) designation to reflect the true location of the Crowne Plaza (formerly Sheraton) Hotel that has long existed on the airport property. This change would not impact the airport or surrounding properties.   
  
Waterways  
  
Staff also proposes changing the land use designations for several segments of various creeks and drainages to OS. Creeks and drainages currently tend to be designated PS; however, this designation suggests the presence of significant public infrastructure or active use by a public agency. Changing the designations of these waterways to OS will better reflect their natural or semi-natural state and further improve the accuracy of the LUE Map.   
  
Growth Management Program Review Process for General Plan Amendments  
  
The Growth Management Program (GMP) was approved by Contra Costa County voters through adoption of Measure C-1988 and Measure J-2004. The GMP is designed to help the County, cities, and Contra Costa Transportation Authority plan for and accommodate the continued increases in population and jobs that are expected to occur through the year 2035. Incorporated into the GMP is a 16-step process for reviewing proposed GPAs. Step 1 requires a determination as to whether a proposed GPA would generate 500 or more net new peak hour vehicle trips and add 50 or more net new vehicle trips to any Route of Regional Significance. GPAs that do not generate the specified number of vehicle trips are exempt from the GMP review process.   
  
The proposed GPA involves updating the LUE Map to reflect current conditions. As indicated above, approximately 93% of the acreage involved in this GPA would be redesignated from AL to either PR, OS, or WS. While all of these land use designations are classified as non-urban, the PR, OS, and WS designations are less intensive than AL in terms of allowed density and use. The proposed GPA also includes numerous parcels whose urban land use designations (e.g., Single-Family Residential, Commercial, Heavy Industry) would be changed to the less-intensive PR, PS, and OS designations. As the proposed GPA reduces overall land use intensity and would not increase trip generation, it is exempt from the GMP review process.   
  
County Planning Commission Hearing  
  
The County Planning Commission considered the proposed GPA at a hearing on November 8, 2017. No public testimony was given and no written comments were received. The Commission voted 7-0 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors find the project exempt from the requirements of CEQA and adopt the proposed GPA.

If the Board does not adopt the proposed GPA, then existing and planned uses for approximately 19,893 acres throughout the county will continue to be reflected inaccurately on the LUE Map.

CLOSED the public hearing; FOUND that the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3); ADOPTED Board Resolution No. 2017/432, amending the General Plan (County File #GP17-0005) to redesignate certain publicly-owned parcels to Airport Commercial, Public and Semi-Public, Parks and Recreation, Open Space, Watershed, and Water land use designations; and DIRECTED the Department of Conservation and Development Director or his designee to file a Notice of Exemption with the County Clerk.