None. All County costs are recovered though payment of application processing fees by the project applicant.
Proposed Project
The applicant requests approval of a rezone of a 33-acre property from A-4 Agricultural Preserve District to A-2 General Agricultural District. The applicant has indicated no immediate plans for development of the property.
Site/Area Description
The subject property is located in the rural Martinez/Briones Hills area, with the Martinez city boundary approximately 2 miles east and the Richmond city boundary approximately 4 miles west. Most land in the area is zoned A-2 or A-4, including all the land abutting the property. The nearest non-agricultural zone is a planned unit district approximately 0.7 miles (3,700 feet) east of the property on Alhambra Valley Road. Surrounding land uses are agricultural, residential or a combination thereof.
The subject property is vacant and contains rolling hills, large groves of trees, and rocky terrain. Access is limited to an unpaved private easement (Rancho de la Rosa Road). A small portion of the site straddling the access easement is relatively flat and appears to be the only suitable building location.
Appropriateness of Proposed Rezone
Existing Zoning Conditions
County File #RZ72-1707 was approved to rezone the approximately 121-acre original parcel of the subject property from A-2 to A-4 prior to the property entering into a Williamson Act contract. A Williamson Act contract is a contract entered into between a property owner and the County wherein the owner agrees to utilize the land for those uses specified in the contract and in return the County taxes the property at a lower rate. The A-4 zone is compatible with lands that are under a Williamson Act contract because it specifies that all uses agreed to in the contract are permitted uses. The property came out of its Williamson Act contract in 1995. With the property out of contract, the A-4 zoning designation is unnecessary and inappropriate.
Background on Rezoning in the Briones Hills Area
It is typical for properties to rezone from A-2 to A-4 before entering into a Williamson Act contract. A significant amount of acreage in the Briones Hills area was zoned A-4 for this reason. Though several of the contracts have either expired or were never executed, a significant amount of acreage remains zoned A-4.
The following three rezone applications have been approved in the Briones Hills area in the last five years: RZ08-3204, which rezoned 34.17 acres from A-4 to A-2; RZ05-3169, which rezoned 20.89 acres from A-4 to A-20; and RZ00-3096, which rezoned 10.4 acres from A-4 to A-2. All of these properties are located within 2.5 miles of the subject property. County File #RZ08-3204, approved by the Board on February 3, 2009, is most relevant because it is adjacent to the subject property and the policies and practices in place at the time it was processed are the same as they are today.
County File #RZ08-3204 was a request to rezone the property immediately south of the subject property from A-4 to A-2. That property is similar to the subject property in every respect. The request was considered by the County Planning Commission on December 2, 2008, and in making its recommendation of approval to the Board of Supervisors, the Commission stressed that its action was not to be construed as an endorsement of a future subdivision.
Comparison of Existing and Proposed Zoning Designations
The uses allowed both by right and with a land use permit in the A-2 and A-4 zones are similar. The A-2 District does allow for establishment of some more-intense agricultural uses, such as granaries, dehydration plants, fruit and vegetable packing plants, and the like. However, physical limitations such as steep slopes, limited access, lack of utility connections, and scarcity of suitable building locations make the property an unlikely candidate for establishment of these types of land uses. It should be noted that these physical limitations also make the property a poor candidate for subdivision.
Under the A-4 zoning the 33.0-acre property is required to be at least 40 acres due to the non-prime soil types that are present (the minimum area requirement was 20 acres when the property was rezoned to A-4). The A-2 District requires a minimum parcel size of five acres. Therefore, approval of the rezone would correct the property’s existing inconsistency with zoning standards.
General Plan Consistency
Land Use Element - Land Use Designation
The Land Use Element of the General Plan designates the subject property as Agricultural Lands (AL). The AL designation allows for a wide range of agricultural uses and limits density to a maximum of 1 unit per 5 acres. The A-2 zoning designation is consistent with the AL designation in terms of density as well as general uses allowed.
Land Use Element - Briones Hills Agricultural Preservation Area
The subject property is within the Briones Hills Agricultural Preservation Area. In the 1980s a voluntary agreement was formed between several adjacent cities and the County for the purpose of protecting the area’s open space and agricultural value. The participating cities agreed not to annex any of the lands within the 64-square mile area for the purposes of allowing urban development.
While the A-2 zone allows for smaller lots than the A-4 zone, the density would not increase because density is determined by the underlying AL land use designation, which would remain unchanged.
Land Use Element - Urban Limit Line
The purpose of the ULL is twofold: (1) to ensure preservation of identified non-urban agricultural, open space and other areas by establishing a line beyond which no urban land uses may be established; and (2) facilitate the enforcement of the 65/35 Land Preservation Standard (Land Use Element page 3-8). To this end, the General Plan does not allow properties outside the ULL to obtain General Plan Amendments that would re-designate them for an urban land use. In addition, properties outside the ULL may be subject to various agricultural and open space preservation measures. These measures could include, but would not necessarily be limited to:
1. Permitting owners of large acre parcels to subdivide and allow only a one-acre building envelope (building site).
2. Encouraging the dedication of open space and agricultural conservation easements.
3. Implementing a transfer of development rights (TDR) program.
The subject property is located outside the ULL and the proposed zoning designation is consistent with the intent and purpose of the ULL because it is agricultural (non-urban).
Land Use Element - 65/35 Land Preservation Standard
The 65/35 Land Preservation Standard limits urban development to no more than 35 percent of the land in the County, and requires the remaining 65 percent of all land be preserved for agriculture, open space, wetlands, parks and other non-urban uses (Land Use Element page 3-11). The proposed zoning designation is consistent with the intent and purpose of the 65/35 Standard because it is agricultural.
Conservation Element - Agricultural Resources
The Conservation Element of the General Plan includes goals and policies related to protection of agricultural resources and encouragement of agricultural production. The subject property is located in an agriculturally important area (Conservation Element Figure 8-2). The Conservation Element does not specifically favor one agricultural zoning district over another. Rezoning the property from A-4 to A-2 would in no way threaten agricultural resources or hinder agricultural production.
Conclusion
The subject property was at one time zoned A-2 but was rezoned to A-4 when it entered into a Williamson Act contract. With the Williamson Act contract expired, the current zoning is unnecessary and inappropriately limits development. Therefore, staff recommends that the Board of Supervisors adopt the Negative Declaration for the project and adopt a motion to rezone the subject property from A-4 Agricultural Preserve District to A-2 General Agricultural District.
If the Board of Supervisors denies the application, then the zoning designation of the subject property will remain A-4 Agricultural Preserve District.
CLOSED the public hearing; FOUND, for purposes of compliance with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the State and County CEQA Guidelines, that the Initial Study prepared for the project adequately analyzes the potential environmental impacts; ADOPTED the proposed Negative Declaration; ADOPTED Ordinance No. 2011-02 to rezone the subject property, Parcel B of County File #MS33-86, from A-4 Agricultural Preserve District to A-2 General Agricultural District; and DIRECTED Department of Conservation & Development staff to file a Notice of Determination with the County Clerk.