1 SUSTAINING AGRICULTURE: SANTA CLARA LAFCO’s EXPERIENCE August 31, 2007 CALAFCO CONFERENCE Sacramento

2 Why Protect and Preserve Agricultural Lands? Every minute of every day, America loses 2 acres of farmland to development Every year on an average, California loses over 15,000 acres of valuable farmland to urban development

3 Why Protect and Preserve Agricultural Lands? Within the last 20 years, Santa Clara County has lost over 11,000 acres Less than 39,000 acres of agricultural lands with high quality soils remain in Santa Clara County (that is less than 5% of total land within the county)

4 Why Protect Agricultural Lands? Irreplaceable and non-renewable resource. These lands are our legacy and they: Provide local and regional fresh food supplies, reduce dependence on foreign products, conserve energy

5 Why Protect Agricultural Lands? Maintain/ create unique community character, provide open space and wildlife habitat, support area’s tourism industry Contribute to the local economy and add to the quality of life of a community

6 What’s So Special About Agriculture at the Urban Edge? More than 75% of America’s fruits, vegetables and dairy products are produced on urban edge farms that are threatened by sprawling development In California, 70% of ALL food agricultural food production occurs on the urban edge or is urban influenced

7 What’s Sprawl Got To Do With It? Urban development, sphere of influence expansions, and service extensions can disrupt the conditions necessary for agriculture leading to: Land use conflicts and increasing calls for regulation Land speculation which drives up the price of farmland Impermanence which causes disinvestment in agriculture

8 What Can LAFCOs Do? Help educate local agencies, organizations, and the community on the importance of urban edge agriculture When approving proposals adjacent to agricultural lands, encourage local agencies to adopt measures to protect adjoining agricultural lands, to prevent their premature conversation and to minimize potential urban edge conflicts When reviewing environmental documents, review and comment on the analysis of impacts to agriculture based on definitions and codes within CKH Act Conversion of prime agricultural land should be a last resort and in some cases may not be appropriate Adopt policies aimed at mitigating the negative impacts to agricultural and open space lands

9 Development of Santa Clara LAFCO’s Agricultural Mitigation Policies Purpose Of The Policies To provide guidance to property owners, potential applicants and cities on how to address agricultural mitigation for LAFCO proposals. To provide a framework for LAFCO to evaluate and process in a consistent manner LAFCO proposals that involve or impact agricultural lands.

10 Development of Santa Clara LAFCO’s Agricultural Mitigation Policies Diverse Group Of Stakeholders Cities of Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Jose, the County of Santa Clara, the County Farm Bureau, Santa Clara Valley Water District, Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, the Coyote Housing Group, the Home Builders Association of Northern California Silicon Valley Land Conservancy, Santa Clara County Open Space Authority, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Friends of Coyote Valley Greenbelt, Committee for Green Foothills, Greenbelt Alliance, Sierra Club Property owners, developers, concerned citizens, etc.

11 Development of Santa Clara LAFCO’s Agricultural Mitigation Policies Process Used to Develop the Policies LAFCO Planning Workshop and discussion of LAFCO’s role in protecting and preserving agricultural lands (Feb. 2006) LAFCO directed staff to develop agricultural mitigation policies (April 2006) Staff researched existing policies and practices of other LAFCOs and jurisdictions and considered Santa Clara LAFCO’s experience on this issue Staff Developed and Circulated a First Draft of Policies for Comment (August 2006)

12 Development of Santa Clara LAFCO’s Agricultural Mitigation Policies Process Used to Develop the Policies Four Stakeholder Workshops/Presentations on Draft Policies (2 Held in South County) + presentation to a local Chamber of Commerce LAFCO forms a Two-Commissioner LAFCO Subcommittee on Agricultural Mitigation and 2 Subcommittee Meetings are held in South County to discuss the policies and take comments Four LAFCO Meeting/Hearings (Oct – April 2007) Draft Policies revised 4 times in response to stakeholder concerns

13 Issues: Authority to Adopt Mitigation Policies Policies are recommendations on acceptable mitigation Variations may be considered with appropriate support/justification LAFCO will not require or condition an approval on specific mitigation for a proposal impacting agricultural lands LAFCO may deny a proposal if the application will not result in orderly growth and development based on LAFCO’s policies. Cities are encouraged to adopt similar mitigation policies

14 Issues: Definition of Prime Agricultural Land LAFCO will use the CKH Act’s definition of “Prime Agricultural Land” when considering impacts Fallow lands must meet CKH Act’s definition of “Prime Agricultural Land” (based on soil class/rating, feasibility of irrigation, and recent productivity) LAFCO will not use the LESA Model. The Model does not fit existing agriculture or agricultural trends in Santa Clara County

15 Issues: Type of Mitigation 1:1 mitigation recommended with 3 options Mitigation lands within Santa Clara County Mitigation with similar type of lands (soil class/rating, etc.) No exemptions for lands used to support a development (e.g. public roads, private roads, sidewalks, etc.) In-lieu fee methodologies should have provision to adjust fees to reflect land values at the time of payment of in- lieu fees

16 Issues: Enforceability of Mitigation Plan for Mitigation and Mitigation Agreement between property owner, city and ag. conservation entity should be provided to LAFCO Agreement should be recorded against the property, upon LAFCO approval of the project Annual reports on the status of the mitigation should be provided by the city to LAFCO Annual reports on the use of the in-lieu fees should be provided by the agricultural conservation entity to LAFCO Mitigation should be fulfilled before city approves final map, issues grading permit or building permit

17 Development of Santa Clara LAFCO’s Agricultural Mitigation Policies The Results So Far LAFCO Unanimously Adopts Agricultural Mitigation Policies (April 2007) Catalyst for Cities to Develop Their Own Mitigation Policies Catalyst for Open Space Districts and Organizations to consider their Potential Role in the area of Agricultural Preservation within Santa Clara County So far, LAFCO has NOT Received any Proposals that are Affected by the Policies