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Supervisor Sweeney requesting Board review for clarification and implementation General Plan Policies 8.1.3.1 and 8.1.3.2. (THIS ITEM HAS BEEN COMBINED WITH FILE 09-0004, ON FEBRUARY 3, 2009)
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Background:
For more than a year, the Agricultural Commission, Planning Commission, and sometimes the Board have wrestled with policies that were meant to protect agricultural operations but which have instead served to frustrate implementation of the land uses designated in the General Plan. The primary cause of the problem is that the zoning ordinance and maps have not been updated to conform to the General Plan land use designations, and this effort will not be completed for at least another year. Consequently, I believe this Board should intervene and provide direction to staff concerning implementation of two of these policies.
Supervisor Sweeney recommending the Board direct staff that General Plan Policies 8.1.3.1 and 8.1.3.2, shall be implemented as follows:
1) General Plan Policies 8.1.3.1 and 8.1.3.2 do not apply where adjacent agriculturally-zoned parcel was assigned an urban or other non-agricultural land use in the Land Use Map for the 2004 General Plan (MFR, HDR, MDR, LDR, C, R&D, I, TR, AP or PF).
Projects located adjacent to agriculturally-zoned parcels meeting the above criteria will not be subject to review by the Agricultural Commission, unless the proposed project is within or adjacent to an Agricultural District, adjacent to an existing commercial agricultural operation, or adjacent to land currently under a Williamson Act contract where a Notice of Non-Renewal has not been filed.
2) Open space parcels may be created to buffer agriculturally-zoned lands. Open space parcels created for this purpose are not required to maintain the same length to width ratio of other (developable) parcels.
3) This policy direction shall remain in effect until the County has completed the comprehensive update of the Zoning Ordinance, including revisions...
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