To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Permit Sonoma
Staff Name and Phone Number: Tennis Wick and Jen Chard 707-565-2336
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Five
Title:
Title
1:33 P.M.- File No. AGP21-0016 McDonough Contract; 3701 Mark West Station Road, Windsor
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Recommended Actions:
Recommended action
To conduct a public hearing and adopt a Resolution to expand Agricultural Preserve 2-438 by adding 6.35 acres and approve a new Prime Land Conservation (Williamson) Act Contract and Land Conservation Plan for a 11.10-acre parcel, for a vineyard property located at 3701 Mark West Station Road, Windsor; APNs 066-280-023 and 066-280-051; Permit Sonoma File No. AGP21-0016. (Fifth District)
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Executive Summary:
Sonoma County’s Land Conservation Act program has four contract-types: a) Prime contracts for crop agriculture with a 10-acre minimum parcel size requirement; b) Non-Prime contracts for grazing with a 40-acre minimum; c) Open Space contracts with a 40-acre minimum, and d) Hybrid contracts with a mix of agricultural and/or open space also with a 40-acre minimum.
This is a concurrent request to approve an expansion of an existing Agricultural Preserve by adding 6.35-acres and, to approve and authorize the Board Chair to execute a new Prime Land Conservation Act Contract for an 11.10-acre parcel. The parcel is the result of the merger of two parcels, one of which was already within an agricultural preserve. The present action will place the entirety of the merged parcel within an agricultural preserve, to facilitate its qualification for a Land Conservation Contract. Land Conservation Act contracts assist in the preservation of agricultural and open space lands throughout Sonoma County. In exchange for retaining land in agriculture and/or open space use, the landowner receives reduced property taxes. Staff recommends the Board of Supervisors approve the Agricultural Preserve Expansion and new contract request.
Discussion:
James McDonough, sole owner of McDonough Winery LLC, seeks approval of an expansion of Agricultural Preserve 2-438 and a new Prime Land Conservation Act Contract for an 11.1-acre parcel, which containing 6-acres of vineyard. This action would expand Agricultural Preserve 2-438 by adding 6.35-acres and place the 11.1-acres under a new prime Land Conservation contract for vineyard.
The 11.1-acre parcel resulted from a merger of two parcels. The first parcel was 4.75-acres and already within Agricultural Preserve 2-438, and under a Land Conservation Contract recorded on March 1, 1972. The second parcel was 6.35-acres and not in a preserve or under a contract. In order to conform to the County’s Uniform Rule requirement that contracts cover full legal parcels, the proposed action would rescind the existing contract over the X acre portion of the merged parcel and replace it with a new contract restricting the entirety of the 11.1-acre merged parcel.
Site Characteristics:
The project site is accessed via Mark West Station Road, approximately 2.26 miles southwest of the city of Windsor. The project site contains approximately 6-acres of vineyard, a house, a barn and three ponds. Zoning for the property is Diverse Agriculture with 60-acre density and combining zones for Oak Woodland and Scenic Resource.
Uniform Rules:
As part of the Board of Supervisors’ December 2011 update of the Sonoma County Uniform Rules for Agricultural Preserves and Farmland Security Zones (“Uniform Rules”) the Board eliminated the distinction between Prime (Type I) and Non-Prime (Type II) Agricultural Preserves. This allows the County to enter into either a Prime or Non-Prime contract in any established Preserve. The portion of subject land at issue here is adjacent to established Preserve Number 2-438, and the remaining portion is already in it. The proposed action would expand the preserve by enough acreage to cover the entire parcel proposed for the replacement contract.
Also, as part of the update of the Uniform Rules, the County implemented a Land Conservation Plan which is incorporated into Land Conservation (Williamson) Act Contracts. Land Conservation Plans show locations for open space, agricultural, permitted, and compatible land uses on contracted land. Future changes to the Land Conservation Plan may be approved by the Director of Permit Sonoma and recorded on title of the subject parcel.
Enlargement of the Agricultural Preserve:
To be considered for a contract, land must be in a designated Agricultural Preserve. The Board may concurrently consider adding the land to a designated Agricultural Preserve, and its qualification for a contract. A 6.35 portion of the 11.1-acre subject parcel is not currently in an existing Agricultural Preserve. That portion of the parcel is proposed to be added to Agricultural Preserve Area number 2-438 to ensure the parcel boundaries are conterminous with the contracted area. The land qualifies for inclusion in the Agricultural Preserve Area for the reasons specified in Resolution Findings 1 through 4 (see Attachment 1).
New Land Conservation (Williamson) Act Contract:
To be eligible for a new Prime (Type I) Williamson Act contract, the subject single legal parcel must be (1) located within an established Agricultural Preserve, (2) at least 10-acres in size, (3) be devoted to an agricultural use which means have 50% of the total parcel dedicated to permanent crop uses, except that a between 10- and 12-acres in size must be a minimum of 6-acres planted in a permanent crop to qualify, (4), meet minimum income requirements contained in the County’s Uniform Rules for Agricultural Preserves for the type of agricultural use, and (5) non-agricultural uses of the property qualify as compatible uses under the County’s Uniform Rules. The subject merged parcel is 11.1-acres in size, and has 6-acres of land planted as vineyards as shown on the site plan attached to the contracts. The vineyard is projected to provide sufficient income to meet the minimum requirements; the minimum income requirement is $1,000.00 per planted acre gross total annual income. The vineyard averages $23,724 per year which results in an average of $3,954 per acre per year thus exceeding the required minimum income. Other uses are compatible because they are listed in the Uniform Rules as compatible uses and collectively, cannot occupy more than 15% or 5-acres of the total parcel size, whichever is less, excluding public roads, private access roads, and driveways. For this parcel, the 15% (1.66 acres) threshold would apply. The parcel contains a single-family dwelling, garage, and agricultural pond, all of which are contained within the 1.54-acre allowed area for compatible uses. For these reasons, the parcel qualifies for a Land Conservation Act contract for prime agricultural land.
CEQA
The project including the Agricultural Preserve expansion and new contract are Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per Section 13517 of the CEQA Guidelines.
Staff Recommendation:
Staff recommends the Board approve the request because all the state and local requirements for expansion of an Agricultural Preserve Area and approval of a new Prime Land Conservation Act Contract for the 11.1-acre parcel have been met. As part of the Board’s action the Clerk would be directed to record first the expansion of the Agricultural Preserve Map, and second the new contract, both before the end of 2024.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 5: Maximize opportunities for mitigation of climate change and adaptation through land conservation work and land use policies
Objective: Objective 2: Expand outreach and education on vegetation management and provide additional resources to landowners to help mitigate fire risk.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
A. 12/13/2011: Board approves the Sonoma County Uniform Rules for Agricultural Preserves and Farmland Security Zones (Resolution No. 11-0678)
B. 07/31/2012: Board amends the Sonoma County Uniform Rules for Agricultural Preserves and Farmland Security Zones (Resolution No. 12-0379)
C. 05/07/2013:Board amends the Sonoma County Uniform Rules for Agricultural Preserves and Farmland Security Zones (Resolution No. 13-0186)
D. 12/20/2016: Board amends the Sonoma County Uniform Rules for Agricultural Preserves and Farmland Security Zones (Resolution No. 16-0485)
E. 10/31/2017: Board amends the Sonoma County Uniform Rules for Agricultural Preserves and Farmland Security Zones (Resolution No. 17-0426)
F. 11/07/2017: Board amends the Sonoma County Uniform Rules for Agricultural Preserves and Farmland Security Zones (Resolution No. 17-0438)
Fiscal Summary:
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Approval of the Land Conservation Act Contract means that the owner will pay reduced property taxes based upon the value of the agricultural uses rather than the land value under Proposition 13. This reduces the County’s share of property tax revenue for the subject parcel. For this particular contract, the Assessor estimates the property assessment value will be reduced by approximately $1,101,281. Property taxes are generally 1.1% of assessed value.
Staffing Impacts:
N/A
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Attachment 1: AGP21-0016 Board of Supervisors Resolution
Attachment 2: Exhibit A to the Resolution - Agricultural Preserve Map
Attachment 3: AGP21-0016 Proposal Statement prepared by applicant
Attachment 4: AGP21-0016 Site Plan
Attachment 5 AGP21-0016 Assessor’s Parcel Map
Attachment 6: AGP21-0016 Land Conservation Act Contract with attached Exhibit A (legal description) and Exhibit B (Land Conservation Plan with attached Site Plan)
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
NA