The Board of Supervisors finds that the continued expansion
of urban and agricultural-residential uses into the agriculturally
zoned lands of Sacramento County ("County") that are identified through
the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") process or by appropriate
regulatory agencies to provide suitable foraging habitat for the Swainson's
Hawk, a listed threatened species under the California Endangered
Species Act, will, absent mitigation, result in a significant reduction
of such foraging habitat. The reduction in foraging habitat value
can occur gradually or immediately through requests for zoning changes
of agriculturally designated lands to agricultural zones that allow
for smaller parcel size or through changes to agriculturally designated
lands to an urban land use designation or through requests for land
use entitlements for non-agricultural uses that are incompatible with
the maintenance of Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat. Reduction in
foraging habitat can also occur as the result of public projects or
as the result of development on large undeveloped commercial and industrial
lands. For any such projects on parcels which are within 10 miles
of a Swainson's Hawk nest the Board of Supervisors desires to establish
an additional means of mitigating for loss of Swainson's Hawk foraging
habitat.
The Board of Supervisors has determined, in consultation with
DFG, that suitable foraging habitat for the Swainson's Hawk exists
in both established land conservation programs in Sacramento County
which includes existing and potential foraging habitat for the Swainson's
Hawk, and in agricultural and open lands currently not part of a conservation
program. The Board of Supervisors finds that the most effective means
of mitigation for the loss of suitable Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat
is the direct preservation, in perpetuity, of equally suitable foraging
habitat on an acre-per-acre basis based on the project's determined
acreage impact. Such preservation should occur, pursuant to this chapter,
prior to onset of development activities that cause the impact (i.e.,
land clearing and site grading) or the recordation of a final map,
whichever occurs first, or the final adoption of a zoning ordinance
if only a rezone was approved. Development project proponents should
be responsible for locating and acquiring the appropriate land/or
legal instruments (such as conservation easements) that will ensure
the preservation of Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat in perpetuity.
The Board of Supervisors also finds that it may be infeasible to mitigate
for impacts to Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat by acquiring easements
for less than 40 acres and proponents of projects determined to impact
less than 40 acres should have the option to mitigate adverse impacts
to Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat through the payment of an impact
mitigation fee. An impact mitigation fee, as established pursuant
to this chapter, will provide funds to acquire available land with
suitable Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat values.
The Board of Supervisors recognizes that mitigation for foraging
habitat for the Swainson's Hawk is only feasible when replacement
habitat is provided within the known foraging area for the hawk. In
order to provide adequate mitigation for the loss of Swainson's Hawk
foraging habitat pursuant to CEQA, the acquisition of mitigation habitat
either by procurement of a conservation easement or by fee title is
necessary. Further, the Board of Supervisors deems it necessary to
restrict the scope of possible mitigation sites to parcels that are
located within the geographical foraging area of the Swainson's Hawk
in the unincorporated County outside the Urban Services Boundary,
and that are owned and/or managed by a conservation organization at
locations that are acceptable to DFG. The Board of Supervisors also
finds that due to limited opportunities for acquisition of mitigation
lands in northern Sacramento County, that for those projects which
are north of the American River only, there shall be added to the
scope of possible mitigation sites, those properties in Sutter and
Placer Counties which lie in the area defined by the Sacramento County
Line to the south and Riego/Baseline Road to the north, bounded by
the Sacramento River and Watt Avenue to the west and east respectively.
The Board further finds that the direct preservation of suitable
Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat or the payment of an impact mitigation
fee for the actual acquisition of such habitat, will meet the requirements
of mitigation under CEQA by reducing the level of impact to Swainson's
Hawk foraging habitat to a less than significant level for those parcels
falling within the scope of this chapter as set forth herein. The
Board of Supervisors intends that the requirement of direct preservation
of suitable Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat for projects determined
to impact 40 acres or more and the option of an impact mitigation
fee for projects determined to impact less than 40 acres, in the amount
set forth in this chapter, shall be included as one of the mitigation
options. Said mitigation shall arise when the environmental review
process for a request falling within the scope of this chapter concludes
there would be a significant impact or a significant cumulative impact
on the Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat for which mitigation, pursuant
to all applicable provisions of the
Public Resources Code Section
21000 et seq. and the
California Code of Regulations, Title 24, Section
15000 et seq., is required. The Board also recognizes its continued
authority to determine, based on specific economic, social, legal,
technical or other considerations, that mitigation for Swainson's
Hawk foraging habitat is infeasible or that evidence has been presented
to the Board which the Board determines eliminates the need for such
mitigation.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005; SCC
1328 § 1, 2006)
"Agricultural Designation"
means land which is zoned any of the following zoning designations
or combinations thereof: AG-160, AG-80, AG-40, AG-20, UR, IR, AR-10,
A-80, A-20, A-10.
"CEQA"
means the California Environmental Quality Act.
"DFG"
means the California Department of Fish and Game.
"Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP)"
means any plan, approved by the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS) designed to protect one or more species in exchange
for a take permit issued by the (USFWS) for certain species.
"Project"
shall mean the total combined gross acreage of a parcel or
parcels included in a development proposal subject to CEQA review.
"Urban Designation"
means land which is zoned any of the following zoning designations
or combinations thereof: a residential land use zone as set forth
in Sacramento County Zoning Code Section 201-01, a "commercial land
use zone" as set forth in Sacramento County Zoning Code Section 225-10
or an "industrial land use zone" as set forth in Sacramento County
Zoning Code Section 230-10; a specific plan designation or a special
planning area designation encompassing any of the aforementioned zoning
designations or combinations thereof.
"Urban Services Boundary"
means that boundary identified in the Land Use Element of
the 1993 General Plan as the ultimate boundary of the urban area in
the unincorporated County for purposes of the 1993 General Plan policies
and goal.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005; SCC
1328 § 2, 2006)
A. This chapter shall apply to any of the following requests for which all of the criteria set forth in subsection
B of this section have been satisfied:
1. To any request for a change in land use designation from an Agricultural
Designation to AR-1, AR-2, or AR-5 zoning or an Urban Designation;
or
2. To any request to rezone agriculturally designated lands to an agricultural
designation which permits smaller minimum parcel sizes; or
3. To any request for a land use entitlement for a non-agricultural
use of land zoned with an Agricultural Designation; or
4. To any request for a land use entitlement for a non-agricultural
use of land/or public project located within the boundaries of the
Elverta Specific Plan or Rancho Murieta's Urban Services Boundary;
or
5. To any public improvement project proposed by any department or agency
of Sacramento County on land with an Agricultural Designation; or
6. To any request to subdivide five acres or more of contiguous land
zoned as an Urban Designation to less than five acres.
B. This chapter shall apply to any request falling within subsection
A of this section for which all of the following criteria have been satisfied:
1. The entire underlying parcel(s) for the request are located within the defined scope of this chapter as set forth in subsection
C of this section;
2. The underlying parcel(s) for the request are identified through the
CEQA process, based on the DFG staff report regarding mitigation for
impacts to Swainson's Hawks in the Central Valley of California, to
provide suitable Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat; and
3. Following consultation with DFG, it has been determined through the
CEQA process that the request will result in a significant impact
or significant cumulative impact on Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat
for which mitigation measures have been identified as necessary to
reduce that impact to a less than significant level.
C. The
scope of this chapter encompasses any project located entirely within
that portion of the unincorporated area of Sacramento County, not
in an approved Habitat Conservation Plan area that addresses Swainson's
Hawk.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005; SCC
1328 § 3, 2006)
A. On and after the effective date of this chapter, for any request falling within the provisions of Section
16.130.030 of this chapter, one of the following two mitigation measures shall be included within the mitigation measure options identified to reduce the impact to Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat of that particular request to a less than significant level:
1. For projects determined to impact 40 acres of habitat or more:
a. Prior to any site disturbance, such as clearing or grubbing, the
issuance of any permits for grading, building, or other site improvements,
or recordation of a final map, whichever occurs first, or the final
adoption of a zoning ordinance if only a rezone was approved, the
project applicant shall acquire suitable Swainson's Hawk foraging
habitat, as determined by DFG and approved by the County.
i. The project applicant shall preserve through conservation easement(s)
or fee title one acre of similar habitat for each acre impacted.
ii. The land to be preserved shall be deemed suitable Swainson's Hawk
foraging habitat by DFG and the County, which shall make all reasonable
efforts to either accept or reject the proposed land as suitable within
15 business days. However, failure to act within such time shall not
be deemed as acceptance or rejection of the proposed land. For each
request for approval by the County and DFG, there must be an approved
rezone or development project and corresponding MMRP identified for
which the proposed mitigation site is to be used.
iii.
The project applicant shall transfer said easement(s) or title
to the County, DFG and a third party conservation organization as
acceptable to the County and DFG. The County may, at its discretion,
waive the requirement for a third party conservation organization
to be party to the easement or fee title. Such third party conservation
organizations shall be characterized by non-profit 501(c)(3) status
with the Internal Revenue Service and be acceptable to both the County
and DFG.
iv. All owners of the mitigation land shall execute the document encumbering
the land, including lien holders with right of foreclosure senior
to the conservation easement.
v. The document shall be recordable and contain an accurate legal description
of the mitigation land.
vi. The document shall prohibit any activity which substantially impairs
or diminishes the land's capacity as suitable Swainson's Hawk foraging
habitat and the content and form of the document must be acceptable
to the County and DFG.
vii.
If the land's suitability as foraging habitat is related to
existing agricultural uses on the land, the document shall protect
any existing water rights necessary to maintain such agricultural
uses on the land covered by the document, and retain such water rights
for ongoing use on the mitigation land.
viii.
The applicant shall pay to the County a mitigation operations
and maintenance fee to cover the costs of administering, monitoring
and enforcing the document or managing the property in fee title in
an amount determined by the receiving entity, not to exceed $3,500
per acre. The actual amount will be calculated by the receiving entity
by the use of the Property Analysis Record (PAR) software program
or other generally accepted, attribute based, site specific method
for calculating in perpetuity endowments for preserves.
ix. The entity shall not sell, lease, or convey any interest in mitigation
land which it acquires without the prior written approval of the County
and DFG and the County shall be named a beneficiary under any document
conveying the interest in the mitigation land to an entity acceptable
to the County.
x. If any qualifying entity owning an interest in mitigation land ceases
to exist, the duty to hold, administer, monitor and enforce the interest
shall be transferred to another entity acceptable to the County or
transferred to the County itself.
xi. Before committing to the preservation of any particular land pursuant
to this measure, the project proponent shall obtain the County's and
DFG's approval of the land proposed for preservation. This mitigation
option may be fulfilled in combination with a mitigation measure imposed
on the project requiring the preservation of agricultural land as
long as the agricultural land is determined by DFG to be suitable
Swainson's Hawk habitat.
2. For projects determined to impact less than 40 acres:
a. Prior to any site disturbance, such as clearing or grubbing, the
issuance of any permits for grading, building, or other site improvements,
or the recordation of a final map, whichever occurs first, or the
final adoption of a zoning ordinance if only a rezone was approved,
the project applicant shall acquire suitable Swainson's Hawk foraging
habitat, as determined by DFG and approved by the County.
i. The project applicant shall preserve through conservation easement(s)
or fee title one acre of similar habitat for each acre impacted.
ii. The land to be preserved shall be deemed suitable Swainson's Hawk
foraging habitat by DFG and the County, which shall make all reasonable
efforts to either accept or reject the proposed land as suitable within
15 business days. However, failure to act within such time shall not
be deemed as acceptance or rejection of the proposed land. For each
request for approval by the County and DFG, there must be an approved
rezone or development project and corresponding MMRP identified for
which the proposed mitigation site is to be used.
iii.
The project applicant shall transfer said easement(s) or title
to the County, DFG and a third party conservation organization as
acceptable to the County and DFG. The County may, at its discretion,
waive the requirement for a third party conservation organization
to be party to the easement or fee title. Such third party conservation
organizations shall be characterized by non-profit 501(c)(3) status
with the Internal Revenue Service and be acceptable to both the County
and DFG.
iv. All owners of the mitigation land shall execute the document encumbering
the land.
v. The document shall be recordable and contain an accurate legal description
of the mitigation land.
vi. The document shall prohibit any activity which substantially impairs
or diminishes the land's capacity as suitable Swainson's Hawk foraging
habitat.
vii.
If the land's suitability as foraging habitat is related to
existing agricultural uses on the land, the document shall protect
any existing water rights necessary to maintain such agricultural
uses on the land covered by the document, and retain such water rights
for ongoing use on the mitigation land.
viii.
The applicant shall pay to the County a mitigation operations
and management fee to cover the costs of administering, monitoring
and enforcing the document or managing the property in fee title in
an amount determined by the receiving entity, not to exceed $3,500
per acre. The actual amount will be calculated by the receiving entity
by the use of the Property Analysis Record (PAR) software program
or other generally accepted, attribute based, site specific method
for calculating in perpetuity endowments for preserves.
ix. The entity shall not sell, lease, or convey any interest in mitigation
land which it acquires without the prior written approval of the County
and DFG and the County shall be named a beneficiary under any document
conveying the interest in the mitigation land to an entity acceptable
to the County.
x. If any qualifying entity owning an interest in mitigation land ceases
to exist, the duty to hold, administer, monitor, and enforce the interest
shall be transferred to another entity acceptable to the County or
to the County.
xi. Before committing to the preservation of any particular land pursuant
to this measure, the project proponent shall obtain the County's approval
of the land proposed for preservation. This mitigation measure may
be fulfilled in combination with a mitigation measure imposed on the
project requiring the preservation of agricultural land as long as
the agricultural land is determined by DFG to be suitable Swainson's
hawk habitat.
b. Or, as an alternative, for projects determined to impact less than 40 acres, prior to any site disturbance, such as clearing or grubbing, the issuance of any permits for grading, building, or other site improvements, or recordation of a final map, whichever occurs first, or the final adoption of a zoning ordinance if only a rezone was approved, the project applicant shall submit payment of a Swainson's Hawk impact mitigation fee per acre of calculated habitat impact habitat to the County in the amount set forth in Section
16.130.050 of this chapter as such may be amended from time to time and to the extent that said chapter remains in effect.
B. The requirement for direct land preservation or payment of an impact mitigation fee established pursuant to this chapter is also applicable to those requests for a change in land use designation or grants of land use entitlements that were granted prior to the effective date of this chapter and which are conditioned to require mitigation for impacts to Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat to include the option to participate in a future Swainson's Hawk mitigation policy/program adopted by the Board of Supervisors, provided the property owner/developer of any such project has not yet completed an alternative mitigation measure for impacts to Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat and provided that the parcel(s) included in such a previously granted request fall within the scope of this chapter as set forth in Section
16.130.030.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005; SCC
1328 § 4, 2006)
The impact mitigation fee will be established by resolution
of the Board of Supervisors. This fee may from time to time be amended
by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005)
Payment in full of the impact mitigation fee established pursuant to this chapter shall be required prior to any site disturbance, such as clearing or grubbing, the issuance of any permits for grading, building, or other site improvements, or the recordation of a final map, whichever occurs first, or the final adoption of a zoning ordinance if only a rezone was approved. For projects falling under Section
16.130.040(B), payment in full of the impact mitigation fee established pursuant to this chapter shall be required prior to approval of site improvement plans unless such site improvements plans have already received final approval prior to the effective date of this chapter, in which case payment in full shall be required prior to issuance of any building permits. Election to mitigate impacts through payment of the impact mitigation fee must occur prior to the initiation of alternative mitigation measures.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005; SCC
1328 § 5, 2006)
Mitigation credit may be given for vernal pool or other preserves
which contain suitable Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat, including
preserves established pursuant to a previously approved mitigation
monitoring and reporting program for the subject parcel(s). Prior
determination by DFG of the viability of the preserve for Swainson's
Hawk foraging habitat is required and preserves deemed viable by DFG
shall receive credit on a 1:1 ratio. In the event that the credit
received does not satisfy the acreage required for the mitigation
obligation, additional mitigation shall be required through any of
the other mitigation measure options identified in the applicable
environmental report to the extent necessary to reduce impacts on
Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat to a less than significant level.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005)
Parcels included within the boundaries of an established habitat
conservation plan area which provides for mitigation for Swainson's
Hawk foraging habitat shall be subject to the mitigation provisions
and requirements of that plan and shall not be subject to the provisions
of this chapter.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005)
An administrative fee charged per impact mitigation fee, easement or fee title submitted to the County will be established by resolution of the Board of Supervisors for the purpose of funding the costs of administering the Swainson's Hawk impact mitigation program established pursuant to this chapter. Payment of this fee is in addition to fee obligations established pursuant to Sections
16.130.050 and
16.130.130 and shall be due and payable prior to any site disturbance, such as clearing or grubbing, the issuance of any permits for grading, building, or other site improvements, or recordation of a final map, whichever occurs first, or the final adoption of a zoning ordinance if only a rezone was approved. For projects falling under Section
16.130.040(B), payment of this fee is in addition to the fee obligations established pursuant to Section
16.130.050 and shall be due and payable at the time of approval of site improvement plans unless such site improvements plans have already received final approval prior to the effective date of this chapter, in which case payment of this fee in addition to the fee obligations established pursuant to Section
16.130.050 shall be required prior to issuance of any building permits. This fee may from time to time be amended by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005; SCC
1328 § 6, 2006)
Nothing herein shall be construed to preclude the Board of Supervisors'
consideration or approval of other means of mitigating significant
impact or significant cumulative impact on Swainson's Hawk foraging
habitat or to limit the Board's authority to override mitigation measures
for reasons permitted by CEQA.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005)
Authority on behalf of the County to accept easements or fee
title granted pursuant to the terms and conditions of the agreement
entitled "Agreement For The Funding And Acquisition Of Swainson's
Hawk Foraging Habitat" is hereby delegated to the Director of the
Office of Planning and Environmental Review, subject to approval of
County Counsel as to form.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005; SCC
1606 § 65, 2017)
For projects utilizing the fee option of Section
16.130.050 an operations and management fee will be established by resolution of the Board of Supervisors for the purpose of reimbursing conservancies for their administrative costs incurred in acquiring and monitoring easements or managing properties in fee title. Payment of the fee is in addition to the fee obligations established pursuant to Sections
16.130.050 and
16.130.100 and shall be due and payable prior to any site disturbance, such as clearing or grubbing, the issuance of any permits for grading, building, or other site improvements, or recordation of a final map, whichever occurs first, or the final adoption of a zoning ordinance if only a rezone is approved. For projects falling under Section
16.130.040(B), payment of this fee is in addition to the fee obligations established pursuant to Section
16.130.050 and shall be due and payable at the time of approval of site improvement plans unless such site improvement plans have already received final approval prior to the effective date of this chapter, in which case payment of this fee in addition to the fee obligations established pursuant to Section
16.130.050 shall be required prior to issuance of any building permits. This fee may from time to time be amended by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
(SCC 1299 § 1, 2005; SCC
1328 § 7, 2006)