The purposes of the agricultural buffer (AB) overlay district are:
A. 
To serve as a buffer between urban development and agricultural uses.
B. 
To protect viable agricultural operations outside the urban area (particularly crops that require irrigation, tilling, and spraying) from the intrusion of urban uses.
(Ord. 1972, Repealed and Replaced, 02/22/2022)
The standards of this chapter apply to lands designated as an agricultural buffer overlay. The AB overlay shall be applied to those lands designated agricultural buffer on the General Plan land use diagram and may be applied on a case-by-case basis adjacent to grazing lands. The permitted and conditional uses within the AB overlay shall be limited to those listed in this chapter. Development within the overlay shall conform to the standards listed within this chapter in addition to the standards of the underlying zoning district.
(Ord. 1972, Repealed and Replaced, 02/22/2022)
The permitted and conditional uses allowed within the AB overlay district shall be limited to the following:
A. 
Permitted Uses.
1. 
Detention basins, flood control channels, and water supply canals;
2. 
Landscaped buffer areas, walls, and fences;
3. 
Roads, driveways, and emergency accesses;
4. 
Passive recreational uses and open spaces;
5. 
Reservoirs and municipal water storage tanks;
6. 
Water wells, pump stations and other similar utility facilities; and
7. 
Other permitted uses in the underlying zoning district determined to be of similar or lower intensity than passive recreational and open space uses and to meet the purposes of this chapter.
B. 
Conditional Uses.
1. 
Alternative energy facilities.
2. 
Other conditional uses in the underlying zoning district determined to be of similar or less intensity than passive recreational and open space uses and to meet the purposes of this chapter.
(Ord. 1972, Repealed and Replaced, 02/22/2022)
A. 
The floor area ratio of a site shall not exceed 0.01 unless the decision maker finds that a higher ratio will not substantially reduce the open space utility of the agricultural buffer.
B. 
Only structures that are nonoccupied and that meet one of the following criteria are allowed:
1. 
Structures that are necessary to the maintenance of agricultural operations (e.g., pump stations);
2. 
Structures that form a portion of a landscaped separator (e.g., a sound wall);
3. 
Structures that serve a passive public recreation use; or
4. 
Structures that are adjunct to a public health and safety use of the buffer zone (e.g., storm water detention facilities).
C. 
Agricultural buffers shall contain substantial landscaping to discourage unlawful access onto the agricultural lands, and to lessen the potential impacts of typical agricultural activities on residential uses. This shall include a row of shrubs, hedges, and trees, to achieve 75 percent opacity within three years, and a fence or wall, or other combinations of fencing and landscaping determined by the decision maker to achieve the desired buffering.
D. 
The cost of the creation and ongoing maintenance of new agricultural buffers shall be funded by new development adjacent to the existing agricultural uses. Any land use approval for adjacent urban development shall include a funding and maintenance plan for the buffer area.
(Ord. 1972, Repealed and Replaced, 02/22/2022)
Where urban uses are proposed abutting grazing land outside the urban growth boundary, the decision maker shall evaluate the need for an agricultural buffer on a case-by-case basis. The width, location, design, and any special requirements for any needed agricultural buffer shall be contained in the specific plan, planned development or other land use approval for the urban use.
(Ord. 1972, Repealed and Replaced, 02/22/2022)