SU0014502 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Administrative Draft Environmental Impact Report Gill Medical Center Project Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 established procedures for local government changes of organization, including city incorporations, annexations to a city or special district, and city and special district consolidations. This act requires that development or use of land for other than open-space shall be guided away from existing prime agricultural lands in open-space use toward areas containing nonprime agricultural lands, unless that action would promote the planned, orderly, efficient development of an area. Williamson Act The California Land Conservation Act of 1965, commonly known as the Williamson Act, was established based on numerous State legislative findings regarding the importance of agricultural lands in an urbanizing society. Policies emanating from those findings discourage premature and unnecessary conversion of agricultural land to urban uses and discourage discontinuous urban development patterns, which unnecessarily increase the cost of community services to community residents.The Williamson Act authorizes each County to establish an agricultural preserve. Land within the agricultural preserve is eligible to be placed under a contract between the property owner and County that would restrict the use of the land to agriculture in exchange for a tax assessment that is based on the yearly production yield. The contracts have a 10-year term that is automatically renewed each year, unless the property owner requests a non-renewal or the contract is cancelled. If the contract is cancelled the property owner is assessed a fee of up to 12.5 percent of the property value. In 1972, the County and a prior owner of the Project site entered a Williamson Act Contract, as authorized by Cal. Gov't. Code § 51200, et seq. The Project Site was subsequently acquired by the City of Colfax in 1993. At that time, the County Assessor, in consultation with representatives of the State of California Board of Equalization, determined that the Contract was nullified by Colfax's acquisition of the property pursuant to Article XIII, Section 3 of the California Constitution. The Gill Family purchased the Project site from the City of Colfax in 1994, at which point the Gill Family did not elect to enroll the Project site into a new Williamson Act contract.The County has applied, and the owners have paid a 100%tax rate on the property since acquiring the property in 1994.Accordingly, the Project site is no longer subject to any restrictions under the Williamson Act.A few scattered parcels north and east of the Project site are under Williamson Act Contracts. 4.4.2.3 Local Agricultural Mitigation Ordinance In 2006, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors enacted the Agriculture Mitigation Ordinance (Mintier Harnish 2009). Finding that the "loss of farmland to development is irreparable" and that zoning and other regulatory measures are an "inadequate" approach to preservation, the ordinance calls for: At least a 1:1 ratio between the acres of farmland lost and preserved; Preservation through the acquisition of easements either (1) directly by the developer or (2) through payment of in-lieu fees; Agricultural and Forestry Resources 4.4-4 October 2021