Background
The Cache Creek Area Plan (CCAP) is an award winning rivershed management plan adopted by the County in 1996. It integrates environmental and economic goals related to aggregate mining and resource management. For over 20 years, this plan has been implemented by Yolo County in partnership with local aggregate resources producers, regulatory agencies, landowners, and other stakeholders. The CCAP includes the Off-Channel Mining Plan (OCMP), which is an aggregate resources management plan, and the Cache Creek Resources Management Plan (CCRMP), which is a creek restoration plan. These two plans are implemented by several regulatory ordinances including the County off-channel mining ordinance, reclamation ordinance, in-channel ordinance, and gravel fee ordinance. The Development Agreement Ordinance and the Flood Ordinance are also important tools for implementation.
As an outcome of permitted aggregate mining within the Lower Cache Creek planning area, and other activities, there are approximately 1,900 acres of land (see table below) that have or will transfer into public ownership and/or control, including several reclaimed lakes. Drafting of the CCAP Parkway Plan fulfills a key aspect of implementation of the CCAP.
Land Dedication Table
| Property |
Acreage |
| Capay Open Space Park |
41 acres |
| Granite Capay Lake |
207 acres |
| Granite Esparto Lake |
201 acres |
| Granite Esparto Trail |
121 acres |
| Syar Lake |
240 acres |
| Teichert Esparto Reiff Lake |
128 acres |
| Cemex Snyder Lakes |
240 acres |
| Millsap Property |
17 acres |
| Wild Wings Open Space Park |
17 acres |
| Cache Creek Nature Preserve |
123 acres |
| Teichert Woodland Storz Lake |
144 acres |
| Teichert In-Channel Haller/Muller |
99 acres |
| County Borrow Site |
7 acres |
| Teichert Woodland Muller Habitat |
120 acres |
| Granite Woodland Reiff Habitat |
115 acres |
| Rodgers Property |
30 acres |
| Correll Property |
39 acres |
| TOTAL |
1,889 acres |
The summary above does not include other government properties identified near or along the creek including the Esparto Transfer Station (10 acres), County Bridge right-of-way at CR 87 (5.5 acres), and properties owned by the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (89 acres). It also does not include acreage associated with any trail easements not dedicated in fee title or acreage associated with access to and from the two conveyor bridge structures that will be dedicated.
The first drafts of the Cache Creek Parkway Plan and the Cache Creek Parkway Plan Financial Feasibility Study were released for public review on July 31, 2017. As a cost-saving measure, and in recognition of the relationship between the two efforts, staff originally proposed that the Parkway Plan would be analyzed in the same environmental impact report as the 20-Year Cache Creek Area Plan Update. As described below, staff have made significant alterations to the Parkway Plan development and the associated schedule to incorporate additional public outreach.
The most significant change was the bifurcation of the process into two phases:
1). Cache Creek Parkway Baseline Inventory and Economic Feasibility Report
This is the subject of today’s discussion and is a formal inventory and economic study of all parkway properties and associated improvements that have already been approved in prior Board actions.
2). Cache Creek Parkway Master Plan and Economic Feasibility Report
This document is currently under development and will describe the vision for building out the baseline Parkway Plan.The Baseline Inventory describes “what is” while the Master Plan will describe “what could be.” Based on feedback from public outreach efforts, staff created two separate documents and associated planning efforts. The Master Plan and its economic feasibility study require further public outreach and future Board action.
Significant public outreach on the Parkway Plan was conducted during 2017, including a workshop before the Cache Creek Technical Advisory Committee on August 22, 2017; two landowner and community workshops held on August 26 and November 4, 2017; a workshop before the Yolo County Parks, Recreation, and Wildlife Advisory Committee on September 11, 2017; a workshop before the Yolo County Planning Commission on September 14, 2017; a workshop before the Cache Creek Conservancy Board of Directors on September 14, 2017; and numerous meetings with interested individual, landowners, and groups.
The first draft of the Parkway Plan provided a combined integrated management plan and future vision for open space properties the County already owns, or will receive title to, as a result of the long-term partnership with the local aggregate mining industry. It identified draft guidelines and specifications for access, use, management, and possible future improvements for each property, including the development of a connected trail system. The first draft of the Draft Parkway Plan was accompanied by the first draft of the Draft Parkway Plan Financial Feasibility Study, which analyzed the financial feasibility of various levels of parkway. The Draft Financial Feasibility Study identified costs and potential sources of funding for baseline improvements, as well as possible upgrades to the baseline condition in the form of various additional capital improvements and recreational services that could be pursued over time depending on County interest and the availability of additional funding.
Comments were solicited on the Draft Parkway Plan and Draft Financial Feasibility Study for an 8-week period running from August 1, 2017 through September 25, 2017. The original September 25, 2017 comment deadline was subsequently extended three times at the request of a landowner along lower Cache Creek. The first extension to October 20, 2017 added another 25 days to the original 8-week comment period. The second extension to November 17, 2017 added an additional 28 days. The third extension to January 2, 2018 added another 46 days. The total comment period was 155 days, or over 22 weeks.
As briefly described above, staff made significant changes to the Parkway planning process in response to public feedback:
- Separated the Parkway Plan into two distinct documents to help clarify components of the parkway that have already been determined from components of the program that continue to be explored: 1) the Parkway Baseline Inventory, which is the subject of the recommended action for this staff report, itemizes and describes parkway properties that have, or will, come into County ownership/control based on prior decisions, actions, and/or negotiations; and, 2) the Parkway Master Plan (currently under preparation) which will identify options for future improvements along the parkway.
- Uncoupled the Parkway Plan from the CCAP Update to allow for more time for public input on the Parkway Master Plan and in recognition that the Parkway Baseline Inventory does not require discretionary action or CEQA compliance.
- Prepared an assessment of issues related to illegal camping in response to concerns expressed by landowners. This assessment identified management and operational steps that can be taken to avoid, minimize, and control illegal camping should it become a factor. A memo detailing recommendations provided by the County's Homeless Outreach Team is provided as Attachment C to this staff report.
- Separated the financial feasibility analysis of the Parkway Baseline Inventory from the financial feasibility analysis of the Parkway Master Plan, consistent with item #1 above.
Summary of Parkway Baseline Inventory
The Parkway Baseline Inventory (Attachment A), prepared by Callander Associates and Tschudin Consulting Group in December 2018, contains a map and profile of each of 17 properties and two bridge structures that are already a part of, or negotiated to become a part of, the Cache Creek Area Plan open space system, based on executed development agreements and/or other prior negotiations relevant to each site. This inventory provides descriptive information about each property, along with a brief property history, details relating to access and dedication terms, relevant legal documents and technical studies, existing or approved improvements, and known opportunities and constraints related to existing conditions or known or approved future conditions. Included are:
- Properties currently under public ownership or control and managed by the County through the Cache Creek Area Plan.
- Properties and/or ownership interests (e.g. trail easements) that will be dedicated to the County in the future, pursuant to already approved agreements.
- Terms and factors affecting access, use, operation, management, and maintenance of each property.
This document reflects existing or previously approved outcomes and requires no additional County or agency approvals, discretionary permits, or CEQA clearance. This is the first comprehensive collection of complete information about these properties, and as such, this Baseline Inventory is a critical document for management of the program.
Summary of Parkway Financial Feasibility Study
The Cache Creek Parkway Plan Open Space Inventory and Baseline Improvements Financial Feasibility Study (Attachment B) was prepared by Bay Area Economics (BAE) in March 2019. This study evaluates the financial feasibility of operating and maintaining the Baseline Inventory properties through 2050, and beyond. The study includes the following major elements:
- Identification of year of acquisition or delivery.
- Categorization of common operational attributes of each site.
- Determination of “unitized” operations and maintenance costs by attribute.
- Identification of year of “activation” for clusters of sites based on efficiency, location and timing, and ability to initiate formal public access, signage, and fee collection at logical points of entry.
- Assumptions regarding types and availability of revenues over time.
- Evaluation of the overall financial feasibility of the Baseline Inventory.
- Exploration of potential strategies to augment revenues in support of additional uses.
The Cache Creek Area Plan program is self-funded directly by the per-ton fees paid by the mining industry for each ton of gravel sold. These revenues are the primary source of funding assumed in the financial feasibility analysis for operating and maintaining the parkway properties over time. The Gravel Mining Fee Ordinance and Fee Schedule are provided as Attachment D to this staff report. Other revenue sources will also include user fees and maintenance funding from easement agreements with the Yolo Habitat Conservancy.
The financial feasibility analysis concludes that projected revenues will be adequate to fund the program at baseline conditions. Revenues are projected to exceed operating costs until 2028, at which point revenue are projected to fall slightly below projected operating and maintenance costs. However, due to the cumulative surpluses projected in the proceeding five-year periods, as well as the existing maintenance and remediation fund balance, the study anticipates a projected cumulative surplus of $425,000 by the end of the 2046 to 2050 planning horizon period.
Based on these results, the financial model projects that the Baseline scenario is financially viable through the analysis period. Moreover, the projected $425,000 cumulative surplus will be available to provide reserve funding for the period extending beyond the planning horizon for this study, or to make additional minor capital improvement investments in parkway properties that are not currently envisioned for the Baseline scenario. Although the analysis predicts a modest annual operating deficit by 2050, this is far enough into the future that the County will have ample time to make adjustments in operations to balance the operating budget, if necessary.
As a part of their work, BAE also incorporated the development assumptions, operation and maintenance costs, and anticipated revenues into a comprehensive financial model for the Cache Creek Area Plan Parkway. The model serves as a tool to evaluate financial feasibility for the Parkway over time, as changes and augmentation may occur. It was designed to be easily updated by County staff on an on-going basis to project long-term costs and funding requirements and as a tool to assist in planning for and tracking the implementation of the Baseline Inventory.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
- Receive and file the Cache Creek Area Plan Parkway Open Space Inventory and Baseline Improvements (“Parkway Baseline Inventory”) document (Attachment A);
- Receive and file the Cache Creek Area Plan Parkway Baseline Inventory Financial Feasibility Study (Attachment B);
- Direct staff to revise and circulate the Cache Creek Area Plan Parkway Master Plan and Vision (“Master Plan”) and Parkway Master Plan Financial Feasibility Study; and
- Direct staff to conduct public outreach on the Parkway Master Plan and Parkway Master Plan Financial Feasibility Study, and return for final action.
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