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Time Set # 22.
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| Board of Supervisors |
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| Subject |
| Hold public hearing on a request for a Lot Line Adjustment and Rezone between two agriculturally zoned parcels, located approximately five miles north of the unincorporated community of Clarksburg (APNs: 044-060-034 and 044-060-041). A Categorical Exemption has been prepared for the project. (No general fund impact) (Echiburu/Tschudin) |
| Recommended Action |
- Hold a public hearing;
- Determine that a Categorical Exemption is the appropriate level of environmental documentation in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Guidelines (Attachment B);
- Adopt the proposed ordinance rezoning the 4.383-acre home-site parcel from Agricultural Intensive (A-N) to Agricultural Residential (A-R) (Attachment C); and
- Adopt the resolution for the Lot Line Adjustment subject to Findings and Conditions of Approval (Attachment D).
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| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
Thriving Residents
Flourishing Agriculture |
| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
Project Description
The project is a request to adjust property lines between two contiguous agricultural parcels in Clarksburg to separate a home-site from the vineyard. Both parcels are located in the Agricultural Intensive (A-N) Zone and overlain by the Clarksburg Agricultural District Overlay (CADO) Zone. The parcels are farmed as a single agricultural unit and planted in grape vines.
The project site currently consists of one 36.32-acre parcel, identified as APN: 044-060-034, and one 27.06-acre parcel, which contains the home-site, identified as APN: 044-060-041. The proposed lot line adjustment would result in a 4.383-acre home-site parcel, and a 58.999-acre vineyard parcel (Attachment A).
As per Yolo County Code Section 8-2.401(f), Agricultural Home Site Parcels, a lot line adjustment may be approved to create an agricultural home site parcel in the Clarksburg Agricultural District Overlay Zone on two or more parcels under common ownership, provided the home-site parcel is rezoned to Agricultural Residential (A-R).
Background
Approval of the project would create the first Agricultural Residential (A-R) zoned parcel in Yolo County. A-R zoned parcels can be created in one of two ways in the County, both of which aim to cluster residential development where appropriate and to maintain large tracts of economically viable tracts of agricultural land.
The Clustered Agricultural Housing for Antiquated Subdivisions Ordinance, Section 8-2.403 of the County Code, provides an avenue for agricultural land owners to voluntarily cluster historic, underlying legal lots into home-sites and maintain the remaining productive agricultural land. Similarly, provisions in the Clarksburg Agricultural District Overlay (CADO) Zone aim at minimizing the effects of non-agricultural uses in agricultural areas. The overlay zone contains regulations that are unique to the Clarksburg agricultural area, including the creation of an agricultural home-site parcel through a lot line adjustment, provided the home-site parcel is rezoned to A-R (County Code Section 8-2.403).
Staff recommendation
Creation of an agricultural home-site parcel is an allowable action in the Clarksburg Agricultural District Overlay (CADO) Zone, per Sec. 8-2.401(f) of the County Code, and supports the relevant General Plan policies designed to prevent the fragmentation of agriculturally productive tracts of land, and allow for residential uses where appropriate. There is no development associated with the creation of the new A-R zoned parcel and the applicants already live on the property to be rezoned. The remaining acreage would retain the resultant vineyard parcel as a whole agricultural unit; no additional parcels would be created. The resultant home-site parcel will be required to have a note included on the deed indicating the parcel is subject to the County’s Right to Farm Ordinance, i.e., stating the property is located in an area of agricultural production and may be subject to nuisances in the form of noise, light, spraying, odors, or other conditions associated with productive agriculture. The resultant 59-acre vineyard parcel would not be able to be divided since any new parcel would not meet the minimum parcel size requirements of 40 acres, meaning this tract of agricultural land could not be reduced in size so as to lose its economic viability. |
| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
A Request for Comments notice was circulated for the proposed project from November 8, 2018 to December 8, 2018. No significant agency comments were received. The Delta Protection Commission was noticed and invited to comment, but declined. The Clarksburg Citizens Advisory Committee reviewed the project proposal at their January 9, 2019, meeting, and voted for approval. A Courtesy Notice was sent on January 24, 2019, to property owners within 1,000 feet of the project parcels’ property lines, inviting interested parties to submit questions or comments. No written comments were received until after the March 14, 2019, Planning Commission hearing (Attachment E). The commenter expressed confusion over the intent of the project. Staff followed up to explain the application process and County Code requirements.
Phone calls received in response to the Courtesy Notice also raised concerns that the project was dividing the acreage into more parcels than previously existed. It was explained that the applicants own both parcels and are readjusting the parcel lines under provisions in the County Code that are specific to the CADO Zone, but that no additional parcels would be created.
The Planning Commissioners voted unanimously to recommend project approval at the March 14, 2019, Planning Commission meeting, but expressed some concern over the ability to create agricultural home-sites and questioned why Clarksburg received special regulations through the the Agricultural Overlay Zone. Staff agreed to follow up with the Commission, at a future meeting, to discuss the Clustered Agricultural Housing Ordinance, the CADO Zone, and General Plan Policies related to the Agricultural District Overlay. Clarksburg is currently the only community in unincorporated Yolo County with an Agricultural District Overlay. A copy of the Planning Commission staff report is shown in Attachment F. |
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