City of Gonzales
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: April 17, 2023
FROM: Taven Kinison Brown, Community Development Director THROUGH: Trevin W. Barber, City Manager
SUBJECT: Ordinance No. 2023-136 Adding New Chapter 12.150 - Agricultural Resource Mitigation to Title 12 – Zoning Regulations, Part 5, Regulations Applying in All Districts
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council:
• Adopt Ordinance No. 2023-136, An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Gonzales adding new Chapter 12.150 – Agricultural Resource Mitigation to Title 12 – Zoning Regulations, Part 5, Regulations Applying in All Districts (Attachment 1).
BACKGROUND
On April 3, 2023, the City Council of the City of Gonzales, • Received the staff report;
• Opened the public hearing to receive and consider public comments; • Closed the public hearing and;
• Introduced, waived the reading of, and read by title only, Ordinance No. 2023-136, An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Gonzales adding new Chapter 12.150 – Agricultural Resource Mitigation to Title 12 – Zoning Regulations, Part 5, Regulations Applying in All Districts (Attachment 3 to the April 3, 2023, Staff Report).
Please see the April 3, 2023, staff report to the City Council for a description, history, and detail of the Draft Ordinance. Also please review the minutes of the April 3, 2023, staff presentation and hearing item AGENDA
ITEM
16 when available.
REVIEW AND ANALYSIS
The City has made a motion to introduce and eventually adopt a new Ordinance to provide certainty to the development community that agricultural land uses in the vicinity of Gonzales will continue to be protected in support of the local economy. The new City Ordinance builds upon significant investments in agricultural protection the City has given in the past, such as the 2014 negotiated agreement with the County of Monterey to not pursue City expansion on 3 of 4 sides of the City and to seek additional development restrictions on significant agricultural properties in the vicinity of Gonzales. Those activities and actions from 10 years ago are not insignificant in any way and demonstrate the strongest of commitments to agricultural protection. But protecting agriculture also means providing affordable housing opportunities for those working in the industry. Similar arguments have been made for the tourism and service industries – that housing needs to happen where the jobs are, whether that is on the peninsula or in the valley.
Boldly, the City has embraced exempting from agricultural mitigation requirements those land areas that may be proposed for very low, and low-income households in our “only-one-side-of-the-City-left-togrow-into” area. Such boldness is supported and encouraged in the City Council’s present actions and in the City’s General Plan with the following Vision, Goals, and Policies:
Plan Purpose and
Objectives
The Gonzales 2010 General Plan is the City's official
policy statement for the use of land and provides the
basis for future decisions regarding the City's growth
and development. The plan provides a framework for
managing increased employment and housing growth
while conserving agricultural land, protecting the smalltown charm and diversity for which Gonzales is known.
Policy HE-1.1
Adequate Sites
Maintain a sufficient amount of vacant, residentially
zoned land within the Gonzales Planning Area to
support the Regional Housing Needs Allocation and
reduce overcrowding in Gonzales. Consistent with
Neighborhood Design Guidelines, promote the balanced
distribution of housing sites that are affordable to lower and moderate income households rather than
concentrating such sites in a single location.
Implementing Action, HE-1.1.4
– Priority Service to Affordable
Housing.
Adopt a City of Gonzales policy that establishes specific procedures to grant priority service to housing with units affordable to lower-income households whenever
capacity is limited.
Implementing Action, HE-1.1.5
Additional Housing Sites.
As appropriate, pursue annexation of properties
within the City’s sphere of influence to increase the
supply of vacant land for new housing.
Policy HE-2.1 Encourage
Affordable Housing with
Incentives
Encourage the construction of new housing that varies
sufficiently in cost, design, and tenure to meet the needs of existing and future City residents in all income
categories, and the needs of residents with special needs (including the seniors, farmworkers, disabled/
developmentally disabled, and homeless).
Implementing Action, HE-2.1.1
– Provide Incentives for
Affordable Housing.
Use a variety of incentives to encourage affordable
housing production, including but not limited to density bonuses, deferral or timed payments of development fees or dedications, streamlined permitting, and use of public funds to reduce development costs, such as the use of
CDBG funds to make infrastructure improvements.
Prioritize affordable incentives for residential
development that includes affordable units for extremely low-income households and those with special needs.
Policy HE-3.1 Housing for
Special Needs Populations
Encourage the development of housing for special needs
groups,
including seniors, disabled persons (including persons
with developmental disabilities), large families, singleparent families, farmworkers, and those in need of emergency shelter or transitional/supportive housing.
Policy HE-7.1 Reduce
Governmental Constraints
Ensure that site improvement standards, development
review procedures, and development fees do not form an
unnecessary constraint to the development, conservation, and rehabilitation of housing.
Implementing Action, HE-7.1.1
– Development Standards, Fees,
and Procedures.
Monitor the City’s development standards, fees, and
permitting procedures to ensure they do not unduly
constrain the development and improvement of housing.
Implementing Action HW-9.3.1
– Thriving Agriculture System.
Promote programs and strategies, especially cooperative solutions that create better living conditions for farm laborers, including improved labor housing, living
wages, affordable healthcare, and human services for
workers and their families to continue benefiting from a thriving, local agriculture industry.
See also:
• Policy COS-4.1 (Maintain Agricultural
Economy) and associated Implementing
Actions.
• Policy COS-4.2 (Permanent Agricultural Edges)
and associated Implementing Actions.
Environmental Determination
The proposed Ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) on the grounds that it can be seen with certainty that the proposed Ordinance will not have a significant, adverse effect on the environment, and implements requirements already mandated by law. Supplementally, the city further finds and determines that the proposed Ordinance is also subject to a Class 8 Categorical Exemption per CEQA Guidelines Section 15308, as it consists of actions taken by the City as a regulatory agency, as authorized and mandated by State law (and the 2014 MOU), to assure the protection of the environment through enhanced requirements for the conversion of protected agricultural resources.
Anticipated Benefits of New Ordinance 12.150
❖ Passing the ordinance follows through on our commitment to Monterey County in our joint Memorandum of Understanding Agreement to ensure the landscape of the Salinas Valley continues to support agriculture through City-centered growth. ❖ Gonzales has taken a leadership role in becoming the first Salinas Valley jurisdiction to have its own local agricultural mitigation ordinance and is an active participant in Monterey County’s efforts to adopt a similar measure.
❖ Adoption of the ordinance codifies the City’s commitment to ensure agriculture remains our key economic driver while allowing for much needed residential and commercial growth to occur in our City.
❖ The ordinance strengthens our commitment to Monterey County LAFCo that the City is in keeping with LAFCo policies to ensure the protection of farmland as we move forward on our annexation projects.
❖ The ordinance has been crafted with significant public participation and involvement, bringing together community stakeholders with important perspectives on the needs of the region.
❖ This step is a major commitment of the City of Gonzales to preserve and protect significant prime agricultural lands surrounding our community while ensuring the availability of the City to meet its State-mandated housing demands. ❖ This ordinance ensures that the City prioritizes the development of affordable housing in its future growth plans, including farmworker housing by exempting it from these requirements.
❖ Gonzales is the home of significant agricultural support facilities that provide many local jobs to our residents. Preservation of local agriculture will support our local businesses and improve our local economy.
❖ Our ordinance recognizes the valuable importance of the support infrastructure such as the cooler, processing, and packaging facilities required to ensure the viability of the agriculture industry as a whole.
❖ Adoption of the ordinance will support local education efforts in Gonzales for agriculture programs, such as those addressed in Section 6.3.6 of the 2014 MOA with the County:
o Any agricultural mitigation fees assessed and collected by the City pursuant to its Agricultural Land Conservation Program may, in the City's sole discretion and reasonably acceptable to the County, be applied to activities designed to preserve and promote agriculture and the agricultural industry in the Greater Gonzales Area, including but not limited to:
▪ Scientific research for addressing agriculture's needs (e.g., food safety).
Entities applying for research funding could include universities, colleges, research think tanks, nonprofits, industry/business, government, and schools;
▪ Increased agricultural educational programs in the Gonzales Unified School District;
▪ Purchase of permanent agricultural buffers to alleviate potential physical conflicts between existing or planned agricultural uses (either within or outside the UGB/SOI and urban land uses planned within the UGB/SOI; ▪ Economic programs developed to expand markets for local agricultural products;
▪ Programs promoting careers in agriculture;
▪ Contributions to non-profit associations dedicated to agricultural education, promotion, or preservation.
▪ Funds for the acquisition of agricultural easements outside the City UGB/SOI.
Explain the Recommendation and How it Supports the Vision Gonzales will continue to be a safe, clean, family-friendly community, diverse in its heritage, and committed to working collaboratively to preserve and retain its small-town charm.
Explanation: The adoption of an Ordinance adding new Chapter 12.150 – Agricultural Resource Mitigation to Title 12 – Zoning Regulations, Part 5, Regulations Applying in All Districts, will facilitate the continued primacy of agricultural land uses in the City and region while reducing financial impediments to providing affordable new housing in the City’s expected new incorporation areas.
Explain how the Recommendation Directly Implements the Mission The City Council and staff of the City of Gonzales will realize our Vision by providing the leadership, commitment, and resources necessary to provide excellent services that enhance the quality of life of our diverse community.
Explanation: While this is an Ordinance about agricultural resource mitigation, and it does provide for such, the City is moving forward boldly by exempting those land areas to be laid out and constructed with Very Low Income Housing and Low Income Housing (30% of residential Unit counts in new maps) as well as exempting those areas to be configured for public uses in keeping with the City’s focus on health in all policies and providing new and necessary amenities for our citizens, old and new.
City services will be delivered in a cost-effective, respectful, and friendly manner to ensure the safety and well-being of the residents and the promotion of business, recreational, housing, and employment opportunities in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Explanation: Conventions of the 2014 MOA negotiated with the County of Monterey 10 years ago, and the conventions of New Ordinance 12.150 allow great flexibility in how the City may use in-lieu fees to implement an Agricultural Land Conservation Program for the development of land within the City’s Urban Growth Boundary/Sphere of Influence.
Strong fiscal policies allow us to provide appropriate infrastructure for:
• Public Safety X Yes No N/A
• Housing X Yes No N/A
• Recreation X Yes No N/A
• Environment X Yes No N/A
• Education X Yes No N/A
Explanation: Refer to the explanation written above for the Vision and Mission.
BUDGET IMPACT
Once adopted and implemented and should a development interest wish to deposit/pay fees in lieu of securing actual and immediate agricultural easements on comparable property, the City will need to configure an Agricultural Impact Fund in keeping with General Plan Implementing Action COS4.3.3, structured to purchase agricultural easements on lands shown on the Land Use Diagram as adjacent to but outside the General Plan Growth Area boundary. Such fund will also be the repository the City may draw from to further the activities designed to preserve and promote agriculture and the agricultural industry in the Greater Gonzales Area as described in the 2015 MOA with the County of Monterey
CONCLUSION
It is recommended that the City Council:
• Adopt Ordinance No. 2023-136, An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Gonzales adding new Chapter 12.150 – Agricultural Resource Mitigation to Title 12 – Zoning Regulations, Part 5, Regulations Applying in All Districts (Attachment 1).
Attachments:
1. Ordinance No. 2023-136