DATE: September 10, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Partial Cancellation of Agricultural Land Conservation Contract No. 52
(RLCC No. 1046 - Four Bar C Farms, Inc.)
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Consider petition for partial cancellation of Agricultural Land Conservation Contract No. 52 filed by Dana Gunlund and Cassie Gunlund (Applicant) on behalf of Four Bar C Farms, Inc., to remove a 2.49-acre portion of a 76.41-acre parcel from the Williamson Act contract to allow the creation of a 2.49-acre homesite exception parcel for residential use; and
2. If your Board is able to make all five findings listed under Government Code, Section 51282(b), take the following actions:
a. Adopt the Negative Declaration prepared for the Initial Study 8279; and
b. Adopt and authorize the Chairman to execute Resolution authorizing partial cancellation of Agricultural Land Conservation Contract No. 52 for the 2.49-acres; and
c. Authorize the Chairman to execute the Certificate of Tentative Cancellation for the 2.49-acres and approve recording the Certificate of Cancellation for the 2.49-acres when all contingencies and conditions included in the Certificate of Tentative Cancellation have been satisfied.
The subject parcel is located on the northeast corner of S. West Avenue and W. Floral Avenue, approximately two miles north of the unincorporated community of Caruthers. (APNs: 338-040-90S, 93S, and 65S)
REPORT
This item was considered by the Agricultural Land Conservation Committee (ALCC) at a public meeting that was held on May 8, 2024. The ALCC recommended that your Board approve the cancellation petition. The ALCC’s recommendation for approval of the cancellation petition was based on its ability to make the required Five Findings listed under Government Code, Section 51282(b). This item pertains to a location in District 4.
This petition for partial cancellation of Contract No. 52 was filed by the Applicant in conjunction with Pre-Application for Certificate of Compliance (PCOC) Application No. 3542 proposing to allow the creation of a 2.49-acre homesite exception parcel from a 76.41-acre parcel enrolled in the Williamson Act Program.
The Williamson Act Program limits the use of contracted parcels to commercial agricultural uses for production of food or fiber. Per the County’s Williamson Act Guidelines, parcels that are enrolled in the Williamson Act Program are required to have at least 20 acres of prime soil or at least 40 acres of non-prime soil and are used for commercial production of food or fiber to be eligible for enrollment in the Williamson Act Program.
The subject parcel is located in the AE 20 (Exclusive Agricultural, 20-acre minimum parcel size) Zone District and is designated as Agricultural in the Fresno County General Plan. Section 822.3.080 F of the Fresno County Zoning Ordinance states that a homesite exception parcels less than the minimum acreage indicated by the district acreage designation, but not greater than 2.5 gross acres may be permitted in the Exclusive Agricultural Zone District, if the proposed parcel meets certain criteria as defined in the Zoning Ordinance. One of the criterion is that the parcel is intended as a conveyance or devise exclusively for use by a person related to the owner by adoption, blood, or marriage within the second degree of consanguinity and only for persons involved in the farming operation of the entire parcel; the existing lot before division contains a minimum of twenty (20) gross acres; there is only one (1) lot per related person, or per related married couple, and there is no more than one lot per each twenty (20) gross acres. Since homesite exception parcels of 2.5 acres or less are created as separate parcels, they do not meet the minimum parcel size to remain enrolled in the Williamson Act program.
Staff notes that the 2.49-acre area subject to the cancellation was non-renewed from the Williamson Act Program in December of 2023, is fully developed with a single-family residence, and is not farmed, which supports cancellation of the area should the Applicant not complete the PCOC. Further, the 73.92-acre balance of the property would continue to be eligible to remain in the Williamson Act Program due to its size and ongoing agricultural activities.
Should your Board determine that all five required cancellation findings listed under Government Code, Section 51282(b) can be made, the proposed petition can be approved subject to the following conditions:
The Applicant shall pay the Cancellation Fee in the amount of $15,000.00 as determined by the County Assessor and certified by the Board of Supervisors for issuance of a Certificate of Cancellation by the Board. The Cancellation Fee shall be paid, and a Certificate of Cancellation issued by the Board and recorded prior to recording the map to create the proposed 2.49-acre parcel. If the Cancellation Fee is not paid within one year of issuance of the Certificate of Tentative Cancellation, the Cancellation Fee must be re-computed by the Assessor’s Office and re-certified by the Board of Supervisors.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If your Board determines that any of the required findings cannot be made, your Board must deny the partial cancellation of Agricultural Land Conservation Contract No. 52.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The Applicant paid the application fee of $3,290.00 for the cost of processing the cancellation petition.
DISCUSSION:
In its report to the ALCC (Attachment G), staff informed the committee that they were able to make all of the five required findings listed under Government Code, Section 51282(b).
Attachment A is a location map of the subject parcel, Attachment B depicts the zoning classification of the subject parcel and surrounding area, Attachment C depicts the existing land use of the subject parcel and surrounding parcels, Attachment D is an aerial photograph of the subject parcel, Attachment E is the site plan provided for PCOC No. 3542, and Attachment F is the Assessor Memo regarding the cancellation fee.
REQUIRED FINDINGS:
The proposed petition is being processed under the provisions of Government Code Section 51282(b), which allows your Board to grant tentative approval for cancellation of a contract if your Board can make the five findings listed under Government Code, Section 51282(b).
1. That the cancellation is for land on which a Notice of Nonrenewal has been served pursuant to Section 51245 of the Government Code.
An executed Notice of Partial Nonrenewal for Williamson Act Contract No. 52 was accepted by the County Recorder on December 13, 2023, and was assigned Document No. 2023-0113705. Said Nonrenewal is for the 2.49-acres associated with this petition for Partial Cancellation.
Based on the above discussion, the ALCC was able to make Finding No. 1.
2. That the cancellation is not likely to result in the removal of adjacent lands from agricultural use.
Homesite exception parcels for the occupancy of a person who is related to the landowner by blood or adoption and will be involved in the commercial farming operation of the parcel requires a “Declaration of Intent and Acknowledgment of Penalty for Unlawful Conveyance” (Declaration) to be recorded which limits occupancy of a gift-deed/homesite exception parcel to a blood relative of the landowner who is involved with the farming of the parcel and prohibits conveyance of the gift-deed/homesite exception parcel to a third party.
Based on the above discussion, the ALCC was able to make Finding No. 2.
3. That the cancellation is for an alternative use that is consistent with the provisions of the County General Plan.
General Plan Policy LU-A.9 states that the County may allow the creation of homesite exception parcels smaller than the 20-acre minimum parcel size if the parcel involved in the division is at least twenty acres in size, and the homesite parcel is not less than one gross acre, subject to certain conditions. One of the conditions is that the parcel to be created is intended for use by a person involved in the farming operation and is related to the owner by adoption, blood, or marriage within the second degree of consanguinity; there is only one lot per related person; and there is no more than one lot per twenty (20) acres. This policy mirrors Zoning Ordinance Section 822.3.080 F.
Based on the above discussion and discussion found in the report to the ALCC (Attachment G), the ALCC was able to make finding No. 3.
4. That the cancellation will not result in discontiguous patterns of urban development.
The existing 76.41-acre parcel is located on the northeast corner of S. West Avenue and W. Floral Avenue, approximately two miles north of the unincorporated community of Caruthers. The proposal to create a substandard parcel in and of itself does not constitute a pattern of discontiguous urban development.
Based on the above discussion, the ALCC was able to make Finding No. 4.
5. That there is no proximate non-contracted land that is both available and suitable for the use to which it is proposed that the contracted land be put, or that development of the contracted land would provide more contiguous patterns of urban development than development of proximate non-contracted land.
County staff generated a list of non-contracted parcels of approximately the same size as the proposed substandard parcel located within a five-mile radius of the subject parcel and utilized online tools to determine whether the parcels are for sale. In this case, none of the approximately same size parcels within a five-mile radius were available for sale.
Based on staff’s research, none of the non-contracted parcels of similar size within a five-mile radius were available for the alternative use, and the ALCC was able to make Finding No. 5.
AGRICULTURAL LAND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE:
As stated above, at the May 8, 2024, meeting, the ALCC received staff’s presentation and testimony from the Applicant and after deliberation, the ALCC recommended that your Board approve the proposed petition based on the ability to make all the required Five Findings listed under Government Code, Section 51282(b).
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
Initial Study (IS) No. 8279 prepared for PCOC Application No. 3542 addresses potential environmental impacts associated with the creation of the homesite exception including cancellation of the contract and concluded that the cancellation will not result in a significant impact. The IS was completed and was circulated for agency review on January 11, 2023. The IS and a copy of the Negative Declaration is included in the agenda packet Attachment “H”.
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE:
Landowners subject to a Williamson Act contract within a one-mile of the subject parcel were provided notice of both the ALCC meeting and today’s hearing per Government Code Section 51284. The notice was also published in the Fresno Business Journal, which is a newspaper of general circulation.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachments A - H
On file with Clerk - Resolution
On file with Clerk - Certificate of Tentative Cancellation
CAO ANALYST:
Salvador Espino