1. Contra Costa Watershed Forum May 11, 2016

2. LAFCO’s Purposes Encourage orderly growth and boundaries
Discourage urban sprawl
Preserve agriculture and open space
Promote efficient public services
Legislature’s “watchdog” over local governments

3. What Does LAFCO Do? Respond to Applications
Incorporations
Spheres of Influence (SOIs)
Annexations
Detachments
Disincorporations
District Formations
Outside User Agreements
Dissolutions
Activate/Deactivate Powers
Consolidations
Mergers

4. What Does LAFCO Do? LAFCO Initiated Actions
Conduct Municipal Service Reviews (MSRs) approximately every five years; these may result in SOI changes
Initiate SOI changes, district formations/mergers/ consolidations/dissolutions, establishment of subsidiary districts, MSRs, special studies
Cannot initiate annexations, detachments, incorporations, disincorporations, out of agency service extensions, activation/deactivation of district powers

5. What Does LAFCO Do? LAFCO’s PLANNING Function
Develop and update SOIs for cities and districts
Prepare MSRs for local jurisdictions
Work cooperatively on growth, preservation, and service delivery issues

6. LAFCO’s REGULATORY Function
Modifies existing special district and city boundaries, and creates new districts and cities
Considers boundary changes
Controls extension of public services
Is prohibited from directly regulating land use

7. Current LAFCO Activities/Priorities
Processing incoming applications
2nd round MSRs
Special studies
Policy development

8. LAFCO’s Agriculture & Open Space Preservation Policy (AOSPP) - Background
Identified years ago as part of LAFCO’s ongoing policy development
March 2015 – discussion advanced
July 2015 – LAFCO hosted an Ag & OS workshop
Aug – Oct 2015 – ongoing discussion of AOSPP policy development
Nov 2015 – Following outreach and education, Commission directed LAFCO Policy Committee to draft an AOSPP policy
Jan 2016 – LAFCO revised its SOI and boundary change application forms and procedures to include an Ag & OS assessment
March 2016 – LAFCO Policy Committee presented draft AOSPP policy to Commission
March – May – public comment period on draft AOSPP policy
June 2016 – Commission will consider adopting a revised draft AOSPP

9. LAFCO’s Responsibilities Related to Ag and Open Space Lands
Discourage urban sprawl
Preserve agricultural and open space lands
Guide development toward vacant urban land and away from Ag & OS land
Balance preservation of Ag & OS land with promotion of orderly development
Impose terms & conditions when warranted
Prohibited from directly regulating land use

10. Commission’s Considerations in Development of LAFCO’s AOSPP
Learn from what other LAFCOs have done
Recognize competing interests of preserving Ag & OS and encouraging orderly development
Reiterate LAFCO law and consider including local goals, policies and guidelines
LAFCO imposed or applicant proposed mitigation measures?

11. Purpose of LAFCO’s AOSPP
Provide guidance to the applicant on how to assess the impacts of LAFCO proposals on agricultural and open space, and to explain how the proposal intends to mitigate those impacts; and
Provide a framework for LAFCO to evaluate, and process in a consistent manner, LAFCO proposals that involve or impact agricultural and/or open space lands.

12. Key Components of LAFCO’s Draft AOSPP
Authority of LAFCO
Purpose
Definitions
Goals
Policies
Guidelines

13. Key Components of LAFCO’s Draft AOSPP DEFINITIONS
Agricultural lands
Prime agricultural lands
Open space

14. Key Components of LAFCO’s Draft AOSPP GOALS
Minimize conversion of prime ag land to other uses
Encourage cooperation among jurisdictions, property owners and others to conserve agriculture
Promote agriculture in long range planning
Balance need for orderly development and growth with needs of agriculture
Strengthen ag sector of economy
Fully consider impacts of a proposal on ag and open space land
Protect the natural resources that sustain agriculture

15. Key Components of LAFCO’s Draft AOSPP POLICIES
Develop vacant land inside boundaries before annexing new ag land for non-ag uses
Annex pockets and peninsulas of lands outside current boundaries first
Generally, discourage non-ag development on ag land when alternatives exist
Minimize conflicts between ag land in production with surrounding uses
New development should not affect the sustainability of active agriculture

16. Key Components of LAFCO’s Draft AOSPP POLICIES (continued)
Annex non-prime ag land before prime ag land
Consider feasible mitigation if a proposal converts ag land to other uses
Agency policies should create efficient, coterminous, and logical growth and encourage prime ag land protection
Notify adjacent property owners of ag lands when processing an application on nearby lands

17. Key Components of LAFCO’s Draft AOSPP GUIDELINES
Applications must include an Ag and Open Space Impact Assessment, if applicable
For proposals that reduce prime ag lands, applicants, property owners and others should cooperate to consider appropriate mitigation
Applicants should provide a land use inventory and assess the effectiveness of mitigations they propose
Detachment of prime ag lands and open space should be considered when consistent with the SOI
Annexations of Williamson Act land will be denied except in specific circumstances

18. Thank You for Inviting Me!
Questions and Answers