Senate Bill No. 786

Introduced by Senator Nielsen

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Section 51201 of the Government Code, relating to local government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 786, as introduced, Nielsen. Local government: agricultural land.

Existing law, the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to contract with a landowner to limit the use of agricultural land located in an agricultural preserve designated by the city or county. Existing law defines several terms for purposes of the act.

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the provision of law setting forth the definitions of the act.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 51201 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

51201.  

As used in this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from
the context, the following terms begin insert shall end insert have the following meanings:

(a) “Agricultural commodity” means any and all plant and
animal products produced in this state for commercial purposes,
including, but not limited to, plant products used for producing
biofuels.

(b) “Agricultural use” means use of land, including but not
limited to greenhouses, for the purpose of producing an agricultural
commodity for commercial purposes.

(c) “Prime agricultural land” means any of the following:

(1) All land that qualifies for rating as class I or class II in the
Natural Resource Conservation Service land use capability
classifications.

(2) Land which qualifies for rating 80 through 100 in the Storie
Index Rating.

(3) Land which supports livestock used for the production of
food and fiber and which has an annual carrying capacity
equivalent to at least one animal unit per acre as defined by the
United States Department of Agriculture.

(4) Land planted with fruit- or nut-bearing trees, vines, bushes,
or crops which have a nonbearing period of less than five years
and which will normally return during the commercial bearing
period on an annual basis from the production of unprocessed
agricultural plant production not less than two hundred dollars
($200) per acre.

(5) Land which has returned from the production of unprocessed
agricultural plant products an annual gross value of not less than
two hundred dollars ($200) per acre for three of the previous five
years.

(d) “Agricultural preserve” means an area devoted to either
agricultural use, as defined in subdivision (b), recreational use as
defined in subdivision (n), or open-space use as defined in
subdivision (o), or any combination of those uses and which is
established in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(e) “Compatible use” begin delete is end delete begin insert means end insert any use determined by the county
or city administering the preserve pursuant to Section 51231,
51238, or 51238.1 or by this act to be compatible with the
agricultural, recreational, or open-space use of land within the
preserve and subject to contract. “Compatible use” includes
agricultural use, recreational use or open-space use unless the
board or council finds after notice and hearing that the use is not
compatible with the agricultural, recreational or open-space use
to which the land is restricted by contract pursuant to this chapter.

(f) “Board” means the board of supervisors of a county which
establishes or proposes to establish an agricultural preserve or
which enters or proposes to enter into a contract on land within an
agricultural preserve pursuant to this chapter.

(g) “Council” means the city council of a city which establishes
or proposes to establish an agricultural preserve or which enters
or proposes to enter into a contract on land within an agricultural
preserve pursuant to this chapter.

(h) Except where it is otherwise apparent from the context,
“county” or “city” means the county or city having jurisdiction
over the land.

(i) A “scenic highway corridor” begin delete is end delete begin insert means end insert an area adjacent to,
and within view of, the right-of-way of:

(1) An existing or proposed state scenic highway in the state
scenic highway system established by the Legislature pursuant to
Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 260) of Chapter 2 of
Division 1 of the Streets and Highways Code and which has been
officially designated by the Department of Transportation as an
official state scenic highway; or

(2) A county scenic highway established pursuant to Article 2.5
(commencing with Section 260) of Chapter 2 of Division 1 of the
Streets and Highways Code, if each of the following conditions
have been met:

(A) The scenic highway is included in an adopted general plan
of the county or city; and

(B) The scenic highway corridor is included in an adopted
specific plan of the county or city; and

(C) Specific proposals for implementing the plan, including
regulation of land use, have been approved by the Advisory
Committee on a Master Plan for Scenic Highways, and the county
or city highway has been officially designated by the Department
of Transportation as an official county scenic highway.

(j) A “wildlife habitat area” begin delete is end delete begin insert means end insert a land or water area
designated by a board or council, after consulting with and
considering the recommendation of the Department of Fish and
Game, as an area of importance for the protection or enhancement
of the wildlife resources of the state.

(k) A “saltpond” begin delete is end delete begin insert means end insert an area which, for at least three
consecutive years immediately prior to being placed within an
agricultural preserve pursuant to this chapter, has been used for
the solar evaporation of seawater in the course of salt production
for commercial purposes.

(l) A “managed wetland area” begin delete is end delete begin insert means end insert an area, which may be
an area diked off from the ocean or any bay, river or stream to
which water is occasionally admitted, and which, for at least three
consecutive years immediately prior to being placed within an
agricultural preserve pursuant to this chapter, was used and
maintained as a waterfowl hunting preserve or game refuge or for
agricultural purposes.

(m) A “submerged area” begin delete is end delete begin insert means end insert any land determined by the
board or council to be submerged or subject to tidal action and
found by the board or council to be of great value to the state as
open space.

(n) “Recreational use” begin delete is end delete begin insert means end insert the use of land in its agricultural
or natural state by the public, with or without charge, for any of
the following: walking, hiking, picnicking, camping, swimming,
boating, fishing, hunting, or other outdoor games or sports for
which facilities are provided for public participation. Any fee
charged for the recreational use of land as defined in this
subdivision shall be in a reasonable amount and shall not have the
effect of unduly limiting its use by the public. Any ancillary
structures necessary for a recreational use shall comply with the
provisions of Section 51238.1.

(o) “Open-space use” begin delete is end delete begin insert means end insert the use or maintenance of land
in a manner that preserves its natural characteristics, beauty, or
openness for the benefit and enjoyment of the public, to provide
habitat for wildlife, or for the solar evaporation of seawater in the
course of salt production for commercial purposes, if the land is
within:

(1) A scenic highway corridor, as defined in subdivision (i).

(2) A wildlife habitat area, as defined in subdivision (j).

(3) A saltpond, as defined in subdivision (k).

(4) A managed wetland area, as defined in subdivision (l).

(5) A submerged area, as defined in subdivision (m).

(6)  An area enrolled in the United States Department of
Agriculture Conservation Reserve Program or Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program.

(p) “Development” means, as used in Section 51223, the
construction of buildings or the use of the restricted property if
the buildings or use are unrelated to the agricultural use, the
open-space use, or uses compatible with either agricultural or
open-space uses of the property, or substantially impair the
agricultural, open-space, or a combination of the agricultural and
open-space uses of the property. Agricultural use, open-space use,
uses compatible with either agricultural or open-space uses, or the
acquisition of land or an interest in land are not development.