BILL NUMBER: SB 786 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
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 shall 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" is means 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" is means
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" is means
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" is means 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" is means
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" is means 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" is means 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" is means 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.