HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-12-2016 Item 2 - GENP-3918-2016 (0 Prefumo Canyon)PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA REPORT
SUBJECT: General Plan Conformity Report – Waddell Ranch Open Space Acquisition
PROJECT ADDRESS: BY: Robert Hill, Natural Resources Mgr.
APN: 076-051-011 Phone Number: 805-781-7211
0 Prefumo Canyon Road, San Luis Obispo, CA E-mail: rhill@slocity.org
FILE NUMBER: GENP 3918-2016 FROM: Xzandrea Fowler, Deputy Director
RECOMMENDATION
Approve a resolution finding that the acquisition in fee simple title of approximately 154 acres of
unimproved real property known as the Waddell Ranch, located in unincorporated San Luis
Obispo County, for open space conservation purposes and passive recreation by the general public,
conforms with the City’s General Plan (Attachment 1).
SITE DATA
Applicant City of San Luis Obispo
Representative Robert Hill, Natural
Resources Manager
Zoning Rural Lands (County)
General Plan Open Space (City)
Site Area Approx. 154 acres
Application
ER Status
Complete
Categorically Exempt,
§15313 and §15317
SUMMARY
The City’s Natural Resources Program is seeking a General Plan Conformity Determination from
the Planning Commission for an open space acquisition in the southerly portion of the City’s
Greenbelt. The fee simple acquisition of the 154-acre Waddell Ranch property located at the
headwaters of Froom Creek has been identified as an acquisition priority since the inception of the
City’s Greenbelt Protection Program in 1995 (Attachment 2). Recently, the City’s Natural
Resources Program has partnered with the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national non-profit
conservation organization, to complete the acquisition.
1.0 CONSISTENCY WITH EXISTING POLICY AND PROJECT ANALYSIS
The City’s General Plan has several areas where acquisition, use, and management of City-owned
open space is addressed. The Conservation and Open Space Element (COSE) is where the most
pertinent policy direction is found. The list below is not exhaustive but highlights a few key goals,
programs, and policies in particular:
Meeting Date: October 12, 2016
Item Number: 2
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COSE Goal 8.1: Secure and maintain a healthy and attractive Greenbelt around the urban
area, comprised of diverse and connected natural habitats, and productive agricultural
land that reflects the City’s watershed and topographic boundaries.
The proposed project implements this goal by adding property to the Greenbelt and expanding the
existing Irish Hills Natural Reserve.
COSE Policy 8.5.1: Public access to open space resources, with interpretive information,
should be provided when doing so is consistent with protection of the resources, and with
the security and privacy of affected landowners and occupants…
The proposed acquisition will implement this policy by protecting and conserving sensitive natural
resources found within the site and by providing trail access thereto from the existing Irish Hills
Natural Reserve (no trailhead will be constructed in an existing neighborhood and the closest
occupied residence is approximately one mile away located on the adjacent Stanuseich Ranch).
COSE Program 8.7.1(D) Protect Open Space Resources: The City will take the following
actions to protect open space, and will encourage individuals, organizations, and other
agencies to take the same actions within their areas of responsibility and jurisdiction:
Acquire land and interests in land for open space, pursuant to City Open Space Guidelines
and acquisition priorities.
The proposed acquisition will implement this program by allowing the City to acquire fee
ownership of the property (acquisition priorities are discussed below). The proposed acquisition
will eliminate from development potential part of an old and controversial subdivision, and ensure
permanent protection for the property.
COSE Policy 9.1.1 (A): Preserve natural and agricultural landscapes.
The City will implement the following policies and will encourage other agencies with
jurisdiction to do likewise: A. Natural and agricultural landscapes that the City has not
designated for urban use shall be maintained in their current patterns of use.
Permanent protection is supported by the Land Use Element map designation as Open Space and
inclusion in the Conservation and Open Space Element’s designated Greenbelt Boundary, and the
City has not designated this property for urban use.
The acquisition of this particular property is consistent with the following priority-setting policies:
COSE Appendix B, Paragraph 3: Criteria for Acquisition:
To be considered for acquisition a site must have value in one or more of the following
categories:
A) Valuable natural resources, such as habitat for listed species or species of local
concern, groundwater, or surface water.
B) Scenic qualities, cultural resources, or unusual geologic features.
C) Natural hazards to public health or safety, such as flooding or landslide, which make
reasonable development on the property unlikely.
D) Important opportunities for low-impact recreation, such as connecting the Morros by a
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hiking trail, linking San Luis Obispo to connecting trails in the unincorporated County, or
for providing valuable environmental education opportunities.
E) Proximity to land that is already permanently protected as open space, or the property
is close to land that is likely to be protected in the foreseeable future, thus forming or
potentially forming a large area of protected lands.
F) Productive or potentially productive agricultural land, or an effective buffer that would
protect agricultural operations.
G) Individually or cumulatively forms an important part of the City’s Greenbelt.
This proposed acquisition meets all of the above conditions except F, as the site is underlain by
serpentine rocks and has therefore never been conducive to any form of intensive agriculture,
although livestock and / or horses have historically grazed the property.
COSE Appendix B, Paragraph 6: Criteria for Excluding Acquisition Candidates:
A site that meets the criteria noted above should generally not be acquired by the City as
open space if:
A) The site is developed with facilities or structures, and thus would not be consistent with
the open space definition.
B) The site or resource can be obtained in a timely manner as a condition of City, State, or
County development approvals or agreements.
C) The site’s values are primarily scenic, but the property cannot be readily viewed by the
general public.
D) Adjacent properties are being developed in a way that is likely to significantly diminish
the conservation values of the property in question.
E) Management of the property will be very costly or the terms of an easement would be
unusually difficult to enforce.
F) The site cannot be acquired with reasonable effort in relation to its value or purpose.
The proposed acquisition would not be excluded by the following policy, as none of the criteria
apply to the property.
2.0 PROJECT INFORMATION
Site Information/Setting
Site Size 154 acres
Present Use & Development Unimproved rural lands; Three legal lots of record
Topography Level to Very Steep (slopes often greater than 50%)
Access Prefumo Canyon Road or via Irish Hills Natural Reserve
Surrounding Uses/Zoning Agriculture / Rural Lands (San Luis Obispo County)
3.0 PLANNING COMMISSION REVIEW
California Government Code Section 65402(a) and (c) requires that the Planning Commission
make a finding that an acquisition of real property for public purposes, such as contemplated
herein, is consistent with the City’s General Plan (emphasis added in bold):
If a general plan or part thereof has been adopted, no real property shall be acquired
by dedication or otherwise for street, square, park or other public purposes, and no real
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property shall be disposed of, no street shall be vacated or abandoned, and no public
building or structure shall be constructed or authorized, if the adopted general plan or
part thereof applies thereto, until the location, purpose and extent of such acquisition
or disposition, such street vacation or abandonment, or such public building or structure
have been submitted to and reported upon by the planning agency as to conformity with
said adopted general plan or part thereof.
4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Acquisition of the Waddell Ranch property is categorically exempt from the provisions of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it involves “acquisition of lands for fish
and wildlife conservation purposes including (a) preservation of fish and wildlife habitat… and (c)
preserving access to public lands and waters where the purpose of the acquisition is to preserve
the land in its natural condition” (§15313), and because it involves the “acceptance of … fee
interests in order to maintain the open space character of the area” (§15317).
Once acquired, it is anticipated that Natural Resources Program staff will prepare an update of the
existing Irish Hills Natural Reserve Conservation Plan to include the Waddell Property, along
with a counterpart environmental review and determination, prior to any management activities or
property improvements that would constitute a Project under CEQA definitions (§21065).
5.0 PUBLIC COMMENT
Land conservation efforts in the Irish Hills area and for this property, in particular, have been
identified as priorities is several prior planning and public outreach efforts. These include:
1.A Vision for Sustainability in San Luis Obispo: Recommendations of the Environmental
Quality Task Force (1995)
2.Saving Special Places: A Study of Open Space Values in the San Luis Obispo Greenbelt (1995)
3.Saving Special Places II: Revisiting Open Space Priorities and the San Luis Obispo Greenbelt
(2004)
Recently, staff convened the Natural Resources Roundtable in 2016 as a stakeholder outreach
process relative to future program and acquisition priorities for the Greenbelt, the proceedings of
which support conservation efforts of this type. Lastly, letters of support were received from local
non-profits and elected officials in support of a grant opportunity (Attachment 3).
6.0 OTHER DEPARTMENT COMMENTS
City of San Luis Obispo Natural Resources Program, Parks and Recreation Department, and Fire
Department staff all concur with acquisition of the property for open space conservation and
passive recreation purposes.
7.0 ALTERNATIVES
The Commission may wish to request that staff come back to the Commission for further review
and deliberation at a later time, although this is not recommended given time sensitivities
associated with grant funding and the overall timeline anticipated for the transaction. The
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Commission could also find that the proposed acquisition is not in conformance with the General
Plan. This is not suggested as it appears to be consistent with the Conservation Guidelines adopted
in 2002, and with the Conservation and Open Space Element update in 2006, and will provide
direction as to proper habitat protection, compatible recreational use, and management activities
for the Reserve into the future.
8.0 ATTACHMENTS
1.Resolution
2.Location Map
3.Letters of Support – EEM Grant Application
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RESOLUTION NO. PC-XXXX-16
A RESOLUTION OF THE SAN LUIS OBISPO PLANNING COMMISSION
DETERMING GENERAL PLAN CONFORMANCE FOR
THE ACQUISITION OF APPROXIMATELY 154 ACRES KNOWN AS THE
WADDELL RANCH PROPERTY IDENTIFIED AS ASSESSOR PARCEL NO. 076-051-
011, WITH A CATEGORICAL EXEMPTION FROM ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW, AS
REPRESENTED IN THE STAFF REPORT AND ATTACHMENTS DATED OCTOBER
12, 2016 (WADDELL RANCH OPEN SPACE ACQUISITION, GENP-3918-2016)
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission of the City of San Luis Obispo conducted a public
hearing in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California, on
October 12, 2016, for the purpose of considering application GENP 3918-2016; and
WHEREAS, notices of said public hearing were made at the time and in the manner
required by law; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has duly considered all evidence, including the
testimony of interested parties, and the evaluation and recommendations by staff, presented at said
hearing.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Planning Commission of the City of San
Luis Obispo as follows:
Section 1. Findings. Based upon all the evidence, the Commission makes the following
findings:
1.The City of San Luis Obispo’s Natural Resources Program has reached agreements for an
open space acquisition in the southerly portion of the City’s Greenbelt. The fee simple
acquisition of the 154-acre Waddell Ranch property is located at the headwaters of Froom
Creek and contains high natural resources values that warrant the City’s conservation
efforts.
2.The City of San Luis Obispo, as a local agency that had adopted a General Plan, must have
its Planning Commission make a General Plan conformity determination, as required in
association with the purchase of the property under California Government Code Section
65402.
3.The Planning Commission considered the request and determined that the intended use and
site acquisition for open space conservation and passive recreation purposes by the general
public complies with goals, programs, and policies of the Conservation and Open Space
Element (COSE) of the City of San Luis Obispo’s General Plan, specifically COSE 8.1,
8.5.1, 8.7.1(D), and 9.1.1(A).
ATTACHMENT 1
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Section 2. Environmental Review. Categorically Exempt from the provisions of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it involves “acquisition of lands for fish
and wildlife conservation purposes including (a) preservation of fish and wildlife habitat… and (c)
preserving access to public lands and waters where the purpose of the acquisition is to preserve
the land in its natural condition” (§15313), and because it involves the “acceptance of … fee
interests in order to maintain the open space character of the area” (§15317).
Section 3. Action. The Planning Commission does hereby determine General Plan
conformity with the Waddell Ranch Open Space Acquisition, GENP-3918-2016.
On motion by , seconded by , and on the following
roll call vote:
AYES:
NOES:
REFRAIN:
ABSENT:
The foregoing resolution was passed and adopted this 12th day of October, 2016.
_____________________________
Doug Davidson, Secretary
Planning Commission
ATTACHMENT 1
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ATTACHMENT 2: Location Map
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ATTACHMENT 3: Letters of Support
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ATTACHMENT 3
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ATTACHMENT 3
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ATTACHMENT 3
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ATTACHMENT 3
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ATTACHMENT 3