Planning Issues and Agriculture

1
Planning Issues and Agriculture

• Lecture 4
• Agriculture Land and the
• State Mapping Project

2
State mapping project

• designed to map Californias Land
• -- Used to determine
• 1 how much Ag land is lost
• 2- what type of Ag land is being lost,
• quality of soil, access to water

3
Six categories of land

• 1. Prime Farm land
• most productive soil (highest quality) linked to
  higher yields and irrigation
• precious commodity
• 2. Farmland of statewide importance
• also irrigated land
• must have been irrigated within last 4 years
• Soil of slightly lesser quality, minor
  shortcomings
• Slope, salinity, etc.
• 3. Unique Farmland
• irrigated or non-irrigated
• Non-irrigated orchards or vineyards
• soil less productive

4
Six categories of land continued

• 4. Farmland of local importance
• Importance to local economy
• each county can determine or have power to
  designate
• Board of Supervisors designates
• 5. Grazing land
• livestock grazing
• non-irrigated-poorest soil quality
• 6. Urban
• built up land
• was farmland and now is used for
  residential/commercial

5
As you recall

• CA. Valley is losing thousands of acres of prime
  farmland.
• Same trend in Stanislaus County
• Look at all the subdivisions
• Commercial development
• Retail
• Patterns of growth pose a threat in the Central
  Valley.
• Potential for urban/rural conflict
• Controlled growth?
• County must approve new cities, growth boundaries
  and annexations

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Zone of conflict is urban edge

• For ExampleN. Modesto- McHenry
• car dealer alley
• ¼ community residential
• ¼ transportationroads
• ¼ jurisdiction to point of saleretail sales
• ¼ Ag land now or ???

7
County Revenue

• Revenue County must share with cities
• enables county to recapture revenue loss when
  annexation occurs
• Control of land control of
• Property taxes go where?

8
County Ag land

• 1. AgricultureLimited number of people or
  services cost is low, .38 for every tax
  revenue
• 2. But cost is high for Ranchettes, more than
  revenue1.15
• Means county govt. has limited resources to serve
  populace living in county
• 3. Ag produces sales tax revenues --
• a source of limited costs, but also limited tax
  revenues (food is non-taxable)

9
Why city growth?

• Retail trade
• risk capital will never be able to keep up with
  cost of service, (self funded) so subsidized
• But generates jobs, and
• Generate economic activity growth, but
• converts Ag land to development
• County/City taking of land impacts Ag and Ag
  industry clusters

10
City Growth and Agriculture

• Open space preservation
• Ag is not perceived as an industry
• At firstambivalence
• people dont like congestion, crime
• single family detached dwelling
• are interested in quality of life and open space
  once the issue is recognized
• Marin County for instance

11
Public Policy encourages urbanization and growth

• Giving incentives for this type of growth
• tax credits for business
• low mortgages
• low cost of living in valley (comparative)
• Environment will suffer with growth ---
• Air quality, water quality, open space,
  congestion does reducing farmland exacerbate
  the problem or does it matter?

12
Survey of Central Valley Characteristics

• Rapid growth
• Quality of natural environment (detiorating ?)
• Air, water, habitat
• Gap between rich and poor
• Income
• Home ownership
• Careers and upward mobility
• Job opportunities (limited upper incomes)
• Why?

13
American Farmland Trust

• AFT thinks differently about growth
• were at a critical tipping point-(Read Article)
• need a different type of urbanization and
• more interest in public transportation

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How do we know how much land is being lost
?Farmland Mapping

• Assessment of farmland loss is for urban or other
  uses
• 48 (half) of all state land is mapped
• 98 of farmland is mapped
• Have to break down there are differences
• 1. Quality of soil for growing
• 2. Access to water (can land be irrigated?)
• 3. Topography (ex. Flat or sloped)

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Prime Farmland

• Best land is prime farmland
• 50 of whole state 4.3 million acres is prime
  farmland
• Out of 8.5 to 9 million acres of total farmland
• In San Joaquin Valley 49 of this prime
  farmland is in our 8 counties. (2.1 mil)

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Farmland catagories

• 1- Prime farmland- 4.3 million
• 2- Farmland of statewide Importance 2 million
• 3- Unique 1 million
• ½ of all 1,2,3 land is in our SJ Valley 8
  counties!
• Why?...Soil, Water, Climate

17
Water access for irrigation

• Irrigation best of best ( most useful )
• ? million irrigated acres in California how much
  and what of the total is in the Valley ? Look
  this up

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How much land is being lost statewide?

• 1992 199785,200 acresPrime farmland
• Increase from the previous 5 year period15
• 500,000 acres of total farmland lost from 1988 to
  1998
• Could lose a million more by 2040
• Conversion of prime farmland is 30 faster than
  non-prime farmland
• AFT classifies the Central California Valley as
  the most threatened farmland in the country

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How much land is being lost statewide?...continued

• Urbanization could consume or indirectly affect
  over 3.6 million acres of irrigated land, more
  than half of the 6.7 million irrigated acres in
  the 11 counties that comprise the Central Valley
  floor (AFT survey)
• Land converted to urban uses was 87,000 acres
  over a two year period 96-98.
• 22 of all land converted to urbanization is
  prime farmland

20
Regional Picture

• Regionally 10-11 of all prime farmland lost to
  urbanization in Valley
• Converted to urban use! (1996-98)
• Point is
• Land is being developed at ever increasing
  rates---significant of prime farmland is being
  destroyed

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Interest statewide to protect prime farmland..

• What are the options?
• 1. Use regulatory powers of gov. (police power)
  to conserve land available (Green belts,
  environmental sensitive areas, Ag buffer zones)
• 2. Use of special regional agencies that have
  control over boundaries of communities to protect
  farmland (Planning Commission).
• 3. Use tax incentives for landowners and local
  govs. to conserve local land (Williamson Act)

22
More options?

• 4. Use of innovative non-government tools to
  preserve land (transfer of developers
  rights/purchase of conservation easements).
• Farmland Trust
• 5. Linking of ag conservation to local economic
  development clusters promotes better economic
  value (business)

23
Even more options?

• 6. develop new ways of planning urban areas
  smart growth into less prime land (General
  Plan)
• 7. Sustain environment, encourage greater public
  involvement(initiatives on the ballot, Ag buffer
  zones, Green belts)
• best prime farmland is on boundaries of cities.
• It lands on the edge - zone of conflict
• keeps pushing the line (who?)