Supes OK land rule change

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Rules that dictate how 550,000 acres of agriculturally zoned land in Santa Barbara County can be used were changed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, who managed to craft a compromise on the controversial changes that have been brewing in county government for several years.
The land in question makes up 75 percent of all of the county’s agriculturally zoned land and is registered under the Williamson Act, which grants land owners tax credits if they enter a 10-year contract vowing to classify the land as open space or agriculture. The rules are formally known as the “uniform rules.”
While environmental groups lashed out against the proposed changes last December and farmers simultaneously praised them, the board was equally polarized over the issue after Third District Supervisor Brooks Firestone recused himself from the discussion.
Firestone’s recusal stemmed from several hundred acres he owned, or co owned that was under Williamson Act contracts.
That left two North County supervisors in Joe Centeno and Joni Gray, both in favor of the changes, and South County supervisor’s Salud Carbajal and Janet Wolf opposed.
It was the perfect storm to get nothing done, with the threat of repeated deadlock votes of 2-2. But in the end, the solution left most parties pleased.
“I can say that it was a mutual and productive discussion and I am very pleased with the outcome,” Firestone said.
David Landecker, executive director of the Environmental Defense Center, said he also was satisfied with the compromise the board reached.
“It is generally a good compromise,” Landecker said. “Environmentalists are not about trying to stop farmers from making a profit on their land or doing something that makes sense, we want to keep that land in agriculture in exchange for the tax breaks that come with the Williamson Act.”
In a county that is known for its stringent planning process and bitter lawsuits when a project does finally make it through the hoops, the board’s decision, and the overall sense of agreeability says a lot.
Landecker noted that had Firestone been able to vote on the uniform rule changes in December, they likely would have passed with a 3-2 vote and appeals would have followed.
But the leveling off of the North County majority allowed for a better process and better results, Landecker said.
Carbajal seemed equally pleased with the final results.
“Not everybody got everything they wanted and sometimes that’s a good measure of a good decision,” Carbajal said.
County Staff recommended that six rule changes be adopted, but at the end of the meeting, that number had been whittled down to five, with some modifications to those remaining.
Carbajal said the biggest two things that allowed him to vote in favor of the changes were the demise of guest ranches, which land owners would have been allowed to construct on parcels 40 acres or larger. He also said ridding the rule changes of an “industrial overlay” clause, which he said was “carte blanche” for land owners to build pretty much whatever they wanted down the road, was a must for him.
He said neither of these two things fell in line with the Williamson Act, which is to protect agriculture lands.
Changes that did pass include allowing the construction of agricultural processing facilities, which can now have an overall footprint of 30 acres.
Wolf and Carbajal both argued that the number be chopped to 20 acres, but when it was clear Gray and Centeno wouldn’t budge, they compromised.
Centeno said there has been an urgent need for the processing facilities, which will reduce farmers’ trips back and forth between fields and offsite facilities.
Before voting, county staff assured Carbajal and Wolf that only two or three large-scale processing facilities will be built in the immediate future.
But if they start popping up throughout the county, Carbajal said he won’t hesitate to call them on it.
“I’m going to be looking at the proliferation of these,” Carbajal said. “If it starts going beyond the numbers [given on Tuesday] I will be the first one to visit this in a heartbeat.”
Carbajal said he was able to back down from his request for the facilities to be limited to 20 acre footprints because the farming community insisted that a larger facility would help ensure their businesses could remain financially viable.
The past rules, which hadn’t been updated by the board in decades, restricted agricultural processing facilities to a 5 acre maximum footprint.
Winery facilities located on Williamson Act properties also had a 5 acre restriction on facilities, but will now be allowed to work with a 20 acre footprint.
The changes will also allow commercial composting facilities to operate on Williamson Act land.
When the changes came before the board in December, representatives from the Environmental Defense Center argued that the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) was not thorough enough.
Carbajal said he believed the revamped EIR is more “bulletproof” now.
The approved changes will also bring the county’s uniform rules into compliance with the state Department of Conservation, who gave some of the changes their blessing, but will still need to approve the final changes before they are implemented.
Gray could hardly contain her excitement when it became clear the changes would pass.
“I want to thank you folks very very much because our way of life is very special,” she said to Carbajal and Wolf. “Thank you.”