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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-09-23; City Council; 8770; Agricultural Improvement FundCIT OF CARLSBAD — AGEND BILL 7/x i-JLP MTG. 9/23/86 DEPT._CM__ TITLE: AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT FUND DEPT. HD. CITY CITY RECOMMENDED ACTION: Review and comment on proposed projects dealing with agricultural improvements in local coastal zone. ITEM EXPLANATION: Funds collected from developers are placed in a special fund for agricultural improvements within the coastal zone. A special committee created by the Coastal Conservancy is considering projects for the use of that money. The committee wishes to report to City Council on its discussion on various potential projects. The committee would like to recieve suggestions from City Council on how this money may be used. Mayor Casler serves as the City's prinicpal representative on the committee. FISCAL IMPACT: Approximately $1 million is now accumulated in the fund. Future charges may raise the fund to $5 million. If no suitable projects are found in Carlsbad, money may be diverted to other parts of the state. EXHIBITS: 1. Memorandum to City Manager, dated September 3, 1986 Date: September 3, 1986 To : City Manager From: Planning Department *fll/v LCP-AGRICULTORAL IMPROVEMENTS FUND The Mello II segment of the City's Local Coastal Program (LCP), adopted by the Coastal Commission in 1981, established an Agricultural Improvements Program. The program is administered by the Coastal Conservancy and it is funded out of a portion of the ag-subsidy fees which were paid to mitigate ag-land conversions near 1-5. The State Legislature has since eliminated the ag-subsidy portion of the fee but not the ag-improvements portion. Currently, the ag-improvements fund has accumulated approximately a million dollars. The fund has the potential to total approximately two million dollars when all properties under contract to pay the fees have developed. In 1982, the Conservancy Board approved the Carlsbad Agricultural Improvements Program which identified reclaimed water as the top priority ag-improvement project. The following year (1983), the Conservancy established the Carlsbad Agricultural Improvements Review Board (CAIRB) which includes three City representatives (the Mayor, Roger Greer, and Gary Wayne), local agricultural landowners and the County Farm Advisor to assist in both project proposal and project review. The projects evaluated by the CAIRB included: 1. Reclaimed water for irrigation. 2. A low interest farm loan fund. 3. A crop research and development fund. 4. All weather farm roads. 5. A Farmers Market. 6. Farm Labor housing. All of the proposals have met with opposition for one reason or another and to date no ag-improvements funds have been expended. In 1984-85 the Conservancy suspended work on the program pending the outcome of the City's LCP negotiations with the Coastal Commission. Subsequently, the Conservancy, in April 1986, reactivated CAIRB and requested new ag-improvement project proposals. CAIRB met last July to discuss both past and present project proposals. At the July meeting the CAIRB members agreed to the viability of four proposals (see attached meeting summaries): 1 . A pilot reclaimed water project to see whether local farmers would find its use acceptable. 2 . A low interest loan program to fund development of Exhibit 1 crop diversification. 3. A farmer's market to serve as wholesale marketing center. 4. Purchase or long-term lease of local ag-land for continued ag-production. The Ecke flower fields north of Palomar Airport Road were recommended by the City representatives for preservation under this proposal. The Conservancy staff is currently investigating the first three proposals. If feasible the Conservancy staff will prepare detailed proposals including cost estimates and implementation schedules and present them to its board for consideration. The Conservancy staff felt that the fourth proposal (purchase or long-term lease of the Ecke property) did not meet the program requirements of "providing the improvements needed to facilitate long-term ag-production within the planning area". Therefore, the Conservancy requested that the City prepare a detailed proposal which justified the ag-land purchase (or lease) as a viable component of the Ag-lmprovements Program. if the City could justify the proposal the Conservancy staff would present the proposal to its Board for consideration. Project proposals for the Ag-lmprovements Program should be completed as quickly as possible because the LCP which established the program contains a "sunset clause" which allows the Conservancy to use the fund elsewhere if the monies are not needed in Carlsbad. In otherwords, if the City and the local agricultural operators cannot demonstrate a need for spending the ag-improvements fund in Carlsbad, the fund could be spent elsewhere and without City approval starting on January 1, 1987. The Conservancy intends to schedule another meeting of CAIRB after it completes its preliminary investigations on the three project proposals. That meeting is expected in early October. Staff, because of other project priorities and commitments, has not yet prepared a City sponsored proposal. If you would like staff to rearrange its priorities and work on a proposal, we have the following recommendations: 1 . The proposals that the Conservancy is investigating all have merit and should be supported. 2. If the City wants to pursue its ag-land purchase or long-term lease proposal, it should expand the list of possible parcels to include all land suitable for agriculture. This could even include lots in the northwest portion of the City that are currently committed to agriculture. 3. The City should initiate an LCP amendment to either expand the "sunset clause" for an additional five years or eliminate it altogether. Another option would be to convert the Ag-improvements fund into State of California Tl 1ESOURCES AGENCY OF CALIFORNIA State Coastal Conservancy Memorandum DATE: July 28, 1986 TO: Interested parties FROM: Teresa Burns Telephone: (4i s) 464-1015 SUBJECT: Agricultural I«provenents Review Board Meeting Arsss6i 1015 July 14, 1986 Meeting attended by: Don Coppock & Teresa Burns, Coastal Conservancy Jill I o Tom Escher, County Department of Agriculture Roger Greer, City of Carlsbad ' Mary Casler, Mayor, City of Carlsbad Pete MacKauf, Carlsbad Tomatoes Adam Birnbaum, Coastal Commission Gary Wayne, Planning Director The Meeting was held in the Carlsbad City Council Chambers at 8:00 p.m. Don Coppock opened the meeting by explaining the SCO's desire to make use of the Fund in Carlsbad. There was some discussion about the amount of money which would ultimately be placed in the Agricultural Improvements Fund Escrow account. Coppock indicated it was approximately $1.6 million, Teresa Burns summarized the Agricultural Improvements Review Board's efforts to date. A copy of a timeline was distributed and discussed, along with a summary of projects previously considered for funding. The remainder of the meeting was spent discussing each proposal, reviewing the relative merits and problems with each. The following summarizes the items discussed and action taken: (1) Reclaimed Water: According to Roger Greer reclaimed wastewater is available off a line along Palomar Airport Boulevard, at a cost of $0.54 per 1000 acre feet. Most agricultural land leases are on a year-to-year basis, therefore, the City indicated that ECKE (Williamson Act Lands) or SD6&E Lands were the most appropriate locations for a pilot project. Pete MacKauf estimated that 40 acres of mixed crops would be an appropriate size for a pilot project. A pumping facility, reservoir, tanks and tap lines would be required. ACTION: Tom Escher and Roger Greer will investigate. The City of Carlsbad will prepare a mailing list of property owners. Coastal Conservancy will send out letter seeking volunteers for a pilot project. (2) A Low Interest Loan program to fund small agricultural R&D efforts was proposed ("seed money"). According to Pete MacKauf, crop research is an agricultural activity for which it is difficult to obtain funding through traditional sources. A figure of $200,000 was identified as a proposed maximum loan, which would be short-term and established as part of a revolving fund. ACTION; Tom Escher to explore with UCSB Agricultural Extension to prepare a proposal. (3) All weather roads was discussed but dismissed because 1t presented problems to farmers by Increasing access for tourists, bikers etc. ACTION; None required. (4) Farmers Market; Pete MacKauf proposed a facility to serve as a wholesale marketing center for fanners particularly "specialty crops." The relatively new and successful flower market in San Diego 1s currently relocating. MacKauf attributes flower crop success 1n Carlsbad to this operation. It may also be possible to develop a farmers market through the downtown Redevelopment Plan. ACTION: Pete MacKauf to work with (Flower Market Owner) to put together a proposal for a Farmers Market, possibly joint venture with Flower Market. (5) Land Improvements (eg. tiles, drainage, roads) A decision was made not to pursue this option because 1t could result 1n increased agricultural land values and rents. ACTION; None required. (6) Urban Agricultural Buffers; Although the Carlsbad LCP no longer contains provisions for buffers, this option was dismissed. It would be too difficult to guess which lands may require buffering, particularly in view of historical leasing patterns and the current rate of transfer of agricultural lands to urban development. ACTION; None required. (7) Farm Labor Housing was discussed as a need but agreed not to be an appropriate use of the Agricultural Improvements Fund based upon questions of appropriate location, limited leases and political issues. ACTION; None Required (8) Finally the City Identified a project in which they are most Interested. It Involves the purchase of 90 acres of ECKE land behind Car Valley to be kept 1n flower production, to provide a visually prominent parcel of land in agricultural production. The City would view agricultural use of this land as an interim use and would want to retain ownership. Don Coppock and Teresa Burns both indicated that the project appears to provide a visual amenity to the City rather than a tool for long-term agricultural productivity and preservation. ACTION: The City will prepare a proposal. July 15, 1986 TO: CITY MANAGER FROM: Mayor Mary Casler AG IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING - July 14, 1986 Present - Roger Greer, Gary Wayne, Mary Casler, Pete Mackauf, Tom Escher, Adam Birnbaum, plus Dan Cappock and Theresa Burns from the Conservancy. The two new members from the Conservancy had researched their files on projects and meetings from September 1982 to present. Dan Cappock stated he wanted something definite he could take to their Board meeting in October so that the $1.1 million now in Improvement Fund would stay in Carlsbad. Reclaimed Water; We determined the only user on an experimental basis would be Ecke preserve. Possibly 40 acres could be used for a 2 year experiment before other farmers would accept. Low Interest Loan Fund: Mackauf said that could be used to experiment whether artichokes or asparagus could be grown here. Again, only suitable place would be a portion of the Ecke preserve. Farmers Market; There now exists on Avenida Encina near the sewage plant a wholesale flower market (Eric Larson is manager). Mackauf suggested Conservancy buy land south of Encina (Bankers' Life) and construct a warehouse for all ag products. Conservancy was very interested in this. Purchase of Ag Land; Although we plugged hard for this, the Conservancy felt it was not benefiting all farmers in the area. We pointed out that farming is decreasing and we wanted preservation of flower fields which all people enjoy, but they are reluctant. Another meeting is scheduled for 3:00 PM, Thursday, August 21. 7