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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-08-30; Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Committee Ad Hoc; MinutesPage 1 Minutes of: Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee Type of Meeting: ORGANIZATIONAL Time of Meeting: 9:30 A.M. Date of Meeting: August 30, 2005 Place of Meeting: DOVE LIBRARY- MEETING ROOM MEETING MINUTES Committee Members Present: Deborah Ruddock(non-voting member)-Project Manager for the California Coastal Conservancy, Irv Rosten - Retired, Julie Baker - Planning Commission Representative, Richard Erhardt - Chairman of the Beach Preservation Committee, Julie Nygaard - retired City Councilwoman, Eric Larson-Executive Director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, Ken Alfrey-Board Member of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation and Hope Wrisley - Community Leader. Staff Members Present: Jane Mobaldi, Assistant City Attorney Chris DeCerbo, Principal Planner Elaine Blackburn, Senior Planner Sandy Holder introduced Facilitator, Jim Boylan, from Pathfinder’s Inc. Mr. Boylan requested that each member of the committee introduce themselves after which he presented an overview of the plan for the formation and implementation of this committee. The following are Mr. Boylan’s “Charted Notes”: AGREEMENTS Ground Rules  Remember that the Committee’s work is a public process  Be present  Respect one another’s opinions  Listen actively  Ask questions when you have them  Participate  Practice Skillful Conversation  Speak your mind Decision-making Process  Plan A: Consensus  Plan B: If consensus cannot be achieved after an earnest effort has been made, the question will be decided by simple majority vote with the minority opinion noted and reported. Page 2 Minutes of: Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee Type of Meeting: ORGANIZATIONAL Time of Meeting: 9:30 A.M. Date of Meeting: August 30, 2005 Place of Meeting: DOVE LIBRARY- MEETING ROOM Guidelines for Public Comment  In general, members of the public wishing to present comments for the Committee’s consideration will be given an opportunity to do so at the end of meetings.  Public comments will be limited to three minutes for each person, and 15 minutes for each topic  These guidelines will be adjusted as appropriate for different meeting purposes (e.g. grant proposal presentations) Next Meeting Agenda  Define committee operating policies and procedures  Establish the framework (protocols, criteria, etc.) the committee will use to: o Communicate the availability of funds and solicit proposals for their use o Review and evaluate proposals submitted o Make recommendations to Council Background and History Michael Holzmiller - Retired Planning Director, presented the history of the Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Program as follows: This program began in 1981 and has a very complicated background, but explaining the background will provide a better focus on the present program and what this committee will be looking at in the future with regard to the projects and uses that are eligible to be considered for funding under this program. The foundation for this fee program came out of a fundamental disagreement between the City and the Coastal Commission regarding agricultural land in the City and the permanent use of property in Carlsbad for agricultural use. The Coastal Commission’s position was that there were agricultural operations (agricultural lands in the City) and they felt that those should be a permanent land use. Also, they felt that the property owners should be required to keep that land as agricultural, in perpetuity. The City’s position, however, was that, because agriculture is a part of Carlsbad’s history, it was a good thing to have but that it was only a temporary use and eventually (when agriculture is no longer economically feasible for the farmers or property owners) those lands could be changed to allow another permanent use, per the City’s General Plan, such as residential, commercial, industrial, etc. There were a couple of other issues, in terms of disagreements over land use in the City, but the disagreement over the agricultural land was the major one. This disagreement led to the City’s refusal to prepare a Local Coastal Program. When the City refused to prepare the Local Coastal Program, and because of the earlier disagreements, the Coastal Commission prepared coastal plans for the City. There was land that was actually designated for permanent agriculture in our original Coastal Plan prepared by the Coastal Commission. In about 1981, there was a compromise reached, between the Coastal Commission and the City of Carlsbad, and the first program (the Agricultural Subsidy Program) was established. This program provided that if the land owners wanted to remove these lands from their permanent agriculture designation, those owners would have to pay a subsidy and that fee would be used either to acquire other agricultural lands (in Carlsbad or elsewhere in the Coastal Zone in the State of California), or the money could be used for enhancement of existing agricultural operations in the City. The Page 3 Minutes of: Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee Type of Meeting: ORGANIZATIONAL Time of Meeting: 9:30 A.M. Date of Meeting: August 30, 2005 Place of Meeting: DOVE LIBRARY- MEETING ROOM subsidies could range from research for continuing agriculture, irrigation improvements, etc. That program was the initial Ag Mitigation Fee Program for the City of Carlsbad. There were lands that started paying that money and the money was administered by the Resource Conservation District of San Diego County, located in Escondido. They received requests for grants and they then decided which projects received the funding. Following numerous discussions regarding the Ag Subsidy Program and the fact that funding was only available to agricultural projects, there was a bill passed by the State Legislature in 1984, that terminated the Ag Subsidy Program and replaced it with the Statutory Agricultural Mitigation Fee Program (PRC 30171.5). The remaining funds in the Ag Subsidy Program have now been exhausted. One of the projects that was funded from the Ag Subsidy Program was the construction of the Floral Trade Center on Avenida Encinas. The new fee program was a state mandated program, adopted by the State, that the Carlsbad City Council was required to accept. Where the original Ag Subsidy Program had a total agricultural focus, this new statutory fee program changed the focus to a totally environmental focus. Consequently, the projects that were eligible under this Statutory Ag Fee Program, had to be environmental projects. The projects were reviewed in order of priority and Batiquitos Lagoon was the first priority. Beach access was on the priorities list, along with other types of projects, but they were all environmentally oriented. The program also said that 50% of the funds had to be used for the first priority (Batiquitos Lagoon). The Statutory Ag Fee Program only applied to Ag lands that were adjacent to Batiquitos Lagoon, so it made some sense that 50% of the money would be for the Batiquitos Lagoon and therefore the first priority. The money was coming from agricultural land conversions that were adjacent to the lagoon. Those adjacent lands were called the West and East Batiquitos segments of the Coastal Plan and are the areas where Aviara, Green Valley, and the Poinsettia projects now exist. That program was administered by the Coastal Conservancy. It is believed that there is still some money remaining in that fund and, when it is used, it will be required to be used according to the priorities. There was also a gap because there was other agricultural land, in Carlsbad, that wasn’t part of those properties next to the Batiquitos Lagoon. In 1985, to take care of that gap, the City created it’s City Ag Mitigation Fee Program in addition to the State program. At this point there is both a State Mitigation Program, with it’s total environmental focus, and a City program. The City program applied to all the other lands (basically called the Mello I and Mello II segments of the Coastal Plan) in the Coastal Zone, that were out of the East and West Batiquitos Lagoon segments. The City program was fashioned after the State program but it had two major differences. The first is that the 50% allocation to Batiquitos Lagoon has been eliminated and the second (important for the program now in existence) added an agricultural component back into it, allowing projects that are not entirely environmental to be funded out of it, since there was a category of projects that were agriculture. It still had the priority list and Bataquitos was the first priority but agriculture was a component (there were agricultural projects that could be added and be eligible) and was placed fourth or fifth on the priority list. It was specified in the City program that the Coastal Conservancy would continue to administer it. Even though there were two programs (State and City) all of the funds that were paid into both of them were put into the same account and were co-mingled at the State level, even though they had different priorities and projects and what the money could be spent on. Jumping ahead a bit, in 1997, the City Council asked the Coastal Conservancy to un-co-mingle those funds, and to separate them and take the funds that were paid under the City program and allow the City to take over that money and to administer the program itself. The Coastal Conservancy agreed with the City’s proposal and subsequently the money that had been paid into the City program was transferred over to the City. There was an amendment to the State program in 1996 which stated that all of the Ag Mitigation Fees ($935,000) that were paid by the Carlsbad Ranch Project (Legoland and the Carlsbad Company Stores), would go into a new, special account that could only be used to fund projects that benefit the preservation of the Flower Fields. When approving the Carlsbad Ranch and Lego projects, they were each conditioned to require the property owners to preserve the Flower Fields, in perpetuity. The idea was to set aside this money Page 4 Minutes of: Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee Type of Meeting: ORGANIZATIONAL Time of Meeting: 9:30 A.M. Date of Meeting: August 30, 2005 Place of Meeting: DOVE LIBRARY- MEETING ROOM so it was put in an endowment fund (an interest bearing account) where none of the $935,000 could be used, but the interest that was earned on that money would be used to fund projects that benefit the long term preservation of the Flower Fields. That program is administered by the City and every year the City takes the money gained from the interest and funds programs (give grants) to research projects that are involved with trying to keep the Flower Fields in place for as long as possible. This program has been functioning for three to four years now, and most of the things that have been funded have been research projects, an example of which is the attempt to get two growing seasons for Ranunculus rather than only one (two blooming seasons). In response to a question from Irv Rosten: When the Carlsbad Ranch project was approved, the Council conditioned it to keep the Flower Fields in perpetuity. The way it is set up is, “if for any reason they believe that economically they can no longer keep the Flower Fields in production, they must give the City a three (3) year notice of their intent.” The City will then take approximately $1,000,000 and have the right to acquire the Flower Fields then arrange to keep them in production. The 55-acre area of the Flower Fields, closest to Palomar Airport Road and Paseo Del Norte are identified as the production area and the northernmost area is used for research. There was a Local Coastal Plan Amendment, in 2004, formally designating the City as the administrator of the Local Program. This is the City fee program that is now in place. It removed the specific mention of Batiquitos Lagoon and opened the program to the other lagoons to seek funding. The previous City program only listed Buena Vista Lagoon Nature Center as an eligible project so it eliminated the specific reference to Buena Vista. It took away the priority system and more specifically included agriculture as an eligible use and that the agricultural component could specifically include farm worker housing. Prior to this amendment, the issue of farm worker housing was open to interpretation as to whether it qualified under the agricultural designated use of the funds. The State Program still has money which can still be applied for. It is unknown exactly how much is still available. Deborah Ruddick stated that the Statutory Fund has approximately 1.8 million dollars and the non-Batiquitos project portion of that account has been spent, so the remaining funds are for the Batiquitos Lagoon and adjacent lands. There is also the Carlsbad Agriculture Assistance Fund which has approximately $500,000 to $800,000 specifically for assisting projects supporting continued agriculture in the City of Carlsbad. Moving on to the “Charge” of the Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee, Mr. Holzmiller presented an outline and a brief explanation of the focus of this committee. The program is set up to promote the equitable distribution of funds, among the allowable uses outlined below. A. Natural Habitat - Projects relating to the lagoons, natural habitat anywhere in the Coastal Zone or around the city, including the possible acquisition of some habitat land. B. Agricultural projects that will enhance agriculture in the city, encourage continuation of existing agriculture, aqua-culture and farm worker housing. C. Beach access and beach enhancements and related uses. D. Nature Centers In response to a question regarding the acquisition of funding requests, Elaine Blackburn pointed out that the charge of this committee is a two step charge and explained as follows: 1. Get organized and determine how each proposal is going to be evaluated and report same to Council. 2. Solicit proposals, evaluate those proposals, and make recommendations for spending. Page 5 Minutes of: Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee Type of Meeting: ORGANIZATIONAL Time of Meeting: 9:30 A.M. Date of Meeting: August 30, 2005 Place of Meeting: DOVE LIBRARY- MEETING ROOM Recess: 10:45 a.m. Meeting resumed: 10:55 a.m. Assistant City Attorney, Jane Mobaldi outlined the procedure and requirements of conducting public meetings, receiving public input, and the necessity of Public Noticing prior to each meeting. She reminded the committee that they can respond to public questions at the end of the meeting, if they wish to do so. However, there can be no discussion or “action” on any item that was not on the agenda. She reminded them to always be aware of the Brown Act and to not discuss any issue(s) outside the scheduled meetings. She also explained some of the exceptions of the Brown Act. Mr. Boylan returned to his charted notes and asked Ms. Blackburn to explain what is expected of this committee, in terms of what they must accomplish and report to the City Council. Ms. Blackburn explained, as follows: This committee will go back to Council on two occasions, within the first year. 1st Council Mtg. Present a proposal of the rules and criteria for carrying out it’s mandate. Council will agree or make suggestions for changes or additions. 2nd Council Mtg. Return with solicited proposals and make recommendations to Council for allocation of funds. Meeting dates were agreed upon for September, October, and November, 2005., at the Faraday Building, Meeting Room 173-A. Guidelines for public comment were discussed such as the flexibility regarding time allotted to speakers and when they will be allowed to speak during the meeting. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON: A motion was made and seconded to nominate Julie Nygaard for the position of Chairperson. A motion was made and seconded to nominate Eric Larson for the position of Chairperson. By consensus, Julie Nygaard was elected Chairperson of this committee. A motion was made and seconded to nominate Eric Larson for the position of Vice-Chairperson. By consensus, Eric Larson was elected Vice-Chairperson of this committee. PUBLIC COMMENT: Chairperson Julie Nygaard, opened the Public Hearing. Sue Reynolds, 1953 Dove Lane, Carlsbad, representing both the Community Housing Works and the Farm Workers Housing Coordinating Committee, stated (for informational purposes and Committee awareness) the Community Housing Works was funded to do a survey of farm worker’s housing needs and submitted that Page 6 Minutes of: Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee Type of Meeting: ORGANIZATIONAL Time of Meeting: 9:30 A.M. Date of Meeting: August 30, 2005 Place of Meeting: DOVE LIBRARY- MEETING ROOM report to the City Council, several years ago. More recently, the Farm Workers Housing Coordinating Committee, assembled a number of Carlsbad farm workers to get more informal input into more current housing needs and preferences. She suggested that Farm Worker’s Housing and Habitat should be seriously considered. Ms. Reynolds commended the Committee members for their expressed desire to move forward as expeditiously as possible, noting that time is of the essence, considering the rising costs of land and the potential for lost opportunities. Chairperson Julie Nygaard adjourned the meeting at 11:50 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: Carol A. Cruise, Minutes Clerk