Agenda Item Wording:
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Approval of Agricultural Conservation Easement Form - A request by Sequoia Riverlands Trust to have the agricultural conservation easement form and content filed approved as required per the City's adopted Agricultural Preservation Ordinance.
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Prepared by:
Paul Bernal, Planning and Community Preservation Director, paul.bernal@visalia.city, (559) 713-4025
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the form and content of the Seqouia Riverlands Trust agricultural conservation easement in accordance with the provisions as defined in Article 3 "Methods of Preservation" of the City of Visalia Agricultural Preservation Ordinance.
Summary:
Sequoia Riverlands Trust (SRT) has submitted an agricultural conservation easement document on behalf of Eric Shannon. A copy of the "Deed of Agricultural Conservation Easement" is attached to this report as Attachment 1. Unlike prior agricultural conservation easements that were created for a specific development/project subject to the City's Agricultural Preservation Ordinance (APO), this agricultural conservation easement is being created as an "agricultural conservation easement mitigation bank" that will allow future projects to secure agricultural conservation easements for their projects on property that is already established for such purposes.
The conservation easement document being prepared will encumber 468 acres of Farmland of Statewide Importance to mitigate the future conversion of prime farmland or farmland of statewide importance for future projects that are subject to the City of Visalia's APO. Currently, there are no specific projects that will use the "mitigation bank" at this time. Please note staff will track total acreages assigned to future projects to ensure that the "mitigation bank" retains the necessary easement acreage to satisfy project mitigation obligations of local land use authorities for those future projects.
Background Discussion:...
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