The Davis Area Building Moratorium - A Time For Good Planning
By Dave Rosenberg, Yolo County 4th District Supervisor
In 1976, Jerry Brown was Governor of the State of California, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a space race, and disco was hot. And that was also the last time the County of Yolo updated the County's General Plan for the Davis General Plan Planning Area.
Well, a lot has happened in the Davis General Plan Planning Area since 1976, including: the designation of 16,000 acres for the Vic Fazio Wildlife Area in the Yolo Bypass and plans for the development of a Pacific Flyway Center, the approval of the Pass-Through Agreement between the County and the City of Davis, the County's development of a Parks Master Plan which includes the doubling in size of Grassland Regional Park just south of Davis, the approval of Measure "J" by the Citizens of the Davis (requiring voter approval of land annexations), impacts on the County Landfill and the Davis City Wastewater Treatment Plant, a plan to develop substantial housing and retail uses on the UCD campus, the agreement (between the County and the Cities of Davis and Woodland) to create a GreenLine of no development between Davis and Woodland.
Increasing pressures for urban development around Davis are still with us, however. These pressures could impact a number of features within the City of Davis General Plan Area, including: prime agricultural land, 100-year floodplains, the Putah Creek and Willow Creek riparian corridors, the Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area and the proposed Pacific Flyway Center, views from Interstate 80 and Highway 113, land use conflicts between the County Landfill and the City Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Imposing a building moratorium gives us all some breathing space.
On July 1, 2003, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors adopted an urgency interim ordinance imposing a building moratorium, with certain exceptions, for the City of Davis General Plan Planning Area. Moratoriums of this nature can be extended for a period of up to two years. During this time, the County will engage in the very public process of updating its General Plan. This update will enable the county to ensure that all the events and actions that have occurred since 1976 are accommodated in the County's General Plan, and that the zoning is appropriate and compatible.
The moratorium contains 7 important exceptions. The moratorium does not apply to the following:
- In-fill projects within existing developed areas such as El Macero, Willowbank, North Davis Meadows, the Binning Tract, Patwin Road and Royal Oaks Mobile Home Park.
- Public projects carried out by the County of Yolo.
- Projects already approved or with applications deemed complete by the County prior to June 24, 2003, including any building or encroachment permits necessary to complete the projects.
- Repairs to existing structures that do not result in the construction of new buildings and/or expansion of existing buildings.
- Agricultural structures to shelter animals, implements, supplies, products, and equipment which do not contain residential uses, are not open to the public, and are incidental and accessory to the principal use of the property.
- Permits required by State law or ordered by a court.
- An exemption for the construction of a single family residential dwelling on agriculturally zoned parcels of at least 80 acres in size.
These exemptions are meant to reduce the potential hardship created by a moratorium, and provide landowners with the ability to move forward with projects that are unlikely to be affected by a General Plan update.
The building moratorium is a process that is specifically permitted and recognized by California law. Other jurisdictions, including Yolo County jurisdictions, have imposed such moratoriums in the past. The moratorium is a holding action, giving the County the time and space to update its General Plan. Since this hasn't been done since 1976 (over a quarter of a Century ago) it is time and space well spent.