DEIR_Page 5-17

Agriculture Resources

Under the 2006 General Plan a net loss of 5,497 acres of Important Farmland and 6,785 acres of Williamson Act lands would occur. Given that GPI has a much lower development potential relative to the 2006 General Plan (e.g., no Rancho San Juan Community Area; a 100-acre limit on the boundaries of the Chualar Community Area and no designation of Rural Centers), it is reasonable to expect that smaller acreages of agricultural lands would be converted to nonagricultural uses. Furthermore, the voter approval requirement for future General Plan Amendments is likely to make it much more difficult to convert agricultural lands under the jurisdiction of the County to non-agricultural uses. However, assuming that AMBAG’s projections for future growth in the County (Cities and unincorporated areas) are correct, growth will be re-directed to the existing cities. This growth is likely to result in future expansion of the boundaries of the cities, which for the Salinas Valley cities would result in a significant amount of conversion of Prime Agricultural lands. GPI does not have policies with respect to City growth as are proposed in the 2006 General Plan. Moreover, the Community Areas and Rural Centers designated in GPU 2006 can be characterized as less productive lands and grazing lands. Therefore, buildout of GPI would have greater impacts on agriculture resources than the 2006 General Plan.

	*Excerpt from the GPU4 Draft Environmental Impact Report.* Use your browser's back button or click here to return to the table. Download the entire text of the GPU4 DEIR in pdf format (64MB, requires Adobe Reader).

	Agriculture Resources Under the 2006 General Plan a net loss of 5,497 acres of Important Farmland and 6,785 acres of Williamson Act lands would occur. Given that GPI has a much lower development potential relative to the 2006 General Plan (e.g., no Rancho San Juan Community Area; a 100-acre limit on the boundaries of the Chualar Community Area and no designation of Rural Centers), it is reasonable to expect that smaller acreages of agricultural lands would be converted to nonagricultural uses. Furthermore, the voter approval requirement for future General Plan Amendments is likely to make it much more difficult to convert agricultural lands under the jurisdiction of the County to non-agricultural uses. However, assuming that AMBAG’s projections for future growth in the County (Cities and unincorporated areas) are correct, growth will be re-directed to the existing cities. This growth is likely to result in future expansion of the boundaries of the cities, which for the Salinas Valley cities would result in a significant amount of conversion of Prime Agricultural lands. GPI does not have policies with respect to City growth as are proposed in the 2006 General Plan. Moreover, the Community Areas and Rural Centers designated in GPU 2006 can be characterized as less productive lands and grazing lands. Therefore, buildout of GPI would have greater impacts on agriculture resources than the 2006 General Plan.