Agricultural Mitigation Ordinance

Agricultural Mitigation Ordinance

The project amends Chapter 2.2 of the Solano County Code by adding Article Ill to define and implement an agricultural mitigation program and ordinance as directed by Solano County's 2008 General Plan Implementation Program AG.1-1 . The ordinance protects Solano County's valuable farmland from conversion to non-agricultural use by providing clear, consistent, and implementable regulations to mitigate the loss of productive and potentially productive farmland to ensure the viability of Solano County's agricultural industry, promote the health of the environment, and preserve the agricultural component of Solano County's cultural heritage. The potential environmental effects of the establishment of the agricultural mitigation ordinance were evaluated in the EIR prepared for the County's 2008 General Plan and no additional environmental review is required because no substantial changes in project description, substantial changes in circumstances, or new information of substantial importance leading to new significant effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified effects have been identified. On a separate and independent basis, the project is exempt from CEQA under CEQA Guidelines Sections 15307 and 15308 as an action taken to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of natural resources and the environment. This ordinance establishes a regulatory program for avoiding or reducing significant environmental impacts to farmland in the County and will ensure that future impacts to farmland in the County are minimized and mitigated through a consistent and standardized regulatory program. This ordinance minimizes future alterations in land use and will not result in disturbances to agricultural or environmental resources .

Solano

Countywide, Northern California

Solano