A.    Purpose and intent. The intent of this section is to provide the land trust or other entity holding an agricultural easement or other similar restriction on land as required under this article with capital to create an endowment fund that would generate revenue for the long-term monitoring costs of the easements on property that is subdivided and restricted under this article.

    B.    Findings. In establishing the requirements set out in this chapter, the board of supervisors finds and determines as follows:

    1.    County plans, policies, and regulations encourage bringing agricultural lands under cultivation and permanently committing them to agricultural uses. To encourage this, the CA combining district allows subdivision of agricultural land into parcels smaller than the underlying A (agricultural) district minimum parcel size, subject to

permanently setting aside a minimum of ninety percent of the area of the parcel being subdivided for viticulture or other cultivated agriculture. This is generally accomplished by dedicating an agricultural easement or other similar restriction to a land trust or other entity;

    2.    In order to ensure that the property owners meet the terms of the easements and do not do anything inconsistent with the terms of the easement, the land trust or other entity must establish the base information for the property and monitor the property on an annual basis in perpetuity;

    3.    It is in the public interest that the land trust or other entity have a dependable source of funding to monitor the easements, and, where necessary, enforce the terms of the easements;

    4.    The South Livermore Valley Agricultural Land Trust has prepared a study that demonstrates that the sum of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) per acre, or one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00) for the minimum twenty (20) acre parcel, invested conservatively, will provide an annual income of seventy-five dollars ($75.00), which will cover a major portion of the cost to monitor the easement;

    5.    This requirement is consistent with the County General Plan;

    6.    Pursuant to Government Code Section 65913.2, the board of supervisors has considered the effects of the requirement with respect to the county’ s housing needs as established in the housing element of the County General Plan, and finds that it does not render unfeasible the development of housing for any and all economic segments of the community.

    C.    Requirement. Concurrent with finalizing the guarantees required under Section 17.30.170.A.5 of this article, applicant shall pay a fee equal to seventy-five dollars ($75.00) per each acre covered by the tentative map to the land trust or other entity holding the restriction. This fee shall be paid for the total acreage, including the building envelope as well as the acreage to be planted and environmentally sensitive areas.

    D.    Waiver. The planning director may waive all or part of this requirement if either of the following occurs:

    1.    The land trust or other entity holding the restriction requests that the fee be waived; or

    2.    The planning director determines that the waiver is in the public interest and that the waiver would further the intent of this article and underlying county programs, policies, plans, and regulations. (Ord. 2000-25 (part), 1999)