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Tulare BPU backs staff plan to use city-owned farmland and an in-lieu fee for mitigation
Summary
The board accepted staff recommendations to expand farmland mitigation options, including establishing an in-lieu fee and using roughly 546 acres of city-owned farmland south of the wastewater plant for conservation easements in perpetuity; the board noted limits to its leasing authority and asked for future oversight steps.
The Board of Public Utilities accepted a staff report recommending revisions to the city’s farmland mitigation program, including evaluating an in-lieu fee and the possible placement of conservation easements on city-owned farmland south of the wastewater treatment plant.
Staff told the board the city adopted a farmland mitigation ordinance in 2020 and that applicants converting agricultural land for urban uses have had difficulty finding privately held conservation easements that meet the ordinance’s requirements. To address that problem, staff presented a report by NBS evaluating an in-lieu fee and ways the city could use funds to place conservation easements either on city-owned farmland the city does not need for future…
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