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Board moves agricultural-preserve hearings to Planning Commission, updates CAPTEC rules
Summary
County planning staff presented amendments replacing a 1984 CAPTEC resolution and migrating advisory authority to the standing Planning Commission; the board approved the replacement resolution and directed staff to update noticing and agenda procedures.
County Planning Director John Hildebrand presented proposed updates to a longstanding resolution (Resolution No. 84,526) and related Agriculture Preserves Ordinance No. 509. The staff proposal would dissolve the existing CAPTEC membership composition and migrate the initial hearing responsibility for agricultural-preserve matters to the standing Planning Commission, while retaining technical review by the Agricultural Commission, USDA Soil Conservation Service, UC Cooperative Extension and the County Assessor.
Hildebrand said the change reflects challenges obtaining quorums for the older CAPTEC structure and aligns review with established planning processes. He described the board-initiated timeline: the board started the update in August 2024, held a planning-commission workshop in November and returned to the planning commission in December before bringing the proposal to the board.
A member of the public (Veronica Langworthy) asked whether the four technical agencies would continue to be notified; staff confirmed the revised resolution includes prescriptive noticing language and that those agencies will receive direct notices and continue to provide technical review. The board adopted the new resolution (identified in the staff presentation as Resolution 20 26 16, which supersedes the older Resolution 84,526) and found the action exempt from CEQA, with a recorded vote of 5-0.
