SECTIONS 30240-30244 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 30240-30244

30240. (a) Environmentally sensitive habitat areas shall be
protected against any significant disruption of habitat values, and
only uses dependent on those resources shall be allowed within those
areas.
(b) Development in areas adjacent to environmentally sensitive
habitat areas and parks and recreation areas shall be sited and
designed to prevent impacts which would significantly degrade those
areas, and shall be compatible with the continuance of those habitat
and recreation areas.

30241. The maximum amount of prime agricultural land shall be
maintained in agricultural production to assure the protection of the
areas' agricultural economy, and conflicts shall be minimized
between agricultural and urban land uses through all of the
following:
(a) By establishing stable boundaries separating urban and rural
areas, including, where necessary, clearly defined buffer areas to
minimize conflicts between agricultural and urban land uses.
(b) By limiting conversions of agricultural lands around the
periphery of urban areas to the lands where the viability of existing
agricultural use is already severely limited by conflicts with urban
uses or where the conversion of the lands would complete a logical
and viable neighborhood and contribute to the establishment of a
stable limit to urban development.
(c) By permitting the conversion of agricultural land surrounded
by urban uses where the conversion of the land would be consistent
with Section 30250.
(d) By developing available lands not suited for agriculture prior
to the conversion of agricultural lands.
(e) By assuring that public service and facility expansions and
nonagricultural development do not impair agricultural viability,
either through increased assessment costs or degraded air and water
quality.
(f) By assuring that all divisions of prime agricultural lands,
except those conversions approved pursuant to subdivision (b), and
all development adjacent to prime agricultural lands shall not
diminish the productivity of prime agricultural lands.

30241.5. (a) If the viability of existing agricultural uses is an
issue pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 30241 as to any local
coastal program or amendment to any certified local coastal program
submitted for review and approval under this division, the
determination of "viability" shall include, but not be limited to,
consideration of an economic feasibility evaluation containing at
least both of the following elements:
(1) An analysis of the gross revenue from the agricultural
products grown in the area for the five years immediately preceding
the date of the filing of a proposed local coastal program or an
amendment to any local coastal program.
(2) An analysis of the operational expenses, excluding the cost of
land, associated with the production of the agricultural products
grown in the area for the five years immediately preceding the date
of the filing of a proposed local coastal program or an amendment to
any local coastal program.
For purposes of this subdivision, "area" means a geographic area
of sufficient size to provide an accurate evaluation of the economic
feasibility of agricultural uses for those lands included in the
local coastal program or in the proposed amendment to a certified
local coastal program.
(b) The economic feasibility evaluation required by subdivision
(a) shall be submitted to the commission, by the local government, as
part of its submittal of a local coastal program or an amendment to
any local coastal program. If the local government determines that it
does not have the staff with the necessary expertise to conduct the
economic feasibility evaluation, the evaluation may be conducted
under agreement with the local government by a consultant selected
jointly by local government and the executive director of the
commission.

30242. All other lands suitable for agricultural use shall not be
converted to nonagricultural uses unless (1) continued or renewed
agricultural use is not feasible, or (2) such conversion would
preserve prime agricultural land or concentrate development
consistent with Section 30250. Any such permitted conversion shall be
compatible with continued agricultural use on surrounding lands.

30243. The long-term productivity of soils and timberlands shall be
protected, and conversions of coastal commercial timberlands in
units of commercial size to other uses or their division into units
of noncommercial size shall be limited to providing for necessary
timber processing and related facilities.

30244. Where development would adversely impact archaeological or
paleontological resources as identified by the State Historic
Preservation Officer, reasonable mitigation measures shall be
required.