TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director Planning, Building and Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Daniel Zador, Planner II
SUBJECT: 2025 Williamson Act Agricultural Preserves and Contracts
RECOMMENDATION
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Adopt a Resolution establishing certain Williamson Act Agricultural Preserves (Types A & H); and approve and authorize fourteen (14) new contracts as identified in the attached Resolution, which includes recission of two (2) existing contracts and replacing them with two (2) new contracts. (Fiscal Impact: Less annual property tax revenues; General, Library and Fire Funds; Not Budgeted; Discretionary)
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BACKGROUND
The California Land Conservation Act (CLCA) of 1965 and County Participation:
The California Land Conservation Act (CLCA), or Williamson Act, allows local governments to enter voluntary contracts with landowners to restrict land to agricultural or related open-space uses. In return, landowners receive reduced property tax assessments based on agricultural value rather than market value. Under Government Code Section 51230, counties may establish agricultural preserves by resolution after a public hearing, and then enter into preserve contracts pursuant to Section 51240.
Napa County has participated in the Williamson Act program since 1969 as a key tool for preserving agricultural lands consistent with the County's agricultural heritage and General Plan goals. These include Goal AG/LU-1, which prioritizes agriculture as the County's primary land use, and Policy AG/LU-6, which supports tax assessment policies that reflect long-term agricultural zoning and the limited public services agriculture requires.
County rules require each contracted property to constitute its own CLCA preserve. Eligibility is based on parcel size and bona fide agricultural use, as determined by PBES in coordination with the Agricultural Commissioner (see attached memo). Please note that the application referenced in line item 9 in the Ag Commissioner ...
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