• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About

LAFCo Policy More Complicated than Bee Article Implies, by Scott Calkins

October 1, 2012 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

 

Scott Calkins

Last Wednesday’s LAFCo decision to require mitigation for encroachment onto ag land met with wide approval, but Scott Calkins has an insider’s view that might temper the celebration. No one denies the decision was a big step forward, but parts of the policy are cause for real concern. Here’s Scott with the inside story.

I attended the LAFCo meeting on September 26, 2012 and read the article that appeared in the Modesto Bee the following day written by Garth Stapley. My impression of the article is that it gives an inaccurate account of what unfolded at the meeting by omitting some import comments made by supporters of farmland preservation, as well as comments made by the alternate members of the commission.

The article also failed to explain why the public member of the Commission, Tia Saletta, cast her vote against a poorly crafted policy that may in the end actually accelerate the loss of prime farmland in Stanislaus County. What follows is my own account of what I saw unfold at LAFCo’s last meeting.

The draft document of the Agricultural Preservation Policy was introduced by LAFCO staff who described it as having a “menu of options” which would allow cities “flexibility” in how they go about farmland preservation. My concern upon hearing how the policy was introduced was that the “flexibility” laid out in the “menu options” creates multiple loopholes that may be so large that the end result of adopting this policy may mean no improvement in the county’s poor record of protecting prime farmland from development. When I was called to speak first during public comment on this agenda item I made it clear that I supported the Commission moving forward to adopt an agricultural preservation policy, but that the “menu of options” appeared to weaken any real effect it may have.

As members of the public made their comments, it became clear that those who favored farmland preservation or conservation also had some reservations about the “menu of options.” Some even went so far as to suggest that if the policy was adopted as presented in the draft so that it might accelerate the loss of prime farmland by allowing cities too much flexibility to sidestep its intent.

I am concerned that the Bee article written by Garth Stapley went too far toward giving the appearance that well-spoken supporters of preserving farmland were giving the policy an unqualified endorsement. In contrast, what I heard from people like Vance Kennedy, Brad Barker, Wayne Zipser, and others was a combination of praise for finally doing something mixed with reservations that this policy may have little or no effect as a result of the loopholes that had been built into the document. Most of the supporters would have preferred a policy that applied a 1:1 ratio of preservation without the “menu of options,” in order that LAFCO might help save something like half of Stanislaus County’s current prime farmland.

After George Petrulakis made a particularly long case that any policy to protect farmland would only invite law suits from land use attorneys like himself, the draft policy went back to the commissioners for some interesting debate. Alternate members like Matthew Beekman , Vito Chiesa, and Ron Freitas, all made strong statements that the draft policy should be cleaned up to eliminate most, if not all of the “menu of options.” They all recognized the importance of 1:1 (acre for acre) mitigation if LAFCO was serious about preserving farmland. In addition, if there was just one method of compliance, LAFCO could avoid arguments between cities about whether some cities were manipulating options like the urban growth boundaries in order to avoid 1:1 mitigation costs.

When the discussion came to the voting members, Commissioner Tia Saletta also favored cleaning up the loopholes to create a policy that had a better chance of actually achieving its goal. Tia Saletta made it clear that she agreed with the arguments being made by the alternate commissioners that the language in the draft was too vague and compliance would be difficult to judge.

Finally, it came time to make a motion on whether to adopt the policy and Chairman Charles Goeken agreed to remove the most vaguely written option from the “menu” of strategies. Then Chairman Goeken insisted that staff include language in the policy that would grant an outright exemption to LAFCO’s Agricultural Preservation Policy for both commercial and industrial development. Chairman Goeken’s argument was that a county with high unemployment could not pass a policy that would make it more difficult to bring jobs to the area.

Commissioner Jim DeMartini made it clear that he would not object to the exemption for conversions of prime farmland for commercial and industrial use. The policy went to a vote with the contentious option of voter-approved urban growth boundaries left in as one of the strategies for compliance. When the role-call vote was taken it was 4 to1, with commissioners Goeken, O’Brien, Bublak, and DeMartini all in favor and commissioner Tia Saletta opposed.

I felt Tia Saletta’s vote took courage and deserved better coverage in the Bee article. Her dissent was based on a desire for a more effective policy with fewer loopholes in order to offer real hope of farmland preservation.

My own conclusion is that LAFCO passed a weak policy that is aimed almost entirely against only one form of sprawl—— residential home construction.

I agree with other supporters of farmland preservation that this policy may be a small step in the right direction; however, the complete exemption of commercial and industrial use has me gravely concerned. Indeed this new policy may cause an acceleration of the loss of prime farmland caused by permits for auto dealerships, big-box distribution centers and a smorgasbord of other commercial/industrial users that have helped to pave over farmland in Southern California and the Bay Area.

On an increasingly crowded and hungry planet where will my children grow the food for the next generation? It is time to begin thinking more long term about what true economic sustainability looks like for California and the nation. I want future generations to have access to healthy, affordable, locally grown food like the kind currently being produced by Stanislaus County’s creative and productive farming community. LAFCo has more work to do in order to insure this policy will achieve its main purpose. In addition, I look forward to more complete coverage of this complicated subject in future Bee articles.

 

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Scott Calkins, Stanislaus LAFCo, Stanislaus LAFCo farmland policy, Stanislaus LAFCo mitigation

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

California faces catastrophic flood dangers ? and a need to invest billions in protection
California faces catastrophic flood dangers and a need to invest billions in protection
A new state plan for the Central Valley calls for spending as much as $30 billion over 30 years to prepare for the dangers.
www.latimes.com
Oakland will get millions for the ?inhumane? crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it?s not enough
Oakland will get millions for the “inhumane” crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it’s not enough
Gavin Newsom’s administration has awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant to come up with…
www.sfchronicle.com
Alaska?s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Alaska’s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Mary Peltola won her election by campaigning on a platform to save the state’s prized fisheries. A powerful fishing lobby is standing in her way.
www.politico.com
Jimmy Carter's final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
Jimmy Carter’s final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
One of former President Carter’s biggest hopes is wiping out an infectious parasitic disease that’s plagued humans for millennia. How close is he?
www.latimes.com
Climate Extremes Threaten California?s Central Valley Songbirds - Eos
Climate Extremes Threaten California’s Central Valley Songbirds – Eos
A “nestbox highway” in California’s Central Valley is guiding songbirds to safe nesting sites and giving scientists a peek at fledgling success in a changing climate.
eos.org
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Republican David Eastman suggested the death of child abuse victims could be a “cost savings” to wider society.
www.newsweek.com
Editorial: Newsom's drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Editorial: Newsom’s drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Gov. Gavin Newsom has effectively ended environmental regulations protecting California rivers and migratory fish by extending drought-year waivers.
www.latimes.com
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
As of Thursday, just two of the more than 70 residents of McPherson Square had been placed in permanent D.C. housing.
www.washingtonpost.com
More Building Won?t Make Housing Affordable
More Building Won’t Make Housing Affordable
America’s housing crisis has reached unfathomable proportions. But new construction isn’t enough to solve it.
newrepublic.com
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Housing advocates are about to deliver a message to the Bay Area: Comply with state…
www.sfchronicle.com
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty 'Law of the River' holds sway
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty ‘Law of the River’ holds sway
At the heart of tensions over water allotments from the Colorado River is a complex set of agreements and decrees known as the ‘Law of the River.’
www.latimes.com
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America's largest rainforest
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America’s largest rainforest
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, a focus of political battles over old-growth logging and road-building in forests for decades, has received new protection from the Biden administration.
theconversation.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design