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SACRAMENTO -- The
pace of urbanization in San Luis Obispo
County from 1998-2000 increased compared
to 1996-98, and a significant amount of
land was reclassified from dryland
agricultural uses to vineyards and other
irrigated crops, according to a new map
from the California Department of
Conservation. The map is designed to
help local governments evaluate land-use
planning decisions.
The Farmland Mapping
and Monitoring Program (FMMP), part of
DOC's Division of Land Resource
Protection, maps 44.5 million acres of
California's public and private land to
produce a major study every two years.
In San Luis Obispo
County, 2,199 net acres of land were
urbanized during the current mapping
cycle compared to only 129 acres during
the 1996-98 cycle. A total of 9,724
acres of land were reclassified as
irrigated farmland on the new map. That
continued a trend from the 1996-98
cycle, during which the county gained
5,285 acres of irrigated land. Both the
new urban land and new irrigated
agriculture occurred on what had
historically been dryland grain and
grazing areas.
Since the 1990
survey, San Luis Obispo County has
gained 12,299 acres of irrigated land
and 4,585 acres of urban land. Taken
together with all other changes in the
county, the total for all Important
Farmland classes is 2,983 acres lower
than it was in 1990.
Looking ahead, San
Luis Obispo County reports that 638
acres have been committed to
non-agricultural use in the future.
Often, this is land earmarked for
development. In some cases
infrastructure development, such as
sewer installation, may be underway.
The map has been sent
to San Luis Obispo County planning
officials. Interested parties such as
the county Farm Bureau, Local Agency
Formation Commission, planning
consultants and the county resource
conservation districts have received
copies.
"We do this mapping
to help counties plan and prepare for
their expected growth in the coming
years," explained Department of
Conservation Director Darryl Young.
“This information is a tool that can
help San Luis Obispo County and other
local governments balance the needs of a
growing population with those of the
agricultural economy."
Of the 1.3 million
acres mapped in San Luis Obispo County,
51 percent was categorized as grazing
land, 27 percent as farmland, 18 percent
as “other” land and three percent as
urbanized land. “Other” land includes
wetlands, low-density "ranchettes" and
brush or timberlands unsuitable for
grazing.
San Luis Obispo
County's agricultural land will continue
to face development pressure in the
foreseeable future. The California
Department of Finance projects the
county's population will grow from its
current 250,000 to 336,000 in 2020.
According to the
California Department of Food and
Agriculture, the gross value of San Luis
Obispo County's agricultural production
was more than $487 million in 2000,
ranking it 17th among the state's 58
counties.
Following are
examples of farmland and grazing land
being urbanized in San Luis Obispo
County:
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Two areas of new
homes totaling 130 acres south of
Highway 46 in Paso Robles.
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Eighty acres of new
homes, including the Suncrest
development, west of Templeton.
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Thirty acres of new
homes and buildings in the Grover City
area and 20 acres of new homes and
sports fields in nearby Arroyo Grande.
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Developments called
Cuesta Villas, River Oaks and The
Vineyards totaling 60 acres on the
northern urban fringe of Paso Robles.
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Homes in a
development called The Lakes just
north of Atascadero (25 acres).
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New homes and
sports fields replaced about 25 acres
of grazing land in Morro Bay, while 17
new acres of homes were added in
Cuesta-by-the-Sea.
The latest statewide
study by the FMMP, Farmland Conversion
Report 1996-98, was released in the fall
of 2000. About 70,000 acres were
urbanized throughout the state; more
than 43,000 acres of the new urban land,
an area about the size of the city of
Modesto, were developed on agricultural
land. A new statewide report will be
released this fall.
Through the
Department of Conservation, the state
offers programs that provide financial
incentives to keep land in agricultural
use. The California Farmland Conservancy
Program makes grants available to local
governments, land trusts or resource
conservation districts to purchase
permanent agricultural conservation
easements from willing landowners. These
easements prohibit future development.
Farmland Security Zone and Williamson
Act contracts provide potential tax
benefits to landowners who commit to
keeping their land in agricultural use
for periods of 20 or 10 years,
respectively.
In addition to
administering agricultural and
open-space land conservation programs,
the Department of Conservation ensures
the reclamation of land used for mining;
promotes beverage container recycling;
regulates oil, gas and geothermal wells;
and studies and maps earthquakes and
other geologic phenomena.
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