Butte County Administrative Procedures and Uniform Rules for Implementing the California Land Conservation (Williamson) Act

On January 23 2007 (by Resolution 07-021) the Butte County Board of Supervisors approved a final revision and update of the local regulations for administration of the County’s Williamson Act program.  Since 1965 the Sate’s Williamson Act has been Butte County’s primary tool for preserving agricultural land from development.  The Act gives landowners a significant property tax break in exchange for a ten-year commitment to maintain land in agricultural and compatible uses.  About 214,000 acres (20%) of Butte County’s 1,073,000 total acres are subject to the restrictions of a 10-year term self-renewing Williamson Act contract. The County currently has contracts with approximately 450+ separate landowners.  Roughly 41% of all Butte County land west of Highway 99 is now under contract.

The updated local regulations do not make any regulatory changes independent of State laws, which would increase restrictions on Butte County’s Williamson Act landowners. In general, the revisions and updates adopted by the Board are less restrictive than the previous 2000 rules. One primary focus of the updates was to ensure that Butte County maintained the maximum level of local authority in managing the program.  The revised regulations approved by the Board explain, clarify and provide a detailed interpretation of the County’s understanding of the State Williamson Act regulations. 

The regulations reflect State law provisions that empower the Board of Supervisors to determine which land uses are compatible with the Williamson Act, as long as those uses also meet the requirements of State law.  The revised rules expand the list of uses that Butte County considers to be compatible with the Act.  The expanded list includes aquaculture, apiaries, greenhouses structures, Christmas trees raising, and water storage reservoirs.  Also detailed are the uses that require a use permit from the Planning Commission.  These conditionally permitted uses include   veterinary hospitals, hunting clubs, commercial kennels, commercial equestrian uses and mining operations.  The guidelines for the county’s consideration of applications for surface mining on Williamson Act land seek to maintain the greatest possible level of local decision-making control and authority.

The new regulations eliminate past restrictions, which required contractholders to have parcel sizes greater than the minimum sizes that had been required for initial entry into the contract, if they wished to sell their land or build a home. The new regulations give the County 1-2% discretion in approving parcels for inclusion in the program, removing small portions of land from a contract, and in correcting clerical and technical errors.  These regulations reflect the changing conditions in the County and bring the county’s code up to date with recently enacted State laws. The new regulations also reflect State law limiting the construction of non-agricultural structures that may breach the contract. 

The regulations also set clear procedures for inclusion of habitat conservation easements on Williamson Act land, through organizations such as the Department of Fish & Game, Natural Resource Conservation Service, the USDA, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and The Nature Conservancy.  The Board now has a clear process for considering these easements on a case by case basis.  The regulations also detail a procedure for landowners of properties with existing legitimate habitat conservation easements to bring their contracts into compliance with State law.

In many cases, these new regulations give clarity to landowners on issues which the State’s Department of Conservation (which oversees the statewide Williamson Act program) has provided what Butte County has considered to be inconsistent and inadequate direction.  The Butte County Board of Supervisors is optimistic that these updated regulations will encourage the future growth and health of the Williamson Act program in the county.