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It
gets worse. San Diego County recently rewrote the general plan to make all
close in rural land 10 acre minimum lots to preserve agricultural use on these
properties. However, when you come in with your subdivision 5-6 or more of
each 10 acres is mitigated to open space. Can't touch it, certainly can't use it
for agriculture. Lop off another acre fro the house and you have, oh 2
acres left for agriculture.
And if
someone already farmed that land, but you didn't for the last couple years, well
now its "disturbed natural habitat" and you have to mitigate that
too!
Every
agency is pulling in opposite directions all with the same stated intent of
preserving land for all of us to enjoy. The result is that most of the
natural habitat looks pistol whipped, the streams are clogged because you can't
clean them out and our trails are disappearing because walking on a deer trail
through the open space is humans disturbing the habitat.
For
the 85 acres we want to subdivide, so far we have spent $50,000 just to
establish what habitat we have and what threatened or endangered species might
reside there. If we were to actually tell the truth, 82 of these 85 acres
have been FARMED within the last 10 years and the entire habitat was GONE at one
point. But we can't tell the truth, because then they'd mitigate the whole
thing and we couldn't build anything on the property. Now, remember, this
is land they just voted to preserve for agriculture - but if you went in to get
a farm permit, you couldn't have one, because the prior owner disturbed (FARMED)
the land.
If
anyone can make sense out of this, please explain it to
me!!!
I was
trained as a wildlife biologist and the entire county/state/federal plan(s)
strikes me as just plain stupid.
Alison A. Farrin
Innovative Pension
Innovative Retirement
Services
858-748-6500 x 107
alison@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Heidi I think you did an excellent job of
responding to Mike's post. As a farmer I also take offense to his comments about
"sterilizing" creekbeds in wanting a" few more yards of crops". We are required
to maintain a 25 foot filter strip next to anything that comes close to
being classified as a stream. On my 200 acres of grassland we have two such
"streams". Since this 25 foot zone needs to be maintained on both sides you have
a 50 feet zone multiple this by the 1.5 mile length and you now have
7,920ft*50ft=396,000sq.ft/43,560sq feet/acre=9.09 acres that is removed from
production. I bought this land ,pay taxes on it,can't use it and....this is the
good part still have to control noxious weeds on it. Anyone care to help me cut
down thistles in August? As if this is not enough there is a move to have the
filter strips increased to 50 feet or greater each side of waterways. Most
people would consider this more than a "few yards"
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