June 3, 2020 Staff Report 5.1 Amendment to the Sphere of Influence of the Windsor Water District and Windsor Reorganization No. 19-3 (South Shiloh Area)

Analysis 

Background

In 2019, the owners of two parcels along the southeastern boundary of the Town of Windsor (Town) requested a reorganization consisting of annexation of their properties to the Town and detachment from County Service Area No. 41 (Multi-Services). Upon annexation to the Town, the territory would remain within the Sonoma County Fire District, whose territory includes and surrounds the Town. The affected territory, totaling approximately five acres, is generally located on the south side of Shiloh Road, east of U.S. Highway 101, and west of Old Redwood Highway.

Generally flat, with a gradual sloping towards the south/southwest, the affected territory is vacant and undeveloped with the exception of an old barn/chicken coop structure located on a portion of the property. To the north across Shiloh Road are found the Walmart/Home Depot Center and single family dwellings on long, narrow parcels. Territory to the east, south and west consists of both large and small parcels devoted to agriculture and vineyards, with some large residential parcels. 

The subject parcels, both contiguous to the Town boundary, are within the sphere of influence (SOI) and voter-approved Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) of the Town and within the “urban service area” boundary for the Town in the Sonoma County General Plan. The Town provides all municipal services to territory within its boundary. Although considered a department of the Town government, the Windsor Water District (District) is a separate legal entity that was formed in the early 1980s, after having been a “special service district” of the County; the District became a subsidiary district of the Town upon its incorporation in 1992.

Amendment of Windsor Water District Sphere of Influence

In reviewing the application after it was submitted, staff determined that, of the two parcels proposed for annexation to the Town, only Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) 059-310-052, fronting Shiloh Road, is within the SOI and boundary of the Windsor Water District. APN 059-310-051, the smaller, more southern parcel, is within neither the SOI nor boundary of the District and thus is not eligible to receive water or wastewater service provided by the District.

In accordance with state law, territory must be within the sphere of influence of a city or district to be eligible for annexation to that agency. In that the owners are requesting annexation for the purpose of development and access to Town services, staff determined that additional local action was necessary to move the application forward, thus allowing Commission consideration.

According to Town staff, typically when amendment to the SOI and annexation of territory to the Water District are required as “companion” actions to a request to annex territory to the Town, the action would occur along with the pre-zoning. Regarding the subject application, the District action was inadvertently omitted from the Town’s original consideration and determination.

As a result of LAFCO staff’s discussions with Town representatives, Town staff analyzed the potential of the proposed sphere amendment and annexation to the District and recommended that the Town Council, acting as the Board of Directors of the District, request that LAFCO amend the District sphere of influence to include APN 059-310-051. This action would make the Town’s UGB and the District SOI coterminous and support consistency of these lines in this location. (It should be noted that a Municipal Service Review of the Town and Windsor Water District that is currently being prepared will study and make recommendations regarding any remaining inconsistencies between the Town UGB and SOI and the District SOI.)

At its April 1, 2020, virtual meeting, the District Board approved Resolution No. 1878-20, which requested that LAFCO amend the District sphere; the resolution also supported annexation of the parcel to the District, with the Board’s finding that the District has capacity in its systems to serve anticipated development of the property. The Board further found that the sphere amendment and annexation were within the scope of the 2040 General Plan and 2040 General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) based on a checklist prepared in accordance with the State of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. Information regarding the environmental determination is provided later in this report.

Town of Windsor Consideration of Pre-Zoning: “Amador-Haskins Area”

The Windsor Town Council adopted its 2040 General Plan Update in April 2018. During the Update process and after the October 2017 fires, owners of properties in several areas outside the Town boundary expressed interest to either Council members or staff about annexation of their parcels to the Town, for development purposes. In July 2018 Town staff requested direction from the Council about pursuing pre-zoning for all the requests received.

One of the areas, as shown below, includes seven parcels and is referred to as the “Amador-Haskins Area” - named after the owners of the properties on either end of the grouping who had indicated interest in annexation of their properties to the Town. There are six different owners of the seven properties.    

The Council directed its staff to initiate the pre-zoning process for the two Amador properties and the other five parcels as well, if a sentiment survey of all owners demonstrated that a majority supported pre-zoning and annexation. The Council and Town staff were aware that LAFCO would be unlikely to consider annexation of the Haskins parcel without inclusion of the in-between territory because, without them, an island of unincorporated territory would be created; this is inconsistent with state law.  

Town staff ultimately conducted two sentiment surveys over a several-month period. In the first survey, four of the six owners favored pre-zoning, with no response received from the two other owners. The second survey indicated that five owners favored annexation; one was opposed; and one did not respond.  

In May 2019, the Town Council accepted the Town Planning Commission’s recommendation and, in Ordinance No. 2019-334, pre-zoned all seven parcels, to give the Town maximum flexibility regarding pre-zoning at that time and in the future.  

Please note: Regarding the Commission’s consideration of the subject proposal, within Ordinance No. 2019-334, the Town included pre-zoning for three separate areas, one of which is the Amador-Haskins Area, with its seven parcels.The subject proposal before the Commission, however, requests reorganization of only two parcels – those owned by the applicants, Lisa and Trini Amador.

The Town pre-zoned the Amador parcels to the Boulevard Commercial zoning district, consistent with the Boulevard Mixed Use land-use designation of the Town’s General Plan. The Boulevard Mixed Use designation provides for mixed-use development (16-32 dwelling units/acre) that includes retail, residential, office, hotel, or entertainment uses with extensive pedestrian-oriented frontage on a boulevard street (Shiloh Road is a “boulevard street.”). According to the General Plan, “the intention of this designation is to create active places where people live work, socialize, and shop, by intermixing housing with commercial and/or office uses.”

The Boulevard Commercial zoning district applies to areas of intensive mixed use development with extensive pedestrian-oriented frontage on a boulevard street, near transit service and stops. It is intended primarily to serve local residents and businesses and would allow multi-family housing in a mixed use project and live-work units. The applicants hope to ultimately develop their properties, possibly with a mixture of residences and commercial establishments.

Shiloh Road Vision Plan; Shiloh Road East Community Place Area

The affected territory is located within the area encompassed within the Shiloh Road Vision Plan, which the Town adopted in 2001. The “guiding principles” of that Plan include: a “village” design that does not compete with downtown Windsor and is centered around a large plaza area; housing diversity and affordability; safe movement of traffic; a secondary circulation system; and open space and native, low-water-use landscape.

Beyond the Vision Plan, the 2040 General Plan identifies the “Shiloh Road East Community Place Area” – south of Tamara Court, east of U.S. Highway 101, and west of Old Redwood Highway along Shiloh Road; this area includes the two Amador parcels. Specific policies for this area include: a review of the Shiloh Village Vision Plan; annexation of territory prior to development; considerations for a street network within the area; pedestrian-friendly design; encouragement of development in a comprehensive, not piecemeal, manner; and consideration of the interface and compatibility with lower-density territory to the south.

Conversion of Agricultural Lands

The County’s land-use designation for the two properties encompassed within the annexation boundary is Rural Residential, with a zoning designation of Agriculture and Residential (AR) for APN 059-310-051, the more southern parcel, and Rural Residential (RR) for APN 059-310-052. AR zoning provides lands for raising crops and farm animals in areas designated primarily for rural residential use while RR aims to preserve the rural character and amenities of lands best utilized for low-density residential development. The two parcels proposed for annexation within the Amador-Haskins area are designated as Farmland of Local Importance; however, at this time, the properties are not being used for agricultural purposes. Neither parcel is under a Williamson Act contract.

The Town’s 2040 General Plan altered land-use patterns in portions of the Town and along some edges, resulting in what could be some incompatibilities between urban and agricultural uses. General Plan policies require land buffers between new development and agricultural land, disclosure of nearby agricultural uses when new development is proposed, and low-density development so as to reduce potential agricultural/urban conflicts. As indicated above, the Town’s General Plan, Shiloh Road Vision Plan, and Shiloh Road East Community Place Area all envision substantially greater development for this area than is currently in place.

Although land use, as visualized by the Town, would substantially change, it is not unexpected. The area has been within the Town’s Urban Growth Boundary since the Town voters approved that limit line in the 1990s. Further, the territory is within the LAFCO-determined sphere of influence for the Town and within the County General Plan’s “urban service area” boundary, so it has been planned for urban uses for years.

Environmental Determination

2040 Windsor General Plan Environmental Impact Report

In its actions associated with pre-zoning of the two subject parcels and potential annexation to the Town as well as amendment of the District sphere of influence and annexation to the District of APN 059-310-051, the Town used the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for its 2040 General Plan Update as the environmental document for the proposal before the Commission.  

The Town Council certified the 2040 General Plan EIR on April 4, 2018, the same date on which it adopted its 2040 General Plan. The Council identified the following benefits from its approval of the General Plan:  

• Increased revenue and jobs
• New high-quality housing
• Improved aesthetic character
• Improved multi-modal transportation
• Logical, compact urban development
• Comprehensive updated policies for the protection of the environment
• Overall preservation of agricultural resources

The Council determined that the significant effects on the environment found with approval of the General Plan could be mitigated to minimize or reduce those impacts and adopted a mitigation monitoring and reporting program. Finally, the Council determined that, even with mitigation, significant effects of the implementation of the General Plan would remain in two areas:  

• Agricultural Resources due to conversion of active agricultural land to non-agricultural uses and
• Transportation and Traffic hazards due to queuing impacts

As a result, pursuant to CEQA, the Council weighed the economic, legal, social, technological, and other benefits of the project and the significant unavoidable impacts, determined that the benefits outweighed the risks and adverse environmental impacts, determined that the significant unavoidable impacts were acceptable, and and adopted a Statement of Overriding Considerations for the project.

Environmental Checklist

When an agency wants to use a previously-certified programmatic EIR to determine the environmental impact of activities that occur subsequent to the program for which the programmatic EIR was prepared, the State CEQA Guidelines require the agency to prepare an environmental checklist for the subsequent action. In this case, in that the pre-zoning for the subject reorganization occurred after the adoption of the 2040 General Plan, a checklist was prepared with regard to whether environmental impacts would be greater than potential environmental impacts identified in the 2040 General Plan EIR. Included as part of the checklist was analysis of environmental effects related to provision of and facilities for water and wastewater.

[It should be noted that the environmental checklist was prepared for three separate areas that the Town was considering to pre-zone.One of these areas is the Amador-Haskins Area, with its seven parcels.The subject proposal before the Commission, however, requests reorganization of only two parcels – those owned by the applicants, Lisa and Trini Amador.]

As a result of Town staff’s review, analysis, and checklist preparation, the Council determined that the pre-zoning of the affected territory would not cause any significant effects on the environment not examined in the 2040 General Plan EIR, i.e., there were no substantial or significant changes in development or in any circumstances in which development would occur; and there was no information of substantial importance which had not been known when the 2040 General Plan was approved and the EIR certified. In May 2019, the Council further determined that Town of Windsor General Plan 2040 Program EIR adequately addressed the potential environmental impacts of the proposed pre-zoning for the purposes of CEQA.

When staff notified Windsor earlier this year that amendment to the District sphere of influence would be required to establish eligibility for annexation of APN 059-310-051 to the District, Town staff re-visited the environmental checklist conducted for the pre-zoning to determine whether changes had occurred or new information of substantial importance had become known since the certification of the 2040 General Plan EIR and preparation of the checklist for pre-zoning. Windsor staff found no changes or new information. As a result, the Board of Directors of the Windsor Water District found that amendment of the sphere of the District and annexation of APN 059-310-051 were within the scope of the 2040 General Plan and 2040 General Plan EIR.

Beyond this action, in November 2019, the Town Council/District Board approved an update to the Windsor Water Master Plan. APN 059-310-051 was included in the project area studied. The Master Plan includes a supply and demand assessment to evaluate existing water supply, storage capacity and projected future needs and to identify shortfalls and deficiencies. The Master Plan determined that adequate supply is available to meet the Town’s needs through 2040.

LAFCO As A Responsible Agency

Sonoma LAFCO is a responsible agency for the subject proposal, following the determination of the lead agency, the Town of Windsor. In its review of the Town’s 2040 General Plan EIR and the checklist prepared pursuant to the State CEQA Guidelines, staff considered the analysis and determined that the proposal does not present significant environmental effects that were not previously considered in the General Plan EIR and environmental checklist; there were no environmental effects peculiar to the project or the site, and no substantial new information had been determined. Please note: staff’s conclusions relate to only the two subject parcels (APNs 059-310-051 and -052).

As a responsible agency, the Commission must certify consideration of the information in the Town of Windsor 2040 General Plan EIR, find that significant and unavoidable impacts cannot be mitigated and adopt a statement of overriding considerations for the project.

Staff notes that only the comments in the EIR and environmental checklist that relate to the Amador-Haskins Area are relevant to the Commission’s determination whether to approve reorganization of the two subject properties. LAFCO has not received applications for reorganization of the other areas included within the Town’s pre-zoning ordinance or for the other five parcels within the Amador-Haskins Area. Counsel advises that nothing should be interpreted as consideration of the pre-zoning or environmental checklist for any of the other properties/areas.

Consent of Owners

Since the owners of properties within the annexation boundary have initiated the proposal and given their written consent to the proposed reorganization, the Commission may waive the protest hearing for the proposal.

Individual Factors for Consideration

California Government Code §56668 describes 17 factors to be considered in the Commission’s review of a proposal. The review must include, but is not limited to, consideration of these factors that are outlined and addressed in Attachment 1.