Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District to Consider Draft Mitigation Policy

Board of Supervisors Agenda Item for July 18, 2017

Since its formation, the District has received proposals for mitigation-related activities or projects on District-held conservation easements and District-owned properties. The District’s conservation easements do not always explicitly permit or prohibit mitigation-related uses, and mitigation-related project proposals for District-owned land are not always clearly consistent with the District’s enabling legislation, guidance documents, long-term fiscal stability, or previous commitments. Thus, there is a need for Board guidance on this issue.

The proposed Mitigation Policy has been developed for use by District staff and the General Manager in the evaluation of environmental mitigation-related proposals for District-protected lands, including conservation easements and District-owned properties. The Mitigation Policy includes a summary of the District and its land conservation work, a discussion of the District’s role with respect to environmental mitigation, and the types of environmental mitigation proposals received by the District and the process for evaluating them.

The Mitigation Policy was developed after several years of discussions with over 50 individuals and organizations representing various public agencies, non-governmental organizations, citizen groups, private business, and other relevant sectors of the community.