The LCP must ensure thorough review of all projects for land form alteration The following discussions highlight how to address land form alteration concerns for review of subdivisions, access roads, lot development and buildings. These discussions are general, but they touch on the types of technical material that is essential for a thorough review of the land form alteration concerns at the various stages in the development process. If these reviews will be undertaken within the context of a certified LCP, the LCP should enable the local government planners to have the breadth and range of technical information needed. The following discussion would apply to local government and Commission planners who are reviewing a CDP application.
A. LCP policies address land form alteration in many different ways As discussed in Attachment 2, "Land Form Alteration: CCMP Coastal Hazards Regulatory Process", many of the policies and requirements of a LCP address some aspect of land form alteration. For example, while restrictions on development in steep slope areas may be based on visual impacts or efforts to protect ridge lines, they often have a secondary benefit of minimizing land form alteration by steering development away from those areas which often require extensive land alteration to achieve a safe and developable site. Likewise, restrictions on the time of year when grading can occur and limitations on development in sensitive habitat areas or adjacent to stream banks can relate to land form alteration. In reviewing any LCP policy, it is important that the policy be carefully considered and examined for possible consequences outside its obvious intent.
B. LCP policies should state what is meant by "minimizing land form alteration" Section 30251 of the California Coastal Act requires, among other things, that permitted development be sited and designed "to minimize the alteration of natural land forms". The absolute minimum for alteration of natural land form would be zero, or no alteration at all. The upper limit for land form alteration is often provided in the LCP in terms of maximum allowable grading or site disturbance. It must be clear in the LCP that this is an absolute upper limit, just as zero disturbance is an absolute lower limit, and actual grading and land disturbance should be somewhere in the range, preferably closer to the lower limit, depending on the characteristics of the specific site.
C. Criteria should be established for both grading and disturbance Land form alteration is often a concern due to the resulting habitat disturbance, drainage modification, or erosion and sedimentation resulting from vegetation removal. Limitations for land form alteration should specify both the allowable range for grading and for overall disturbance, either as an absolute quantity or as a percentage of the site. Within this, ranges or limits can be established for the heights of cut and fill slopes, size of building pads, etc. These ranges should not be viewed as either the grading range or the disturbance range; both ranges must be met whenever they are applied. Furthermore, these ranges should encompass all grading and site disturbance which will be required for site development and building occupation. This would include, but not be limited to, vegetation clearing for fire protection, disturbance for a septic system or utility corridor, driveways and turn-arounds for fire equipment, access roads and road requirements for safety equipment, secondary access requirements, removal of native vegetation for landscaping, and disturbance for ancillary buildings, pathways, playhouses, corrals, etc. The impacts from land form alteration and site disturbance will be the same whether the excessive grading and disturbance occurs for the main structure or any of the other possible activities that may occur on the site, and thus must be assessed on a cumulative basis, for the entire proposal.
A. Development densities must match the capacity of the land form If an area is difficult to access or has few buildable areas of good stability, the LCP should require that the development level be sized accordingly. Many LPC and zoning ordinances establish maximum building sizes based on the size of the lot, with a 40 or 60 acre lot assumed to be able to support a significantly larger structure than a half acre lot. Others use a slope density formula for determining building density. In some areas, it may be preferable to set building size based on the extent of buildable land, expanding on the formulas for gross structural area to disqualify not only steep slope areas, but also any portion of the site which would not be suitable for development, such as stream areas and their setbacks, sensitive habitat areas, potential landslide areas, and areas of unstable soils. There is no reason to single out steep slopes as a density criteria when all the other components can pose similar or greater development difficulties.
B. Lot development limitations based on slope Many LCPs prohibit access roads or lot development in areas with greater than 20 or 30% slope, unless it is on an existing lot with no other less damaging alternative location. When an LCP attempts to direct development away from steep areas, the efforts should apply to all aspects of development -- subdivisions, lot line adjustments, access roads and lot development. In addition, the LCP should identify all existing, undeveloped lots which have slopes of greater than 20 or 30% to determine whether there may be significant development in steep slope areas despite the general intent of the steep slope regulation. If there are no existing, undeveloped lots in steep slope areas, the LCP should maintain this situation. If there are many undeveloped steep slope lots, the LCP should develop extensive controls for all aspects of future development in these steep slope areas (for example, through a transfer of development credit program, lot consolidation program, etc.).
C. The LCP should remove barriers to concentrated development If there are any areas where higher density development or cluster development might be appropriate and useful, the LCP should encourage this development with options for reducing front and side yard setbacks and for providing shared access, common open space and recreation areas. The LCP should lay out all the procedures for processing a cluster development, insuring that all impediments are removed. It should not be a developers responsibility to change zoning requirements to establish a desired land development style such as cluster development.
A. Acceptable land form alteration may vary for different land types or locations The LCP should carefully describe the different land formations within the coverage of the LCP, and establish whether or not these areas require special consideration. For each type of land formation, the LCP should state what types of alteration are most critical and why they are an LCP concern. For example, in steep terrain the area of disturbance is very important, while excavation to site a structure into the slope may be less important, especially if all excess material will be disposed of off site. In a flood plain, excavation or fill could alter the flooding characteristics and be more significant than surface disturbance for access roads or landscaping.
B. Erosion and sedimentation plans should be required for steep slopes In steep slope areas, a major concern of any land alteration is subsequent erosion and sedimentation. Every development in a steep slope area should prepare a plan for short and long-term erosion and sedimentation control. This plan must address erosion and sedimentation control during construction, steps to protect the site during the rainy season, contingency plans for site protection if construction prior to the rainy season is not as far along as planned, and post construction, long-term site protection and vegetation efforts. If drainage structures or sedimentation basins are incorporated into the overall site plan, the erosion and sedimentation control plan should specify how these structures will be maintained throughout the life of the project.
C. No grading should be allowed during the rainy season Seasonal limitations on grading should be established and strictly enforced. The LCP should contain not just the requirement that seasonal limitations be met, but enforceable penalties for failure to comply. If there are areas where such limitations may be relaxed, they should be specified in the LCP. No relaxation of seasonal requirements for grading should be allowed in any steep slope area.
D. Buffers and setbacks can protect from the erosion impacts of land form alteration The down slope erosion from land form alteration can be extensive if it is not carefully controlled. LCPs often establish setback distances or buffer widths which are designed to protect sensitive resources from direct or indirect impacts of land form alteration. Most erosion and sedimentation impacts from land form alteration occur downslope of the alteration activity (Gullying is an example of an impact which can migrate upslope; gullying rilling, debris flows, mud slides and washouts are examples of impacts which migrate downslope.) In steep slope areas, setbacks and buffer zones should consider the slope of the site and the location of the resource in relation to the activity which may impact it. Depending on the grade of the slope, it may be reasonable to establish upslope buffers several-fold wider than downslope ones.
A. Transfer of Development Credit Programs can help reduce land form alteration Throughout the coast there are existing "paper" subdivisions and lots of record which were created without a thorough review of all the environmental impacts which could occur if these areas are developed. These can include, but not be limited to, small isolated lots on ridge tops or along the side of a ravine, lots in a dune area, in a flood plain, completely within a sensitive habitat area, on an eroding bluff, on a fault trace, etc. In many cases, it might be best to keep these lands as open space or undeveloped land, except the property owner cannot be required to provide this public benefit without some compensation. One technique for providing some compensation is a program of development credit transfers, where the development opportunities of a piece of land are severed from the land and treated as a marketable commodity. This is done in many areas to protect the agricultural potential of prime farm lands through farmland trust programs and it has been applied to other land interests as well. For example, in much of the Santa Monica Mountains there is a Transfer of Development Credits program to retire the development potential of small, inaccessible lots or lots which have been identified for development transfer.
B. LCPs should set up a program to retire the development potential of targeted lots Every area has some lots which clearly should not now be developed due to the excessive land form alteration necessary to develop the subdivision or site. The LCP should either identify specific lots or establish specific criteria to determine the areas which should be targeted for extinction of development potential and for the acceptance of enhanced development opportunity (donor and receiver areas). The LCP should clearly describe and assure the presence of all necessary legal steps to support such a program, including but not limited to, the designation of entities with legal authority to hold development credits, a mechanism for quantifying development potential, a procedure for accepting properties into the development credit program and legally binding procedures for extinguishing development potential.
A. All land form alteration policies must be implemented The LCP must carry all land form alteration policies through to implementation. Such implementation covers a number of concerns, such as the regulatory framework for implementation, the staffing and training in new policies. It is clear that there must be implementing ordinances for all the policies, and it is a required part of the LCP. In areas where steep slope development is a critical concern, it may be appropriate to develop a Hillside Ordinance or Community Plan for these specific areas. If such Ordinances are prepared for a steep slope area, they must incorporate all appropriate land form alteration policies from the LUP.
B. Possible pitfalls to thorough implementation of LCP land form policies Full implementation of the LCP policies involved not only the appropriate ordinances and regulations, but also adequate staff and training. If the LCP requires thorough review of all Grading Plans, there must be staff available to review the Plans who not only have the expertise necessary to review the plans for technical merits but who understand the concerns of the Coastal Act and LCP well enough the review the Plans for these concerns. Finally, when there are special land form alteration policies which are applied only in the coastal portion of a jurisdiction or if there are special Hillside Ordinances which are applied only in the steep areas of the coastal zone, and the bulk of the jurisdiction is governed by more lenient policies, the staff implementing the LCP policies may need training on the LCP land form alteration policies and periodic refresher classes to assure the coastal regulations are being applied thoroughly and consistently. Otherwise, the staff may inadvertently apply the standards used in the rest of the jurisdiction to the coastal areas and fail to require the more stringent coastal standards.
C. Land form alteration policies must be enforced LCP land form alteration regulations must include enforcement steps which will be taken if the regulations are not followed completely. The enforcement program described in the Coastal Act may serve as a model; however, the LCP must outline the range of punitive and corrective actions which may be taken if the land form alteration policies are not followed. In areas where land form alteration may be of significant concern, it would be appropriate to provide in the LCP a review of the staffing and support which will be provided for such enforcement.
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