Some of the most valuable assets of Salinas include it’s agricultural land, creeks, parks, historical and architectural resources, and Carr Lake. The Conservation/Open Space Element focuses on the protection and enhancement of open space and natural and historic resources to ensure a high quality living environment in Salinas.

Purpose of the Conservation/Open Space Element

The Salinas Conservation/Open Space Element meets the state requirements for Conservation and Open Space Elements as defined in Sections 65302(d) and 65301(e) of the Government Code. According to these requirements, the Conservation element must contain goals and policies to protect and maintain natural resources such as water, soils, wildlife, and minerals, and prevent wasteful resource exploitation, degradation, and destruction. The Open Space Element must contain goals and policies to manage open space areas, including undeveloped lands and outdoor recreation areas. Specifically, the Open Space Element must address several open space categories such as those used for the preservation of natural resources and managed production of resources, as well as open space maintained for public health and safety reasons. This last category of open space is addressed in the Safety Element. Additionally, while air quality is not a state-mandated element, air quality is included in the Open Space/Conservation Element to address reducing pollutant levels through stationary source, mobile source, transportation and land use control, and energy conservation measures. Because the subjects required to be addressed under the Conservation Element and Open Space Element overlap substantially, the two elements have been combined for this Plan.

Scope and Content of the Conservation/Open Space Element

The Conservation/Open Space Element expresses community goals to protect environmental and historic resources and open space. Resources addressed in this element include: a) water resources; b) agricultural resources; c) cultural resources; d) ecological and biological resources; e) mineral resources; and f) parks and recreational facilities. Because everyday activities in Salinas affect air quality outside City boundaries and regional activities affect air quality within Salinas, regional air quality issues are also addressed in this element.

The Conservation/Open Space Element is comprised of four sections: 1) this Introduction; 2) Issues, Goals, and Policies; 3) the Conservation/Open Space Plan and 4) Implementation Program. In

the Issues, Goals, and Policies section, community open space needs and resource management issues are identified and corresponding goals and policies are established. The goals, which are overall statements of the City desires, are comprised of broad statements of purpose and direction. The policies serve as guidelines for planning and maintaining recreational facilities, enhancing the natural amenities of Salinas and minimizing the environmental effects of planned development. The Plan explains how the goals and policies will be achieved and implemented, while the Implementation Program identifies the specific implementation programs for this Element.

Related Plans and Programs

Federal Endangered Species Act

The Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, applies to federally listed species and habitat occupied by federally listed species. Federally listed species are most likely to occur within riparian habitat areas in the City’s floodplains.

Federal “special status” [1] species with the potential to occur in the planning area include:

Ø Steelhead	Ø California tiger salamander
Ø California red-legged frog	Ø Burrowing owl
Ø Tricolored blackbird	Ø Long-eared myotis
Ø Long-legged myotis	Ø Contra Costa goldlfields
Ø Santa Cruz clover	Ø Hutchinson’s larkspur
Ø Kellog’s horkelia

ESA Section 9 forbids specified acts that directly or indirectly harm listed species. Section 9 also prohibits “taking” any species of wildlife or fish listed as endangered. These restrictions apply to all federal agencies and all persons subject to United States jurisdiction.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Game Regulations

Both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Game have regulations to protect wildlife resources. Special permits are required for the alteration, dredging, or any activity in a lake or stream, as well as other activities that may affect fish and game habitat. Both agencies also regulate impacts to sensitive plant and animal species. Future development in Salinas that has the potential to affect wildlife habitat will be subject to the regulations of both of these federal and state agencies.

California Environmental Quality Act

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was adopted by the state legislature in response to a public mandate for thorough environmental analysis of projects impacting the environment. The provisions of the law and environmental review procedures are described in the CEQA Statutes and CEQA Guidelines. CEQA will continue to be instrumental in ensuring that the environmental impacts associated with local development projects are appropriately assessed and mitigated.

California Endangered Species Act

The California Endangered Species Act (CESA) (Fish & Game Code §§2050, et. seq.) generally parallels the main provisions of the Federal Endangered Species Act and is administered by the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG). CESA prohibits the “taking” of listed species except as otherwise provided in State law.

State special status species (including those listed as “rare” by the California Native Plant Society (CNPS)) with the potential to occur in the planning area include:

Ø Steelhead	Ø California Tiger Salamander
Ø California red-legged frog	Ø Burrowing owl
Ø White tailed kite	Ø Northern harrier
Ø Copper’s hawk	Ø Merlin
Ø Yellow warblers	Ø Yellow-breasted chat
Ø Tricolored blackbird	Ø Pallid bat
Ø Townsend’s western big-eared bat	Ø Yuma myotis

Ø San Francisco dusky-foot woodrat	Ø Congdon’t tarplant
Ø Contra Costa goldfields	Ø Pinnacles buckwheat
Ø Alkali milk-vetch	Ø Santa Cruz clover
Ø Hutchinson’s larkspur	Ø Kellog’s horkelia

Any future development or redevelopment in Salinas that has the potential to affect wildlife will be subject to the restrictions contained in the CESA.

Williamson Act

The Williamson Act, passed by the State Legislature in 1965 seeks to preserve agricultural uses by offering tax relief to large landowners if the owners agree not to change the use of their open space or agricultural lands for a contract period of ten years. The contracts automatically renew each year, thus extending the term, unless the owner files a notice of non-renewal to cancel the contract. Thus, contract expiration is always nine years from the date of filing the notice of non-renewal. No property in the City is currently under a Williamson Act contract; however, Williamson Act lands are within the vicinity of the City.

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

Under the NPDES storm water permit issued to the City of Salinas, all development and significant redevelopment must be implemented with runoff pollution control measures known as Best Management Practices (BMPs). Proposed development projects (both public and private) within Salinas must incorporate structural and non-structural BMPs to preclude significant water quality impact from non-point source pollutants.

California Regional Water Quality Control Board – Central Coast - Region 3 (RWQCB) Storm Water Program

Construction activities, industrial activities, and Caltrans activities in the County of Monterey are covered under three separate permits issued by the (RWQCB). Issued to the City in 1999, the City of Salinas holds the only individual municipal storm water NPDES permit in the Central Coast region. The municipal permit implements the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), which regulates the discharge of storm water from the City. The NPDES permit defines the current and future activities of the Wastewater Division by providing the maintenance requirements and best management practices that will protect local waterways from pollutants.

The primary goals of the NPDES program are:

Ø Maintain the storm drainage system in a safe and sanitary condition.

Ø Assure the City is safe from flooding through routine cleaning and repairs of the storm drain system.

Ø Assure the free flow of storm water runoff by maintaining City owned open drainage channels.

Ø Develop a water quality monitoring and maintenance program consistent with federally mandated NPDES requirements.

The City’s NPDES Permit requires industrial storm water inspections be performed, documented, and reported in the Annual NPDES Report to the RWQCB. The inspections are to eliminate, to the maximum extent practical, the potential for storm water pollution.

California Water Code Sections 10910-10915

Sections 10910-10915 of the California Water Code identify consultation, noticing, and water assessment and provision requirements for proposed projects meeting the specific criteria identified in Sections 10910 and 10913 of the Code. The City must consult with local and regional water agencies to assess whether the water demand associated with the project is included in the agency’s most recent Urban Water Management Plan and whether existing supplies can meet the project’s demand for water. Based on the entire record, the City shall determine within an EIR whether projected water supplies available during normal, single-dry, and multiple-dry water years will be sufficient to satisfy the demands of the proposed project, in addition to existing and planned future uses.

Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District Air Quality Management Plan

The Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) for the Monterey Bay Region includes transportation control measures that are either implemented by transportation planning agencies through the regional transportation planning process or by cities and counties on a voluntary basis. These include a variety of transportation system management, transportation demand management, and New Urbanism/ sustainable development measures in which the City participates.

Mills Act

The Mills Act is a state law allowing cities to enter into agreements with the owners of historic structures to encourage preservation of historic resources. Such agreements involve the City entering into a contract with a property owner to change how the County Assessor calculates taxes on their property in exchange for the continued preservation of the property by the property owner. The adjusted property taxes are recalculated using a formula in the Mills Act and Revenue and Taxation Code.

Relationship to Other General Plan Elements

The Conservation/Open Space Element must be consistent with the other General Plan elements and all elements of the General Plan are interrelated to a degree. Certain goals and policies of one element may also address issues that are the primary subjects of other elements. Table COS-1 located in the following section identifies related goals and policies by General Plan element. The integration of overlapping issues throughout the General Plan elements provides a strong basis for the implementation of plans and programs and achievement of community goals. The Conservation/Open Space Element most closely relates to the Land Use and Safety Elements.

The Land Use Element provides a planned land use pattern with the following general land use designation categories: Open Space, Residential, Commercial/Office, Industrial/Light Industrial, Public/Semipublic, and Other land use designations. The more specific Open Space, Parks, and Agriculture designations are applied to public and private land that is intended for conservation, open space, and recreational uses. These designations apply to areas that have an abundance of natural resources, visual resources, recreational value, and/or public safety concerns.

The Safety Element relates to the Conservation/Open Space Element in that it identifies hazard-prone areas such as floodplains, potentially unstable hillside areas and seismic hazard areas that should be conserved as open space.

Issues, Goals and Policies

Salinas possesses valuable assets in the form of its agricultural land, historic resources, parkland, and open space. Conservation and enhancement of these assets can be accomplished by addressing certain issues affecting the City. Nine major issues are addressed by the goals, policies, and plan in the Conservation/Open Space Element. These major issues include: 1) water supply and quality; 2) water conservation; 3) agricultural resources; 4) cultural resources; 5) ecological and biological resources; 6) air quality; 7) mineral resources; 8) parks and recreational facilities; and 9) energy conservation. Each issue and the related goals and policies are included in this section of the Conservation/Open Space Element.

Water Supply and Quality

The City depends solely on ground water resources for agricultural and urban activities. Salinas also contains the Carr Lake basin and three creeks that are subject to various sources of pollution. To protect public safety, as well as these natural resources, the quality of the surface and ground water needs to be monitored and protected. The following goal and policies are designed to promote a safe, potable and adequate water supply for the future to meet the needs of the community.

Goal COS-1: Promote a safe and adequate supply of water for community uses.

Policy COS-1.1: Work with regional and local water providers to ensure that adequate supplies of water are available to meet existing and future demand.

Policy COS-1.2: Cooperate with local, regional, and state water agencies to develop new water sources.

Policy COS-1.3: Work with local and regional water providers to increase the production, distribution, and use of recycled water.

Policy COS-1.4: Maintain and restore natural watersheds to recharge the aquifers and ensure the viability of the ground water resources.

Policy COS-1.5: Cooperate with the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, the State Water Resources Control Board and the Regional Water Quality Control Board to implement programs that address the two primary causes of poor water quality in the planning area: salt water intrusion and nitrate contamination.

Policy COS-1.6: Enforce national (NPDES) requirements and participate in regional efforts to protect and enhance water quality.

Water Conservation

Urban development and agricultural activities depend on adequate supplies of water. The City must promote the conservation of water resources in order to sustain existing and future economic and population growth. The following goal and policies are designed to help provide adequate future water supplies through conservation.

Goal COS-2: Encourage the conservation of water resources.

Policy COS-2.1: Participate in and implement local and regional programs that promote water conservation.

Policy COS-2.2: Work with water providers to institute conservation programs to address water supply problems caused by groundwater overdrafting.

Policy COS-2.3: Apply standards that promote water conservation in agricultural, residential and non-residential uses.

Policy COS-2.4: Enforce the City’s Water Conservation Ordinance.

Agricultural Resources

Salinas has historically been an agricultural community, with its rich valley soils. While most of the land used for agriculture within the City limits has been developed into urban use, there are remaining parcels that continue in agricultural production, and agricultural uses surround the City. These agricultural areas help to preserve the traditional rural character of the community, maintain visual open space, and provide substantial economic benefit to the community. However, as growth continues to occur, the expansion of urban uses into portions of the interior and surrounding agricultural areas will be necessary in part to provide adequate housing to meet the existing demand for housing for

agriculture and agriculture-related workers and their families. The following goal and policies are designed to ensure that important agricultural resources are protected and preserved for the future.

Goal COS-3: Identify, preserve and protect the significant agricultural resources within and surrounding Salinas, while minimizing conflicts between agricultural and urban uses.

Policy COS-3.1: Maintain a compact urban form, locating growth areas to minimize the loss of important agricultural resources while allowing for the reasonable expansion of the City to address projected population growth.

Policy COS-3.2: Participate in programs that protect important agricultural resources and prevent the conversion of agricultural land to other uses.

Policy COS-3.3: Discourage the conversion of lands designated on the Land Use Map as Agriculture to non-agricultural uses.

Policy COS-3.4: Minimize conflicts between agricultural and urban uses through the use of buffer zones, roads and other physical boundaries.

Policy COS-3.5: Support public relations/education sessions between the agricultural industry and non-agricultural businesses, developers, and residents.

Cultural Resources

Salinas’ rich historic past has been incorporated into the fabric of the City and provides a link to the community’s heritage and history. The many sites and structures of architectural and/or historic significance create focal points within the community and provide a sense of place. Areas within the City having historic resources and buildings should be protected and enhanced. In addition, while few archaeological resources remain due to the impacts of agricultural and urban activities, those that are encountered should be protected. The following goal and policies are designed to address the protection and enhancement of cultural resources within the community.

Goal COS-4: Protect and enhance community historical resources.

Policy COS-4.1: When historic buildings are renovated to extend their useful lives, the historic architecture should be maintained when possible.

Policy COS-4.2: Support private efforts to reinvest in and restore historically and architecturally significant structures and to continue their use as an integral part of the community.

Policy COS-4.3: Identify historic sites through historic landmark plaques and the Historic House Tour Guide.

Policy COS-4.4: Protect significant archaeological resources in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Ecological and Biological Resources

Despite urbanization and the agricultural history of Salinas, the City’s planning area includes natural resources that should be conserved. In particular, Salinas River, Carr Lake and the tributaries to Carr Lake and the sloughs and reclamation ditch provide riparian habitat for a variety of species. These important resources need to be protected to preserve the quality of life in the community. The following goal and policies help to ensure that these resources remain for future enjoyment.

Goal COS-5: Protect and enhance the remaining identified and significant ecological and biological resources within and surrounding the community.

Policy COS-5.1: Protect and enhance creek corridors, river corridors, the reclamation ditch, sloughs, wetlands, hillsides and other potentially significant biological resources for their value in providing visual amenity, flood protection, habitat for wildlife and recreational opportunities.

Policy COS-5.2: Explore with Monterey County the potential for creation of a Gabilan Creek Regional Park extending along the creek from the urban edge to the headwaters in the Gabilan Mountains.

Air Quality

Air quality in Salinas, which is within the North Central Coast Air Basin, is generally very good. However, the air basin does not presently meet state standards for ozone or for particulate matter ten microns or less in size (PM10). According to the 2000 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) for the Monterey Bay Region, exceedances of State ozo