The following regulations shall apply in the AE agricultural estate zone unless otherwise provided by this title. AE zoning shall be applied to those lands designated by the council as agricultural preserves and subject to contracts under the provisions of the California Land Conservation Act. Rezoning to the AE zone shall be initiated only at the request of the landowner.

(Ord. 73 § 1 (part), 1986)

1.

General farming, including but not limited to the raising, growing, and harvesting of vegetable, field, forage, vine, bush, berry, tree, or other plant crop including plant nursery stock;

2.

Grazing, maintaining, breeding, training, and raising of poultry and livestock of all kinds including horses, cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, and agricultural species such as fish and fur-bearing species provided there is no feeding of refuse, garbage, sewage or offal;

3.

Nurseries, greenhouses, mushroom rooms, floriculture;

4.

Boarding of horses or other farm animals;

5.

Growing and harvesting of timber, Christmas trees, or other plants;

6.

Dairies and products of dairy products from milk produced on the premises;

7.

Poultry farms;

8.

Raising, feeding, maintaining, breeding, and slaughtering of livestock, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, pigeons, ducks, geese, fish, frogs, and small animals or fowl in household numbers for family use;

9.

Single-family dwellings and appurtenant structures allowed in R districts and such other structures normally associated with agricultural activities, including but not limited to barns, stables, sheds, and silos; provided, however, that only one single-family residence shall be allowed for each forty (40) acres on any parcel or contiguous parcels subject to one California Land Conservation Act contract. All structures or dwellings on a parcel or contiguous parcels subject to one such contract shall be directly used for the furtherance of the agricultural use of such property; and shall be limited to immediate members of the owners family and his or her employees;

10.

Home occupations, as defined in Section 17.04.030;

11.

Wells, water storage, and reservoirs, including on-site excavation or removal of materials for construction thereof;

12.

Storage of petroleum products for use by the occupants of the premises;

13.

Veterinary clinics and services, animal hospitals, kennels;

14.

Harvesting, curing, processing, packaging, packing, selling, and shipping of agricultural products on a parcel devoted to agricultural use and the treating of products grown or raised on and off the premises where such activity is carried on in conjunction with or as part of an agricultural use; excepting therefrom the commercial slaughtering of livestock, small animals, fish, poultry, or fowl;

15.

Holding of nonproducing land for future agricultural use;

16.

Maintenance of land in its natural state for the purpose of preserving open space for recreation or the creation of plant or animal preserves;

17.

Apiaries and honey extraction plants;

18.

Nonintensive recreation when carried on as a clearly secondary activity in conjunction with a bona fide agricultural operation, including but not limited to fishing, hiking, hunting, rifle and pistol practice range, skeet field, archery range, or gun club when such activities do not involve the construction of any permanent structure;

19.

Sale of food products produced on the premises;

20.

Feed lots and feedyards, provided there is no feeding of refuse, garbage, sewage, or offal;

21.

Airport or aircraft landing facilities for use of owner or tenant of the property or for agricultural service use;

22.

The following uses when carried on as a clearly secondary occupation in conjunction with a bona fide agricultural operation, where no more than ten percent of the total land is used and where no more than three persons other than the owner are employed in such activities, and which are owned and operated by the owner or occupant of the premises:

a.

Manufacturing, maintenance, repair, servicing, storage, sale, or rental of agricultural machinery, implements and equipment of all kinds,

b.

Storage or sale of farm supplies of all kinds, including but not limited to fertilizers, agricultural minerals, and pesticides,

c.

Transportation of agricultural products, supplies, or equipment, together with the maintenance, storage, repair and servicing of the necessary trucks and equipment therefor;

23.

Public utility and public services, structures, uses, and buildings provided such uses are clearly secondary and in conjunction with a bona fide agricultural operation;

24.

Commercial radio, television, or microwave antennas and transmitters;

25.

Gas, electric, water, and communication utility facilities and public service facilities of like nature operated by a public agency or mutual water company;

26.

Public highways;

27.

Fire protection works and facilities; flood control works, including channel rectification and alteration; public works required for fish and wildlife enhancement and preservation; improvements for the primary benefit of the lands within the preserve; state improvements for which the site or route has been specified by the state legislature in such a manner as to make it impossible to avoid the use of subject AG zoned property;

28.

Livestock auctions and sales yards;

29.

Any structure, building, equipment, or use incidental and necessary to any of the foregoing uses;

30.

Winery facilities and fruit and nut dehydrating plants.

31.

The following uses are permitted in the AE zone upon obtaining a use permit as provided for in Chapter 17.80:

a.

Turkey farms, provided there is a cover crop or other dust control,

b.

Any garbage, sewage, refuse, or offal feeding,

c.

Commercial small animal and fowl specialty farms, including but not limited to chinchillas, minks, foxes, rodents, aviaries, rabbits, frogs, pigeons, ducks, and geese,

d.

Commercial slaughterhouses and stockyards for livestock, small animals, poultry, and fowl,

e.

Rendering plants and fertilizer plants,

f.

Commercial recreation, dude ranches, and boarding and guest facilities when carried on as a clearly secondary use in conjunction with a primary agricultural use,

g.

Oil and gas wells, including the drilling and installation, and use of such equipment, structures, and facilities as are necessary or convenient for oil-drilling and oil-producing operations customarily required or incidental to usual oil field practice, including but not limited to the initial separation of oil, gas, and water and for the storage, handling, recycling, and transportation of such oil, gas, and water to and from the premises; provided such activities are carried on as a clearly secondary activity in conjunction with a bona fide agricultural operation,

h.

Development of natural resources including mines, open pits for extraction of minerals, borrow pits, and quarries, with necessary buildings, apparatus, or appurtenances thereto; provided such activities are carried on as a clearly secondary activity in conjunction with a bona fide agricultural operation,

i.

Any use determined by the planning commission after recommendations by the agricultural advisory committee to be compatible with the purposes of the California Land Conservation Act and which do not significantly adversely affect agricultural operations,

j.

Any structure, building, use, or equipment incidental and necessary to any of the above uses, located on the same site, and included in the use permit.

(Ord. 73 § 1 (part), 1986)

The land and structure regulations for the AE zone as they pertain to building height, front yard, side yard, rear yard, and distance between buildings and the same lot shall be the same as the A-T Agricultural Transition zone, unless otherwise provided herein.

(Ord. 73 § 1 (part), 1986)

A.

No property shall be rezoned to the AE zone unless the following requirements are met:

1.

a.

No parcel less than forty (40) acres shall be zoned AE except that contiguous parcels under common ownership totaling forty (40) acres or more may be zoned AE if said parcels are merged into an assessor's parcel. Such parcels shall be considered as one parcel for purposes of subdivision under the State Subdivision Map Act and this title.

b.

A parcel comprised of less than forty (40) acres may be zoned AE despite the forty (40) acre minimum for AE parcels set forth in subsection (A)(1)(a) of this section; provided, that a variance is first obtained pursuant to Chapter 17.76; provided, however, that in addition to the requirements of that chapter, the council must find that special circumstances have caused the size of the parcel to be less than forty (40) acres, that the parcel substantially complies with the forty (40) acre minimum set forth herein, and that the owner thereof or his or her predecessor in interest did not, within three years preceding the application for rezoning, voluntarily reduce the size of the parcel below the forty (40) acre minimum. The foregoing notwithstanding, no parcel of less than forty (40) acres shall under any circumstances be zoned AE unless it is contiguous to a parcel zoned AE, which parcel is subject to a California Land Conservation Act contract and which has a size of forty (40) acres or more.

2.

Parcels to be zoned AE containing one hundred sixty (160) acres or more shall indicate a potential ability to produce an annual gross income from agriculture of not less than three thousand dollars ($3,000.00), or shall have permanent agricultural improvements thereon with a value of not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00). The amounts set forth in this subdivision shall be adjusted for inflation each year beginning January 1, 1987, in accordance with any increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index for Northern California published by the United States Department of Labor or any other appropriate index or combination of indices selected by the council, which amounts shall be rounded to the nearest hundred dollars.

3.

Property less than one hundred sixty (160) acres but not less than one hundred (100) acres shall meet both of the criteria listed in subsection (A)(2) of this section.

4.

Property less than one hundred (100) acres but at least forty (40) acres or qualifying pursuant to subsection (A)(1)(b) of this section shall meet both of the criteria listed in subsection (A)(2) of this section and additionally shall demonstrate unique characteristics of an agricultural industry.

5.

Property less than one hundred sixty (160) acres may be considered to satisfy requirements of subsection (A)(1) through (4) of this section if the property is a portion of and contiguous to an adjacent tract under the same ownership which is within an agricultural preserve in an adjoining county and which, when considered as a whole, would meet the appropriate requirements.

6.

A parcel may be found to meet the income requirements set forth in subsection (A)(1) through (4) of this section if the owner of the parcel demonstrates to the satisfaction of the council that the owner has planted at the time of this application for rezoning to AE, or that he or she shall plant during the calendar year following his or her application for rezoning to K, crop-bearing trees or vines or other slowly maturing crops, or that he or she has made or will make agricultural improvements which shall ensure that there will be, within five years from the date of the rezoning to AE, annual agricultural income from the parcel in the minimum amount set forth in this section. Any California Land Conservation Act contract entered into on the basis of this subdivision shall contain a provision that, in the event such income is not produced within such period, the council may terminate the contract at its sole discretion, which termination shall require the immediate payment of any property taxes saved by the property owner and/or his or her predecessor in interest resulting from the formation of the contract. The council may for good cause extend the five year period if the council finds that such income level may be reached in such extended period.

B.

No property zoned AE and under California Land Conservation Act contract shall be approved for division under the provisions of the State Subdivision Map Act and this title unless:

1.

A finding is made by the city council that each parcel to be created by the proposed division satisfies the requirements for AE zoning stated in this section based upon its individual merits; or

2.

A finding is made by the city council that the parcel to be created by the proposed division is for the purpose of providing security for financing on a parcel already encumbered by an existing security instrument of record and is for a second dwelling, or a farm improvement to be utilized in conjunction with the agricultural use of the property, including but not limited to, barns, wineries, dairies, food processing plants, or other uses of a similar nature. Such parcel shall be five acres in size.

3.

A tentative and parcel map shall be required for divisions of land allowed under the provisions of subsection (B)(1) and (2) of this section. Land divisions approved for the purpose of financing shall be restricted to the land uses and immediate members of the owners family as permitted under Section 17.52.020(9). Parcel maps shall contain a notation which states the following:

This land division is for the purposes of financing only and any parcel hereby created shall be merged or reverted to acreage with the remainder upon satisfaction of the indebtedness.

4.

Prior to the filing of the parcel map with the city council, the financial instrument shall be reviewed and approved by the city attorney. The financial instrument shall contain a reversionary clause which merges the parcel with the remainder parcel upon satisfaction of the indebtedness. The financial instrument shall be restricted to a loan from a federally or state- chartered bank, savings and loan association or credit union, or a state- regulated mortgage company.

(Ord. 73 § 1 (part), 1986)

AE zoning shall run concurrently with the California Land Conservation Act contract. Upon termination or expiration of the contract, subject property shall automatically be deemed to be zoned A-T, agricultural transition zone unless zoning to another district has been approved by the council.

(Ord. 73 § 1 (part), 1986)