PLACERVILLE . INFO

The California Land Conservation Act of 1965--commonly referred to as the Williamson Act (WA), enables the county to enter into contracts with private landowners for the purpose of restricting specific parcels of land to agricultural or open space use. 

Open Space contracts are not offered in EDC and should not be confused with the common interpretation of open space. “Open space” contracts are referring to four specific environments defined in Gov. code section 65560 and include: Plant or animal preserves; managed production of resources such as food or fiber; public outdoor recreation; areas restricted due to hazardous or dangerous conditions. These lands must be of “statewide” importance.

In return, landowners receive property tax assessments which are much lower than normal. Local governments receive an annual subvention of forgone property tax revenues from the state but it is far less then the usual taxes. The Governor has recently stated that he may reduce these to help balance the State’s budget. 
Approximate annual subventions to EDC are $41,000. The Act is not a tax shelter, but a measure to slow the conversion of agricultural lands into non agricultural uses.

The (WA) is allowed to give substantial 
tax breaks to some land owners provided there are real, and enforced, restrictions on the land’s use. If it were found that the restrictions were not enforced, the Act could be challenged constitutionally and all (WA) contracts could become void. AB 1492 added Section 51250 to the Government Code and provides for material breach penalties. 

The penalty is a maximum 25% of the unrestricted fair market value of the land and 25% of the value of any incompatible building and related improvements on the land.

Many believe that AB 1492 changes the WA contracts but the State takes the position that “AB 1492 contains no new restrictions on uses allowed under the Williamson Act”. Put another way, “that these are not changes, but clarifications of the restrictions”. State representatives add that these restrictions must be enforced to preserve the constitutionality of the Act.

Some of the “Clarified Restrictions” are:
§51250(b) defines a material breach on WA land as a commercial, industrial or residential building(s), exceeding 2,500 square feet, that have been permitted and constructed after January 1, 2004, and that is not directly related to the land’s agricultural production. 

Any development, of any size, on property subject to a WA contract must be related to the primary use of the land for agricultural purposes. In order for there to be a residence on WA lands, there must be prior active commercial 
agriculture AND the residents must be directly involved in that production. 

Regardless of “agri-tourism” pursuits, the Act prohibits significant buildings that are unrelated to agriculture including the sales of products not produced on-site, events such as weddings, and many other common “ranch marketing” practices.

Some WA landowners feel that these restrictions are indeed changes and feel that the landowners’ mandatory 9-year rollout from the contract is unfair. For further information contact the county or visit www.conservation.ca.gov/dlrp/lca/Pages/Index.aspx