The Synergy of Planning and Conservation: State Investment and Land Use Policy in Santa Clara County
For a time, Santa Clara Valley was known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight. An abundance of fruit trees and orchards, as well as other crops, covered thousands of acres from San Francisco Bay in the north, to below the city of Hollister in the south. In fact, it was the largest fruit-producing region in the world until the middle part of the 20th century. Around that time, the high-tech industry entered the scene, beginning the shift from the Valley of Heart’s Delight to Silicon Valley, and the change from a highly agricultural landscape to a more urbanized one. The following is the story of how visionary land conservation interests in Santa Clara County are working to preserve the Valley’s rich agricultural and natural treasures with support from the California Strategic Growth Council’s (SGC) Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC) and other state funding, while also leveraging local land use policy decisions to advance this goal.
Local Partnerships Catalyze Action
The Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (Authority), in partnership with the Peninsula Open Space Trust, the City of San José, and Santa Clara County, is working to protect important remaining agricultural lands for their myriad benefits, including food production, recreation, climate resilience, and biological diversity. A key focus of this joint effort is Coyote Valley, a unique 7,400-acre landscape in central Santa Clara County sandwiched between growing San José and Morgan Hill; it features the benefits named above, and serves as one of the last corridors where wildlife can move between the Diablo Range and Santa Cruz mountains. The Authority is well suited for this work with its mission to conserve the natural environment, support agriculture, and connect people to nature. Since its inception in 1993, the Authority has protected close to 30,000 acres in Santa Clara Valley to support these values.
State Investment
The California Strategic Growth Council’s Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC) — administered by the Department of Conservation — funds planning and acquisition projects to protect agricultural lands most vulnerable to development, thereby encouraging infill and low-carbon transportation Protecting farmland avoids increased emissions associated with development and provides an opportunity to capture carbon in the land base; additionally, SALC bolsters economic sustainability and food security, biological diversity, and climate resiliency, among other things. It is a unique state funding programs that invests in agricultural land conservation to influence development patterns, promoting an integrated land use vision as represented in state planning priorities .
Since its inception in 2014, SALC has invested nearly $300 million to protect roughly 140,000 acres of the state’s most important agricultural lands. Funding from SALC in 2015 supported creation of the Santa Clara Valley Agricultural Plan, an effort by the Authority and Santa Clara County to map agricultural lands important for conservation and understand the greenhouse gas reduction implications of that conservation.
The Agricultural Plan, implemented by the County, serves as the current blueprint for agricultural lands conservation in Santa Clara Valley, including Coyote Valley. Subsequent SALC planning funds have helped implement key provisions of the Agricultural Plan, including exploring the feasibility of a County-operated conservation easement purchasing program and ecosystem payments, as well as a multi-jurisdiction approach to agricultural lands conservation. Additionally, SALC acquisition dollars have helped fund agricultural conservation easements.
In a great example of leverage, other state agencies have contributed significant funding for land protection in Coyote Valley, including $5 million from the State Coastal Conservancy, $10 million from Wildlife Conservation Board, and $10 million as a state general fund allocation administered by State Parks.
Efforts Culminate in Local Land Use Change
Over the last several years, the thoughtful and dedicated efforts of local partners to develop a well-supported agricultural conservation plan and protect key parcels have gained significant momentum, culminating late last year in a land use policy victory for the future of agriculture in Coyote Valley. In November, the San José City Council voted unanimously to approve amendments to the General Plan such that the land use designation for 300 acres of natural and working lands in northern Coyote Valley was changed from ‘campus industrial’ to ‘agriculture.’
Following suit in December, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors moved to protect 4,750 acres of unincorporated Coyote Valley for agricultural use by approving limitations on new non-agricultural development. The County’s decision includes the provision of financial incentives for conservation easements and other land protection mechanisms, which has the potential to help socially disadvantaged farmers purchase otherwise unaffordable lands. These moves by the City and County represent a historic step in prioritizing Coyote Valley for agricultural, open space, and natural resources protection over sprawl development.
Looking Ahead
This is a story of synergistic, multi-partner collaboration, where state and local policy, program, and funding actions have contributed to achieve a whole greater than they could have achieved on their own. It also demonstrates how leveraged and focused state investment can contribute to the realization of local vision. And it illustrates a multiplier effect: taken in the context of Governor Gavin Newsom’s prioritization of natural and working lands conservation, as articulated through the state’s Climate Smart Lands Strategy, Adaptation Strategy, and 30 X 30 strategy to conserve 30% of the state’s land and coastal waters by 2030, we see the potential of replicating this and equally creative and leveraged outcomes throughout the state. We look forward to partnering with other communities to leverage the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program in communities across California.
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In partnership,
CA Strategic Growth Council & Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority
The Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC) released its Draft Program Guidelines for public comment. Learn how you can inform the development of the program and stay tuned for more updates on our lands conservation work by signing up to SALC’s e-mail listserv or reach out to the SALC team to learn more about the program. Visit the SALC website for more.
