The County of San Diego has several land use programs that affect agriculture.
Existing Programs
Pesticide Regulation Program
The Pesticide Regulation program ensures that pesticides are used in an appropriate and responsible manner that protects the environment, the public and the employees of businesses that handle pesticides. Pesticides are utilized in agricultural areas, restaurants, hospitals, our homes and many public buildings. This wide variety of uses means that inspectors must work with many types of businesses and the general public to ensure safe pesticide application.
Water Wells
The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health (DEH) Land Use Program regulates the design, construction, maintenance and destruction of water wells throughout San Diego County to protect San Diego County's groundwater resource. Water Wells are commonly used as the only potable water supply in the rural areas of San Diego County.
Monitoring Well Program
The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health (DEH) Monitoring Well Program is the agency designated by the government of San Diego County to administer and enforce State standards and local ordinances pertaining to the construction, alteration, maintenance, and destruction of monitoring wells, inclinometers, vapor probes and cathodic protection wells. The goals of the San Diego County DEH Monitoring Well Program are:
- To permit the drilling, installation, and destruction of borings and wells.
- To educate the public regarding potential monitoring well hazards.
- To minimize any risks to public health with compliance in bringing deficient monitoring wells to proper standards
Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP)
The goal of the MSCP is to promote regional economic viability through streamlining the land use permit process – a significant benefit to landowners but also to maintain and enhance biological diversity in the region and maintain viable populations of endangered, threatened, and key sensitive species and their habitats. Not only are endangered and threatened species protected by the MSCP, but the residents of the community are benefited by this preservation of the natural environment as well. The Biological Mitigation Ordinance (BMO) implements the MSCP. Section 86.503 (a)(10) of the BMO allows for certain exemptions for agriculturally related clearing of natural habitat; however, it does not exempt a project from the County’s Brushing and Clearing Ordinance. Please contact the Agricultural Permit Coordinator with any questions:
Agricultural Permit Coordinator Contact Information:
Ashley Gungle, Land Use/Environmental Planner
Department of Planning and Land Use
Email: Ashley.Gungle@sdcounty.ca.gov
Phone: (858) 495-5375
Fax: (858) 694-3373
Fire Damage Assistance Program
Every department of the County was involved in serving our residents during Firestorm 2007 - from health and safety to protecting the environment to assisting property owners in their recovery efforts. Information is available at the sdcountyrecovery page.
Future Programs
General Plan Update
The proposed project is a comprehensive update of the San Diego County General Plan. The Comprehensive General Plan Update will direct population growth balanced with infrastructure needs, development, and resource protection to the year 2020. More specifically, the proposed project will focus population capacity around existing town centers in the western portions of the County and reduce the potential for growth in the eastern areas. The objectives of this general population distribution are to: 1) facilitate efficient, orderly growth by containing development within areas proximate to existing infrastructure and services; 2) protect natural resources through the reduction of population capacity in sensitive areas; and 3) retain or enhance the character of communities within the unincorporated County.
North County Multiple Species Conservation Program (NCMSCP) Plan
The County of San Diego is currently developing the North County Multiple Species Conservation Program (NCMSCP) Plan. The North County planning area includes lands above the Lake Hodges area, west to Rancho Santa Fe, east towards Ramona, and continuing north to the Riverside County border. It is the intent of the County to provide the same Endangered Species Act protections for North County landowners and sensitive resources that was achieved for the South County Plan.
The existing MSCP South County Subarea Plan is oriented to working mostly with land development and open space whereas the future NCMSCP Plan will need to address a different set of land uses, namely working landscapes. Working landscapes include agricultural lands such as farms, ranches and orchards, and are sources of habitat for local endangered or threatened species.
Just as the MSCP in the South County Subarea streamlined the regulatory environment for landowners applying for land use permits, the County is trying in the NCMSCP Plan to streamline the regulatory environment for agricultural landowners while conserving habitat.
The goals of the NCMSCP Plan’s proposals for working landscapes are:
- To encourage conservation of habitat within the Pre-Approved Mitigation Area;
- To recognize that existing agriculture often has habitat value that can contribute to regional conservation;
- To enable continued, viable agriculture in North County;
- To gain coverage for agricultural operations for the approximately 60 species covered under the NCMSCP Plan; and
- To reduce regulatory burdens on agriculture in the NCMSCP Plan.
East County Multiple Species Conservation Program (ECMSCP) Plan
The County of San Diego is embarking on a program to prepare a joint habitat conservation plan/natural community conservation plan for unincorporated areas of eastern San Diego County. The East County Multiple Species Conservation Program (ECMSCP) Plan is the final of three Multiple Species Conservation Plans that will work together to protect sensitive plants, animals, and their habitats in San Diego County. Currently, there is a Plan that covers South County and the Plan for North County is in its planning phase.
The study area covers approximately 1,551,600 acres and is bounded on the west by Ramona and the State Park areas of Descanso and Palomar Mountain, on the North by Riverside County, on the east predominantly by Imperial County, and on the south by Mexico. Indian Reservations are excluded from the study area.
Last updated May 20, 2008
