Participating in the PCCP with the County are the City of Lincoln, the Placer County Water Agency, and the Placer County Transportation Authority. Because the City. has. its own process for federal permitting of annexation projects as agreed to via the City/USFWS MOU, and because of various uncertainties related to PCCP cost, schedule and benefit, the City of Roseville has opted to not participate in the PCCP. Although the City is a non-participant, the PCCP Conservation Reserve Map designates the City's Reason Farms property as "Purple" Reserve Acquisition Area. This designation is applied to lands that could be acquired for permanent conservation during the term of the PCCP permit. This concerns the City because it suggests to the resource agencies that the City's Reason Farms property is available for conservation when this is not the case. The City is committed via a settlement agreement with Sutter County to construct a flood control retention basin on the Reason Farms property (the retention basin project is known as the Pleasant Grove Retention Basin Project). As such the City has requested on numerous occasions both orally and in writing that the County remove the Conservation Reserve Map "Purple" Reserve Acquisition Area designation from the Reason Farms property. Similar to the Placer County Fair Grounds which is County owned property in the City, the City owned Reason Farms property is located in the County and as such is not subject to County land use controls.
Background
In 2004 the City of Roseville purchased a 1,700 acre property known as Reason Farms generally located northwest of the City limits. The property was purchased to secure a site to mitigate the City’s cumulative flood impacts on downstream communities within the Pleasant Grove Watershed. The final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the project was certified in January 1993.
Since the basin will remain dry the majority of the time, the City’s Parks Department developed a conceptual design for compatible recreational features within the basin. The uses identified in the conceptual design were developed to provide a maintenance funding source for both the recreational features of the basin and the flood control aspects.
As detailed in the October 9, 2008 GIM (attached), Placer County has insisted that the Reason Farms property be identified as a conservation area in the Placer County Conservation Plan (PCCP). Since inclusion of the property in the PCCP could significantly impact the City’s ability to construct both the retention basin and the recreation features, staff has determined that annexation of the property is preferable at this time. Annexation of the property will provide the City more certainty for both these projects since the PCCP does not apply to City owned property.