Title GOV — California Gov. Code

The Legislature finds and declares the following: (a) The enforceability of contracts entered into pursuant to this article is necessary to permit the preferential taxation provided to the owners of land under contract, pursuant to Section 8 of Article XIII of the California Cons…

(a) Each contract shall be for an initial term of no less than 10 years. Each contract shall provide that on the anniversary date of the contract or such other annual date as specified by the contract a year shall be added automatically to the initial term unless notice of nonren…

(a) This section shall apply to properties under a 9-year or 18-year contract, as the case may be, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 51244. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, increased revenues generated by those properties shall be allocated exclusively to…

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 51244, if the initial term of the contract is for more than 10 years, the contract may provide that on the anniversary date of the contract or such other annual date as specified by the contract beginning with the anniversary date on whic…

If either the landowner or the city or county desires in any year not to renew the contract, that party shall serve written notice of nonrenewal of the contract upon the other party in advance of the annual renewal date of the contract. Unless such written notice is served by the…

(a) If the county or city or the landowner serves notice of intent in any year not to renew the contract, the existing contract shall remain in effect for the balance of the period remaining since the original execution or the last renewal of the contract, as the case may be. (b)…

The landowner shall furnish the city or county with such information as the city or county shall require in order to enable it to determine the eligibility of the land involved.

No later than 20 days after a city or county enters into a contract with a landowner pursuant to this chapter, the clerk of the board or council, as the case may be, shall record with the county recorder a copy of the contract, which shall describe the land subject thereto, toget…

Whenever any city or county is required to record any contract by this chapter, it may file a fictitious contract. Thereafter, any of the provisions of such fictitious contract may be included by reference in any contract required to be filed by this chapter. The provisions of Se…

(a) The purpose of this section is to identify certain structures that constitute material breaches of contract under this chapter and to provide an alternate remedy to a contract cancellation petition by the landowner. Accordingly, this remedy is in addition to any other availab…

The county, city, or landowner may bring any action in court necessary to enforce any contract, including, but not limited to, an action to enforce the contract by specific performance or injunction. An owner of land may bring any action in court to enforce a contract on land who…

Open-space land under a contract entered into pursuant to this chapter shall be enforceably restricted within the meaning and for the purposes of Section 8 of Article XIII of the State Constitution and shall be enforced and administered by the city or county in such a manner as t…

Any contract or agreement entered into pursuant to this chapter prior to the 61st day following final adjournment of the 1969 Regular Session of the Legislature may be amended to conform with the provisions of this act as amended at that session upon the mutual agreement of all p…

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the parties may upon their mutual agreement rescind a contract in order simultaneously to enter into a new contract pursuant to this chapter, which new contract would enforceably restrict the same property for an initial term a…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the parties may upon their mutual agreement rescind a contract in order simultaneously to enter into an open-space easement agreement pursuant to the Open-Space Easement Act of 1974 (Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 510…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the parties may, upon their mutual agreement, rescind a contract for a parcel or parcels of land that, upon review and approval, are determined by the Department of Conservation to be eligible to be placed into a solar-use …

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a city or county, upon petition by a landowner, may enter into an agreement with the landowner to rescind a contract in accordance with the contract cancellation provisions of Section 51282 in order to simultaneously place othe…

No agreement entered into pursuant to Section 51256 shall take effect until it is approved by the Secretary of Resources. The secretary may approve the agreement if he or she finds that the findings of the board or council, as required by Sections 51256 and 51282, are supported b…

(a) One or more cities or counties may adopt a plan for implementing the provisions of Section 51256 with respect to multiple transactions within one or more specific areas, and submit the plan to the director for his or her approval. The plan may be approved only upon a determin…

For the purposes of facilitating long-term agricultural land conservation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, an agricultural conservation easement located within the primary or secondary zone of the delta, as defined in Sections 29728 and 29731 of the Public Resources Code, may…

(a) To facilitate a lot line adjustment, pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 66412, and notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the parties may mutually agree to rescind the contract or contracts and simultaneously enter into a new contract or contracts pursuant t…

(a) If the state fails to make payments to a city or county pursuant to Section 16142 or 16142.1, or if the state provides a reduced subvention, a city or county may accept contributions from a nonprofit land-trust organization, a nonprofit entity, or a public agency for specific…

It is hereby declared that the purpose of this article is to provide relief from the provisions of contracts entered into pursuant to this chapter under the circumstances and conditions provided herein.

As used in this chapter, the finding of a board or council that “cancellation and alternative use will not result in discontiguous patterns of urban development” authorizes, but does not require, the board or council to cancel a contract if it finds that the alternative use will …

A contract may not be canceled except pursuant to a request by the landowner, and as provided in this article.

The board or council may require the payment of a reasonable application fee to be made at the time a petition for cancellation is filed.

(a) The landowner may petition the board or council for cancellation of any contract as to all or any part of the subject land. The board or council may grant tentative approval for cancellation of a contract only if it makes one of the following findings: (1) That the cancellati…

(a) The landowner may petition the board or council, pursuant to Section 51282, for cancellation of any contract or of any portion of a contract if the board or council has determined that agricultural laborer housing is not a compatible use on the contracted lands. The petition,…

The owner of any land which has been zoned as a timberland production pursuant to Section 51112 or 51113, and that zoning has been recorded as provided in Section 51117, may petition the board or council for cancellation of any contract as to all or part of the land. Upon petitio…

(a) Prior to any action by the board or council giving tentative approval to the cancellation of any contract, the county assessor of the county in which the land is located shall determine the current fair market value of the land as though it were free of the contractual restri…

(a) The assessor shall determine the current fair market value of the land as if it were free of the contractual restriction pursuant to Section 51283. The Department of Conservation or the landowner, also referred to in this section as “parties,” may provide information to assis…

(a) Upon tentative approval of a petition accompanied by a proposal for a specified alternative use of the land, the clerk of the board or council shall record in the office of the county recorder of the county in which is located the land as to which the contract is applicable a…

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that cancellation fees should be calculated in a timely manner and disputes over cancellation fees should be resolved before a city or county approves a tentative cancellation. However, the city or county may approve a tentative cancellation…

No contract may be canceled until after the city or county has given notice of, and has held, a public hearing on the matter. Notice of the hearing shall be published pursuant to Section 6061 and shall be mailed to every owner of land under contract, any portion of which is situa…

When a landowner petitions a board or council for the tentative cancellation of a contract and when the board or council accepts the application as complete pursuant to Section 65943, the board or council shall send that information to the assessor that is necessary to describe t…

The owner of any property located in the county or city in which the agricultural preserve is situated may protest such cancellation to the city or county conducting the hearing.

(a) Any action or proceeding which, on the grounds of alleged noncompliance with the requirements of this chapter, seeks to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul a decision of a board of supervisors or a city council to cancel a contract shall be brought pursuant to Section 1…

The city or county may impose a fee pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 66016) of Division 1 of Title 7 for recovery of costs under this article. The fee shall not exceed an amount necessary to recover the reasonable cost of services provided by the city or county unde…

(a) It is the policy of the state to avoid, whenever practicable, the location of any federal, state, or local public improvements and any improvements of public utilities, and the acquisition of land therefor, in agricultural preserves. (b) It is further the policy of the state …

As used in this chapter, “public improvement” means facilities or interests in real property, including easements, rights-of-way, and interests in fee title, owned by a public agency or person, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 51291.

(a) As used in this section and Sections 51292 and 51295, (1) “public agency” means any department or agency of the United States or the state, and any county, city, school district, or other local public district, agency, or entity, and (2) “person” means any person authorized t…

The notice requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 51291 shall not apply to the acquisition of land for the erection, construction, or alteration of gas, electric, piped subterranean water or wastewater, or communication facilities.

No public agency or person shall locate a public improvement within an agricultural preserve unless the following findings are made: (a) The location is not based primarily on a consideration of the lower cost of acquiring land in an agricultural preserve. (b) If the land is agri…

Section 51292 shall not apply to: (a) The location or construction of improvements where the board or council administering the agricultural preserve approves or agrees to the location thereof, except when the acquiring agency and administering agency are the same entity. (b) The…

Any public agency or person requiring land in an agricultural preserve for a use which has been determined by a city or county to be a “compatible use” pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 51201 in that agricultural preserve shall not be excused from the provisions of subdivisi…

Section 51292 shall be enforceable only by mandamus proceedings by the local governing body administering the agricultural preserve. However, as applied to condemnors whose determination of necessity is not conclusive by statute, evidence as to the compliance of the condemnor wit…

After 30 days have elapsed following its action, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 51291, advising the local governing body of a county or city administering an agricultural preserve of its intention to consider the location of a public improvement within such agricultural p…

If any local governing body administering an agricultural preserve within 90 days after receiving a request pursuant to Section 51294.1 has not approved or agreed to the location of water transmission facilities as provided in Section 51294.1 or in subdivision (a) of Section 5129…

When any action in eminent domain for the condemnation of the fee title of an entire parcel of land subject to a contract is filed, or when that land is acquired in lieu of eminent domain for a public improvement by a public agency or person, or whenever there is any such action …

The Legislature finds and declares that it is desirable to expand options available to landowners for the preservation of agricultural land. It is therefore the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article to encourage the creation of longer term voluntary enforceable restr…