To: Board of Supervisors
From: Wendt Ranch Geological Hazard Abatement District
Report Title: Accept Petition for Annexation for Assessor’s Parcel Numbers (APNs) 206-030-071 and 206-030-072 into the Wendt Ranch Geological Hazard Abatement District (GHAD) and Approve the First Addendum to First Revision of the Plan of Control for the Wendt Ranch GHAD
Recommendation: No Recommendation
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. ADOPT the attached Resolution No. 2026/02 to:
(a) CONSIDER the Petition for Annexation with First Addendum to First Revision of the Plan of Control for the Wendt Ranch GHAD (GHAD Petition) into the existing Wendt Ranch GHAD, and consider any written objections thereto; and
(b) APPROVE the annexation of APNs 206-030-071 and 206-030-072 into the existing Wendt Ranch GHAD subject to the adoption of a resolution approving the annexation by the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County as required under Public Resources Code Section 26581, and approve First Addendum to the First Revision of the Plan of Control.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The GHAD services for APNs 206-030-071 and 206-030-072 within the Alamo Creek development (GHAD Annexation Area) are proposed to be funded through existing assessments levied on properties within the Wendt Ranch GHAD. A GHAD Annexation Assessment evaluated the additional financial burden of $323 annually or 0.06 percent of the annual budget for open space maintenance was determined to be immaterial. The GHAD is a separate entity from the County and does not utilize any monies from the County General Fund.
BACKGROUND:
1. GHAD Formation and Purpose.
State law allows GHADs to be formed to undertake emergency actions necessary or incidental to the prevention, mitigation, abatement, or control of a geologic hazard (Public Resources Code §26500, “GHAD Law”). GHAD Law gives local agencies the authority to form districts that can speedily address “an actual or threatened landslide, land subsidence, soil erosion, earthquake, or any other natural or unnatural movement of land or earth.” (Public Resources Code §26507).
Consistent with GHAD Law, on February 12, 2002, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution No. 2002/59 approving and forming the Wendt Ranch GHAD and thereby putting into place a mechanism to respond to emergencies in preventing and/or responding to geologic hazards. The members of the County Board of Supervisors serve as the Board of Directors of the Wendt Ranch GHAD.
GHAD "improvements" (as defined in GHAD Law) and all GHAD activities undertaken in furtherance of, or in connection therewith, are deemed to be specific actions necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency within Public Resources Code Section 21080(b)(4) (See, Pub. Res. Code §§26601 and 26505). Consistent therewith, all GHAD Activities (as defined in Section 7 below) are exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act and are not subject to local permitting requirements.
2. Request for Annexation into GHAD.
GHAD Law allows properties to be annexed into an existing GHAD. Since the Wendt Ranch GHAD was formed in 2002 to include the Wendt Ranch development, three separate developments have been annexed into the GHAD. Monterosso, formerly known as Intervening Properties, and Alamo Creek both in Contra Costa County were annexed in the Wendt Ranch GHAD on July 19, 2005, with the adoption of Resolution No. 2005/437. On August 3, 2021, the Wendt Ranch GHAD Board of Directors annexed the Somerset development (Subdivision 7763) into the GHAD and approved its Plan of Control through the approval of Resolution 2021/03.
The two parcels included within the GHAD Annexation Area would add an additional 9.88 acres to the current total of approximately 439 acres of planned GHAD-owned and maintained open space. The GHAD Annexation Area is comprised of two long, narrow parcels consisting of wild grass-covered open-space slopes located in the Alamo Creek development. Regional Trail RA 1225, a GHAD-maintained improvement, crosses through the GHAD Annexation Area. As provided in Public Resources Code §26581, the property owner of the two parcels within the GHAD Annexation Area submitted a Petition for Annexation to join the existing Wendt Ranch GHAD.
GHAD Law requires a Plan of Control, prepared by a State-Certified Engineering Geologist, as a prerequisite to annexation into an existing GHAD. Pursuant to GHAD Law, the First Addendum to First Revision of the Plan of Control (“Plan of Control”) was prepared by an Engineering Geologist certified pursuant to Section 7822 of the Business and Professions Code and describes, in detail, the geologic hazards, their location, and the area affected by them. It also provides a plan for the prevention, mitigation, abatement, or control thereof. The Plan of Control covers the GHAD Annexation Area only.
Funding for the GHAD activities on the proposed GHAD Annexation Area to prevent, mitigate, abate, and control geologic hazards are proposed to be based on the existing assessment within the Alamo Creek development and such funds will be collected and used in accordance with the Plan of Control. As provided in the attached GHAD Annexation Assessment letter (Attachment 1), the additional financial burden of $323 annually, or 0.06 percent of the annual budget for open space maintenance, found this additional amount to be immaterial.
Generally, once as petition is accepted by the GHAD Board, it is placed on the GHAD Board agenda and considered at a public hearing to allow those within the proposed annexation area to comment on and/or object to the Petition. If at the hearing more than 50 percent of the assessed valuation of the properties to be annexed object, the annexation proceedings must be abandoned. If there are no such objections, the GHAD Board may approve the annexation.
Here, Toll Brothers, Inc., is the sole owner of the real property within the GHAD Annexation Area and the only signatory to the Petition for Annexation. Toll Brothers, Inc. has executed a waiver of notice and hearing on the Petition, attached as Attachment 2. Since there are no persons to object to the Petition for Annexation, there is no reason for a public hearing. Thus, the GHAD Manager/Clerk and Attorney recommend the GHAD Board proceed without notice and hearing and adopt Resolution No. 2026/02 accepting the Petition for Annexation and Plan of Control.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
The property owner of APNs 206-030-071 and 206-030-072 may seek annexation into another Geologic Hazard Abatement District or continue to own and maintain the parcels.