Chapter 18.71
EMPLOYEE HOUSING/CARETAKER’S UNIT
Sections:
18.71.030 Application procedure.
18.71.040 Application contents.
18.71.060 Height, area, lot and yard requirements.
18.71.070 Other required conditions.
18.71.010 Purpose.
The purpose of regulations for employee housing/caretaker’s unit are:
A. To facilitate the agricultural management of agricultural production zoned parcels where no permanent dwelling exists (caretakers’ mobile homes and travel trailers only);
B. To recognize the need for employee housing as ancillary to commercial agricultural use of farmland; to prohibit nonagricultural residential use, and to meet the security and labor needs for fanning operations;
C. To protect against unnecessary conversion of arable land and quality rangeland to nonagricultural residential uses and to minimize the conflicts between agricultural uses and residential uses;
D. Notwithstanding other provisions of this code, nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to eliminate already existing employee housing currently allowed by law, nor to prohibit rehabilitation if such rehabilitation complies with all state and county health, housing and construction code regulations. (Ord. 554 (part), 1993)
18.71.020 Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms are defined in addition to those definitions set forth in Chapter 18.08:
“Arable land” means land which is suitable for the cultivation of crop.
“Employee” means a full-time employee or agent, within the meaning of this chapter.
“Employee housing” means any residential dwelling unit consisting of a minimum of three hundred seventy-five square feet of living space incorporating a sleeping area, a kitchen and at least a three-fourth bath, which is designated, by use and deed restrictions as provided by the covenants, conditions and restrictions. Multiple employee housing units may share an incorporated common kitchen, provided that the total square footage of the unit equals or exceeds the number of bedroom/bathroom combinations times three hundred twenty square feet, and in such a case, each such bedroom/bathroom combination shall satisfy the requirement of one employee housing unit.
“Rangeland” means land which is suitable for the grazing of livestock and contains vegetation dominated by grasses and herbaceous ground cover. (Ord. 554 (part), 1993)
18.71.030 Application procedure.
Application for the establishment of employee housing/caretaker’s unit shall be made by the planning commission and shall consist of all items specified in Section 18.71.040. (Ord. 554 (part), 1993)
18.71.040 Application contents.
A. All applications for employee housing/caretaker’s unit shall be comprised of maps, drawings and text which together clearly represent the full intentions of the applicant. The applicant must submit a use permit application and all necessary fees for processing.
B. The following information is required:
1. Identification and description;
2. Proposed name of project;
3. Location by assessor’s parcel map;
4. Signatures of all property owners owning any interest in lands on which the employee housing/caretakers unit is proposed. (Ord. 554 (part), 1993)
18.71.050 Permitted uses.
A. The occupancy of each dwelling unit shall be limited to workers and their immediate families. Each worker during his/her tenancy in the employee housing/caretaker’s unit must earn at least fifty percent of his/her income from an agricultural operation. There shall be a thirty-day grace period for tenants to find other housing if employment ceases. A temporary layoff of less than ninety days for lack of work shall be considered a cessation of employment. Upon request, the housing provider shall provide the county with a certification of the tenant’s eligibility for farm worker or caretaking housing, for instance by providing information on the tenant’s quarterly payroll and rent payments, and failure to do shall be sufficient ground for the county to revoke any permit or other approval granted with respect to such farm worker/employee housing. Nothing in this chapter, however, shall permit the housing provider to violate the worker’s right to privacy.
B. Such uses shall be limited to parcels which contain a minimum of twenty acres of arable land or one hundred acres of rangeland in an agricultural zone district. Temporary dwelling units may be placed on parcels containing less than twenty acres of arable land or one hundred acres of rangeland provided that the farmworkers who live in such housing earn at least fifty percent of their income from an agricultural operation on the parcel on which the housing is located.
C. The number of employee housing units on any parcel shall be based on the demonstrated need for agricultural labor on the qualifying acreage from the above paragraph. Furthermore, the maximum dwelling unit density of such housing is one unit per twenty acres of arable land or one unit per one hundred acres of rangeland.
D. The maximum allowed dwelling unit densities for employee housing may be exceeded under special circumstances related to distance of the site from urban residential areas and method of production on the parcel which required labor intensive practices. In such cases, the board of supervisors shall determine the maximum permitted dwelling unit density and whether the units shall be permanent or temporary (mobile home). (Ord. 554 (part), 1993)
18.71.060 Height, area, lot and yard requirements.
All uses conform to the height, area, lot and yard regulations normally required for such uses in the specific zone district. In all cases the structure must conform to the precise development plan as approved. (Ord. 554 (part), 1993)
18.71.070 Other required conditions.
A. The maximum size of any employee housing/caretaker’s unit intended for family occupancy, with independent kitchen and toilet facilities, shall be one thousand square feet of habitable floor area. The construction and use of such dwellings shall comply with all state and county health, housing and/or construction code regulations. The construction and use of temporary dwellings shall comply with Sections 18.68.080 and 18.68.130 which specify installation standards for temporary mobile homes.
B. All applications for employee housing/caretaker’s units shall be reviewed by the technical advisory committee, which shall provide a recommendation regarding the appropriateness of the project for the site to the planning commission and the board of supervisors. (Ord. 554 (part), 1993)
18.71.080 Fees.
Those fees established for processing a use permit, environmental assessment and notice of preparation as specified in the county’s Fee Ordinance shall apply unless waived in whole or in part by the county board of supervisors. (Ord. 554 (part), 1993)