Biotic Review and Approval Process

Review and approval may consist of one or more of the following:

• Biotic Pre-site: a preliminary site visit by County staff to determine if the site lies within a sensitive habitat.
• Biotic Assessment: a brief review of on-site biotic resources.
• Biotic Report Review: an in-depth study that documents the baseline biotic conditions, describes locations of sensitive habitats and protected species, evaluates project impacts, and recommends measures for avoidance, minimization, and possible mitigation.

The Biotic Report Review should guide in planning the least impactful footprint for development to ensure that the County’s requirements to avoid and minimize impacts are met. Biotic reports should be prepared consistent with the Biotic Review Guidelines. A checklist has been prepare to facilitate this process.

A Biotic Report must be prepared at the applicant's expense by a professional biologist from the Biotic Consultants list. Once you have selected a biologist, have them contact the County's staff biologist: juliette.robinson@santacruzcountyca.gov for details specific to your project.

In all cases, the final determination of the review process lies with the Environmental Coordinator. It may be determined that proposed development is not within sensitive habitat, or that the proposed project will not significantly impact sensitive habitat.

In the case of a biotic assessment or biotic report review, the Environmental Coordinator will issue a Biotic Approval letter that spells out the conditions under which a project may move forward. The project may be conditioned to avoid certain areas, to mitigate for impacts, or both.

Proposals that are not consistent with the County Code and/or General Plan may not be supported by staff to the approving body.

Having sensitive habitat on a parcel does not mean that development cannot occur. It does mean that certain measures, such as locating building areas away from sensitive resources and restoring/preserving sensitive habitat on site must be implemented for successful completion of the development.

It is best to identify sensitive habitat constraints for a project as early as possible in the planning process. Early identification of sensitive biotic resources is advantageous to the applicant because avoidance, minimization, and possible mitigation measures can be built into the project proposal.

All projects must meet the County’s requirements to avoid and minimize impacts to sensitive species and habitats to the maximum extent possible. If there are alternative options for development that would avoid, and/or minimize impacts while maintaining the goals of a project, avoidance and minimization must be demonstrated through project design.

The developer will be required to compensate for any significant effects on the environment, as determined by the County's Environmental Coordinator. In addition, the developer may be required to:

• Record a deed restriction to protect the undisturbed portion of a sensitive habitat: and/or,
• Establish a conservation easement to preserve an area of habitat on or off the property; and/or,
• Restore any portion of a sensitive habitat which has been degraded; and/or,
• Purchase mitigation credits from an approved mitigation bank; and/or,
• Limit the portion of the site that will be disturbed; and/or,
• Restrict land use. For example, livestock grazing may be prohibited.

Other conditions specific to the site and project may be required by the Environmental Coordinator based on information contained in the biotic assessment or biotic report.

If development is proposed on a parcel that supports sensitive habitat, even in cases where the development does not impact the sensitive habitat, restoration of any area which is degraded shall be required, provided that any restoration required shall be commensurate with the scale of the proposed development.

Exemption from the requirements of the Sensitive Habitat Protection Ordinance include:

• Existing commercial agricultural operations.
• Projects which are determined by the Planning Director to have received sufficient biotic review during the granting of a Riparian Exception for the project site.
• Projects for which an Environmental Impact Report is required which includes biotic review through the California Environmental Quality Act.

Violation of the Sensitive Habitat Ordinance or the conditions on a biotic permit may result in the issuance of a Notice of Violation, which describes the actions necessary to correct the problem and

may include restoration of the area to its original condition. If the required corrective actions are not taken promptly, the Notice of Violation is recorded on the title to the property and becomes part of the public record. In addition, the current property owner is subject to a levy of all enforcement costs incurred by the Code Compliance staff in obtaining compliance as well as the possible imposition, through legal action, of penalties of up to $2,500 a day while the violation exists.

The usual County Planning appeal process is available to any applicant who is dissatisfied with a biotic permit decision (see the Appeals webpage).

If you have questions about the Biotic Approval and Review process, please contact Matt Johnston at matt.johnston@santacruzcountyca.gov.