Dwellings in the agriculture land use category, including primary housing and farm support quarters are allowed accessory uses on the same site as an agricultural use, subject to the standards of this section. Such dwellings may include mobilehomes, subject also to the standards in Section 23.08.163 (individual mobilehomes).
(a) Limitation on Dwelling Location -- Prime Soils. Primary family housing and farm support quarters shall not be located on prime agricultural soils unless there is no other building site on the ownership that is all of the following:
(1) On other than prime soils;
(2) Less than twenty percent in slope;
(3) Not within a designated flood hazard combining designation.
(b) Primary Housing. Except as otherwise provided by subsection (a) above, a parcel in the agriculture category may be used for one primary dwelling, as follows:
(1) Permit Requirements. Plot plan approval. Additional dwellings are subject to the provisions of subsections (c) and (d) of this section.
(2) Density. Primary dwellings in the agriculture category are allowable at a ratio of one primary unit for each legal parcel, as defined in Chapter 23.11 (definitions -- parcel). Two or more dwellings per legal parcel shall satisfy all provisions of subsections (c) and (d) of this section (farm support quarters).
(c) Farm Support Quarters -- Single-Family Dwellings and Mobilehomes. Includes farm or ranch housing for farm help or a caretaker employed on land in the same ownership as the housing. Farm support quarters are allowable in the agriculture and rural lands categories only when the housing is in direct support of existing agricultural production activities on lands owned or leased by the farm housing owner, subject to the following standards:
(1) Permit Requirement. Plot plan approval for the first farm support unit, site plan for subsequent units, or minor use permit if the number of proposed farm support quarters exceeds the number of units permitted under the allowable density table in subsection (5) of this section, unless this title would otherwise require minor use permit or development plan approval.
(2) Application Content. The application shall include explanation and documentation of the need for farm support quarters. The magnitude of existing agricultural activities to be supported by the proposed farm support quarters must be described, as well as the number of employees necessary to conduct the agricultural operations.
(3) Criteria for Approval. The applicant shall demonstrate that the number of employees for which housing is proposed is consistent with the allowable density table in subsection (5) of this section, or that a greater number of farm support quarters is necessary to support the existing agricultural activity. The demonstrations of necessity may be in the form of documentation of the number of employees previously used by the property owner in the agricultural operation, or by citing examples of employees used by other agricultural operations of similar size and products.
(4) Status of Residents. Occupancy of farm support quarters in the form of single-family dwellings or mobilehomes is limited to the full-time employees and the spouse and children of full-time employees of agricultural or ranching operations conducted by the owner of the farm support housing, or lessor of the housing owner’s acreage. Farm support quarters are not to be rented or leased to individuals other than farm help and their families. An agreement between the property owner and the county limiting occupancy to farm workers shall be executed and recorded prior to building permit issuance.
(5) Density. Except as otherwise provided by subsections (a) or (b) above, the maximum allowable density of farm support quarters in the form of single- family dwellings or mobilehomes is as follows:

Notes:

¹ Density of farm support quarters for other agricultural uses, or combinations of uses, may be determined by the director of the planning and building department to be equivalent to those specified in this table.

² Density of single-family dwellings or mobilehomes as farm support quarters is based on the amount of agricultural activities occurring on the site, and unless authorized by minor use permit or development plan approval, the number of single-family dwellings or mobilehomes established as farm support quarters cannot exceed one per twenty acres of site area or a total of four dwellings per site.


(6) Sale of Farm Support Quarters. The site of farm support quarters shall not be separated from contiguous property in the same ownership by sale or land division unless a development plan (Section 23.02.034) has been first approved, with the planning commission making the findings in subsections (A) and (B) below, in addition to the findings in Section 23.02.034(c)(4):
(A) The proposed reduction of the total acreage of the ownership will not affect its continuing use as a productive agricultural unit; and
(B) The proposed reduction of the ownership size will not encourage population increases in the surrounding area incompatible with continuing agricultural operations.
(7) Parking. Off-street parking must be provided at a ratio of one space per dwelling established as farm support quarters.
(8) Mobilehomes. The use of a mobilehome for farm support quarters is to satisfy the standards of Section 23.08.163.
(d) Clustered Units -- Reversion to Acreage Required. Where an ownership of multiple, legally-created lots of record is entitled to multiple dwellings pursuant to subsection (c)(5) of this section, the owner may group such dwellings on a single lot of the ownership rather than on each of the various lots entitled to the dwellings, provided that an approved reversion to acreage shall be obtained within six months of the effective date of the first land use permit for new housing, (and before issuance of a building permit), to consolidate with the building site all lots from which housing entitlements have been transferred. In the event that such reversion to acreage has not been obtained, the land use permit(s) for the housing shall become void.
(e) Farm Support Quarters -- Group Quarters. The use of group quarters facilities such as dormitories or bunkhouses and mess halls for farm support quarters is allowable in the agriculture and rural lands categories only when the farm housing is in direct support of existing agricultural production activities on the site and other lands within approximately five miles of the site, subject to the following standards:
(1) Permit Requirement. Site plan approval if the proposed group quarters incorporates preapproved floor plans and architectural elevations provided by the planning and building department and complies with the site design standards in the following subsections (4) through (7). Group quarters proposals which do not include such preapproved plans and elevations or which do not meet one or more of the site design standards in the following subsections (4) through (7) may be authorized through minor use permit approval, unless this title would otherwise require minor use permit or development plan approval.
(2) Application Content. The application shall include explanation and documentation of the need for farm support quarters. The magnitude of existing agricultural activities on the site and within five miles of the site to be supported by the proposed farm support quarters must be described, as well as an estimate of the number of employees necessary to conduct the agricultural activities. This documentation may be in the form of letters from owners or operators of those agricultural activities.
(3) Criteria for Approval. The applicant shall demonstrate that the number of employees for which housing is proposed is consistent with the allowable density table in subsection (e)(4) of this section, or that more agricultural employees are necessary to support the existing agricultural activity. The demonstrations of necessity may be in the form of documentation of the number of employees previously used by the property owner in the agricultural operation, or by citing examples of employees used by other agricultural operations of similar size and products.
(4) Maximum Occupant Capacity. The maximum occupant capacity of a group quarters facility shall be set according to the amount of land in existing agricultural production within approximately five miles of the site, based on written statements from the owners or lessors of those lands. The maximum capacity of a group quarters facility, in terms of the number of persons potentially housed, shall not exceed the number of persons specified in the table below:

Notes:

¹ Density of farm support quarters for other agricultural uses, or combinations of uses, may be determined by the director of the planning and building department to be equivalent to those specified in this table.

² Density of group quarters facilities as farm support quarters is based on the amount of agricultural activities occurring on the site and within approximately five miles of the site, supported by letters from the owners or operators of those agricultural activities.

³ Unless authorized by minor use permit or development plan approval, the maximum occupant capacity of group quarters facilities as farm support quarters is limited to twenty persons.

(5) Setbacks. No part of the group quarters farm housing shall be closer than fifty feet to any street property line, sixty feet to any other property line, forty feet to any other structure, or seventy-five feet to any barns, pens or other facilities for livestock or poultry, or one hundred feet from the centerline of streams shown on USGS Topographic Maps with blue lines.
(6) Parking. Off-street parking must be provided at a ratio of one space per four persons potentially housed in the group quarters. Parking areas shall be screened from public view by buildings, fences, landscaping or terrain features.
(7) Minimum Site Area. Twenty acres.
(8) Status of Residents. Occupancy of farm support group quarters is limited to the full-time or full-time seasonal employees and the spouse and children of full-time employees of agricultural or ranching operations. Farm support quarters are not to be rented to leased to individuals other than farm help and their families. An agreement between the property owner and the county limiting occupancy to farm workers shall be executed and recorded prior to building permit issuance.
(9) Federal and State Requirements. Any farm support quarters accommodating five or more agricultural employees (not necessarily all employed by the owner of the farm support quarters) must also comply with applicable state and federal laws and regulations regarding construction, operation and occupants of the housing. The applicable laws and regulations include, but are not limited to, Part 20, Section 654 of the Code of Federal Regulations (20 CFR 654) and Section 17010 et seq., of the California Health and Safety Code, copies of which are available at the county department of planning and building. (Ord. 2715 §§ 133, 134, 1995; Ord. 2592 § 9 (part), 1992)