City Council Agenda
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Memo to: |
Manteca City Council |
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From: |
Brad Wungluck, Director of Development Services |
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Prepared by: |
Sol Jobrack, Associate Planner |
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Date: |
October 20, 2026 |
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Subject: |
San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation and Open Space Plan (SJMSCP) |
Recommendation:
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Adopt a resolution adopting the 2027 San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation and Open Space Plan (SJMSCP) Fee.
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Background:
The San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (SJCMSCP) provides development projects with a pre-determined streamlined process for mitigating biology-related impacts. The SJCMSCP also provides stronger biology protections by providing a comprehensive approach to long range conservation easements. In addition, the SJCMSCP is a financing tool for the City’s habitat conservation goals.
Through the SJMSCP, the City addresses biological-resource impacts associated with private development by requiring participating projects to implement applicable avoidance and minimization measures and provide compensation for impacts to covered species and their habitat. Development fees or other approved mitigation help fund the acquisition and long-term protection of habitat and open space. The 2043 General Plan EIR identifies continued compliance with the County Habitat Plan during review of public and private land use changes as a measure for addressing potential impacts. Project-specific biological review and mitigation may still be required where the SJMSCP does not cover an impact.
Adoption of the fee program implementimplements General Plan Resource Conservation Element Goals and Policies listed below:
• Goal RC-6 - Provide and preserve a network of diverse, safe, and accessible open spaces.
• Goal RC-8 - Protect sensitive native vegetation and wildlife communities and habitat in Manteca.
• Policy RC-8.7 - Protect special status species and other species that are sensitive to human activities.
• Policy RC-8.8 - Encourage contiguous habitat areas.
• Policy RC-8.10 - Continue to support regional efforts through participation in the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation and Open Space Plan (SJMSCP)
• Implementation Measure RC-8a - Continue to require projects to comply with the requirements of the County Habitat Plan when reviewing proposed public and private land use changes.
SJMSCP fee adjustments must be provided by City Council resolution in conformance with Section 7.5.2.2. of the SJMSCP, and as approved by San Joaquin Council of Government (SJCOG).
At the September 17, 2026, meeting the SJCOG,. Board approved a 5-year review financial analysis update (Attachment 4) providing an update to its development fees and a basis for this action.
SJCOG, Inc. performed an update of its development fees, and the result is an overall increase of 28.2% in the most impacted categories of Agricultural and Natural habitat classifications from the prior year. The increase is due primarily to a rise in the land acquisition component (Category A) for agricultural land price values of comparable sales and a rise in the reported Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Categories B and C.
Development Projects participating under the SJMSCP benefit from pre-determined streamlined processing rather than navigating through a potentially very long, cumbersome and expensive regulatory process outside the habitat plan. By opting for participation, the project can choose any number of ways to provide mitigation for the impacts of the project through the plan and even control much of the mitigation, costs if desired. The options are:
1. Pay a fee;
2. Redesign the project to avoid/minimize impacts;
3. Provide land in lieu of the SJMSCP fee which the project will negotiate the easement/fee title costs (Category A component); or
4. Any combination of the above options.
Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item. Any indirect costs associated with development projects are recovered through application fees.
Documents Attached:
1. Attachment 1 - Resolution
2. Attachment 2 - SJCOG Board Staff Report
3. Attachment 3 - 2027 SJMSCP Fees and Endowment
4. Attachment 4 - 2027 SJMSCP Cost and Fee Study