San José Municipal Code § 18.40.010 Purpose.
18.40.010 - Purpose.
A. The purpose of this chapter is to implement the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Communities Conservation Plan ("HCP/NCCP") and the associated implementing agreement and take permits, in order to provide a regulatory framework for promoting the protection and recovery of natural resources, including covered species, while streamlining the permitting process for both publicly funded and privately funded planned development in the City of San José. The HCP/NCCP was developed by the County of Santa Clara, the Cities of Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and San José, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (collectively the "local partners") in association with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and in consultation with stakeholder groups and the general public.
B. As a result of the adoption of the HCP/NCCP by the city, the city (among the other local partners) is the recipient of long-term endangered species permits/authorized take coverage from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for the city's own activities and, in addition to coverage of its own public projects, the city will be able to extend authorized take coverage to private project applicants under its jurisdiction.
C. Rather than separately permitting and mitigating individual projects, the HCP/NCCP evaluates natural resource impacts and mitigation requirements comprehensively in a manner that is more efficient and effective for at-risk species and their essential habitats. This approach will allow the city to streamline future mitigation requirements into one comprehensive program. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ("USFWS") the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ("CDFW") authorized take coverage also provides assurances that no further commitments of funds, land, or water from covered public and private projects will be required to address impacts on covered species beyond that described in the HCP/NCCP to address changed circumstances, as long as the HCP/NCCP is properly implemented.
D. In addition to strengthening local control over land use and species protection, the HCP/NCCP provides a more efficient process for protecting natural resources by creating new habitat reserves that will be larger in scale, more ecologically valuable, and easier to manage than the individual mitigation sites created under the current approach. This more efficient and streamlined approach to obtaining authorized take coverage for both public and private projects will significantly reduce the time and resources previously required to obtain take coverage on an individual project-by-project basis. Unless an activity is deemed to be in compliance with the federal and state Endangered Species Acts by the implementing entity, as described in Chapter 6.2 of the HCP/NCCP, all covered activities occurring within the local plan area will be subject to applicable conditions and fees described in the HCP/NCCP.
(Ord. 29203.)