Agricultural Employee Housing Zoning Code Update
Summary
SCH Number
2025100550
Public Agency
Sonoma County
Document Title
Agricultural Employee Housing Zoning Code Update
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
10/13/2025
Document Description
The project implements the programs of the County’s 6th Cycle Housing Element, adopted in 2023. The project consists of text updates to the County Code to make it consistent with the California Employee Housing Act, and changes to qualifying agricultural use thresholds for a farmworker dwelling. Small farmers and farmworkers will be the primary beneficiaries of the project.
Contact Information
Name
Eric Gage
Agency Name
County of Sonoma
Job Title
Planner III
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, Windsor
Counties
Sonoma
Regions
Countywide
Cross Streets
N/A
Zip
Countywide
Parcel #
Countywide
Other Information
Countywide Project
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Sections 15183 and 15378 of the CEQA Guidelines
Reasons for Exemption
The County Code revisions pertaining to Employee Housing Act permitting are administrative updates that will not result in a direct or indirect change to the environment and are therefore not a project subject to CEQA pursuant to Section 15378 of the CEQA Guidelines.
The proposed amendments to the County Zoning Code to reduce agricultural use thresholds implementing Housing Element Subprogram 15g are deemed exempt under Section 15183 of the CEQA Guidelines. Staff determined that the proposed revisions are consistent with the development density analyzed in the certified General Plan 2020 environmental impact report (EIR). Further, there are no project-specific impacts associated with the text changes to the County Code. There are no project impacts that were not analyzed in the General Plan 2020 EIR as significant effects. There are also no potentially significant offsite and/or cumulative impacts that the General Plan 2020 EIR failed to analyze. There is no substantive new information that would result in more severe impacts than were previously analyzed or anticipated by the General Plan 2020 EIR.
County Clerk
Sonoma
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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