It is hereby found and determined as follows:
(a) Rapid Population Growth. Santa Cruz County is one of the fastest growing counties in the State of California and in the United States. Since 1970, Santa Cruz County has experienced a rate of growth which has been at least twice that experienced by the State of California as a whole.
(b) Continued Growth Likely. It is likely, absent the enactment of a Growth Management System, that Santa Cruz County will continue to experience an extremely rapid rate of population growth, at a rate forecasted to be approximately twice the rate experienced by the State of California as a whole.
(c) Santa Clara County Plans for Santa Cruz County to Grow. It is particularly likely that Santa Cruz County will continue to experience rapid population growth because jurisdictions in the adjoining Santa Clara Valley have provided, in their General Plans, and in their other planning policies, to generate a demand for new residential housing which such jurisdiction plan shall be located in Santa Cruz County.
(d) Environmental Damage and Economic Effects. Rapid population growth and development is causing extremely serious adverse environmental and economic effects, some of which are specified below:
1. Loss of Agricultural Lands. The County possesses significant agricultural lands, including prime agricultural lands, and agricultural lands which, while not defined as “prime,” are economically productive or potentially economically productive. Such agricultural lands are a local, state and national resource, which should be preserved. These agricultural lands are being lost to development, and the continued viability of commercial agriculture in Santa Cruz County is threatened by rapid population growth and inappropriately placed devel-opment.
2. Mineral and Timber Resources. Rapid population growth and development also threaten the timber harvesting and mineral industries which are significant factors in the County’s economy.
3. Fish and Wildlife Resources. The County has other important natural resources, including wildlife, anadromous fish, and unique plant communities, which should be preserved; these are endangered by rapid growth and inappropriate development.
4. Marine Habitats. Coastal lagoons and marine habitats which should be preserved for their economic and biologic value are being degraded and destroyed by rapid population growth and inappropriate development.
5. Air and Water Quality. Rapid population growth and development are causing the degradation of Santa Cruz County’s air and water quality and threatening the health and well-being of present and future residents.
6. Scenic and Aesthetic Resources. The scenic and aesthetic qualities of Santa Cruz County are being destroyed by inappropriately placed development.
7. Water Supplies. The “safe yield” capacity of natural surface and groundwater sources is being exceeded in many areas of the County, causing water supply and water quality problems which will be irreversible or extremely expensive to correct. Overpumping of the Pajaro Valley groundwater basin, in particular, threatens future agricultural water supply and, consequently, Santa Cruz County’s commercial agriculture.
(e) Cost of Services. Rapid population growth and development has expanded the demand for governmentally-provided services beyond the ability of the public to pay for and provide such services. Specifically, in many parts of the County the public is unable to pay for, provide, or maintain adequately the following services required by new development:
1. An adequate number of elementary and secondary school classrooms and teachers;
2. Adequate law enforcement and fire protection;
3. Adequate roads, sewers, and water. School overcrowding, traffic congestion, higher crime rates, and increasingly inadequate water supplies, roads, and sewage facilities will be the result of continued rapid population growth and development. These problems are greatly aggravated when new development takes place in rural areas rather than in areas where urban services can be provided at less cost to taxpayers.
(f) Housing Crisis. Santa Cruz County is experiencing a housing crisis. Increasingly, persons with average and below average incomes whose work or other connections with the County of Santa Cruz lead them to wish to live here are unable to locate housing at a price they can afford.
Economically disadvantaged citizens are increasingly excluded from living in Santa Cruz County. The increasing demand for housing in Santa Cruz County which has accompanied the rapid population growth and development now taking place has aggravated the housing crisis, and any growth management system designed to minimize or prevent the problems caused by rapid population growth and development must simultaneously provide a positive program to increase the availability of housing for people with average and below average incomes. (Ord. 2561.1, 7/5/78)