(2)AR 011607 Endangered Species - Laserfiche WebLink

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because it found that the ordinance as drafted could interfere with efforts to protect the Delhi Fly. Accordingly, the court ordered the City to rescind the ordinance. The attached ordinance repeals Urgency Ordinance No. 0-02-06 and replaces it with a new Urgency ordinance that clarifies the City Council's intent and scope of discretion in permitting habitat conservation uses. In addition to the Urgency Ordinance, the City Council will also consider a proposal from the Planning Commission to adopt substantially the same ordinance as a permanent ordinance. This staff report considers the elements of both the Urgency Ordinance and the Permanent Ordinance (collectively referred to in this Staff Report as the "Proposed Ordinance'). BACKGROUND: The Inventory of Natural Resources utilized by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ("Service"), indicates that certain properties in the City of Colton ("City") may have a soil type that is conducive to habitat for the Delhi Sands Flower Loving Fly ("Habitat"), a federal endangered species. Other land in the City may be habitat for other state and/or federal endangered species, including, but not limited to, the San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat, the Santa Ana Sucker Fish and the Santa Ana River Wooly Star. No habitat area, however, contains as much land for a single species than the habitat area, according to the Service, may be needed for the Delhi Sands Flower Loving Fly ("Delhi Fly"). Conservation easements and other contractual mechanisms have been proposed to prevent habitat destruction and thereby enhance protection for the Delhi Fly and other endangered species ("habitat conservation"). Such habitat conservation preserves potential habitat by restricting the use of property to conservation purposes in perpetuity. Habitat conservation often occurs within the context of mitigation for development (including its attendant habitat destruction) elsewhere. (United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region, Final Recovery Plan for the Delhi Sands Flower -Loving Fly 1997 ("Recovery Plan"), at pp. 11-12.) As noted above, potential habitat exists within the City. Therefore, habitat conservation may occur within the City. Land set aside for habitat conservation requires careful management and monitoring to provide actual habitat value for endangered species. According to the Service, in most cases, "listed species and their habitat cannot be conserved without management of the conservation property." (United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Guidance for the Establishment, Use, and Operation of Conservation Banks, May 2, 2003 ("Conservation Bank Guidance"), at p. 12.) For example, Delhi Fly habitat must be kept free of trash, non-native vegetation, and trespassers, otherwise damage to the soil or individual flies may result. (Recovery Plan, at pp. 8-10.) Unfortunately, not all potential