(a) (1) An owner may petition the board or council to zone his or her land as timberland production. The board or council by ordinance, after the advice of the planning commission pursuant to Section 51110.2, and after public hearing, shall zone as timberland production all parcels submitted to it by petition pursuant to this section, which meet all of the criteria adopted pursuant to subdivision (c). Any owner who has so petitioned and whose land is not zoned as timberland production may petition the board or council for a rehearing on the zoning.
(2) This section shall not be construed as limiting the ability of the board or council to zone as timberland production any parcel submitted upon petition that is timberland, defined pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 51104, and which is in compliance with the compatible use ordinance adopted by the board or council pursuant to Section 51111.
(b) The board or council, on or before March 1, 1977, by resolution, shall adopt procedures for initiating, filing, and processing petitions for timberland production zoning and for rezoning. The rules shall be applied uniformly throughout the county or city.
(c) On or before March 1, 1977, the board or council by ordinance shall adopt a list of criteria required to be met by parcels being considered for zoning as timberland production under this section. The criteria shall not impose any requirements in addition to those listed in this subdivision and in subdivision (d). The following shall be included in the criteria:
(1) A map shall be prepared showing the legal description or the assessor’s parcel number of the property desired to be zoned.
(2) A plan for forest management shall be prepared or approved as to content, for the property by a registered professional forester. The plan shall provide for the eventual harvest of timber within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the preparer of the plan.
(3) (A) The parcel shall currently meet the timber stocking standards as set forth in Section 4561 of the Public Resources Code and the forest practice rules adopted by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection for the district in which the parcel is located, or the owner shall sign an agreement with the board or council to meet those stocking standards and forest practice rules by the fifth anniversary of the signing of the agreement. If the parcel is subsequently zoned as timberland production under subdivision (a), failure to meet the stocking standards and forest practice rules within this time period provides the board or council with a ground for rezoning of the parcel pursuant to Section 51121.
(B) Upon the fifth anniversary of the signing of an agreement, the board shall determine whether the parcel meets the timber stocking standards in effect on the date that the agreement was signed. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 4 (commencing with Section 51130), if the parcel fails to meet the timber stocking standards, the board or council shall immediately rezone the parcel and specify a new zone for the parcel, which is in conformance with the county general plan and whose primary use is other than timberland.
(4) The parcel shall be timberland, as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 51104.
(5) The parcel shall be in compliance with the compatible use ordinance adopted by the board or council pursuant to Section 51111.
(d) The criteria required by subdivision (c) may also include any or all of the following:
(1) The land area concerned shall be in the ownership of one person, as defined in Section 38106 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and shall be comprised of single or contiguous parcels of a certain number of acres, not to exceed 80 acres.
(2) The land shall be a certain site quality class or higher under Section 434 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, except that the parcel shall not be required to be of the two highest site quality classes.
(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 972, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 1999.)