The County is seeking a programmatic incidental take permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The County, as the applicant, is requesting a permit term of 25 years to authorize take of covered species associated with covered activities in the Habitat Conservation Plan area, which is approximately 3,560 acres bounded by the Los Osos Urban Reserve Line. As the permittee, the County will have the ability to issue certificates of inclusion to confer incidental take coverage to landowners and other entities as long as their activities are included on the incidental take permit(s).
Further updates will be posted and/or linked on this page as available.
This (and additional) information is available online via the US Fish and Wildlife Services (Ventura Office) by clicking here.
Project Contacts
Comments and questions regarding the community plan update may be submitted via email to Kerry Brown or mailed to the following address:
Department of Planning & Building
ATTN: Los Osos HCP / Kerry Brown
976 Osos Street, Room 300
San Luis Obispo, CA 93408
Additional questions or inquiries can always be submitted to the US Department of Fish & Wildlife, Ventura Office:
Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office
US Fish and Wildlife Service
2493 Portola Road, Suite B
Ventura, California 93003
Phone: (805) 644-1766
Project Updates
Background / Summary
The Habitat Conservation Plan will identify the suite of activities that will be covered by the permit (covered activities), their anticipated impacts to the listed species covered by the permit (covered species), and the steps that the County and other plan participants will take to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of the covered activities on the covered species (the conservation strategy). Covered activities included in the Habitat Conservation Plan are:
- Commercial and residential development and redevelopment on privately-owned parcels;
- Public entity and private utility company facility and infrastructure development projects;
- Public entity and private utility company activities to operate and maintain, including repair and replace, existing facilities; and
- Activities conducted to implement the Habitat Conservation Plan conservation strategy.
The purpose of issuing a programmatic incidental take permit is to allow the County to authorize the covered activities while conserving the covered species and their habitats. Implementation of a programmatic, multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan, rather than a species-by-species or project-by-project approach, will maximize the benefits of conservation measures for covered species and eliminate potentially expensive and time-consuming efforts associated with processing individual incidental take permits for each project within the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan area. Adoption of the Habitat Conservation Plan and issuance of the incidental take permit(s) will facilitate a streamlined permitting process and also provide a cohesive conservation strategy managed by one entity with a single funding source. The Conservation strategy will focus on expansion, conservation, maintenance, and enhancement of the Los Osos greenbelt.
To mitigate the effects of the covered activities on the covered species, which could otherwise threaten their persistence, the County will be responsible for the implementation of the LOHCP conservation program—a comprehensive program designed to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of the covered activities to the maximum extent practicable. Given the rarity of these narrowly endemic covered species, this regional plan is also designed to contribute to their recovery, by arresting and reversing threats to survival to ensure long-term persistence.
Click here to view the project files associated with the Los Osos Habitat Conservation Plan.
Final EIR Released
Interim Adaptive Management and Monitoring Plan Released