Our project is a warehouse developed on 44.23 acres of agricultural land in San Joaquin County, covered by the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation & Open Space Plan (SJMSCP). Under this plan, a pre-construction biological survey was conducted, during which Western Burrowing Owls were discovered on site. To protect these migratory birds, the construction process was staged during the breeding season. Also, a large per acre fee was applied to this project. 67% of the fees assessed go toward acquisition of a similar sized parcel of agricultural land, land designated to be "agricultural land" for the remainder of time. The balance of the fee goes toward administration and property enhancement for the newly purchased land. We propose that documentation of the biological survey and the payment information to secure the agricultural land will be adequate to prove protection of open space and protection of migratory birds.
As Western Burrowing Owls were located on the project site described, the county required the applicant to do a number of things including staging construction during the breeding season, helping to pay for the acquisition of a similar sized parcel of "agricultural land" to be preserved in perpetuity, and performing a biological survey. Although the purpose of the Credit Interpretation Request is unclear, it appears the applicant is inquiring about earning an Innovation in Design credit for SSc1. However, there is no exemplary performance for this credit as noted on page 29 of the LEED-NC v2.2 Reference Guide. The project may be able to earn SSc5.1 and/or SSc5.2, and would likely be able to use the protected agricultural land for achieving SSc5.2, depending on the project specifics.