BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 694|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 694
Author: Saldana (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 7-3, 7/6/09
AYES: Pavley, Kehoe, Leno, Padilla, Simitian, Wiggins,
Wolk
NOES: Benoit, Hollingsworth, Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cogdill
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-30, 5/28/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Tidelands and submerged lands: City of San
Diego
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill repeals Chapter 642 of the Statutes of
1929 which removed the tidelands designation on all land
shoreward of the bulkhead in the City of San Diego and
declared them to be free from all public trusts and
restrictions.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Section 3 of Article X of the California Constitution
prohibits all tidelands within two miles of any
CONTINUED
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incorporated city, city and county, or town from being
granted or sold to a private party. Section 4 of
Article X prohibits anyone from excluding the right of
access to or navigation of tidelands whenever it is
required for any public purpose.
2. Chapter 700 of the Statutes of 1911 conveyed certain
tideland parcels to the City of San Diego to be held in
public trust, without the right to grant or convey such
tidelands, on the condition that it make certain harbor
improvements.
3. Chapter 250 of the Statutes of 1913 authorized any
municipality to which tidelands have been granted by the
Legislature to grant portions of such lands to the
United States for the "public purposes of the United
States" if approved by a majority of electors.
4. Chapter 642 of the Statutes of 1929 removed the
"tidelands" designation on all land shoreward of the
bulkhead in the City of San Diego and declared them to
be free from all public trusts and restrictions except
that the city shall not grant or convey these lands to
anyone for any purpose. The City is permitted, however,
to lease or rent these lands for a period not to exceed
50 years. The City may also use, lease, or rent all
land lying seaward of the bulkhead line to any person or
corporation for a maximum of 50 years provided that the
use or lease does not interfere with public trust
purposes such as navigation, commerce or fisheries.
This bill:
1. Repeals Chapter 642 of the Statutes of 1929. All former
tidelands shoreward of the bulkhead, with the exception
of the parcels conveyed to the United States by the City
of San Diego within the Navy Broadway Complex, and
tidelands or submerged lands seaward of the bulkhead
would therefore be subject to public trust restrictions.
2. States that the repeal of Chapter 642 may not be
construed to overturn or otherwise nullify the decision
in United States of America v. 15.320 Acres of Land ,
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U.S. Dist. Lexis 21875 or any title settlement agreement
entered into by the State of California acting by and
through the State Lands Commission.
3. Requires the State Lands Commission to represent the
state and cooperate with the state's local trustees and
the United States in resolving their respective title
and boundary issues involving tidelands and submerged
lands, including, but not limited to, those involved in
the 1993 federal Base Closure and Realignment Law.
Background
Chapter 250 of the Statutes of 1913 authorized any
municipality to which tidelands have been granted by the
Legislature to grant portions of such lands to the United
States for the "public purposes of the United States" if
approved by a majority of electors. Between 1919 and 1940,
the City of San Diego granted to the United States
government several parcels of land, including the Navy
Broadway Complex. All of the grants, though some obviously
in vain, restricted use of the parcels to the "purposes" of
the United States Navy. In 1962, the Legislature created
the Port of San Diego and transferred most of the remaining
tidelands subject to Chapter 642 to the Port. On behalf of
the state, the Port holds in trust approximately 3,415
acres of filled tidelands and 3,402 acres of submerged
tidelands. According to the Port, these lands are all used
to promote the public trust (e.g., ship building, marinas,
visitor-serving hotels and restaurants, berths, ship
channels, parks, and open space).
Comments
This bill is similar to AB 1832 (Salda?a), which Governor
Schwarzenegger vetoed last year because it eliminated the
authority of local governments, upon voter approval, to
grant tidelands and submerged lands to the federal
government for "public" or "governmental" purposes. This
bill retains this authority.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 7/7/09)
State Lands Commission
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/7/09)
Department of the Navy
Downtown San Diego Partnership
San Diego Military Advisory Council
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"In an effort to claim the title to a tidelands property in
San Diego in order to develop it for commercial use, the
United States took the State and the San Diego Unified Port
District to federal court in 1991. The property had
originally been granted by the state to the City of San
Diego and then to the United States for military use. The
federal court found in favor of the United States, citing
Chapter 42 of Statutes of 1929 as justification to take
ownership of the tidelands from the State. As a result of
this ruling, in December 2006, the United States Navy
signed a 99-year lease with a private developer to allow
the property to be developed and used in a manner that is
inconsistent with the Public Trust uses that were required
in the language of Chapter 642 ? According to testimony by
the Attorney General's office, the State Lands Commission,
and public trust advocates at a hearing of the Assembly
Subcommittee on Base Closure and Redevelopment in San Diego
in August of 2006, this type of conveyance is contrary to
Constitutional prohibitions, legal precedent, and common
law. It was pointed out, however, that the only action
that would prevent the practice of suing the State in order
to take over San Diego's tidelands is to repeal the
specific Chapter cited in the previous court rulings."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Navy, in opposition to the
bill, cites two situations where they feel a person could
bring litigation against the Navy for violating the public
trust should AB 694 pass.
The Downtown San Diego Partnership, in opposition to the
bill, states, "[T]he Downtown San Diego Partnership
believes this bill attempts to nullify the current
agreement between the United States Department of Defense
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and Manchester Financial Group with regard to the Navy
Broadway Complex."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A. Perez, V.
Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Saldana,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torrico, Yamada,
Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson,
Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Harkey, Huber, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran,
Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Salas, Torres
CTW:mw:n 7/8/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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