BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2279
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 2279 (Evans) - As Introduced: February 18, 2010
SUBJECT : Surplus state property: County of Napa.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Department of General Services (DGS)
to sell or exchange specified property to the County of Napa
(County). Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes DGS to sell or exchange at no less than current
fair market value, by January 1, 2015, all or part of
approximately 850 acres of property located at the Napa State
Hospital, 2100 Napa Vallejo Highway, Napa to the County, upon
terms and conditions DGS deems are in the best interest of the
state.
2)States that if the property is not sold or exchanged by
January 1, 2015, it is no longer surplus.
3)Requires the County to retain title to the entire property
sold or exchanged for use as a park or wildlife preserve, or
in the event of the future sale or exchange of that property
by the County, the County shall, by recorded easement,
restrict future uses of the property to those same uses.
4)Requires the net proceeds of any moneys received from the
disposition of the property to be paid into the Deficit
Recovery Bond Retirement Sinking Fund Subaccount. Reimburses
DGS for any cost or expense incurred in the disposition from
these proceeds.
5)Permits the County to enter into an agreement with a nonprofit
land trust or nonprofit conservation entity for the purpose of
sharing the costs associated with the sale or exchange.
6)Makes legislative findings and declarations.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes DGS to dispose of surplus state real property by
sale, lease, exchange, a sale combined with an exchange, or
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other manner of disposition of property, as authorized by the
Legislature, upon any terms and conditions and subject to any
reservations and exceptions that DGS deems to be in the best
interests of the state.
2)Requires state agencies to annually review proprietary state
lands under its jurisdiction to determine what lands are in
excess of the agency's foreseeable needs and to report such to
DGS. These lands include, but are not limited to:
a) Land not currently being utilized, or currently being
underutilized, for any existing or ongoing program;
b) Land for which the agency has not identified any
specific utilization relative to future needs; and,
c) Land not identified by the agency within its master plan
for facility development.
3)Requires state agencies, when purchasing real property, to
review the Surplus Property Inventory of state properties and
purchase, lease, or trade property on that list, if possible,
prior to purchasing property not on the inventory.
4)Provides that a local agency that expresses interest in
acquiring a parcel of surplus property shall demonstrate, to
the satisfaction of DGS that the real property is to be used
by the local agency for open space, public parks, affordable
housing projects, or development of local government-owned
facilities.
5)Requires that the proceeds from the sale of surplus state
property, with specified exceptions, be used to pay the
principal and interest on the Economic Recovery Bond Act of
2004, Proposition 60A, adopted by the voters in November 2004.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose : According to the author's office, allowing the Napa
County Board of Supervisors to purchase the property would
guarantee the County that it will continue to be used as a
public park or wilderness preserve.
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Background : The 850-acre parcel, known as Skyline Park, is
located on the grounds of Napa State Hospital in Napa County and
includes more than 12 miles of hiking, riding and bicycling
trails, a native plant garden, horse arena, archery range and a
"disc" golf course.
Since 1979, Napa County has leased the property from the State
for $100 per year, with the current lease expiring in 2030.
This property was placed on the surplus property list by the
Department of Mental Health. According to the author's office,
even after the sale, the Department would retain sufficient
property near the present hospital for any foreseeable
expansion.
Napa County has a Transient Occupancy Tax ordinance which sets
aside money to fund county parks, and, thus, has a dedicated
revenue stream to afford this property.
Sponsor : According to the sponsor, the Napa County Board of
Supervisors, "The intent of AB 2279 is to preserve the property
as a public park in perpetuity. The Park is used extensively by
hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians. Keeping this parcel
open to citizens as a public park for future generations is
enormously important to the Board as well as Napa County
citizens."
Previous legislation :
SB 678 (Wiggins) of 2007 was almost identical to this bill,
except it did not permit the County of Napa to enter into an
agreement with a nonprofit land trust or nonprofit conservation
entity for the purpose of sharing the costs associated with the
sale or exchange. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed SB 678,
stating the following:
"The Department of General Services is required by law to submit
a bill to the Legislature to dispose of any surplus land by
sale, lease, or exchange. This process has worked well for over
a decade. Over the years, the State has been authorized to sell
or exchange dozens of properties, generating millions of dollars
for the State of California, and these transactions contained
legislatively authorized exemptions from CEQA.
"However, beginning in 2005, the Legislature has selectively
chosen to add millions of dollars in potential costs to this
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process by applying CEQA requirements prior to the sale of the
State property. Under the provisions of voter approved
Proposition 60A, revenues generated from the sale of surplus
property are to be used to reduce the debt from the Economic
Recovery Bonds approved in March 2004. Instead of generating
revenue for the State to pay down debt, the Legislature has
effectively placed properties like these at risk of incurring
additional cost of administration and potential litigation costs
that are eventually passed on to the taxpayer. As I have stated
repeatedly over the past two years, there is no reason to apply
CEQA to properties that are being sold. CEQA is properly
applied when the use and zoning of real property is changed not
when it is simply sold.
"I would be willing to consider this bill in the future, should
it contain the CEQA exemption. Until that time, I am unable to
sign this measure."
ABX2 8 of 2009 exempted DGS from CEQA when selling surplus state
real property that is either made on an "as is" basis or is
otherwise subject to CEQA through local government land use
restrictions. As such, the Governor's veto concerns appear to
have been met.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Napa County Board of Supervisors (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marina Wiant / B., P. & C. P. / (916)
319-3301