BILL NUMBER: SB 211	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 1, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 8, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 14, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 26, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Simitian
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Monning)
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Caballero)

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2009

   An act to amend Section 5514 of, and to add Section 5506.14 to,
the Public Resources Code, relating to parks and recreation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 211, as amended, Simitian. Park district formation: County of
Santa Cruz.
   Existing law generally authorizes the formation of a district by a
petition requesting the creation and maintenance of a district,
describing the exterior boundaries, signed by at least 5,000 electors
residing within the territory proposed to be included in the
district, and presented to the board of supervisors of the county
containing the largest area within the proposed district.
   Existing law also authorizes proceedings for the formation of a
regional park district, regional park and open-space district, or
regional open-space district in specified counties of the state to be
initiated by resolution of the county board of supervisors adopted
after a noticed hearing, and specifies the contents of the
resolution, in lieu of the petition and related proceedings required
under the above provisions.
   This bill, in addition, would authorize the formation of a
district in the County of Santa Cruz, except as specified, if the
exterior boundaries of the proposed district are coterminous with the
exterior boundaries of the county and are initiated by a specified
resolution of the county board of supervisors, after a hearing
noticed in accordance with specified procedures, in lieu of the
petition and related proceedings required under the above provisions.

   This bill would require the district to establish a citizen
advisory committee composed of nine members representing specified
interests and communities to provide broad-based citizen input into
the operation of the district. The bill would require the committee
to provide advice and recommendations on specified matters. The
district board of directors would be required to respond, in writing,
to approved committee recommendations on matters related to
expenditure plans and acquisition programs. The bill would subject
the acquisition, by the board of directors, of property within the
City of Watsonville's 25-year urban growth area boundary to the
approval of the city council of that city. 
   The bill would also require the resolution to call and give notice
of an election to be held in the proposed district and would
authorize the county counsel to prepare the ballot label for that
election.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) In May 1998, a broad-based group of residents, representing
agricultural, business, environment, and government representatives,
began a planning process for Pajaro Valley and formed a nonprofit
group in 1999 to develop a collaborative planning process for the
valley.  
   (b) The group developed a growth management strategy incorporating
land use policies for the Pajaro Valley as an ecological region,
including the City of Watsonville and the Green Valley area in Santa
Cruz County, and the town of Pajaro in Monterey County, that balances
economic interests, environmental resources, and socioeconomic needs
for a 25-year period.  
   (c) The growth management strategy was endorsed by several
environmental, business, labor, and government interests, including
the City Council of the City of Watsonville and the Santa Cruz County
Board of Supervisors.  
   (d) City of Watsonville residents approved Measure U, known as the
Orderly Growth and Agricultural Protection Initiative, at the
November 5, 2002, general election. That measure preserves Pajaro
Valley farmland, creates an urban limit line that the City of
Watsonville can grow into over the next 25 years, and provides an
opportunity for new housing and new jobs within that urban limit line
while protecting the local environment.  
   (e) Measure U, which establishes a 25-year urban growth boundary,
was approved in 2002 by the voters of the City of Watsonville in
order to protect the environment and provide open-space opportunities
in Santa Cruz County. To be consistent with the goals of Measure U,
any acquisition of property within the 25-year urban growth boundary
by an open-space district created pursuant to this act is subject to
approval by the City Council of the City of Watsonville. 
   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.   Section 5506.14
is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:
   5506.14.  (a) If the exterior boundaries of a proposed district
are coterminous with the exterior boundaries of the County of Santa
Cruz, except for territory within the boundaries of the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District on the effective date of this act,
proceedings for formation of a district in the County of Santa Cruz
may be initiated by resolution of the county board of supervisors,
adopted after a hearing noticed in accordance with Section 6064 of
the Government Code, in lieu of the petition and related proceedings
specified in this article.
   (b) The resolution shall do all of the following:
   (1) Name the proposed district and state the reasons for forming
it.
   (2) Describe the methods by which the district will be financed.
   (3) Specify that the proposed district shall be governed by a
board of five directors who shall be elected in accordance with this
article and, notwithstanding Section 5515, specify that the
boundaries of the five wards or subdistricts shall be drawn according
to the boundaries of supervisorial districts, except for territory
within the boundaries of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District on January 1, 2010.
   (4) Specify that the proposed district shall not have, and may not
exercise, the power of eminent domain pursuant to Section 5542, or
any other provision of law unless requested by the owner of the land.

   (5) Call and give notice of an election to be held in the proposed
district pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 5514. Formation of
the district is not subject to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local
Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (Division 3 (commencing with
Section 56000) of Title 5 of the Government Code).
   (6) Include any other matters necessary to the formation of the
district.
   (c) Notwithstanding Section 5518, the county counsel of the County
of Santa Cruz may prepare the language in the ballot label for the
election to be held pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b).

   (d) (1) The district formed pursuant to this section shall
establish a citizen advisory committee to provide broad-based citizen
input into the operation of the district, and advice and
recommendations on certain policy and program questions and issues,
including expenditure plans and acquisition programs. The committee
shall render advice and make recommendations to the board of
directors on those matters.  
   (2) (A) The committee is composed of nine members, and, except as
provided in clauses (i) and (ii), shall be appointed by the board of
directors as follows:  
   (i)  One supervisor appointed by the board of supervisors of the
county, or his or her designee.  
   (ii) One city council member representing each city in the county
appointed by the city council of the city represented, or his or her
designee.  
   (iii) One member representing the district's agricultural
interests.  
   (iv) One member representing the district's environmental
community.  
   (v) One member representing the district's real estate interests.
 
   (vi) One member representing the district's business community.
 
   (B) Prior to the appointment of committee members specified in
clauses (iii) to (vi), inclusive, of subparagraph (A), the board of
directors shall solicit from the community three or more nominations
for each of those positions.  
   (3) (A) The board of directors shall respond, in writing, to
approved committee recommendations on matters relating to expenditure
plans and acquisition programs.  
   (B) Before acting upon a proposed action relating to expenditure
plans and acquisition programs, the board of directors shall consider
recommendations from the committee and shall have responded to the
committee recommendations pursuant to subparagraph (A).  
   (4) The board of directors shall adopt rules of procedure for the
committee and establish responsibilities for the committee and its
members.  
   (5) The committee shall conduct its meetings in accordance with
the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of
Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).  
   (6) Members of the committee shall be subject to the Political
Reform Act of 1974 (Title 9 (commencing with Section 81000) of the
Government Code).  
   (7) A quorum shall consist of seven members of the committee, and
an action shall not be taken without the concurrence of at least a
majority of the total committee membership.  
   (e) Acquisition by the district of property within the 25-year
urban growth area boundary established by Measure U, known as the
Orderly Growth and Agricultural Protection Initiative, as approved by
the voters in the November 5, 2002, general election, is subject to
approval by the City Council of the City of Watsonville. 
   SEC. 2.   SEC. 3.   Section 5514 of the
Public Resources Code is amended to read:
   5514.  (a) The board of supervisors of the county having the
largest area within the proposed district shall, if the petition,
after the hearing, has been approved, in whole or in part, have
jurisdiction to proceed further with the calling of an election
within the boundaries of the proposed district as described in the
resolution passed at the conclusion of the hearing, and shall, either
as a part of the same resolution or by a later resolution, call an
election within the proposed district for the purpose of determining
whether the district shall be created and established and, if
necessary, for the purpose of electing the first board of directors
therefor in case the district is created.
   (b) In a district proposed to be formed pursuant to Section
5506.5, 5506.11, 5506.12, or 5506.14, the resolution calling the
election may provide for a single ballot measure or separate ballot
measures on the question of formation, establishment of an
appropriations limit authorized by Section 4 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution, the authority to tax pursuant to Section
5566, and the authority to sell bonds pursuant to Section 5568, or
any combination of those questions.