BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                        
                       SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
                        Senator Patricia Wiggins, Chair


          BILL NO:  SB 211                      HEARING:  4/1/09
          AUTHOR:  Simitian                     FISCAL:  No
          VERSION:  3/26/09                     CONSULTANT:  Detwiler

                 SANTA CRUZ COUNTY REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT

                           Background and Existing Law  

          Regional park and open space districts can sell bonds to  
          acquire property by purchase or eminent domain.  They can  
          use general obligation bonds paid for by higher property  
          tax rates that require 2/3-voter approval, Mello-Roos Act  
          bonds paid for by special taxes (parcel taxes) that require  
          2/3-voter approval, and assessment bonds paid for by  
          benefit assessments that require the property owners'  
          approval with weighted-ballots.  Some of these regional  
          districts have their own directly-elected boards of  
          directors; county supervisors govern others, ex officio.

          To form a new regional open space district, the proponents  
          must first get approval from the local agency formation  
          commission (LAFCO) and then circulate petitions which must  
          be signed by at least 5,000 registered voters.  A  
          successful petition results in a public hearing by the  
          county board of supervisors which can approve or disapprove  
          the request to form the new district.  If the county  
          supervisors approve, then the matter goes to the ballot.   
          Formation requires majority voter approval.

          In Santa Cruz County, four independent recreation and park  
          districts and a county-run county service area provide park  
          services in the unincorporated communities outside the  
          County's four cities.  Although mostly in San Mateo and  
          Santa Clara counties, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space  
          District also overlaps a small corner of Santa Cruz County.  
           Open space advocates in Santa Cruz County want to form a  
          countywide regional open space district with a  
          directly-elected board of directors.  Looking to the  
          statutory precedents created for other counties, they want  
          permission to expedite the proposed district's formation.


                                   Proposed Law  





           
           SB 211 -- 3/26/09 -- Page 2



          Senate Bill 211 allows the Santa Cruz County Board of  
          Supervisors to initiate the formation of a regional park  
          and open space district with boundaries that are  
          coterminous with the County, except for territory within  
          the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.  The county  
          supervisors can hold a public hearing, adopt a resolution,  
          and call the election in lieu of the usual petitions and  
          local agency formation commission hearings and decisions.

          SB 211 requires the county supervisors' resolution to:
                 Name the district and explain the reasons for its  
               formation.
                 Describe the district's financing methods.
                 Specify that a directly-elected board of directors  
               will run the district.
                 Call the formation election.

          The bill allows the county supervisors to combine the  
          formation election with other ballot measures to set the  
          district's appropriations limit, levy special taxes, or  
          authorize general obligation bonds.


                                     Comments  

          1.   Small, but lovely  .  Although Santa Cruz County is  
          California's second smallest county in area, its beaches,  
          mountains, and rivers are among the prettiest.  The  
          County's agricultural land, forests, and remaining natural  
          habitats are valuable natural resources.  Although state  
          and local parks protect some of these special areas, there  
          is local interest in creating a strong and well-funded  
          program to acquire and preserve more open space.  SB 211  
          gives local voters the chance to set up an independent  
          special district with that focus.  Relying on similar  
          legislative precedents for other counties, the bill allows  
          Santa Cruz County officials to expedite the formation of a  
          regional open space district.

          2.   Already within reach  .  Everything that SB 211 makes  
          possible is already within reach of Santa Cruz County's  
          voters and public officials.  Current law already allows  
          the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to ask its  
          voters to approve a countywide sales tax hike to pay for  
          acquiring and managing more open space property.  Current  





           
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          law allows the county supervisors and county staff to run a  
          countywide open space program, avoiding the creation of  
          another independent special district with its own  
          directly-elected board of directors and separate employees.  
           Current law requires the county government to follow the  
          land use policies in its own general plan when buying open  
          space property, while a separate district would set its own  
          acquisition priorities.  The Committee may wish to consider  
          whether legislators should encourage the creation of  
          another local government when the county government already  
          has these powers.

          3.   A hollow shell  ?  Irrational exuberance and SB 211 may  
          create a new regional open space district that can't  
          deliver on its promises.  Although the bill lets the county  
          supervisors combine the formation election with ballot  
          measures to pay for acquiring open space, they don't have  
          to.   It's possible that the county supervisors will put  
          only the formation, but not the financing, on the ballot.   
          How will the new district pay for its operations, including  
          hiring staff, setting acquisition priorities, and holding  
          future elections?  There may be local support for setting  
          up a new open space district, but are the voters ready to  
          pay for acquiring ranches, forests, and beaches?  If  
          legislators don't link governance and finance, they invite  
          voters to create hollow shells --- institutions that look  
          like they can deliver, but can't pay for their promises.   
          The Committee may wish to consider an amendment that  
          follows the recent state laws for setting up new community  
          services districts and new county service areas: forming a  
          new district is contingent on the voters' concurrent  
          approval of the new district's revenues.  

          4.   This land is your land  .  Counties' public works  
          projects must be consistent with their own general plans.   
          Likewise, when a special district buys property or builds  
          public works, it must follow the general plan of the  
          underlying county or city.  However, if a county or city  
          disapproves of a special district's land acquisition, the  
          district can overrule the county or city's general plan.   
          Similarly, with a 4/5-vote of its governing board, a  
          special district can overrule a local zoning ordinance if  
          the district's governing board finds that there are no  
          feasible alternatives.  An independent regional open space  
          district in Santa Cruz County could use these current laws  





           
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          to thwart the land use policies set by the city councils in  
          Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, and Watsonville, in  
          addition to the County's general plan for the  
          unincorporated area.  The Committee may wish to consider an  
          amendment that requires the new regional open space  
          district's acquisition program to follow the land use  
          policies of the underlying general plans.

          5.   A silent watchdog  .  The courts call local agency  
          formation commissions (LAFCOs) the Legislature's watchdogs  
          over cities and districts' boundaries.  The Legislature has  
          delegated its inherent power to control local boundaries to  
          the 58 LAFCOs, telling them to discourage urban sprawl,  
          preserve open space and agricultural lands, provide  
          efficient government services, and encourage orderly  
          government --- all based on local conditions and  
          circumstances.  The Legislature has waived LAFCOs' control  
          over some districts' boundaries, particularly when they are  
          coterminous with the boundaries of a single county.  SB 211  
          exempts the formation of the proposed Santa Cruz regional  
          open space district from LAFCO's review.  However, the  
          proposed district would not be coterminous with the  
          County's boundaries because the bill slices off the 765  
          acres that are already within the Midpeninsula Regional  
          Open Space District's boundaries.  The Midpeninsula  
          District also owns the 800-acre Loma Prieta Ranch in Santa  
          Cruz County, although that property is not yet within the  
          District's existing boundaries.  These detailed boundary  
          questions may deserve the Santa Cruz LAFCO's careful  
          review.  The Committee may wish to consider whether the  
          bill should exempt the formation of a noncontiguous  
          regional open space district from LAFCO's review.

          6.   A smattering of precedents  .  The regional park and open  
          space district law is the principal act for such well-known  
          agencies as the East Bay Regional Parks District and the  
          Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.  Starting in  
          1972, 10 special bills have allowed county supervisors to  
          start formation proceedings for regional open space  
          districts without the sponsors having to gather more than  
          5,000 signatures on petitions:
               Los Angeles         SB 659 (Hill, 1991)
               Marin               AB 2353 (Bagley, 1972)
               Napa                SB 1306 (Thompson, 1992)
               Riverside           SB 486 (Bergeson, 1989)





           
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               Sacramento          SB 779 (Johnston, 1993)
               San Bernardino AB 775 (Eaves, 1990)
               Santa Barbara  AB 1613 (Lempert, 2000)
               Sonoma         AB 3630 (Filante, 1990)
               Ventura        AB 1145 (Jackson, 2002)

          As the following table reports, these special bills usually  
          required the regional open space districts to be  
          coterminous with county boundaries, usually exempted their  
          formations from LAFCO review because they would be  
          coterminous, and usually required the county supervisors to  
          govern the districts ex officio.  The Legislature  
          prohibited three independent districts from using the usual  
          statutory power of eminent domain to condemn private  
          property.

              Regional Open Space Districts With Special Legislation  
                                        LAFCO     ElectedEminent
           County                Boundaries  ?     review  ?  board  ?  domain  ?
          Los Angeles              Coterminous          
 
          ExemptSupervisorsYes

          Marin                    Coterminous          
 
          ExemptSupervisorsYes

          Napa           Coterminous         Exempt    YesProhibited

          Riverside      Western part        Yes             
 
          SupervisorsYes

          Sacramento*              Coterminous          
 
          ExemptSupervisorsYes

          San Bernardino*          Any territory             
 
          YesSupervisors Yes

          San Diego*               Coterminous          
 
          ExemptSupervisorsYes






           
           SB 211 -- 3/26/09 -- Page 6



          Santa Barbara*      Any territory       Yes  YesProhibited

          Sonoma              Coterminous          
 
          ExemptSupervisorsYes

          Ventura*       Any territory       Yes            Or  
          appointed Prohibited
          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
          - - 
          Santa Cruz**        Nearly         ExemptYesYes
                         coterminous
                                               * District never formed
                                              ** As proposed by SB 211

                         Support and Opposition  (3/26/09)
           
          Support  :  Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, American  
          Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees  
          AFL-CIO, California Council of Land Trusts, County of Santa  
          Cruz.

           Opposition  :  Unknown.