BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 211
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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 211 (Simitian)
          As Amended  September 4, 2009
          Majority vote

           SENATE VOTE  :31-4  
          
           LOCAL GOVERNMENT    5-2                                         
           
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          |Ayes:|Caballero, Arambula,      |     |                          |
          |     |Davis,                    |     |                          |
          |     |De La Torre, Skinner      |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Knight, Duvall            |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

           SUMMARY  :  Authorizes the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors  
          (County Supervisors) to initiate the formation of a regional  
          park and open-space district (district) with boundaries that are  
          coterminous with Santa Cruz County (County), except for  
          specified territory and prescribes specific requirements for  
          said district.  Specifically,  this bill  :

          1)Authorizes the County Supervisors to initiate the formation of  
            the district with boundaries that are coterminous with the  
            County, except for territory within the Midpeninsula Regional  
            Open Space District.

          2)Authorizes the County Supervisors to hold a public hearing,  
            adopt a resolution, and call the election in lieu of the usual  
            petitions and local agency formation commission (LAFCO)  
            hearings and decisions.

          3)Requires the County Supervisor's resolution to do all of the  
            following:

             a)   Name the proposed district and state the reasons for  
               forming it;

             b)   Describe the methods by which the district will be  
               financed;









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             c)   Specify that the proposed district shall be governed by  
               a board of seven directors (board) representing divisions  
               of equal population;

             d)   Specify that the proposed district shall not have, and  
               may not exercise, the power of eminent domain unless  
               requested by the owner of the land;

             e)   Call the formation election; and,

             f)   Include any other matters necessary to the formation of  
               the district.

          4)Specifies that the formation of the district is not subject to  
            LAFCO formation proceedings.

          5)Requires the district to establish a citizen advisory  
            committee (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.

          6)Requires the committee to render advice and make  
            recommendations to the board on those matters.

          7)Specifies that the committee shall be composed of nine members  
            as follows:

             a)   One supervisor appointed by the board of supervisors of  
               the County, or his or her designee;

             b)   One city council member representing each city in the  
               County appointed by the city council of the city  
               represented, or his or her designee;

             c)   One member representing the district's agricultural  
               interests appointed by the board;

             d)   One member representing the district's environmental  
               community appointed by the board;

             e)   One member representing the district's real estate  
               interests appointed by the board; and,

             f)   One member representing the district's business  








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               community appointed by the board.

          8)States that prior to the appointment of the committee members  
            representing the community's agricultural, environmental, real  
            estate, or business interests, the board shall solicit from  
            the community three or more nominations for each of those  
            positions.

          9)Specifies that the nomination for the member of the citizen  
            advisory committee representing the district's agricultural  
            interest shall be made by the county farm bureau consistent  
            with any procedures that may be established by the board. 

          10)Specifies that two members of the member of the citizen  
            advisory committee representing the district's agricultural,  
            environmental, real estate, and business interest shall be  
            from southern Santa Cruz County and two shall be from northern  
            Santa Cruz County, as defined. 

          11)Requires the board to respond, in writing, to approved  
            committee recommendations on matters relating to expenditure  
            plans and acquisition programs.

          12)Requires the board, before acting upon a proposed action  
            relating to expenditure plans and acquisition programs, to  
            consider recommendations from the committee and respond in  
            writing to the committee recommendations.

          13)Requires the board to adopt rules of procedure for the  
            committee and establish responsibilities for the committee and  
            its members.

          14)Requires the committee to conduct its meetings in accordance  
            with the Ralph M. Brown Act.

          15)Specifies that the members of the committee are subject to  
            the Political Reform Act.

          16)States that a quorum shall consist of seven members of the  
            committee.

          17)Specifies that an action shall not be taken without the  
            concurrence of at least a majority of the total committee  
            membership.









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          18)Specifies that 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.

          19)States that not later than 60 days after receiving a  
            notification of intent by the board to acquire specified  
            property within the Measure U urban growth area boundary, the  
            Watsonville City Council shall determine whether to approve  
            acquisition of that property by the district. 

          20)Provides that if a written determination is not made by the  
            Watsonville City Council within 60 days of receiving  
            notification by the board, and the notification includes a  
            statement that it is a notification of intent by the board to  
            acquire property within the urban growth boundary, the  
            acquisition shall be deemed approved by the Watsonville City  
            Council.

          21)Adds findings and declarations regarding the community effort  
            in the creation of a 25-year urban growth area for the City of  
            Watsonville established under Measure U and the need to allow  
            the City of Watsonville to approve any land purchase in that  
            area.

          22)Adds legislative intent language regarding the need for a  
            county wide open space district in Santa Cruz County.


           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Authorizes the formation of an open-space district by a  
            petition requesting the creation and maintenance of an  
            open-space district, describing the exterior boundaries,  
            signed by at least 5,000 electors residing within the  
            territory proposed to be included in the open-space district,  
            and presented to the board of supervisors of the county  
            containing the largest area within the proposed district.

          2)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  








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            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.

          3)Allows regional park and open-space districts to sell bonds to  
            acquire property by purchase or eminent domain.

          4)Authorizes regional park and open-space districts to use the  
            following types of funding mechanisms:

             a)   General obligation bonds paid for by higher property tax  
               rates that require a two-thirds voter approval;

             b)   Mello-Roos Act bonds paid for by special taxes (parcel  
               taxes) that require a two-thirds voter approval; and,

             c)   Assessment bonds paid for by benefit assessments that  
               require the property owners' approval with  
               weighted-ballots.
           
          FISCAL EFFECT  :  None

           COMMENTS  :  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.

          The Legislature has delegated its inherent power to control  
          local boundaries to the 58 LAFCOs; directing the LAFCOs to  
          discourage urban sprawl, preserve open space and agricultural  
          lands, provide efficient government services, and encourage  
          orderly government while considering 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  








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          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 Legislature may wish to ask why there is a  
          need to circumvent the LAFCO process.  The Legislature may wish  
          to consider that if the district's formation is not going to go  
          through the full LAFCO process, perhaps it should require the  
          Santa Cruz LAFCO to hold at least one public hearing on the  
          issue prior to taking the formation proceedings to the voters.

          The regional park and open-space district law is the principal  
          act for agencies such 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 (Berge son, 1989);  
          Sacramento - SB 779 (Johnston, 1993); San Bernardino - AB 775  
          (Eaves, 1990); Santa Barbara - AB 1613 (Lempert, 2000); Sonoma -  
          AB 3630 (Filante, 1990); and, Ventura - AB 1145 (Jackson, 2002).  
           However, even after getting authorization, five of these  
          districts were never actually formed at the local level.

          In May 1998, members of the Pajaro Valley community (which is in  
          South Santa Cruz County) came together to begin a visioning  
          process about the future of the valley.  This broad-based group  
          of residents, business, agricultural, environmental, and  
          government agency representatives created the non-profit group,  
          Action Pajaro Valley, in 1999.  The group developed a  
          constructive collaborative process for planning and creating a  
          positive future for all residents of the Pajaro Valley.  One  
          result of this process is a growth management strategy, which  
          incorporates a unified set of land use policies for the Pajaro  
          Valley as a consolidated ecological region.  These areas include  
          the City of Watsonville, Green Valley Area, and the Town of  
          Pajaro.  These policies balance the valley's economic interests,  
          environmental resources, and socioeconomic needs for the next  
          20-30 years.  In the November 2002 election, City of Watsonville  
          residents passed Measure U, also known as the Orderly Growth and  
          Agricultural Protection Initiative.  This ballot initiative  








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          established an Urban Growth Area for the City of Watsonville  
          intending to: preserve Pajaro Valley farmland, create an urban  
          growth boundary that the City of Watsonville can grow into over  
          the next 20-25 years, protect the local environment, supply new  
          jobs in the City of Watsonville, and provide the opportunity for  
          new housing units.  Consistent with the vision of Measure U and  
          the citizens of Pajaro Valley, this bill requires that if the  
          district proposes to purchase any open-space land within the  
          25-year growth boundary established by Measure U then the City  
          of Watsonville must approve this action.

          In keeping with the spirit of a community wide planning process,  
          this bill establishes 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.  This committee will be made up of a  
          council member from each city in the county, one supervisor from  
          the board of supervisors, and individuals representing the  
          community's agricultural, environmental, real estate, and  
          business interest.


          Analysis Prepared by  :    Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)  
          319-3958 


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