BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 418
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 21, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 418 (Ammiano) - As Introduced: February 14, 2011
SUBJECT : Tidelands and submerged lands: City and County of San
Francisco: Pier 70
SUMMARY : Authorizes the State Lands Commission to approve and
effectuate a land exchange involving public trust lands within
the Pier 70 area in San Francisco for the purpose of
facilitating the Port of San Francisco's redevelopment plans.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Protects, pursuant to the common law doctrine of the public
trust (Public Trust Doctrine), the public's right to use
California's waterways for commerce, navigation, fishing,
boating, natural habitat protection, and other water oriented
activities. The Public Trust Doctrine provides that filled
and unfilled tide and submerged lands and the beds of lakes,
streams, and other navigable waterways (public trust lands)
are to be held in trust by the state for the benefit of the
people of California.
2)Establishes that the State Lands Commission (SLC) is the
steward and manager of the state's public trust lands. SLC
has direct administrative control over the state's public
trust lands and oversight authority over public trust lands
granted by the Legislature to local public agencies (granted
lands).
3)Allows SLC to lease trust lands, enter into boundary line
agreements, and in limited circumstances exchange public trust
lands for non-trust lands.
4)Grants in trust to the Port of San Francisco (Port), pursuant
to the Burton Act (Chapter 1333 of the Statutes of 1968),
administrative control over the public trust lands in the
harbor of San Francisco for purposes of commerce, navigation,
and fisheries and subject to other terms and conditions
specified in the act.
THIS BILL:
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1)Authorizes SLC to approve and effectuate a land exchange
involving public trust lands within the Pier 70 area in San
Francisco provided in part that:
a) The public trust lands exchanged out of the trust (1)
have been filled, reclaimed, and are cut off from access to
waters of the San Francisco Bay, (2) are relatively useless
for public trust purposes, and (3) constitute a relatively
small portion of the granted lands within the city.
b) The lands to be received into the trust have a monetary
value equal to or greater than the monetary value of lands
to be exchanged out of the trust.
c) The exchange will not substantially interfere with trust
uses and purposes, and the lands impressed with the trust
will provide significant benefit to the trust.
d) The applicable state agencies have approved a risk
management plan or remedial action plan sufficient to
protect human health and the environment from hazardous
substances in the Pier 70 area, the Port is in compliance
with the approved plan, and the Port has provided adequate
financial assurances to ensure continuing compliance with
the plan.
e) The Port and San Francisco board of supervisors have
approved the exchang.
f) The exchange furthers the purpose of the public trust
and is in the best interest of the statewide public.
2)Requires SLC to grant the lands received into the trust as a
result of the exchange to the Port. These granted lands are
to be managed by the Port pursuant to the Public Trust
Doctrine and the Burton Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Pier 70. Pier 70 is a Port site that is approximately 67
acres located in San Francisco's Central Waterfront, sitting
at the foot of Potrero Hill and generally located between
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Mariposa and 22nd Street, east of Illinois Street. It is home
to a handful of the oldest and most photogenic buildings in
San Francisco and receives a tremendous amount of sunshine
compared to other parts of the city. This site has been
identified as a future National Historic District due to its
over 150 years of continuous operations in ship building and
repair, the role it has played in the industrialization of the
western United States, the war efforts, and architectural and
engineering feats. Despite its desirable climate and
historical features, Pier 70 is in need of major
rehabilitation as a result of dilapidated and unsafe
structures as well as contamination that occurred during its
long history of industrial use.
In 2007, the Port commenced a public process to develop a
master plan for Pier 70. In November 2008, the San Francisco
voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition D, which creates a
variety of financing mechanisms to help fund the Port's
renovation and redevelopment of Pier 70. In April 2010,
following an extensive public planning process, the Port
published its Pier 70 master plan.
The Port's vision for Pier 70, as articulated in the master
plan, is to "create a vibrant and authentic historic district
that re-establishes the historic activity level, activates new
waterfront open spaces, creates a center for innovative
industries, and integrates ongoing ship repair operations."
The master plan specifically calls for maintaining
approximately 17 acres of the site for ship repair with the
goal of preserving the long-term viability of the ship repair
industry. The remaining 50 acres will consist of 700,000
square feet of new uses within historic buildings; 11 acres of
open space along the shoreline and up to 9 additional acres of
open space integrated within the development; 3 million square
feet of compatible infill development; and infrastructure
construction and environmental remediation. The master plan's
conceptual development program estimates that development will
generate 6,000 to 8,000 new jobs and become a major economic
stimulus to San Francisco's local economy.
At the end of the 2010 legislative session, AB 1199 (Ammiano)
was passed, which will allow an infrastructure financing
district (IFD) for Pier 70 to capture 90 percent of the growth
in property taxes from Port revitalization efforts in the Pier
70 area. AB 1199 will also require the Port to spend at least
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20 percent of total Pier 70 IFD revenues on waterfront parks
and public access to San Francisco Bay, environmental
remediation of the contaminated shoreline, and removal of bay
fill.
2)Public Trust Lands. In 1968, the Legislature enacted the
Burton Act, which granted the Port administrative control over
the public trust lands in the harbor of San Francisco. The
Port holds these lands in trust for the benefit of the people
of California for public trust purposes. SLC has oversight
authority over the Port's public trust land to ensure
compliance with the Burton Act and the Public Trust Doctrine.
Pier 70 is generally made up of public trust lands. As part
of its Pier 70 master plan, the Port would like to develop
non-trust uses in areas that it believes are least suitable
for public trust uses. The contemplated non-trust development
includes cultural, institutional, office, biotech, other
commercial, and perhaps a limited amount of residential uses.
To legally develop these non-trust uses, the trust must be
lifted from various parcels.
SLC has authority under Section 6307 of the Public Resources
Code to enter into an exchange of filled or reclaimed public
trust lands for other lands if SLC finds, among other things,
that the lands to be acquired in the exchange will provide a
significant benefit to the public trust; the lands given in
exchange are filled or reclaimed and have been cut off from
water access; and the exchange is for purposes such as
enhancing waterfront and nearshore development or
redevelopment for public trust purposes.
The exchange that is proposed in this bill could be
accomplished by SLC exercising its existing authority under
Section 6307 of the Public Resources Code. However, approving
an exchange through legislation has several advantages.
First, the public process associated with the legislation
brings additional transparency and public participation to the
exchange. Second, the Legislature can provide SLC detailed
exchange guidelines that are tailored to the specific areas
involved. Lastly, the Legislature can authorize SLC to convey
the newly acquired trust lands to the local trustee-without
this legislation, SLC would have to lease the land to the
local trustee until future granting legislation is passed.
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3)Previous Grant Legislation. The Legislature recently approved
two public trust land exchange bills involving San Francisco
and redevelopment projects. SB 792 (Leno), which passed in
2010, authorized SLC to approve and effectuate a land exchange
involving public trust lands located at Candlestick Point and
the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. SB 815 (Migden),
which passed in 2007, authorized SLC to approve and effectuate
a land exchange at Treasure Island.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
City and County of San Francisco
Port of San Francisco
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092