BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1614
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1614 (Monning)
As Amended June 25, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |55-14|(March 29, |SENATE: |37-0 |(August 20, |
| | |2012) | | |2012) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. GOV.
SUMMARY : Extends the statutory sunset date for the Fort Ord
Reuse Authority (FORA).
The Senate amendments :
1)Extend the statutory sunset date for FORA by six years to June
30, 2020, (instead of 10 years, as passed by the Assembly).
2)Provide that the transition plan developed by the FORA board
shall be approved and submitted to the Monterey County Local
Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) on or before December 30,
2018, as specified.
3)Repeal outdated code sections related to FORA.
4)Make other minor, technical changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes FORA, at the request of the County of Monterey and
the Cities of Monterey, Salinas, Carmel, and Pacific Grove, in
order to create an effective governmental structure to plan
for, finance, and carry out the transfer and reuse of the base
in a cooperative, coordinated, balanced, and decisive manner
in order to achieve the following policies:
a) To transfer and reuse the real and personal property
comprising the military reservation known as Fort Ord with
all practical speed;
b) To minimize the disruption caused by the base's closure
on the civilian economy and the people of the Monterey Bay
area;
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c) To provide for the reuse and development of the base
area in ways that enhance the economy and quality of life
of the Monterey Bay community; and,
d) To maintain and protect the unique environmental
resources of the area.
1)States that FORA's purpose is to plan for, finance, and manage
the transition of the property known as Fort Ord from military
to civilian use.
2)Specifies that the member agencies of FORA are the County of
Monterey and the City of Carmel, the City of Del Rey Oaks, the
City of Marina, the City of Sand City, the City of Monterey,
the City of Pacific Grove, the City of Salinas, and the City
of Seaside.
3)Makes FORA inoperative when the FORA board determines that 80%
of the territory of Fort Ord that is designated for
development or reuse in the plan has been developed or reused
in a manner consistent with the plan adopted or revised, or
June 30, 2014, whichever occurs first.
4)Requires the Monterey County LAFCO to provide for the orderly
dissolution of FORA, including ensuring that all contracts,
agreements, and pledges to pay or repay money entered into by
the authority are honored and properly administered, and that
all assets of the authority are appropriately transferred.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Extended the statutory sunset date of the FORA from June 30,
2014, to June 30, 2024.
2)Required the FORA board to approve and submit a transition
plan to the Monterey County Local Agency Formation Commission
(LAFCO) on or before December 30, 2022, or 18 months before
the anticipated inoperability date, whichever occurs first.
3)Specified that the transition plan shall assign assets and
liabilities, designate responsible successor agencies, and
provide a schedule of remaining obligations.
4)Required the transition plan to be approved by a majority vote
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of the FORA board.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : Fort Ord is located in northern Monterey County
generally between the cities of Monterey to the southeast and
Salinas to the northeast. It borders Monterey Bay to the west
and extends from the City of Seaside in the south to the City of
Marina in the north and to the Salinas River to the east
encompassing 45 square miles and covering over 28,000 acres.
The Fort Ord Base closure announcement occurred in 1991,
generating a mixture of disbelief, economic impacts and
excitement about potential reuse. This land had been part of
the history of Monterey County on the Monterey Peninsula since
1917. Within months, a series of meetings were initiated to
discuss recovery from the significant closure impacts by
creating a "vision" for reuse. The meetings included broad
participation from the community including residents,
businesses, government, special districts, among others. From
those meetings, it was agreed that reuse should focus on
education, environment, and economic development (the "three
E's" of Fort Ord Reuse).
Initial efforts to organize governance for reuse faltered.
State Senator Henry Mello sponsored special legislation to
establish a local agency charged with the task of planning,
financing, and implementing reuse. That agency was entitled the
"Fort Ord Reuse Authority," and was formed in 1994. FORA has a
governing body of 13 voting members and 11 non-voting members,
and is comprised of representatives from cities, Monterey
County, special districts, public educational institutions, the
military, and state and federal legislators. It is FORA's
responsibility to complete the planning, financing, and
implementation of reuse as described in the FORA Base Reuse Plan
(Plan) that was adopted in 1997. FORA's organizational
structure is set to sunset in 2014.
Delay and restrictions are probably the most important and
costly factors affecting reuse of the former Fort Ord. The
biggest unforeseen problem that was encountered was a regional
community interest lawsuit against the Army regarding its
munitions removal processing which delayed property transfers
for five years. This caused the delay of early project
approvals and resulted in all of the reuse projects being
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subjected to the economic recession of the past decade. Other
factors contributing to the goals of FORA's recovery not being
met were that the scope of the munitions and explosives
remediation was greater and more costly than anticipated, and
that federal and state Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) approval
delays precluded progress.
The current economic cycle is further exacerbating the delay.
Due to all of these circumstances, FORA's June 30, 2014, sunset
date, which anticipated that 80% of the reuse recovery plan
would be completed, cannot be achieved. Fort Ord reuse is
currently 17-20% complete - not near the expected 80%.
According to the author, if FORA is not extended, its work must
be performed by other local agencies who are not equipped to
fulfill ongoing and fixed term obligations on Fort Ord such as
munitions and explosives removal, HCP implementation, financing
contaminated building deconstruction, and coordinating planning
and construction of the Central Coast Veterans Cemetery. These
entities also lack the regional authority that prompted the
Legislature to create FORA, and would most likely result in work
being either delayed or not being performed.
The author believes that there remains a need for a broad
regional authority to oversee the reuse of the former Fort Ord
military base. Extending FORA's sunset date allows local
collaboration to continue to implement the FORA recovery
program, and to enhance the economy and quality of life in the
Monterey Bay community and the California Central Coast.
Although some local organizations have asked the author for many
different types of amendments to the FORA Act, the author's
intent with this bill is to focus on issues directly related to
extending FORA's sunset date. The author believes that "with
the exception of including a requirement for a transition plan
for the phase-out of FORA, the suggested amendments are not
directly linked to the sunset date and will compromise the
chances of AB 1614 taking effect. Additional issues, including
but not limited to land use decisions, updating the Base Reuse
Plan, reducing FORA's appeal fee, and the governance structure,
should not be considered at the state level without local
consideration first."
Support arguments: Supporters are concerned that if FORA were
to sunset on June 30, 2014, the regional planning and
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coordination work would be transferred to a yet-to-be determined
local agency or agencies, unprepared to fulfill the ongoing and
fixed term obligation on Fort Ord.
Opposition arguments: Opponents may argue that this bill does
not go far enough and that the overall structure and duties of
FORA should be expanded to take a different regional approach
that cuts across local governments, non-profits, and educational
facilities in Monterey County.
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958
FN: 0004318