BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1847 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 18, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT Cameron Smyth, Chair AB 1847 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: March 19, 2012 SUBJECT : City of Long Beach: grant of public trust lands. SUMMARY : Grants and conveys in trust to the City of Long Beach (City) all the right, title, and interest of the state in public trust lands known as the Bixby Park Public Trust Parcels, the Colorado Lagoon Public Trust Parcels, and the Marine Stadium Channel Public Trust Parcels. Specifically, this bill : 1)Grants and conveys in trust to the City all the right, title, and interest of the State of California in public trust lands known as the Bixby Park Public Trust Parcels, the Colorado Lagoon Public Trust Parcels, and the Marine Stadium Channel Public Trust Parcels (collectively referred to here as the "Public Trust Parcels"). 2)Terminates the leases issued from the State Lands Commission to the City for the Public Trust Parcels. 3)Requires the City to hold, operate, and manage, in trust for the benefit of the statewide public, the Public Trust Parcels in accordance with the common law Public Trust Doctrine and the terms, trusts, and conditions pursuant to Chapter 676 of the Statutes of 1911, Chapter 102 of the Statutes of 1925, Chapter 158 of the Statutes of 1935, and Chapter 138 of the First Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of 1964, as amended. 4)Makes findings and declarations that, because of the unique circumstances applicable only to the lands described above, a statute of general applicability cannot be enacted within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution, and that a special statute is necessary. EXISTING LAW : 1) Protects, pursuant to the common law Public Trust Doctrine, the public's right to use California's waterways for commerce, navigation, fishing, boating, natural habitat AB 1847 Page 2 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 (i.e. public trust lands) are to be held in trust by the state for the benefit of the people of California. 2) Requires the State Lands Commission (Commission) to be the steward and manager of the state's public trust lands. The Commission has direct administrative control over the state's public trust lands and oversight authority over public trust lands granted by the Legislature to local governments. 3) Authorizes the Commission to lease public trust lands, enter into boundary line agreements, and, in limited circumstances, exchange public trust lands for non-trust lands. 4) Granted state public trust lands to over 80 local public agencies (a.k.a. local trustees/grantees) to be managed for the benefit of all the people of the state and pursuant to the Public Trust Doctrine and terms of the applicable granting statutes. The City was granted certain public trust lands pursuant to Chapter 676, Statutes of 1911; Chapter 102, Statutes of 1925; Chapter 158, Statutes of 1935; and Chapter 138, Statutes of 1964. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal. COMMENTS : 1)This bill is intended to finalize a non-controversial land exchange between the City of Long Beach and the Commission. The end result will be the consolidation of management of the public trust lands within the City of Long Beach. AB 1847 is sponsored by the Commission. 2)According to the author, "As a result of title disputes, Long Beach and the Commission agreed on an exchange in 2001, which was Ýthe] subject of an independent lawsuit that ultimately invalidated the agreement? The new exchange returned the 'Trust Termination Parcel', which is currently occupied by the Pike shopping center, to the State Lands Commission. Before that, the parcel had been held in trust by the City of Long AB 1847 Page 3 Beach. The city also conveyed three coastal or adjacent parcels to the State Lands Commission. The State Lands Commission deeded all interest in the Pike parcel back to the City of Long Beach. It then entered the three other parcels into the State Lands' trust. The agreement requires legislation to finalize the agreement, which will return the three parcels to the City of Long Beach to be held in trust for the State Lands Commission." The City of Long Beach adds "The Queensway Bay Title Settlement and Land Exchange Agreement included a provision that requires Long Beach and the Commission to pursue legislation to include Ýthe relevant] properties in the City's statutory tidelands trust grant. AB 1847 fulfills this requirement." 3)For over 100 years, the Legislature has granted public trust lands to local public agencies so that the lands can be managed locally for the benefit of the people of California. Virtually all grants have been made by non-codified statutes. A granting statute generally explains what lands have been granted and how they are to be managed by the grantee. Without a tideland grant, the Commission has direct authority to lease or otherwise manage public trust lands within the jurisdiction of a local public agency. Section 6307 of the Public Resources Code authorizes the Commission to enter into an exchange of filled or reclaimed public trust lands for other lands if the Commission finds that, among other conditions, the exchange would enhance the physical configuration of trust land ownership, enhance public access to or along the water, or resolve boundary or title disputes. 4)In 1911, the Legislature granted to the City all filled and unfilled public trust lands within the City's boundaries. The grant required the lands and revenues therefrom to be used by the City solely for the establishment, improvement, and construction of a harbor, and for the construction, maintenance, and operation of wharves, docks, piers, slips, quays, and other utilities, structures, and appliances necessary or convenient for the promotion and accommodation of commerce and navigation. This grant was significant because it allowed for the development of the Port of Long Beach. AB 1847 Page 4 On June 23, 2011, the Commission approved a title settlement and land exchange agreement with the City in which the Commission received the Public Trust Parcels, which include 38.37 acres of land consisting of a) a bluff-top park, adjacent to existing public trust land, fronting the Pacific Ocean (the Bixby Park Public Trust Parcels); b) a tidal lagoon and surrounding beach that was sold into private ownership over one hundred years ago (the Colorado Lagoon Public Trust Parcels); and, c) an open space area that is proposed to become an open channel that will not only provide wetland habitat but also return tidal flow to the lagoon (the Marine Stadium Channel Public Trust Parcels). The Commission determined that these parcels have significant public trust value based on their location, history, and current and proposed uses. In exchange for the Public Trust Parcels, the Commission terminated the public trust in one 10.24-acre parcel that had been filled and reclaimed and is physically separated from the water by 550 feet of fill, bulkheads, and lanes of Shoreline Boulevard (the Commission had determined that this particular parcel was relatively useless for public trust purposes). The Commission then transferred the 10.24-acre parcel to the City in fee simple. 5)Since the Public Trust Parcels are not part of any previous legislative grant, the Commission has administrative control over the parcels. Rather than directly manage the lands, the Commission has issued 49 year leases to the City. These leases allow the City to manage and spend local trust revenues to improve the lands. This bill will grant the Public Trust Parcels to the City, thus bringing these lands into the same management as the rest of the City's granted public trust lands. With this grant, it is no longer necessary for the City to have leases with the Commission for these lands. According to the City of Long Beach, if this bill were not passed, the City and Commission would simply revert back to the practice of executing 49 year leases to exchange control of the properties. 6)This bill is roughly comparable in content to AB 2179 (Monning), Chapter 377, Statutes of 2010, which conveyed lands in trust to the cities of Santa Cruz and Long Beach and passed out of the Assembly Local Government Committee on consent AB 1847 Page 5 (8-0) on April 21, 2010. 7)Support arguments : This bill merely formalizes a land exchange agreement to clear up previous title disputes, and consolidates the management of the public trust lands within the City boundaries for greater efficiency. Opposition arguments : None. 8)This bill is double-referred, having passed out of the Natural Resources Committee on consent (9-0) on March 26, 2012. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support State Lands Commission ÝSPONSOR] City of Long Beach Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by : Hank Dempsey / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958