BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1962
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 2, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
AB 1962 (Allen) - As Amended: March 29, 2012
SUBJECT : Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District.
SUMMARY : Repeals the requirement that the Sonoma-Marin Area
Rail Transit (SMART) District comply with the advisory design
review process of a local jurisdiction within which any rail
transit facility will be constructed.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates the SMART District to provide for a unified,
comprehensive institutional structure for the ownership and
governance of a passenger rail system within the Counties of
Sonoma and Marin, and establishes a comprehensive set of
powers and duties regarding the formation, governance,
organization, maintenance, operation and potential dissolution
of the district.
2)Prescribes the membership of the SMART board of directors to
include:
a) Two members of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors;
b) Two members of the Marin Board of Supervisors;
c) Three members, each of whom must be a mayor or city
council member of a city or town in Sonoma County;
d) One member from the City of Novato;
e) One member from the City of San Rafael;
f) One member from a city or town in Marin; and,
g) Two members of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and
Transportation District.
3)Provides that provisions governing local agencies generally do
not apply to SMART, including requirements that every local
agency comply with all applicable building and zoning
AB 1962
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ordinances of the county or city in which the local agency is
situated.
4)Provides that any transit-oriented joint development project
created by SMART must comply with land use and zoning
regulations of the city, county, or city and county in which
the project is located.
5)Enumerates the powers and duties of the district relative to
acquiring, maintaining, and operating transit facilities.
6)Requires the district to comply with the design review process
of a local agency in cases where transit facilities may be
constructed within their boundaries, provided that the design
and review and approval of a local agency shall be for
advisory purposes only.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)This bill would eliminate the requirement that the SMART
district continue to comply with the advisory design review
processes required by the local jurisdictions in which SMART
operates. The measure is sponsored by the SMART District.
2)AB 2224 (Nation), Chapter 341, Statutes of 2002, created the
SMART District and established a comprehensive set of powers
and duties regarding the formation, governance, organization,
maintenance, operation and potential dissolution of the
district. In 2008, voters approved Measure Q in the Counties
of Sonoma and Marin to impose a -cent sales tax for 20 years.
The rail line itself currently carries only freight, but the
design phase for the passenger rail element has been completed
and the construction phase has begun.
3)According to the author, the elimination of the advisory
design-review process in Public Utilities Code section 105096
is in keeping with the spirit of AB 2224 that authorized rail
transit facilities and services: "The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail
Transit ÝDistrict] is already exempted from local ordinances
and planning procedures. The individual stations are not
required to go through the planning commission process, and
the advisory role of the design review board may be used as a
delay tactic by opponents of the project?"
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The author further contends that SMART "already has a design
review process for their rail stations, making a required
hearing by each local design review board redundant. As the
enacting legislation has already declared design review to be
'for advisory purposes only', it is believed that subsection
(c) provides no benefit to the implementation of ÝSMART]."
Local design review boards overseeing a rail transit facility
would look at, for example, the design of stations, platforms,
switches, yards, terminals and parking lots for the primary
purpose of determining compliance with zoning ordinances. This
project is statutorily exempt from local zoning provisions. As
noted above, the design phase for the project has already been
completed, and construction has begun.
4)Support arguments : According to the SMART District
chairwoman, "?it is essential that the construction of the
SMART system not be disrupted or delayed by the discretionary
reviews of local design review boards. While formal design
reviews are a useful tool for vetting development projects in
our communities, they are not an ideal tool for examining
minor details of a public works project now in construction,
particularly when those reviews are merely advisory."
Opposition arguments : The deletion of the individual local
advisory design review board requirement unnecessarily
silences individual local design review boards and makes it
more difficult for them to have input into the design review
process.
5)This bill was heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee
on April 16, 2012, and was approved on a 13-0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
SMART District ÝSPONSOR]
City of Santa Rosa
City of Rohnert Park
Marin Builders Association
Flasher Barricade Association
Opposition
AB 1962
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Hank Dempsey / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958