BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2649 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 2649 (Ammiano) - As Amended: May 2, 2012 Policy Committee: Local GovernmentVote:9-0 Natural Resources 8-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill authorizes the State Lands Commission to remove the use requirements of the public trust for the property known as seawall lot 322-1. Specifically, this bill: 1)Allows for the development of affordable housing on seawall lot 322-1 and other designated seawall lots. 2)Authorizes the Port of San Francisco to sell the transferable development rights in connection with a historical pier or historical resource on Port property. 3)Requires the Port to provide the State Lands Commission with necessary information when the commission is asked to remove the use requirement from the specified property. 4)Provides the State Lands Commission can remove the use requirement of the public trust only until January 1, 2094. FISCAL EFFECT Minor and absorbable costs to the State Lands Commission. COMMENTS 1)Purpose . According to the author, the Port is currently pursuing market rate housing at several seawall lots that are no longer needed for trust purposes. The Port has directed staff to explore the feasibility of developing affordable housing on seawall lots no longer required for trust purposes AB 2649 Page 2 as well. The author notes, for affordable housing to be feasible on a seawall lot, the Port would need legislative authorization to lease the site for affordable housing at a below market rate. 2)Support. This bill, sponsored by the Port of San Francisco, would free Seawall 322-1 from trust use restrictions, authorize affordable housing at that site, and permit the City and County of San Francisco to lease the site below market rate in exchange for Jobs-Housing Linkage fee credits at another waterfront site. The proposal would be subject to an agreement by the SLC, and the Port would offer the site below market rate to the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing. 3)Background. Existing law protects, pursuant to the common law doctrine of the public trust, 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. 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. For over 100 years, the Legislature has granted public trust lands to local governments so the lands can be managed locally for the benefit of the people of California. There are over 80 trustees in the state, including the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond, Benicia and Eureka. While these trust lands are managed locally, SLC has oversight authority to ensure those local trustees are complying with the public trust doctrine and the applicable granting statutes. 4)Previous legislation . AB 418 (Ammiano), Chapter 477, Statutes of 2011, authorized two exchanges of public trust lands in San Francisco and placed a variety of conditions on the exchanges and the uses of the current public trust lands AB 2649 Page 3 Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081