BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 204
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Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 204 (Liu) - As Amended: August 6, 2012
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:12-0
Local Government 7-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (LACMTA) to develop a local alternative
transportation improvement program (LATIP) for the State Route
(SR) 710 North Gap Closure Project. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the LACMTA, in consultation with Caltrans and
jointly with the cities containing excess
properties-properties previously acquired but no longer needed
to construct a surface freeway in the SR 710 Study Area-to
develop and file a LATIP with the California Transportation
Commission (CTC), and stipulates that the CTC has final
authority regarding the content and approval of the LATIP.
2)Requires the CTC and Caltrans to declare the properties
acquired for the SR 710 extension in Pasadena, South Pasadena,
Alhambra, and Los Angeles as surplus state property upon
either elimination of a surface freeway alternative from
further consideration in the environmental review or
completion of the draft EIR and selection by Caltrans of the
locally preferred alternative, whichever occurs first.
Caltrans is to then proceed with selling excess properties,
and tenants of any non-residential properties are to be
offered right of first refusal to purchase at fair market
value.
3)Stipulates that all net proceeds from the sale of excess
properties are to be allocated by the CTC to fund the LATIP,
and prohibits these proceeds from being used to advance a
subsurface alternative for the SR 710 North Gap Closure
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Project.
4)Requires relocation assistance and replacement of low and
moderate income housing, as specified, for persons displaced
through implementation of the LATIP, and prohibits proceeds
from sale of the excess properties to be used for replacement
housing.
5)Authorizes LACMTA, with the CTC's concurrence, to advance a
project in the LATIP using its own funds, prior to the
availability of funds from the sale of excess property being
available.
FISCAL EFFECT
Caltrans owns 587 homes within the 710 corridor. The number of
these homes to be declared surplus will depend on the type of
project selected to replace the long-planned project for which
these homes were originally purchased by the state. Per the
bill's provisions, sale of some or all of these properties will
generate unknown but significant revenue that cannot be used to
offset costs of replacement housing, but must instead be used to
fund LATIP. Therefore, significant costs will be incurred from
some other, unidentified source, to fund the replacement
housing.
COMMENTS
1)Background . I-710 is a major north-south interstate freeway
running 23 miles through Los Angeles County-from Long Beach to
Alhambra, stopping short of the originally planned terminus in
Pasadena. Construction of the 4.5-mile segment between
Alhambra and Pasadena, through South Pasadena, has been
delayed for decades due to community opposition. Alternative
concepts have been proposed and evaluated to close the 4.5
mile gap, but none have been successful in satisfying the
regional mobility needs and community/environmental concerns.
The previous alternatives considered would traverse highly
urbanized neighborhoods and require substantial amounts of
right-of-way along the alignments.
In response to this reaction and to lessen the potential
impact of completing the SR 710, a tunnel concept was proposed
for assessment as a potential option to the surface
alternatives. The authority has completed the feasibility
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assessment of a tunnel alternative and concluded that this
concept is feasible and that no insurmountable environmental
issues would preclude further consideration of the tunnel
alternative. LACMTA is currently in the midst of an
environmental review of the SR 710 study area.
2)Purpose . SB 204 is intended to ensure that proceeds from any
disposition of these homes will be allocated to fund
alternative transportation projects within this corridor. SB
204 is similar to AB 1386 (Hayashi)/Chapter 291 of 2009, which
directed the proceeds from the sale of excess properties in
the SR 84 and SR 238 corridors to a special fund to be used to
implement LATIPs in those corridors.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081