BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 121
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 10, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Chair
AB 121 (Dickinson) - As Amended: April 1, 2013
SUBJECT : Counties: disposition of real property.
SUMMARY : Provides an exemption from current law governing the
disposition of county property to allow Sacramento County to
sell or lease its property on the former Mather Air Force Base
or McClellan Air Force Base under specified conditions.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors (Board), by
a four-fifths vote of the board, to sell, or enter into a
lease, concession, or managerial contract involving a
specified area of county property that the county has acquired
from the federal government due to the closure of Mather Air
Force Base (AFB) or McClellan AFB, without otherwise complying
with current law governing the disposition of county property.
2)Requires the Board to take action as specified above only if
the following conditions are met, or if the Board makes a
finding in a noticed public hearing that the following
conditions were met at the time the property was acquired from
the federal government:
a) Reuse of the property is governed solely by the county;
b) The county has prepared and adopted a general or
specific plan pursuant to current law, as specified, and
has adopted a zoning ordinance for the area, and the
proposed use is consistent with that general or specific
plan and the zoning ordinance;
c) The airport land use commission has prepared and adopted
a comprehensive airport land use plan for the area pursuant
to current law, as specified, and the proposed use is
consistent with that plan;
d) The county has complied with current law governing the
disposition of surplus land and the conformity of real
property acquisition or disposition with its general plan
with regard to the property, as specified; and,
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e) The county has given notice in a regularly-published
newspaper, as specified, and posted the notice in the
office of the county clerk. The notice shall specify the
date that the Board determines that any of the affected
property shall be subject to this bill, and shall include
all of the following:
i) A description of the property proposed to be sold,
leased, or subject to a concession or managerial contract
pursuant to this bill;
ii) The proposed terms of the sale, lease, concession,
or managerial contract;
iii) The location where offers will be accepted and
executed; and,
iv) The telephone number and address of the county
officer responsible for executing the sale, lease,
concession, or managerial contract.
3)Finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a
general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of
Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the unique needs of the County of Sacramento
relative to the disposition of the property acquired by the
county from the federal government pursuant to the closure of
Mather AFB and McClellan AFB.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prescribes the procedures that counties must follow when
leasing or selling real property.
2)Requires the county board of supervisors, before ordering the
sale or lease of any property, in a regular open meeting, by a
two-thirds vote of all its members, to adopt a resolution,
declaring its intention to sell the property, or a resolution
declaring its intention to lease it, as the case may be. The
resolution shall describe the property proposed to be sold, or
leased, in a manner as to identify it and shall specify the
minimum price, or rental, and the terms upon which it will be
sold, or leased, and shall fix a time, not less than three
weeks thereafter for a public meeting of the board of
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supervisors to be held at its regular place of meeting, at
which sealed proposals to purchase or lease will be received
and considered.
3)Requires, at the time and place fixed in the resolution for
the meeting of the board of supervisors, all sealed proposals
which have been received to, in public session, be opened,
examined, and declared by the board. Of the proposals
submitted which conform to all terms and conditions specified
in the resolution of intention to sell or to lease and which
are made by responsible bidders, the proposal which is the
highest shall be finally accepted, unless a higher oral bid is
accepted or the board rejects all bids.
4)Provides several limited exemptions to these procedures for a
variety of public purposes.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)This bill allows Sacramento County to sell or lease real
property on the former Mather AFB or McClellan AFB without
having to follow all of the requirements in current law
governing the disposition of county property. According to
the author, "Mather and McClellan were designated as
redevelopment areas and the tools that came with redevelopment
were advantageous for the County and a number of successful
property sales were accomplished via the Sacramento Housing
and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA). Over 200 acres with 2.5
million square feet of Class A office space was developed in
the Mather Commerce Center with the assistance of SHRA.
Redevelopment is no longer available for the county to use in
the continued development of Mather and McClellan."
"Without this exemption (that AB 121 provides), the County
would be required to sell to the highest bidder, regardless of
how the bidder's long-term plans for the site conflict with
the County, and undertake Requests for Proposals (RFPs), a
time consuming and labor intensive practice."
This bill is sponsored by the Sacramento County Board of
Supervisors.
2)Current law requires counties to follow specified procedures
when disposing of surplus property. These requirements are in
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place to provide transparency and protect the public's tax
dollars, and include a two-thirds vote of the county board of
supervisors, advance public notice and a public hearing,
minimum sale price, sale terms, and a bid process that can be
observed by the public. However, these procedures are lengthy
and the required competitive sealed-bid process, which is open
to anyone, can run counter to a county's intent for the
property's highest and best use, the author contends.
3)Redeveloping former military bases poses unique challenges.
Both Mather and McClellan are designated Superfund sites, with
a variety of contaminants and other hazards that require
remediation and a developer with the expertise and resources
to handle such complex work. The competitive bid process
requires the county to accept the highest responsible bidder,
regardless of that contractor's track record in redeveloping
brownfield sites like former AFBs.
4)This bill re-enacts an exemption that was originally enacted
in 1997 and expired January 1, 2011. According to the author,
this exemption was instrumental in a public/private sales
contract for more than 800 acres of property in the southeast
corner of Mather in 2010. The purchase agreement was
originally for 639 acres, and was recently amended to add
additional acreage for opportunities. The exemption was used
as the legal basis to contract with the developer, which will
master plan the 800 acres as a mixed use development that is
expected to generate 3,600 construction jobs and 3,000
permanent jobs.
Sacramento County expects to rely on the exemption proposed in
this bill to develop areas at Mather that were adopted as part
of Sacramento County's Mather Field Specific Plan in 1997.
The sponsor reports that the exact development will depend on
many factors, including the market, and that the primary
objective of a 357-acre airport commercial area is to create
an airport business park complex that is oriented to air
cargo, aircraft maintenance, general aviation and airport
support uses. This area is adjacent to the Mather Airport
runway, one of the largest runways in the state, which makes
it attractive for related commercial development and job
creation. Development could include aircraft maintenance
facilities, facilities for manufacturing small- to
medium-sized aircraft, aircraft sales, aircraft storage,
public sector and private industrial and distribution centers,
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and facilities for aerial photography and survey companies.
The primary objective of an 89-acre adjacent commercial
development area would consist of facilities in support of the
airport development as well as general commercial facilities,
such as food and service industries and limited retail
facilities.
5)A similar bill, SB 1546 (Cannella, 2012), was introduced last
year allowing a county that owns real property on a converted
military base to sell that real property or any interest
therein in the manner and upon the terms and conditions
approved by the board of supervisors without complying with
state laws governing the sale of county-owned real property,
upon a finding that the sale is in the public interest. SB
1546 died in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee.
6)Committee amendments : Some of the land slated for development
on the AFBs was previously held by Sacramento's redevelopment
agency (RDA). There is also an incorrect code reference in
the bill. In order to provide the correct code reference, and
to ensure that the disposition of lands formerly in Sacramento
County's RDA remains consistent with current law governing
this process for former RDAs and their successor agencies, the
Committee may wish to consider the following amendments:
a) On page 2, in line 32, strike out "23501.1" and add
"25350.1"
b) On page 3, after line 11, add "(c) Nothing in this
section releases the County of Sacramento from complying
with the provisions set forth in Chapter 9 (commencing with
Section 34191.1) of Part 1.85 of Division 24 of the Health
and Safety Code, if the property was in a former
redevelopment area."
7)Support arguments : "Under AB 121, the County would continue
to comply with all the original conditions of the exemption,
such as the requirement that the Sacramento County Board of
Supervisors take action at a noticed public hearing. The
authority for the County to continue to directly negotiate
with interested developers in AB 121 is critical to
revitalizing these two important economic assets in our region
and additional time is required."
Opposition arguments : Opponents could argue that the
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competitive bid process is the most effective method to garner
the highest price for public lands and, thus, the best
protection for taxpayer dollars.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Sacramento County Board of Supervisors [SPONSOR]
Merced County Board of Supervisors (support if amended)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958