BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 253
          Author:   Levine (D)
          Amended:  9/4/13 in Senate
          Vote:     21


           SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE  :  6-0, 6/19/13
          AYES:  Wolk, Knight, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Hernandez, Liu
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Beall
          
          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           SENATE FLOOR  :  39-0, 8/26/13
          AYES:  Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Calderon, Cannella,  
            Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Evans, Fuller,  
            Gaines, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff,  
            Jackson, Knight, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Nielsen,  
            Padilla, Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Walters,  
            Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Vacancy

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-0, 5/23/13 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote


           SUBJECT  :    Floating home marinas:  conversion:  subdivision map  
          requirement

           SOURCE  :     Sausalito Floating Homes Association


           DIGEST  :    This bill extends subdivision requirements to  
          floating home marinas that apply to the conversion of mobilehome  
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          parks.

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 9/4/13 place proposed provisions of  
          law into a new section in the Business and Professions Code to  
          address potential chaptering out issues, and make technical and  
          conforming changes.
           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law defines a floating home as a  
          stationary structure that has no mode of power on its own, is  
          dependent on utilities, and has a permanent continuous hookup to  
          shoreside sewage.  They are subject to the property tax.   
          Floating home marinas are generally privately owned and charge  
          homeowners monthly berthage fees.

          The Legislature enacted the McAteer-Petris Act of 1965, which  
          created the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development  
          Commission.  Floating homes in the San Francisco Bay must comply  
          with the San Francisco Bay Plan, which limits the construction  
          and modification of floating homes.  Floating homes must also  
          comply with local regulations regarding design, safety, and  
          location.

          Owners of floating homes generally stay in the same place for  
          decades, affixed to a berth, and have created communities and  
          associations for governance.  Currently, marina residents can  
          form cooperatives or condominiums to purchase a marina, and  
          existing law provides a process for marina residents to notify a  
          marina owner of their intent to purchase the marina.  Last year,  
          at the request of residents of floating home marinas, the  
          Legislature deemed transfers of a floating home marina to an  
          entity formed by tenants purchasing the marina not be a change  
          of ownership for property tax purposes AB 2046, (Allen, Chapter  
          817, Statutes of 2012).

          This bill extends to floating home marinas several requirements  
          that apply to the conversion of mobilehome parks.

           Public report  .  Existing law requires that anyone who plans to  
          sell subdivided lands must file with the Department of Real  
          Estate an application for a public report, which includes a  
          description of the land, provisions made for public utilities,  
          any liens, and an estimate of existing or proposed assessment.   
          The purchase of a mobilehome park by a nonprofit corporation is  
          exempt from the requirement to file an application for a public  
          report if it purchases a mobilehome park, if all of the  

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          following occur:

          1.A majority of the shareholders or members of the nonprofit  
            corporation constitute a majority of the homeowners of the  
            mobilehome park, and a majority of the nonprofit corporations'  
            board directors are homeowners of the mobilehome park.

          2.All members of the corporation are residents of the mobilehome  
            park.

          3.A permit to issue securities is obtained from the Department  
            of Corporations.

          4.All tenants' funds for the purchase of the mobilehome park are  
            deposited in escrow until the document transferring title of  
            the mobilehome park to the nonprofit corporation is recorded.

          This bill exempts a floating home marina from the requirement  
          for a public report, under the same specified conditions.

           Written notice and disclosure  .  Existing law requires a  
          subdivider of a mobilehome park that is proposed to be converted  
          to resident ownership, prior to filing a notice of intention, to  
          disclose to homeowners and park residents, by written notice,  
          the tentative price of the subdivided interest proposed to be  
          sold.  The disclosure notice must include a statement that the  
          tentative price is non-binding, and the provider of the  
          information is not liable.  The notice must not be construed to  
          authorize the subdivider of a mobilehome park to offer to sell  
          or lease or accept money for the sale or lease of subdivided  
          interests in the park, or to engage in other prohibited  
          activities, with regard to subdividing the park into ownership  
          interests, before to the issuance of a public report.

          This bill requires a subdivider of a floating home marina,  
          before filing a notice of intention, to disclose to specified  
          information in writing to homeowners and residents of the  
          marina.

           Report on the impact of the conversion  .  Existing law requires a  
          subdivider, when filing a tentative or parcel map for a  
          subdivision that converts a mobilehome park to another use, to  
          file a report on the impact of the conversion on displaced  
          residents of the mobilehome park.  The report must address the  

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          availability of adequate replacement space in mobilehome parks.   
          The subdivider must make a copy of the report available to each  
          mobilehome park resident at least 15 days before an advisory  
          agency or legislative body hears the map.  The legislative body  
          that is authorized to approve, conditionally approve, or  
          disapprove the map, can require the subdivider to take any steps  
          to mitigate any adverse impact of the conversion.  Any local  
          agency may enact more stringent measures regarding local  
          regulation of conversions of mobilehome parks.  A subdivision  
          that is created from the conversion of rental to resident  
          ownership is not required to file a report on the impact of the  
          conversion on displaced residents of the mobilehome park.

          This bill requires a subdivider, at the time of filing a  
          tentative or parcel map for a subdivision that converts a  
          floating home marina to another use, to file a report, as  
          specified, on the impact of the conversion on displaced  
          residents of the floating home marina, subject to the same  
          conditions that apply to mobilehome parks.

           Conversion of rental to resident ownership  .  Existing law  
          requires a subdivider, when filing a tentative or parcel map for  
          a subdivision to be created from the conversion of a rental  
          mobilehome park to resident ownership, to avoid the economic  
          displacement of all nonpurchasing residents in a specified  
          manner.

          This bill extends the same requirements to the conversion of a  
          rental floating home marina to resident ownership.

           Petition  .  Existing law waives the requirement for a parcel map  
          or a tentative and final map when at least two-thirds of the  
          mobilehome owners, who are tenants in the mobilehome park, sign  
          a petition indicating their intent to purchase the park for  
          conversion to resident ownership, and a field survey is  
          performed, except if any of the four specified conditions exist.

          This bill waives the requirement for a parcel map or a tentative  
          and final map, when at least two-thirds of the owners of  
          floating homes who are tenants in the floating home marina sign  
          a petition indicating their intent to purchase the marina to  
          convert it to resident ownership, and if other conditions are  
          met.  The bill also specifies the form and content of the  
          floating home marina petition and disclosure statement.

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          Existing law prohibits a local agency, if a tentative or parcel  
          map is required, from imposing any offsite design or improvement  
          requirements unless they are necessary to mitigate an existing  
          health or safety condition.  The mitigation of a health or  
          safety concern must not reduce the number or change the location  
          of mobilehome spaces.

          This bill provides that the mitigation must also not reduce the  
          number or change the location of floating home marina berths.

           Comments
           
          The Subdivision Map Act allows mobile home tenants to purchase  
          their park and distribute the ownership through a common  
          interest development, like a condominium, where individual  
          owners use common property and facilities, and are governed  
          through a homeowners association.  If residents are interested  
          in purchasing the floating home marina, they have two options:   
          a condominium or a cooperative.  In a common interest  
          development, a resident would own the floating home's berth,  
          whereas in a cooperative, a resident buys a share of the marina.  
           Although existing law authorizes the formation of a cooperative  
          or condominium, AB 253 facilitates the creation of a condominium  
          association, in the event that tenants want to purchase their  
          marina as a group.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  Yes

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  9/5/13)

          Sausalito Floating Homes Association (source)
          County of Marin, Supervisor Kathrin Sears

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office, most  
          floating home marinas in California are located in Marin County,  
          with the exception of a small marina in Alameda County. Four  
          marinas consisting of nearly 500 floating homes can be found in  
          Richardson Bay in the City of Sausalito.

          Functionally, the ownership structure of a mobilehome is  
          comparable to that of a floating home.  While residents own the  
          floating home, the marinas are generally privately owned and  

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          charge the homeowners monthly berthage fees.  Should a marina  
          owner want to sell the marina, AB 253 allows a homeowner group  
          to purchase it.

          This bill will remove a significant financial barrier for the  
          floating home tenants should the situation arise in the future.   
          This legislation will also benefit marina owners who want to  
          sell their marina by providing them with a potential buyer that  
          has a vested interest in the marina.

          AB 253 simply allows owners of floating homes to come together  
          to protect their residences.

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-0, 5/23/13
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,  
            Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,  
            Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,  
            Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,  
            Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer,  
            Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor,  
            Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,  
            Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel  
            Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, 
          Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams,  
            Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Grove, Holden, Jones, Waldron, Vacancy,  
            Vacancy


          AB:ej  9/5/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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