AB 735,
as amended, Gomez. begin deleteLos Angeles River Rehabilitation Project. end deletebegin insertGreenway Initiative.end insert
Existing lawbegin delete, the Los Angeles County Flood Control Act, establishes the Los Angeles County Flood Control District and authorizes the district to control and conserve the flood, storm, and other wastewater of the district. Under existing law, the act includes in the objects and purposes of the district to provide for public use of navigable waterways under the district’s control that are suitable for recreational and educational purposes, when these purposes are not inconsistent with the use thereof by the district for flood control and water conservation. Existing law alsoend delete establishes various plans and programs intended to preserve, protect, and rehabilitate lands adjacent to rivers in the state.
This bill would, until July 1, 2020, require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to establish a Los Angeles River Rehabilitation Project policy committee, which would include members of appropriate public agencies, nonprofits, stakeholders, developers, cities, and environmental organizations to assist in the development and rehabilitation of the Los Angeles River. The bill would require that the secretary collaborate with and establish a cooperative working relationship with public agencies that are affected by the project and consider all existing Los Angeles River rehabilitation plans in effect in implementing actions pursuant to the provisions of the bill. The bill would require that the Natural Resources Agency use existing state resources and available federal funds to implement the provisions of the bill and would authorize the agency to apply for and accept grants, donations, and other financial support from public or private sources for purposes of those provisions.
end deleteThis bill would establish the statewide Greenway Initiative, which is intended to promote the development of greenways along rivers in the state, including the development of a greenway along the Los Angeles River. The bill would define the term “greenway” for purposes of the bill, and would authorize a city, county, city and county, or other local government entity to designate lands along a river in its jurisdiction, upon approval of its legislative body by ordinance or resolution, or by incorporating such a designation into an adopted general plan element or adopted river master plan and to apply for public or private funding available for the development of a greenway in its jurisdiction, to the extent any funds secured for that purpose are used in a manner consistent with state laws.
end insertVote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares
2all of the following:
3(1) A Los Angeles River Rehabilitation Project would foster
4job creation by investing in parks and multiuse public trails.
5(2) The Los Angeles River Rehabilitation Project would improve
6the conditions of daily life along the river in a safe environment
7that promotes walking, jogging, biking, recreation, and living along
8the Los Angeles River.
9(3) The Los Angeles River Rehabilitation Project would directly
10improve the quality of life in Los Angeles by providing important
11recreational, open-space, wildlife, flood-management,
12water-quality, and urban waterfront revitalization benefits to
13communities.
P3 1(4) The Los Angeles River Rehabilitation Project would foster
2livable communities through placemaking that provides public
3amenities, links communities, reduces residential segregation, and
4facilitates healthy behaviors.
5(5) The Los Angeles River Rehabilitation Project would support
6linkages to community and economic development similar to other
7transit oriented developments.
8(1) Open-space land is necessary not only for the maintenance
9of the economy of the state, but for, among other purposes, the
10enjoyment of scenic beauty, for recreation, and for the use and
11preservation of natural resources. Moreover, the growing
12population of the state makes it important that existing open-space
13resources be preserved and well maintained, and that access to
14those resources be ensured for the health benefits and well-being
15of the state’s population. The preservation of open-space land is
16especially critical in urban areas where the amount of usable
17open-space land is limited.
18(2) Open-space land provides relief from the effects of urban
19congestion and opportunities for relaxation, exercise, community
20interaction, and the observation and appreciation of
wildlife, which
21helps to combat both physical and psychological stress by offering
22outdoor, open-space land for recreation and physical activity in
23urban areas. Trees located on open-space land also provide shade
24and help reduce ambient temperatures and restore oxygen to the
25atmosphere.
26(3) Greenways are public infrastructure located along natural
27landscape features such as urban watercourses, which, because
28of their linear structure, help to physically and psychologically
29connect various neighborhoods with one another while providing
30a means of habitat connectivity.
31(4) Greenways can directly improve the quality of life in
32communities by providing important
recreational, open-space
33land, wildlife, flood management, water quality, air quality,
34transportation, emergency response, and urban waterfront
35revitalization benefits to those communities.
36(5) Greenways can foster livable communities by utilizing public
37lands for multiple, complementary purposes, such as placemaking,
38connecting diverse communities, reducing dependence on
39automobiles, expanding nonmotorized transportation networks
40with safer routes to jobs, homes, and schools, encouraging more
P4 1transit-oriented development, and facilitating healthier behaviors
2by providing opportunities for exercise and the maintenance of a
3healthy, active lifestyle.
4(6) Greenways can
be complemented and enhanced by installing
5public amenities and public-serving retail and services that provide
6additional access to historically underserved urban communities.
7Greenways also attract residents and visitors, and increase public
8safety by fostering improved civic vigilance. Other public-private
9partnerships in greenways in cities throughout the world have
10demonstrated the effectiveness and benefits of sustainable and
11successful public-private partnerships.
12(7) Greenways encourage healthier residential communities by
13facilitating development that allows people to live closer to job
14centers and use public transportation alternatives.
15(8) Greenways reduce
the amount of parking necessary for
16small businesses because of reduced automobile traffic, encourage
17the development of affordable housing in urban areas, and promote
18walking and cycling and increased community interaction.
19(9) Greenways encourage economic investment and community
20revitalization by connecting people in new ways.
21(b) The Legislature finds and declares the following with regard
22to the development of a greenway along the Los Angeles River:
23(1) The Los Angeles River is a site that is
particularly suited
24for the development of a greenway. A Los Angeles River greenway
25that focuses on public-private partnerships aimed at establishing
26a continuous pedestrian bikeway along the Los Angeles River and
27its key tributaries would foster job creation, economic development,
28and community revitalization.
29(2) A Los Angeles River greenway that establishes a continuous
30pedestrian bikeway along the Los Angeles River and its key
31tributaries would encourage community revitalization by investing
32in an efficient cycling and walking recreational transit route
33following the 51-mile Los Angeles River corridor. The greenway
34would also connect existing communities along the Los Angeles
35River to a network of parks and multiuse public trails.
36(3) A Los Angeles River greenway would build upon a long
37history of support for a multiuse greenway network along the most
38significant river in the nation’s second largest city. Since the 1980s,
39residents of the Los Angeles area have been advocating for the
40development of a trail network along the Los Angeles River. The
P5 1County of Los Angeles’ Los Angeles River Master Plan in 1996,
2the City of Los Angeles’ Los Angeles River Revitalization Master
3Plan in 2007, the City of Los Angeles Bicycle Plan in 2010, the
4County of Los Angeles Bicycle Plan in 2012, and President
5Obama’s prioritization of the Los Angeles River trail system in
6the President’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative in 2012 all
7promote the development of a river trail system along the Los
8Angeles River.
9(4) A Los
Angeles River greenway would build upon a long
10history of investment by the state in the development of parks and
11trails along the Los Angeles River, including Rio de Los Angeles
12State Park and Los Angeles State Historic Park. Moreover, a Los
13Angeles River greenway would complement the work of key state
14entities, including the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and
15various other state rivers and mountains conservancies.
16(5) Because of its ability to leverage private investments to
17match commitments of public funds, the development of a Los
18Angeles River greenway by the City of Los Angeles would allow
19the state to concentrate and streamline investments it has already
20made in communities adjacent to the Los Angeles River, and would
21provide a funding model for types of investments funding
22greenways that may be replicated in other priority
urban
23waterways in the future.
24(6) Given the current fiscal constraints facing public agencies,
25it is time for the state to acknowledge and take advantage of the
26ability of private sector investments to sustain public infrastructure
27at all levels. Efforts to promote investment in the Los Angeles River
28trail system should be encouraged to prevent partial, disjointed,
29and inefficient development of the trail system.
30(7) A Los Angeles River greenway would provide a social and
31natural resource amenity that would be complete and accessible
32to the public in the next seven years, and would be a resource that
33will be able to be utilized and enjoyed by children in the Los
34
Angeles area during their childhood years.
35(8) A Los Angeles River greenway would improve the conditions
36of daily life in Los Angeles’ urban communities and would increase
37the value of the state’s investments while providing critically
38needed, tangible urban waterway revitalization in the Los Angeles
39area.
P6 1(9) A greenway should be established in the area encompassing
2the Los Angeles River from its headwaters in the Community of
3Canoga Park to a point of discharge into the Pacific Ocean at San
4Pedro Bay in the City of Long Beach, with a width of one-quarter
5to one mile on both banks and at least one mile upstream along
6both banks of its tributaries, as feasible. Within
the City of Los
7Angeles, the greenway could be coterminous with the area included
8in the Los Angeles River Improvement Overlay district.
9(10) The County of Los Angeles’ Los Angeles River Master Plan
10and the City of Los Angeles’ Los Angeles River Revitalization
11Master Plan call for the development of a greenway along the Los
12Angeles River.
13(b)
end delete
14begin insert (c)end insert It is therefore the intent of the Legislature in enacting
15Chapter 10.5 (commencing with Section 5845) of Division 5 of
16the Public Resources Code to begin deletesupport rehabilitation
and
17development along the Los Angeles River.end delete
18development of greenways along rivers in the state through public
19and private partnership, including the development of a greenway
20along the Los Angeles River.end insert
Chapter 10.5 (commencing with Section 5845) is added
22to Division 5 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
23
(a) For purposes of this chapter, “agency” means the Natural Resources Agency.
(b) For purposes of this chapter, “secretary” means the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency.
(a) The secretary shall establish a Los Angeles River Rehabilitation Project policy committee, which shall include representatives from appropriate agencies, nonprofits, stakeholders, developers, cities, and environmental organization, to assist in the development and rehabilitation of the Los Angeles River.
(b) The secretary shall collaborate with and establish a cooperative working relationship with public agencies that are affected by the project, and shall consider all existing Los Angeles River rehabilitation plans in effect pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 5753 in implementing actions pursuant to this chapter.
The agency shall use existing state resources and available federal funds to implement this chapter. If state or federal funds are not available or sufficient, the office may apply for and accept grants and receive donations and other financial support from public or private sources for purposes of these sections.
This chapter shall become inoperative on July 1, 2020.
For purposes of this chapter, “greenway” means a pedestrian and bicycle, nonmotorized vehicle transportation, and recreational travel corridor that meets the following requirements:
(a) Is a travel corridor that is separated and protected from shared roadways that parallels an urban waterway and incorporates both ease of access to adjacent communities and an array of amenities and services for the users of the corridor and nearby communities.
(b) Is publicly accessible and located on a combination of public and private lands, if public access to those lands is provided by lands owned in fee simple, leases, or easements.
(c) Reflects design standards with appropriate widths, clearances, and setbacks from obstructions, and centerlines protecting directional travel, where appropriate.
(d) Incorporates appropriate landscaping, lighting, public amenities, and art.
(a) A city, county, city and county, or other local government entity may designate lands along a river in its jurisdiction as a greenway, upon approval of its legislative body by ordinance or resolution, or by incorporating such a designation into an adopted general plan element or an adopted river master plan.
(b) A city, county, city and county, or other local government entity may adopt ordinances that regulate public health and safety or traffic within a designated greenway in its jurisdiction.
A city, county, city and county, or other local government entity may apply for public or private funding available for the development of a greenway in its jurisdiction, to the extent any funds secured for that purpose are used in a manner consistent with applicable state laws.
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