BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1995
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1995 (Levine)
As Amended June 30, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(April 10, |SENATE: |35-0 |(August 7, |
| | |2014) | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. GOV.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Bel Marin Keys Community Services
District (District) to enforce covenants, conditions, and
restrictions (CC&Rs).
The Senate amendments :
1)Authorize the District to enforce all or part of CC&Rs for a
tract, and to assume the duties of the architectural control
committee (ACC), to the extent that a tract's CC&Rs authorize
an ACC.
2)Require, before the District can enforce CC&Rs and assume the
duties of an ACC for a tract, the board of directors to:
a) Receive a written request from the board of directors of
the tract's property owners' association or homeowners'
association requesting the District to enforce CC&Rs for
that tract and assume the duties of the ACC for that tract,
if an ACC is called for in CC&Rs;
b) Receive a written request that includes a petition
signed by not less than a majority of the property owners
of the parcels within the tracts covered by those
associations;
c) Conduct a public hearing on the question, after giving
mailed notice to each affected property owner of the date,
time, and location of the meeting;
d) Submit an application to the local agency formation
commission (LAFCO), pursuant to existing law, specifying
the exact nature and scope of the intended services to be
provided by the District;
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e) Receive the approval of the LAFCO, pursuant to existing
law, which may include completion terms deemed appropriate
by the LAFCO to enforce CC&Rs for a tract, and to assume
the duties of the ACC for that tract; and,
f) Adopt an ordinance assuming the power to enforce CC&Rs
for a tract, and to assume the duties of the ACC for that
tract, provided that the ordinance requires:
i) The property owners within the tract to finance the
enforcement of CC&Rs, and the duties of the ACC; and,
ii) The tract's property owners' association or
homeowners' association to indemnify the District for the
costs of any litigation, settlements, injuries, damages,
or judgments arising from enforcement of CC&Rs, and the
District's duties as the ACC.
3)Allows the District, by ordinance, to divest itself of the
power undertaken under this bill.
EXISTING LAW establishes the Community Services District Law
that authorizes Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills, Mountain House,
Rancho Murieta, Salton, Stallion Spring, and the Tenaja Meadows
Community Services Districts which enforced CC&Rs prior to
January 1, 2006, to continue to enforce CC&Rs.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Added the District to the list of existing Community Services
Districts (CSDs) which enforced CC&Rs prior to January 1,
2006, and are authorized to continue to enforce CC&Rs.
2)Found and declared that a special statute is necessary because
of the unique circumstances applicable only to the District.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)CC&Rs. CC&Rs are private deed restrictions which impose
mutual contractual duties on private owners. Although CC&Rs
have the same purpose and often the same effect as zoning
ordinances, they are private contracts not government
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regulations.
The District states, "The District's CC&Rs allow for the
creation of the ACC which serves as a first level of review
for development projects in the District. It is tasked with
reviewing plans and considering compliance with the more
refined district standards found in the CC&Rs. Without the
ACC, the [Marin] County will only consider its own development
standards, which conflict with the more localized standards in
certain circumstances (e.g., setback distances, which are
uniquely applied in the community in order to protect the view
corridor along the waterways)."
2)Previous legislation. SB 135 (Kehoe), Chapter 249, Statutes
of 2005, authorized eight CSDs to continue enforcing private
CC&Rs and repealed the practice for all other CSDs as part of
the rewrite of the Community Services District Law. The
Senate Local Government Committee produced a detailed report
(Community, Needs, Community Services: A Legislative History
of SB 135 (Kehoe) and the "Community Services District Law,"
March 2006) following the passage of SB 135 detailing the
19-member working group that reviewed the statute and
recommended revisions. The report details that the working
group recommended allowing the eight CSDs that enforced CC&Rs
at that time to continue enforcing them. The report explained
that conversely, a CSD that was authorized to enforce CC&Rs
under the 1955 Law, but did not use that power, could not
enforce CC&Rs under the new CSD Law put in place by SB 135,
including the District and a number of other CSDs.
According to the District, from 2005 until 2013, they
continued to operate with the same understanding that the
first step in the project review process at the ACC was still
required. The District is not aware of any instance when an
action was brought against an applicant for the enforcement of
CC&Rs. However, it wasn't until around June 2013, when a new
planner joined the District, that the ACC's pre-approval plan
was called into question. That is what caused the District to
discover the amendment in SB 135, and to seek assistance from
the Legislature in order to regain their authority to enforce
CC&Rs.
3)Purpose of the bill. This bill authorizes the District to
enforce all or part of CC&Rs for a tract and to assume the
duties of the ACC. Prior to establishing enforcement
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authority, the District's board of directors must:
a) Receive a written request to enforce CC&Rs with a
petition signed by not less than a majority of property
owners,
b) Conduct a noticed public hearing on the matter,
c) Apply and receive approval from the LAFCO, and
d) Adopt an ordinance which includes specified information
assuming the power to enforce CC&R. This bill is
author-sponsored.
4)Bel Marin Keys Community Services District. The District was
established in 1961 and covers 633 square miles in the
unincorporated community of Bel Marin Keys (Marin County).
The District provides a number of services including south
levee repairs, flushing of lagoons, shoreline reinforcements,
repairing and maintaining boat ramps, Tital Moat improvement,
maintaining Dredge material disposal site, maintaining and
repairing the community center building, streetlighting,
navigational lock maintenance, waterways maintenance, roadway
and median and park landscape maintenance, architectural
control and open space.
According to the District's Web site, "All residences in the
District are subject to CC&Rs. Planned for improvements or
additions to homes must first be submitted to the District for
its review. The Board determines conformance of the plans
with the CC&Rs prior to their submission by the homeowner to
the County for a permit."
5)Arguments in support. Supporters argue that this bill
provides the District with the local control to allow
enforcement and avoid the erosion of the community's character
through CC&R violations.
6)Arguments in opposition. None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Misa Yokoi-Shelton / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
AB 1995
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FN: 0004177