BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2104|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2104
Author: Gonzalez (D)
Amended: 4/1/14 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 10-0, 6/10/14
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso, Lara, Liu,
Pavley, Roth, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beall
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-2, 4/3/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Common interest developments: low-water-using
plants
SOURCE : Conference of California Bar Associations
DIGEST : This bill clarifies that existing law voiding common
interest development (CID) prohibitions on the use of
low-water-using plants covers guidelines and policies; and also
voids prohibitions against using low-water-using plants as
replacement of existing turf.
ANALYSIS : A CID is a real property development that includes
all of the following: (1) separate ownership of a lot or unit
coupled with an undivided interest in common property; (2)
covenants, conditions, and restrictions that limit use of both
the common area and separate ownership interests; and (3)
management of common property and enforcement of restrictions by
a community association, which a board of directors, generally
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elected, governs. Condominiums, planned unit developments,
stock cooperatives, community apartments, and many
resident-owned mobile home parks all fall under the CID
umbrella.
The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act
(Davis-Stirling Act) is the principal law that governs CIDs in
California. Among other things, the Davis-Stirling Act provides
that any provision of the governing documents is void and
unenforceable if it prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting
the use of low-water-using plants as a group, or if it prohibits
compliance with a public water-efficient landscape ordinance or
water use regulation.
This bill clarifies that the law voiding CID prohibitions on the
use of low-water-using plants covers architectural or
landscaping guidelines and policies; and voids CID prohibitions
against using low-water-using plants as replacement of existing
turf.
This bill reinforces the intent of existing law by making clear
that CIDs cannot use the artifice of placing prohibitions
against the use of drought-tolerant landscaping in guidelines,
policies, or ad hoc decisions of the board of directors, instead
of in the governing documents of the CID per se. This bill
further states clearly that homeowners are permitted to replace
water-intensive lawns with aesthetic drought-tolerant
landscaping.
Background
Informal CID policies that a board or committee may use to
arrive at decisions derive from the powers vested with the board
in the governing documents of the CID. As a result, such
policies are an extension of the governing documents and
therefore covered by existing law. This bill simply clarifies
the issue with express language to assist lay directors in
interpreting the law. Ultimately, this bill is declaratory of
existing law.
Comments
According to the author's office, notwithstanding state law's
clear intent to promote water conservation by voiding CID
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governing document provisions prohibiting low-water-using
plants, some CIDs have circumvented the law by adopting less
formal policies that have the same effect. These CIDs justify
their actions by alleging that the policies are not part of the
"governing documents."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/12/14)
Conference of California Bar Associations (source)
7th Generation Advisors
Association of California Water Agencies
Association of Professional Landscape Designers
Bay-Friendly Landscaping and Gardening Coalition
California Association of Realtors
California Landscape Contractors Association
California League of Conservation Voters
California Native Plant Society
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
City of Chula Vista
Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
Councilmember Patricia Aguilar, City of Chula Vista
Desert Water Agency
Dirk Poeschel Land Development Services, Inc.
East Bay Municipal Utility District
EcoLandscape California
Environment California
Heal the Bay
Natural Resources Defense Council
Planning and Conservation League
San Diego County Water Authority
Sierra Club California
Surfrider Foundation
TreePeople
Western Center on Law and Poverty
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-2, 4/3/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
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Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Allen, Donnelly
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Grove, Vacancy
JA:d 6/13/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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