BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 829 Page 1 Date of Hearing: June 4, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Chair SB 829 (Galgiani) - As Amended: February 13, 2014 SENATE VOTE : 34-0 SUBJECT : Local government: City of Escalon: sale of property. SUMMARY : Allows the City of Escalon to sell specified parcels of land, which were acquired with state bond funds, under certain conditions. Specifically, this bill : 1)Allows the City of Escalon (City) to sell parcels 247-130-34 and 247-130-35 located at 19401 Dahlin Road, in the County of San Joaquin, if all of the following conditions are met: a) The City complies with provisions of the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 (the Villaraigosa-Keeley Act) that specify maintenance, use, transfer, and disposition restrictions on the property, and submits to the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) a proposal demonstrating compliance with those provisions; b) The City submits to DPR a proposal that contains all of the following: i) The sale price and acquisition price of the original grant-funded property and the replacement property, respectively, along with a finding that the replacement property has a value that equals the amount of the grant used to acquire the original property, the fair market value of that real property, or the proceeds from the sale, whichever is greater; ii) A commitment by the City to file a deed restriction on the replacement property, if the proposal is approved by DPR; iii) Current appraisals of both properties, along with a third-party review of the appraisals; iv) A willing seller letter for the replacement property SB 829 Page 2 to be acquired; v) A parcel map of the replacement property to be acquired and the proposed new site; vi) A conceptual site plan for the replacement property, if the property requires development for public use; and, vii) A commitment by the City to develop the replacement property for recreational purposes. 2)Prohibits the sale of the original property and purchase of the replacement property pursuant to 1), above, from occurring until DPR determines that all of the conditions set forth in 1), above, have been met. 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 circumstances of the purchase of the original property by the City and the limits placed on the use, including the sale of that property, by the Villaraigosa-Keeley Act. 4)Declares that this bill is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into effect immediately. The facts constituting the necessity are: To facilitate the timely use of grant funds and the development of parkland in the City, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately. EXISTING LAW : 1)Authorizes, under the Villaraigosa-Keeley Act, a financing program for the acquisition, development, improvement, rehabilitation, restoration, enhancement, and protection of park, recreational, cultural, historical, fish and wildlife, lake, riparian, reservoir, river, and coastal resources, through the issuance of general obligation bonds. 2)Requires that the proceeds from the Villaraigosa-Keeley Act be used only for the purpose for which the grant was made. 3)Prohibits a property that was purchased with grant funds from changing to a use that is not permitted under the SB 829 Page 3 Villaraigosa-Keeley Act unless such a change is authorized by the Legislature. 4)Requires, if the use of the property changes or the property is sold, the grantee to receive or purchase property of equal value and create new parkland, or return the funds back to the state, as specified. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. COMMENTS : 1)Purpose of this bill . This bill allows the City to sell specified parcels of land, that were originally acquired with Villaraigosa-Keeley Act bond funds, as long as the City meets specified conditions and DPR determines that those conditions have been met. This bill is author-sponsored. 2)Author's statement . According to the author, "The City of Escalon obtained grant funds from the (Villaraigosa-Keeley) Act to acquire property outside the City limits for a creation of a new park adjacent to a planned housing development. The developer canceled its development plans, which left the City with undeveloped parkland outside City limits where no residents would reside. This parkland is remote, and without housing to support utility infrastructure, park development became unnecessary." 3)Background . The Villaraigosa-Keeley Act requires grant recipients to agree to use the property only for the purposes for which the grant was made. The grantee cannot make any other use or sale or other disposition of the property, except as authorized by a specific act of the Legislature. If the use of the property changes or the property is sold upon approval by the Legislature, the grantee must either return the funds to the state or use replacement funds for a purpose that is consistent with the original grant. The replacement funds can equal the amount of the grant, the fair market value of the real property, or the proceeds from the sale of the property, whichever is greater. 4)Previous legislation . The Legislature has allowed several cities to transfer park property acquired or developed with state bond funds to other public entities on the condition SB 829 Page 4 that the cities or entities provide replacement property: AB 1732 (Hall), Chapter 191, Statutes of 2010, allowed the City of Los Angeles to transfer to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) parkland acquired with park bond funds and, in exchange, LAUSD provided replacement parkland facilities. AB 1457 (Baca), Chapter 852, Statutes of 2006, allowed the City of San Bernardino (San Bernardino) to transfer Seccombe Lake Park to the Redevelopment Agency of San Bernardino in exchange for replacement park land within reasonable proximity of Seccombe Lake Park. AB 1864 (Matthews), Chapter 558, Statutes of 2006, allowed the City of Merced to transfer up to three acres of land in Fahrens Creek Park to the Merced City School District to construct a new school, subject to the provisions of the Public Park Preservation Act of 1971. AB 730 (Diaz), Chapter 28, Statutes of 2001, allowed the City of San Jose to exchange 3.82 acres of parkland at Coyote Creek Park, acquired with state funds, for a parcel of 13 acres to be used in the Coyote Creek Park. 5)Urgency clause . This bill contains an urgency clause. 6)Arguments in support . The City of Escalon, in support, writes, "This bill will allow the City of Escalon to sell 31 acres that was acquired under public resources code. By this bill, the City will dispose of the land and reinvest in a more feasible park acquisition pursuant to this grant program." 7)Arguments in opposition . None on file. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support City of Escalon Opposition None on file SB 829 Page 5 Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958