Amended in Assembly April 27, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 3

Introduced by Assembly Member Williams

December 1, 2014

An act to amend Section 61105 of the Government Code, relating to local government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 3, as amended, Williams. Isla Vista Community Services District.

The Community Services District Law authorizes the establishment of community services districts and specifies the powers of those districts including, among others, the power to acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate community facilities, as specified. Existing law authorizes the formation of the Isla Vista College Community Services District within the unincorporated area of Santa Barbara County known as Isla Vista for the performance of various services, including, but not limited, to public parks, police protection, and transportation facilities.

This bill would establish the Isla Vista Community Services District and would specify the services that district would be authorized to provide, including, among others, the power to create a tenant mediation program and to exercise the powers of a parking district.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Isla Vista Community Services District.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) The Isla Vista community encompasses a population of over
20,000 residents situated within an area comprising of less than
one square mile of land in Santa Barbara County. It is adjacent to
the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus and
its student population. Including university property, the area totals
about 1,500 acres. Isla Vista represents one of the largest urban
communities in California not governed as a city.

(b) Isla Vista faces various challenges in local governance. As
a university town, Isla Vista must accommodate the service needs
associated with its transient student population and a predominantly
renter-oriented community. Isla Vista’s situation is complicated
by its unincorporated status, which limits its local participation in
managing public services and providing needed public
improvements.

(c) As an unincorporated area, various county agencies provide
services to the residents and businesses of Isla Vista. Since these
agencies must provide services throughout the whole county, Isla
Vista must compete for attention and funding for the services they
need. Isla Vista is represented at the county level by one of five
supervisors and is situated in the largest and most diverse
geographic district in the county. The Isla Vista Recreation and
Park District is the only local district providing limited services
exclusively to Isla Vista.

(d) There have been multiple attempts at achieving cityhood
for Isla Vista, however, insufficient tax revenue prevents cityhood
from being a viable solution. In 2003, the Santa Barbara County
Grand Jury found that establishing a community services district
would be the best governance option to expand and improve
services to Isla Vista.

(e) Over the last year, the Isla Vista community has been faced
with many challenges due to tragic events, including multiple
deaths from students falling off cliffs, two violent sexual assaults,
a riot, a mass murder, and homicides that have brought focus to
the unique needs of Isla Vista that can only be addressed by direct,
local governance. Following these events, a local coalition was
formed to determine the best direction for Isla Vista
self-governance and the community services district has garnered
much local support.

(f) Additionally, following these events, many trustees on the
UC Santa Barbara Foundation Board expressed a strong desire to
support the chancellor and the university in efforts to create change
in Isla Vista, to ensure a safer and more enhanced community for
students. The UC Santa Barbara Foundation Trustees’ Advisory
Committee on Isla Vista Strategies was formed to analyze the
conditions and dynamics of Isla Vista and develop mid- and
long-term recommendations to establish a viable, safe, and
supportive environment. Among their recommendations is that the
State of California create a Community Services District/Municipal
Improvement District in Isla Vista with potential powers of
infrastructure, utilities, garbage, police services, parks, recreation,
cultural facilities, fire, security, and roads.

SEC. 2.  

Section 61105 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

61105.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the unique
circumstances that exist in certain communities justify the
enactment of special statutes for specific districts. In enacting this
section, the Legislature intends to provide specific districts with
special statutory powers to provide special services and facilities
that are not available to other districts.

(b) (1) The Los Osos Community Services District may borrow
money from public or private lenders and lend those funds to
property owners within the district to pay for the costs of
decommissioning septic systems and constructing lateral
connections on private property to facilitate the connection of those
properties to the district’s wastewater treatment system. The district
shall lend money for this purpose at rates not to exceed its cost of
borrowing and the district’s cost of making the loans. The district
may require that the borrower pay the district’s reasonable
attorney’s fees and administrative costs in the event that the district
is required to take legal action to enforce the provisions of the
contract or note securing the loan. The district may elect to have
the debt payments or any delinquency collected on the tax roll
pursuant to Section 61116. To secure the loan as a lien on real
property, the district shall follow the procedures for the creation
of special tax liens in Section 53328.3 of this code and Section
3114.5 of the Streets and Highways Code.

(2) (A) (i) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, on
and after January 1, 2007, the Los Osos Community Services
District shall not undertake any efforts to design, construct, and
operate a community wastewater collection and treatment system
within, or for the benefit of, the district. The district shall resume
those powers on the date specified in any resolution adopted
pursuant to subdivision (l) of Section 25825.5.

(ii) Upon resuming the powers pursuant to subdivision (i), the
Los Osos Community Services District may continue the program
to offset assessments or charges for very low or low-income
households with funding sources, including, but not limited to,
grants, adopted pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 25825.5. If
the county has not implemented that program, the Los Osos
Community Services District may adopt a program that complies
with subdivision (g) of Section 25825.5 to offset assessments or
charges for very low or low-income households. The Los Osos
Community Services District shall not include in an assessment
or charge an amount to cover the costs to the county in carrying
out the offset program.

(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall affect the district’s power
to do any of the following:

(i) Operate wastewater collection and treatment facilities within
the district that the district was operating on January 1, 2006.

(ii) Provide facilities and services in the territory that is within
the district, but outside the prohibition zone.

(iii) Provide facilities and services, other than wastewater
collection and treatment, within the prohibition zone.

(C) Promptly upon the adoption of a resolution by the Board of
Supervisors of the County of San Luis Obispo requesting this
action pursuant to subdivision (i) of Section 25825.5, the district
shall convey to the County of San Luis Obispo all retained
rights-of-way, licenses, other interests in real property, funds, and
other personal property previously acquired by the district in
connection with construction projects for which the district awarded
contracts in 2005.

(c) The Heritage Ranch Community Services District may
acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate petroleum
storage tanks and related facilities for its own use, and sell those
petroleum products to the district’s property owners, residents,
and visitors. The authority granted by this subdivision shall expire
when a private person or entity is ready, willing, and able to
acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate petroleum
storage tanks and related facilities, and sell those petroleum
products to the district and its property owners, residents, and
visitors. At that time, the district shall either (1) diligently transfer
its title, ownership, maintenance, control, and operation of those
petroleum tanks and related facilities at a fair market value to that
private person or entity, or (2) lease the operation of those
petroleum tanks and related facilities at a fair market value to that
private person or entity.

(d) The Wallace Community Services District may acquire,
own, maintain, control, or operate the underground gas distribution
pipeline system located and to be located within Wallace Lake
Estates for the purpose of allowing a privately owned provider of
liquefied petroleum gas to use the underground gas distribution
system pursuant to a mutual agreement between the private
provider and the district or the district’s predecessor in interest.
The district shall require and receive payment from the private
provider for the use of that system. The authority granted by this
subdivision shall expire when the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company is ready, willing, and able to provide natural gas service
to the residents of Wallace Lake Estates. At that time, the district
shall diligently transfer its title, ownership, maintenance, control,
and operation of the system to the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company.

(e) The Cameron Park Community Services District, the El
Dorado Hills Community Services District, the Golden Hills
Community Services District, the Mountain House Community
Services District, the Rancho Murieta Community Services District,
the Salton Community Services District, the Stallion Springs
Community Services District, and the Tenaja Meadows Community
Services District, which enforced covenants, conditions, and
restrictions prior to January 1, 2006, pursuant to former Section
61601.7 and former Section 61601.10, may continue to exercise
the powers set forth in former Section 61601.7 and former Section
61601.10.

(f) (1) The Bel Marin Keys Community Services District may
enforce all or part of the covenants, conditions, and restrictions
for a tract, and assume the duties of the architectural control
committee, to the extent that a tract’s covenants, conditions, and
restrictions authorize an architectural control committee. Before
the district can enforce covenants, conditions, and restrictions, and
assume the duties of an architectural control committee, for a tract,
the board of directors shall:

(A) Receive a written request from the board of directors of the
tract’s property owners’ association or homeowners’ association,
with a petition signed by not less than a majority of the property
owners of the parcels within the tracts covered by those
associations, requesting the district to enforce the covenants,
conditions, and restrictions for that tract and assume the duties of
the architectural control committee for that tract, if an architectural
control committee is called for in the covenants, conditions, and
restrictions.

(B) 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.

(C) Submit an application to the local agency formation
commission pursuant to Section 56824.10, specifying the exact
nature and scope of the intended services to be provided by the
district.

(D) Receive the approval of the local agency formation
commission, pursuant to Article 1.5 (commencing with Section
56824.10) of Chapter 5 of Part 3 of Division 3 of Title 5, which
may include completion terms deemed appropriate by the
commission, to enforce covenants, conditions, and restrictions for
a tract, and to assume the duties of the architectural control
committee for that tract.

(E) Adopt an ordinance assuming the power to enforce
covenants, conditions, and restrictions for a tract, and to assume
the duties of the architectural control committee for that tract,
provided that the ordinance requires:

(i) The property owners within the tract to finance the
enforcement of the covenants, conditions, and restrictions, and the
duties of the architectural control committee.

(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 the covenants, conditions, and restrictions, and the
district’s duties as the architectural control committee.

(2) The Bel Marin Keys Community Services District may, by
ordinance, divest itself of the power undertaken under this
subdivision.

(g) The Bear Valley Community Services District, the Bell
Canyon Community Services District, the Cameron Estates
Community Services District, the Lake Sherwood Community
Services District, the Saddle Creek Community Services District,
the Wallace Community Services District, and the Santa Rita Hills
Community Services District may, for roads owned by the district
and that are not formally dedicated to or kept open for use by the
public for the purpose of vehicular travel, by ordinance, limit access
to and the use of those roads to the landowners and residents of
that district.

(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the transfer of
the assets of the Stonehouse Mutual Water Company, including
its lands, easements, rights, and obligations to act as sole agent of
the stockholders in exercising the riparian rights of the
stockholders, and rights relating to the ownership, operation, and
maintenance of those facilities serving the customers of the
company, to the Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District
is not a transfer subject to taxes imposed by Part 11 (commencing
with Section 23001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code.

(i) The El Dorado Hills Community Services District and the
Rancho Murieta Community Services District may each acquire,
construct, improve, maintain, and operate television receiving,
translating, or distribution facilities, provide television and
television-related services to the district and its residents, or
authorize the construction and operation of a cable television
system to serve the district and its residents by franchise or license.
In authorizing the construction and operation of a cable television
system by franchise or license, the district shall have the same
powers as a city or county under Section 53066.

(j) The Mountain House Community Services District may
provide facilities for television and telecommunications systems,
including the installation of wires, cables, conduits, fiber optic
lines, terminal panels, service space, and appurtenances required
to provide television, telecommunication, and data transfer services
to the district and its residents, and provide facilities for a cable
television system, including the installation of wires, cables,
conduits, and appurtenances to service the district and its residents
by franchise or license, except that the district may not provide or
install any facilities pursuant to this subdivision unless one or more
cable franchises or licenses have been awarded under Section
53066 and the franchised or licensed cable television and
telecommunications services providers are permitted equal access
to the utility trenches, conduits, service spaces, easements, utility
poles, and rights-of-way in the district necessary to construct their
facilities concurrently with the construction of the district’s
facilities. The district shall not have the authority to operate
television, cable, or telecommunications systems, except as
provided in Section 61100. The district shall have the same powers
as a city or county under Section 53066 in granting a franchise or
license for the operation of a cable television system.

(k) (1) Notwithstanding Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
61010) of Part 1, the Isla Vista Community Services District shall
be established in accordance with all other provisions of this
division, except as provided in this subdivision.

begin insert

(2) Notwithstanding Chapter 1 (commencing with Section
61020), Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 61025), and Chapter
3 (commencing with Section 61040) of Part 2, the board of the
directors of the Isla Vista Community Services District shall be
composed as follows:

end insert begin insert

(A) Five members elected at large from within the district for
a term of four years.

end insert begin insert

(B) One member appointed by the Board of Supervisors of the
County of Santa Barbara for a term of four years.

end insert begin insert

(C) One member appointed by the Chancellor of the University
of California, Santa Barbara for a term of four years.

end insert begin insert

(3) The boundaries of the district shall be contiguous with the
area known as County Service Area No. 31 within the County of
Santa Barbara and shall additionally include the University of
California, Santa Barbara.

end insert begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (4) end insert  Section 61100 shall not apply to the Isla Vista Community
Services District. The district may, within its boundaries, do any
of the following:

(A) Finance the operations of municipal advisory councils
formed pursuant to Section 31010.

(B) Create a tenant mediation program.

(C) Finance the operations of area planning commissions formed
pursuant to Section 65101.

(D) Exercise the powers of a parking district, in the same manner
as a parking district formed pursuant to the Parking District Law
of 1951 (Part 4 (commencing with Section 35100) of Division 18
of the Streets and Highways Code).

(E) Contract with the County of Santa Barbara or the Regents
of the University of California, or both, for additional police
protection services above the level of police protection services
already provided by either the County of Santa Barbara or the
Regents of the University of California within the area of the
district.

(F) Acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate
community facilities, including, but not limited to, community
centers, libraries, theaters, museums, cultural facilities, and child
care facilities.

(G) Acquire, construct, improve, and maintain sidewalks,
lighting, gutters, and trees. The district shall not acquire, construct,
improve, or maintain any work owned by another public agency
unless that other public agency gives its written consent.

begin delete

(G)

end delete

begin insert (H) end insert  Abate graffiti.

begin insert

(I) Levy a utility user tax at a rate specified by the governing
board of the district.

end insert begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (5) end insert  The Isla Vista Community Services District shall not have
the power to organize, promote, conduct, or advertise programs
of community recreation in the same manner as the Isla Vista Parks
and Recreation District.

SEC. 3.  

The Legislature 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 community needs in the Isla
Vista area that would be served by the Isla Vista Community
Services District.