BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1251|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1251
Author: Gomez (D)
Amended: 6/24/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 5-0, 7/1/15
AYES: Hertzberg, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nguyen, Moorlach
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 61-15, 6/3/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Greenway Development and Sustainment Act
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill authorizes certain non-profit organizations,
tribes, and state and local governments to acquire easements for
the purpose of developing greenways along urban waterways.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires every city and county to prepare and periodically
update a comprehensive, long-range general plan to guide
future decisions.
2)Requires the general plan to include seven mandatory elements,
including an open space element that defines areas of open
AB 1251
Page 2
space for, among other things, the preservation of natural
resources, the managed production of natural resources,
outdoor recreation, and public health and safety.
3)Authorizes qualified nonprofit organizations, the state or a
local government, or a Native American tribe to hold
conservation easements for the preservation or protection of
land.
4)Defines a conservation easement as an easement or restriction
on land for the purpose of retaining the land predominantly in
its "natural, scenic, historical, agricultural, forested, or
open-space condition." Similar land restrictions can also be
made for scenic and trail purposes or open-space.
5)Provides that all property is taxable unless explicitly
exempted by the Constitution or federal law.
6)Requires an assessor, when assessing land, to consider the
effect upon the value of any enforceable restrictions on the
uses of the land, including, a recorded conservation, trail,
or scenic easement.
This bill:
1)Defines a greenway as a separate path for bikes and
pedestrians that must be located within 400 yards of an urban
waterway where access to the property has been granted through
some sort of agreement with the property owner or operator of
any facilities on the land. Additionally, a greenway must:
a) Contain landscaping that:
i) "Improves" rivers and streams,
ii) Provides flood protection benefits, and
iii) Incorporates the significance and value of natural,
historical, and cultural resources as documented in the
local agency's applicable planning document;
b) Provide nearby communities with easy access to the path
and include features that allow the use of the path; and
AB 1251
Page 3
c) Meet any design standards for greenways that are set by
a relevant local agency's planning documents.
2)Defines an urban waterway to be a creek, stream, or river that
crosses developed property or open space where the relevant
local agency's planning document designates the land as
residential, commercial, or industrial.
3)Creates a new type of enforceable restriction on the use of
property, called a "greenway easement," that dedicates the
land for the purpose of developing greenways along urban
waterways. These greenway easements are permanent (perpetual)
provisions placed into a deed, will, or other legal instrument
and are binding on successive owners of the land.
4)States that greenway easements are voluntarily-created
interests in real property and includes provisions specifying
how they are to be recorded and enforced.
5)Allows three types of entities may acquire and hold greenway
easements:
a) State and federal agencies.
b) Tribes.
c) Nonprofit organizations created specifically for the
purpose of developing greenways.
6)States that local agencies may include greenways in the open
space element of their general plans.
7)Requires assessors to consider the effect of greenway
easements (as enforceable restrictions) on the value of
property and corrects a cross-reference in the Revenue and
Taxation Code.
8)Finds and declares the importance of greenways, including
that:
a) Greenways provide greenhouse gas reduction benefits;
b) The area along the Los Angeles River and its tributaries
are particularly suited for developing a greenway; and
AB 1251
Page 4
c) Developing a greenway allows a city, county, or city and
county to apply for greenhouse gas reduction funds and
other sources of funds.
Comments
1)Purpose of this bill. Greenways can promote economic
development, environmental conservation, public health, and
the overall quality of life by enhancing the ability of
residents to connect with natural spaces near and along urban
waterways. AB 1251 promotes the development of greenways by
providing government agencies and nonprofit organizations with
a new tool-greenway easements-to ensure that land developed as
a greenway stays that way in perpetuity, instead of being
converted to other, more intensive uses in the future. It
further provides an economic incentive to keep land near urban
waterways as a greenway by lowering the property tax bills of
landowners who allow the use of their property for greenways.
2)What's the problem? AB 1251 creates a new type of easement to
encourage the development of greenways. However, it is
unclear whether the lack of this tool has hindered the
development of greenways up to this point. Local agencies
currently have the authority to do land use planning
consistent with this bill, and there are other ways of
ensuring access to the land necessary for the development of
greenways, such as purchasing the land. There may be other,
more significant obstacles to the development of greenways,
such as funding challenges, that this bill does not address.
Prior Legislation
AB 1251 is substantially similar to AB 1922 (Gomez, 2014), which
would have allowed conservation easements to be acquired in
order to develop greenways. AB 1922 included nearly identical
definitions of greenways and urban waterways, and some of the
same findings and declarations. AB 1922 was held in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
AB 1251
Page 5
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Unknown costs, at least in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars, if not millions, (General Fund) for increased
Proposition 98 payments needed to replace reduced local
property tax revenues used for schools.
Cost pressures, likely in the millions of dollars, to the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction fund (special) and various special
funds for alternative fuels for greenway projects.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15)
California League of Conservation Voters
California Trout
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/28/15)
Central Coast Forestry Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 61-15, 6/3/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bloom, Bonta, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia,
Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chávez, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Kim, Mathis, Melendez, Olsen,
Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner
AB 1251
Page 6
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonilla, Chang, Dahle, Mayes
Prepared by:Anton Favorini-Csorba / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
8/31/15 12:47:50
**** END ****