BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1251|
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                                   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  








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            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









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             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








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             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  








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          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








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          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bonilla, Chang, Dahle, Mayes

          Prepared by:Anton Favorini-Csorba / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
          8/31/15 12:47:50


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