BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2428
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Date of Hearing: April 18, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 2428
(Ting) - As Amended April 7, 2016
SUBJECT: State highways: property leases
SUMMARY: Directs the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to lease to the City and County of San Francisco (San
Francisco) any airspace under or adjacent to a freeway or other
real property acquired for highway purposes that is within a
priority development area, as defined, for park, recreational,
or open-space purposes. Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations:
a) Regarding the San Francisco Bay Area's sustainable
communities strategies, entitled "Plan Bay Area," that was
adopted in 2013 and that provides a strategy for meeting
80% of the area's future housing needs in priority
development areas (PDAs).
b) Describing the relationship between planning for
population growth in PDAs and the provision of open space
and other amenities that are required to support the growth
and provide greater public health and quality of life
benefits for citizens and the workforce. Further describes
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open space to include such amenities as baseball diamonds,
soccer fields, parks, playgrounds, tennis courts, flower
gardens, and greenways.
c) Asserting that many parcels and rights-of-way beneath
and adjacent to the freeways are within PDAs and could be
used for open space purposes except that that cost of
leasing these parcels from Caltrans is prohibitively
expensive.
d) Proposing a strategy to support greenhouse gas emission
reduction goals by decreasing the cost of providing open
space in PDAs via low-cost leases between Caltrans and San
Francisco for areas under freeways.
e) Citing examples where this strategy has already been
deployed in leases between San Francisco and Caltrans.
2)Directs Caltrans to offer first right of refusal to lease air
space or other property to San Francisco, a political
subdivision of the city and county, or a state agency for
park, recreational, or open-space purposes.
3)Sets the lease amount for park, recreational, or open-space
purposes at 10% or less of the average fair market lease
value; prescribes how this value is to be calculated.
4)Requires the lessee to fund associated infrastructure, to
accept full liability for non-highway uses of the
infrastructure, and to fund all non-highway-related
maintenance costs associated with the uses.
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5)Directs the lease to authorize the lessee, at its discretion,
to subsidize its associated maintenance costs by generating
revenue under a "limited revenue generation model" so long as
any excess revenue is shared 50/50 with Caltrans.
6)Defines "priority development area" to mean a neighborhood
within walking distance of frequent transit service that
offers a wide variety of housing options and that features
various amenities, including grocery stores, community
centers, open space, and restaurants.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Grants Caltrans broad authority to acquire by eminent domain
any property necessary for state highway purposes.
2)Authorizes Caltrans to lease to public agencies or private
entities the use of areas above or below state highways.
Leases to private entities have to be made on the basis of
competitive bids.
3)Authorizes Caltrans to make land or airspace available, with
or without charge, to a public entity to accommodate needed
passenger, commuter, or high-speed rail, magnetic levitation
systems, and highway and non-highway mass transit facilities.
4)Specifically authorizes Caltrans to lease to a local agency
for park purposes all or any portion of land outside the
boundary of a highway system when such use will preserve its
view, appearance, light, air, and usefulness.
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5)Authorizes Caltrans to lease to San Francisco, or a political
subdivision, any airspace under a freeway or property for an
emergency shelter or feeding program at a rate of $1 per
month.
6)Authorizes Caltrans to lease non-operating right-of-way areas
to municipalities or other local agencies for public purposes,
and allows Caltrans to contribute toward the cost of
developing local parks and other recreational facilities on
such areas. The lease may provide that the municipality or
other local agency can offset the cost of the lease by
providing maintenance or landscaping that would otherwise be
the responsibility of the state.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: The author introduced AB 2428 to encourage San
Francisco to leverage existing Caltrans property so San
Francisco can implement its sustainable community
strategies by providing green spaces and recreational
opportunities for the people of San Francisco.
Specifically, the author seeks to ensure San Francisco has
first right of refusal to lease state-owned space at 10% of
the current market rate.
San Francisco is sponsoring this bill. As one of the
nation's most densely populated cities, San Francisco lacks
the open space needed to provide opportunities to implement
its sustainable communities strategies, required by the
California Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection
Act of 2008, [SB 375, (Steinberg), Chapter 728, Statutes of
2008], including its robust housing development plan of
which open spaces are a critical component. San Francisco
is looking to leverage unused right-of-way and airspace
below and adjacent to state freeways in order to develop
green spaces, parks, and recreational facilities.
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While the authority to enter into these leases is already in
existing law, the challenge, apparently, is that Caltrans is
obligated to secure fair market value lease rates for these
parcels, based on the estimated highest and best use of the
property. Not only is this rate too expensive for new open
space development, it reportedly tends to attract commercial
activities not particularly conducive to San Francisco's plans
for its priority development areas, such as parking lots.
AB 2428 is not without precedence. Existing law provides a
number of examples wherein Caltrans is directed to lease or sell
at well below market rate, for example:
1)For emergency shelters or feeding program in San Francisco, at
a lease rate of $1 per month.
2)For emergency shelter, feeding program, or day care center in
San Diego, for $1 per month.
3)For feeding programs in San Joaquin County for $1 per month
Committee comments: Although this bill would likely result in
lost revenue for Caltrans, it could improve San Francisco's
ability to successfully implement its greenhouse gas
emission-reducing strategies and provide much needed housing for
the area.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
AB 2428
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Support
City and County of San Francisco (Sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093