BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2534
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2534 (Nazarian) - As Amended April 20, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY: This bill requires the Santa Monica Mountains
Conservancy (Conservancy) to establish the Los Angeles River
Regional Access and Economic Sustainability Working Group
(Working Group) to advance the revitalization of the Los Angeles
River in the San Fernando Valley. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Conservancy to consider requests from local
government entities to have a representative on the Working
Group.
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2)Allows the Working Group to include representatives from the
Conservancy, the City of Los Angeles, nonprofit organizations,
environmental organizations, the business community, and city
council districts and legislative districts bordering the
River.
3)Requires the Working Group to focus its efforts on the
geographic area from the headwaters of the Los Angeles River
at the confluence of Bell and Calabasas Creeks to Griffith
Park and its southern boundary along Ventura Boulevard in the
San Fernando Valley
4)Additionally, requires the Working Group to:
a) Review and evaluate public access and connectivity among
businesses along and in the vicinity of the River and the
Los Angeles River Greenway including the use of an existing
public garage.
b) Develop practical recommendations related to permanent
connectivity between area businesses, bicycle networks, and
the River as well as appropriate signage.
c) Prepare a report of its findings and recommendations for
implementation by the Conservancy.
5)Allows the Conservancy to retain experts and provide staff to
conduct necessary technical economic and other studies and
analyses, as requested by the working group.
FISCAL EFFECT:
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Potential increased costs for the Conservancy to staff the
Working group and contract for the various evaluations, likely
in the $120,000 range (special fund).
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, more people are likely
tp visit the revitalized segments of the River if they
knew there were restaurants, shops, parking structures
and other attractions only couple of blocks away. This
bill initiates the first steps in establishing a
public-private partnership by convening a working group
of stakeholders to develop recommendations that will
facilitate economic growth along the River.
2)Background. The LA River is 51 miles long, contained entirely
within the County of Los Angeles, and passes through 13
cities, including 32 miles that stretch across the City of Los
Angeles. The LA River begins in Canoga Park, at the
confluence of Bell Creek and the Arroyo Calabasas, and then
flows mostly east through the San Fernando Valley where it is
joined by several tributaries. In Burbank, it enters and
begins skirting Griffith Park, bending sharply southward as it
does so. This stretch of the LA River, down to Elysian Park,
is called the Glendale Narrows, and contains one of only three
stretches of the river with an earthen bottom. After leaving
the Glendale Narrows, the river continues southward through
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downtown Los Angeles until it eventually reaches Long Beach
Harbor.
Although planners had envisioned greenbelts interconnecting
parklands along the river as early as the 1930s, the more
recent interest in the revitalization and promotion of the
re-integration of the river and its tributaries into the
adjacent neighborhoods began in the mid-to-late 1980s.
In September 2013, the Army Corps, in conjunction with the
City of Los Angeles, announced the availability of a Draft
Integrated Feasibility Report (Draft IFR) for the Los Angeles
River Ecosystem Restoration Study. In May 2014, the Army
Corps backed the $1 billion alternative in the study to
restore an 11-mile stretch of the LA River from Griffith Park
to downtown Los Angeles.
3)Lower Los Angeles River (LLA). AB 530 (Rendon), Chapter 684,
Statutes of 2015, requires the Secretary of Natural Resources
Agency to appoint the LLA Working Group to develop a
revitalization plan for the Lower Los Angeles River watershed.
The bill requires the LLA Working Group to develop a
revitalization plan to address the unique and diverse needs of
the Lower Los Angeles River. The bill requires the San
Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy
to provide any necessary staffing to assist the LLA Working
Group.
The author may wish to amend this bill to require both working
groups and both Conservancies to consult with each other and
collaborate on the final working group products.
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081