BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2730 Hearing Date: 6/28/2016
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|Author: |Alejo |
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|Version: |5/31/2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Manny Leon |
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SUBJECT: Department of Transportation: Prunedale Bypass:
County of Monterey: disposition of excess properties
DIGEST: This bill directs proceeds from the sale of surplus
property originally purchased for the Prunedale Bypass to
various other highway projects in the State Highway 101 corridor
in Monterey County, as specified.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Allows the State Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to
acquire any real property that it considers necessary for
state highway purposes.
2)Allows Caltrans, whenever it determines that any real property
acquired by the state for highway purposes is no longer
necessary for those purposes, to sell or exchange it in the
manner and upon terms, standards, and conditions established
by the California Transportation Commission (CTC).
3)Requires Caltrans, to the greatest extent possible, to offer
to sell or exchange excess real property within one year from
the date that it determines the property is excess.
4)Generally requires state and local agencies, prior to
disposing of excess lands, first to offer property for sale or
lease to local public agencies, housing authorities, or
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redevelopment agencies within whose jurisdiction the property
is located. Requires Caltrans to give priority first to
entities agreeing to use the land for low- or moderate-income
housing then to entities for open-space purposes, school
facilities construction, enterprise zone purposes, and infill
opportunities, in that order.
5)Directs the proceeds from the sale of excess property to be
deposited first to the State Highway Account (SHA) and then
transferred to the Transportation Debt Service Fund to pay
debt service on general obligation transportation bonds.
This bill directs proceeds from the sale of surplus property
originally purchased for the Prunedale Bypass to the SHA for
highway projects in the State Highway 101 corridor in Monterey
County, and exempts these proceeds from the north/south split
and county share formulas.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The author introduced AB 2730 "to dedicate the
revenues from the Prunedale Bypass right-of-way to serve their
original purpose, which was to make transportation safety and
congestion relief improvements in Monterey County. If this
measure is signed into law, it will provide important funding
for state highway improvements to the US 101 or State Route
156 corridors in Monterey County."
2)Priority shift. Initially planned in the 1950s, the Prunedale
Bypass Project intended to re-route State Highway 101 around
the community of Prunedale to alleviate congestions caused by
local and transient traffic. In preparation for the project
and in an effort to preserve right-of-way related to the
project, Caltrans purchased over 140 parcels of land totaling
353 acres. However, the Prunedale Bypass has since been
abandoned and is no longer in the area's long-range plans.
Over the past several years, transportation agencies in this
region have moved forward with incremental improvements to
address growing congestion and safety concerns. The Prunedale
Improvement Project is the most ambitious of these incremental
improvements. The purpose of the project is to improve safety
along State Highway 101 and intersecting local roadways,
improve traffic flow along the corridor, and improve
accessibility to area homes, businesses, and services. The
AB 2730 (Alejo) Page 3 of ?
Prunedale Improvement Project represents only a portion of the
broader improvements envisioned in the Prunedale Bypass
project. This bill aims to utilize revenue from any excess
property sold from the original Prunedale Bypass project to
transportation improvement projects along the same corridor.
Total revenue that could be generated from property sales
could total anywhere from $5 million to $12 million.
3)Prior allocations. In prior years, the Legislature has taken
action to retain funds in certain corridors from the sale of
property from another transportation projects within the same
region. Specifically, SB 791 (Corbett, Chapter 705, Statutes
of 2008) authorized the use of revenues from the sale of
excess properties for projects in a local
alternative-transportation improvement program that replaced
the long-planned Hayward Bypass on State Route (SR) 238 and
improvements to SR 84. More recently, SB 416 (Liu, Chapter
468, Statutes of 2013) directed the revenue from the sale of
surplus properties in the SR 710 corridor in Los Angeles
County to local transportation improvements.
It is important to note that AB 2730 provides Caltrans the
opportunity to fully vet the potential use of unused
properties and to hold on to properties that it may use in the
near future. AB 2730 merely directs the proceeds from any of
the Prunedale Bypass properties Caltrans does in fact sell to
improvement projects within the State Highway 101 corridor.
Related Legislation:
SB 416 (Liu, Chapter 468, Statutes of 2013) - among other
things, directed the proceeds from the sale of properties in the
SR 710 corridor to the SR 710 Rehabilitation Account for the
purpose of making required repairs to homes being purchased by
income-qualified residents in the corridor.
SB 791 (Corbett, Chapter 705, Statutes of 2008) - among other
provisions, authorized proceeds from the sale of surplus
property to be used to develop the local alternative
transportation improvements in the SR 84 and SR 238 corridors.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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Assembly Votes:
Floor: 55-23
Appr: 14-3
Trans: 9-2
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 22, 2016.)
SUPPORT:
Transportation Agency for Monterey County (Sponsor)
Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments
City of Del Rey Oaks
City of Greenfield
City of Gonzales
City of Marina
City of Monterey
City of Pacific Grove
City of Salinas
City of Sand City
City of Seaside
County of Monterey
Grower-Shipper Association of Central California
Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Monterey County Farm Bureau
Monterey County Hospitality Association
Monterey-Salinas Transit District
Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce
OPPOSITION:
Department of Finance
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