BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 422|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 422
Author: Monning (D), et al.
Amended: 6/18/15
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/22/15
AYES: Hertzberg, Nguyen, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Moorlach,
Pavley
SENATE FLOOR: 34-0, 4/30/15 (Consent)
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Hall, Hancock,
Hertzberg, Hill, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu,
McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Nguyen,
Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hernandez, Hueso, Morrell, Runner, Vidak
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 72-0, 6/29/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Santa Clara Valley Open-Space Authority
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill changes the name of the Santa Clara County
Open Space Authority (Authority), authorizes the Authority to
acquire interest in real property located outside of its
boundaries, and authorize the Authority's boundaries to be
altered by the annexation of contiguous territory in the
unincorporated area of a neighboring county.
Assembly Amendments specify the manner in which the Authority's
boundaries may be altered by annexation and make additional
non-substantive changes to this bill's text.
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Authority to acquire, preserve, and maintain
open space lands (SB 2027, Mello, Chapter 882, Statutes of
1992).
2)Allows the Authority to acquire any property inside its
boundaries by any means, including eminent domain.
3)Prohibits the Authority from using its eminent domain powers
to take property on active ranches, producing farmland, or
timber production zones unless development threatens the
property.
4)Prohibits the Authority from using its eminent domain powers
unless the land taken is contiguous to publicly owned open
space.
5)Allows regional park districts, regional parks and open-space
districts, and regional open-space districts to acquire real
and personal property "within or without the district."
6)Prohibits a local agency from acquiring land inside a county
or city until local planners review the acquisition's
conformity with the general plan. However, if the county or
city disapproves the land acquisition, the local agency
acquiring the land can still override the local general plan
(SB 716, Farr, Chapter 1880, Statutes of 1965).
7)Directs that the Authority's maximum jurisdiction includes all
areas within Santa Clara County.
This bill:
1)Expands the Authority's powers to acquire, hold, use, enjoy,
and lease or dispose of real and personal property, and rights
in real and personal property, to include real and personal
property without the Authority's jurisdiction.
2)Expands current statutory prohibitions on the Authority's use
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of eminent domain to also prohibit the Authority from using
eminent domain to take property without the Authority's
jurisdiction.
3)Allows the Authority's boundaries to be altered by the
annexation of contiguous territory, in the unincorporated area
of a neighboring county, pursuant to the annexation process in
the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganizing Act
of 2000.
4)Requires the board of supervisors of the neighboring county to
pass a resolution stating its intent to be included within the
Authority's jurisdiction before any territory in that county
may be annexed to the Authority.
5)Changes the Authority's name in its enabling act from the
"Santa Clara County Open Space Authority" to the "Santa Clara
Valley Open Space Authority."
Background
Because natural features like watersheds do not conform to
political boundaries, state law allows some special districts
that are engaged in open-space preservation to acquire property
interests both within and outside of those districts'
boundaries. For example, the enabling act governing regional
park districts, regional parks and open-space districts, and
regional open-space districts allows those districts to acquire
real and personal property "within or without the district."
Authority officials want legislators to grant the Authority the
same power that state law grants to other open space districts
to acquire interests in real property outside of the Authority's
boundaries. To avoid confusion over whether the Authority is a
component of Santa Clara County's government, officials also
want to change the Authority's name.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/30/15)
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East Bay Regional Park District
Guadalupe-Coyote Resource Conservation District
Land Trust of Santa Cruz County
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District
Peninsula Open Space Trust
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
San Mateo County Department of Parks
Santa Clara Open Space Authority
Santa Clara Valley Water District
The Nature Conservancy
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/30/15)
None Received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 72-0, 6/29/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta,
Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu,
Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Travis Allen, Brough, Gallagher, Grove, Low,
O'Donnell, Perea, Ridley-Thomas
Prepared by:Brian Weinberger / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
7/1/15 11:27:18
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