BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1195
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Date of Hearing: April 23, 2003
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Sim?n Salinas, Chair
AB 1195 (Cohn) - As Introduced: February 21, 2003
SUBJECT : Planning and zoning laws: exemptions.
SUMMARY : Excludes conveyances to and from regional park and
open-space districts from certain requirements of the planning
and zoning law. Specifically, this bill :
1)States that regional park and open space districts'
(districts) conveyances of land or interests in land are
exempted from the Subdivision Map Act (Map Act) when the
conveyances are solely for the purpose of open space
preservation.
2)States that districts are exempt from a provision of the
planning and zoning law that requires them to submit a
proposal to the respective planning agency for a finding of
general plan conformity prior to acquiring real property for
specified purposes.
EXISTING LAW requires a local agency, prior to acquiring or
disposing of real property for specified purposes, to submit the
proposal to the applicable county or city planning agency for
approval pursuant to prevailing subdivision ordinances and in
conformity with the applicable general plan.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
(MROSD) is one of a dozen regional park and open space
districts. It covers over 48,000 acres of scenic ridges,
valleys, and creeks above the cities of Cupertino, Los Altos,
and Palo Alto. MROSD's mission is to create a regional
greenbelt of open space lands through public parklands and open
space easements over privately owned lands. To accomplish this
it acquires parcels of land from cooperative property owners and
places conservation easements upon them.
The Map Act is the primary, regulatory control governing the
division of real property in the state. It generally requires
that a subdivider of property design the subdivision in
AB 1195
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conformity with applicable general and specific plans. Cities
and counties adopt local subdivision ordinances to carry out the
Map Act and local requirements. City councils and county boards
of supervisors use the Map Act to control a subdivision's design
and improvements by requiring subdividers to submit their
proposals to their respective planning agencies. Local
subdivision approvals must also be consistent with city and
county general plans.
The Government Code provides that, prior to acquiring or
disposing of real property for specified purposes, a local
agency must submit the proposal to the applicable county or city
planning agency for review. The planning agency then has forty
days to provide a report that determines whether the proposal is
either in or out of conformity with the applicable general plan.
However, even in the case of a finding of nonconformity, the
local agency can overrule this negative finding and proceed with
the transaction.
The purpose of both of these processes is intended to ensure
uniform design and improvement standards for subdividing parcels
for development purposes. AB 1195's proponents point out that,
since regional park and open space districts exist solely to
acquire and preserve (i.e. not develop) open space land, it
makes little sense to make them subject to these standards and
procedures. The proponents also state that these requirements
interfere with the acquisition and preservation of open space.
For example, when a district wants to purchase land it must wait
for the planning agency to make a conformity finding, a period
of possibly up to forty days. This delay may put the districts
at a significant competitive disadvantage and could result in
the loss of a purchase opportunity to another buyer. The
districts add that these provisions accomplish little since
ultimately the local agency can overrule a negative finding.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District [SPONSOR]
Bay Area Open Space Council
Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District
Opposition
AB 1195
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Frances Chacon / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958