BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1195
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1195 (Cohn)
As Introduced February 21, 2003
Majority vote
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 9-0
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|Ayes:|Salinas, Lieber, Daucher, | | |
| |Garcia, | | |
| |La Suer, Leno, Mullin, | | |
| |Steinberg, Wiggins | | |
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SUMMARY : Excludes conveyances to and from regional park and
open space districts from certain requirements of the planning
and zoning law. Specifically, this bill states that:
1)Regional park and open space 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)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
AB 1195
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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
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 40
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. This bill'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 40 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Frances Chacon / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
AB 1195
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