BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1195
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 24, 2004
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Sim?n Salinas, Chair
AB 1195 (Cohn) - As Amended: February 12, 2004
SUBJECT : Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District: annexation
project: eminent domain.
SUMMARY : Prohibits the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District (MROSD) from using the power of eminent domain to
acquire any real property in the San Mateo County Coastal
Annexation Area.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Prohibit MROSD from using the power of eminent domain to
acquire any real property in the San Mateo County Coastal
Annexation Area.
2)Find and declare that a special law is necessary because MROSD
has adopted an ordinance and policy prohibiting the use of the
power of eminent domain in an area of San Mateo County
currently proposed to be annexed to the District due to the
special and unique circumstances of the particular annexation
project and the particular nature of the territory proposed
for annexation, and in response to input from a Citizens'
Advisory Committee formed to recommend policies particular to
this proposed project.
3)Make this an urgency measure.
EXISTING LAW authorizes a park and open space district to take
by grant, appropriation, purchase, gift, devise, condemnation,
or lease, and to hold, use, enjoy, and lease or dispose of real
personal property of every kind, and rights in real and personal
property within or without the district, to the full extent of
its powers.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill stated that:
1)Regional park and open space districts' conveyances of land or
interests in land are exempted from the Subdivision Map Act
when the conveyances are solely for the purpose of open space
AB 1195
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : 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.
MROSD has been engaged over the last six years in the creation
of the Coastside Protection Program (CPP) to govern the proposed
annexation of 11,800 acres of land between Skyline Drive and the
Pacific coast in San Mateo County. MROSD believes the CCP will
preserve the rural heritage of the San Mateo coast, open coastal
areas to the public, preserve agricultural land, create
representation and accountability to coastal residents, and
bring public health and safety services to the area.
MROSD estimates that approximately 80% of the annexed land will
be purchased from or managed for other agencies or
organizations. As for the remaining 20% of the land, MROSD's
Board of Directors has already passed a resolution stating that
it would not use eminent domain to obtain any of this property,
despite having the power to do so, and would purchase from
willing sellers only. This self-imposed ban would go into
effect once the land is formally annexed to MROSD.
The San Mateo County Farm Bureau has asked, and MROSD has
agreed, to have the decision to not employ the power of eminent
domain within the area proposed to be annexed incorporated into
state statute. Doing so in an urgency measure means that MROSD
cannot unilaterally change its policy in the future and that the
ban on eminent domain will go into effect as soon as the bill is
signed by the Governor.
AB 1195
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District [SPONSOR]
Bay Area Open Space Council
CA Farm Bureau Federation
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
San Mateo County Farm Bureau
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : J. Stacey Sullivan / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958