BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Dave Cox, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1962 HEARING: 6/16/10
AUTHOR: Chesbro FISCAL: No
VERSION: 6/9/10 CONSULTANT: Detwiler
REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICTS' PROPERTY
Background and Existing Law
Regional park and open space districts have broad statutory
authority to acquire real and personal property, including
property interests such as easements. These districts
usually need majority-voter approval before they can convey
interests in real property that's dedicated for parks or
open space.
When cities and counties approve proposed development
projects, they can impose conditions, including the
dedication of land or the payment of impact fees.
Developers often need years to fulfill these conditions.
Sometimes cities and counties require property owners to
donate land or easements to regional park and open space
districts. Some districts wait until it's certain that a
project will succeed before they accept a developer's offer
to dedicate land or easements.
Governed ex officio by the Sonoma County Board of
Supervisors, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation
and Open Space District asks property owners to follow an
existing law for offering dedications to cities and
counties. With the city or county's consent, the property
owner may make an irrevocable offer to dedicate real
property. The city or county can accept the dedication any
time after the property owner formally records the
irrevocable offer. The city or county can abandon the
offer if it follows prescribed statutory procedures.
In Sonoma County, the property owner irrevocably offers the
dedication of an easement to the County of Sonoma and later
the Board of Supervisors accepts the offer. The County
then transfers the easement to the Sonoma County
Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District.
Officials want to streamline this process by having the
property owners make their irrevocable offers directly to
the District.
AB 1962 -- 6/9/10 -- Page 2
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 1962 allows property owners to make
irrevocable offers of dedication of real property or
interests in real property to a regional park and
open-space district, with the consent of the district's
board of directors.
The property owner must formally record the offer in the
same manner as a real property conveyance. Once recorded,
the offer is irrevocable and the district's board may
accept it at any time.
AB 1962 allows a district's board of directors to terminate
an offer of dedication by majority vote only if the board
makes two findings:
The offer was never accepted and, therefore, the
offer's termination does not constitute a conveyance
of an interest in real property dedicated for park and
open space purposes.
Now or in the future, the district cannot
effectively use the real property or interest in real
property for park or open space purposes.
The bill declares that its procedures are an alternative to
other laws.
Comment
Direct action . To streamline the development process, AB
1962 allows property owners to make irrevocable offers of
dedication directly to regional park and open space
districts, avoiding the complication of going through
county governments. Patterned after the statutory
procedures that are available to cities and counties, the
bill avoids unnecessary bureaucratic maneuvers. These
procedures protect both private property rights and the
public interest.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government Committee: 9-0
AB 1962 -- 6/9/10 -- Page 3
Assembly Floor: 76-0
Support and Opposition (6/10/10)
Support : Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open
Space District, Marin County Open Space District,
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, California
Coalition of Land Trusts, Cities of Cloverdale, Cotati,
Healdsburg, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, Windsor.
Opposition : Unknown.