BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2179
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Date of Hearing: April 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
AB 2179 (Monning) - As Amended: March 18, 2010
SUBJECT : Tidelands and submerged lands: City of Santa Cruz and
City of Long Beach.
SUMMARY : Grants to the Cities of Santa Cruz and Long Beach all
the right, title, and interest of the state in certain public
trust lands. Specifically, this bill :
1)Grants and conveys in trust to the City of Santa Cruz all the
right, title, and interest of the state in certain trust lands
acquired and held by the state and known as: "Volleyball
Parcel," "West Lawn Parcel," and "Trestle Easement."
2)Grants and conveys in trust to the City of Long Beach all the
right, title, and interest of the state in certain trust lands
acquired and held by the state and known as: "Southern Parcel"
and "Street Parcel."
3)Requires both cities to hold, operate, and manage, in trust
for the benefit of the statewide public, the above public
trust lands in accordance with the common law public trust
doctrine and the terms, trusts, and conditions set forth in
the cities' original grant of public trust lands.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the State Lands Commission (SLC), comprised of the
Lieutenant Governor, the State Controller, and the State
Director of Finance.
2)Provides that SLC is the state agency that manages and
protects the state's tide and submerged lands.
3)Requires SLC to carry out its responsibilities consistent with
the Public Trust Doctrine which provides that tide and
submerged lands are reserved for uses associated with
commerce, fishing, navigation, recreation and the environment.
4)Authorizes SLC to administer and control those lands and to
lease, exchange, and otherwise dispose of them as provided by
AB 2179
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law, subject to the terms and any considerations established
by SLC for each transfer or exchange of those lands. In most
instances, the Legislature has enacted statutes specifically
authorizing the transfer of particular parcels of state lands
to local jurisdictions for specified public trust uses, such
as navigation improvements, port construction, piers and
wharves, recreation, and public access, and SLC carries out
the transaction and exercises ongoing oversight responsibility
to make sure the grantee complies with the terms of the
transfer and public trust obligations.
1)Pursuant to Chapter 342, Statutes of 1872, and Chapter 1291,
Statutes of 1969, granted to the City of Santa Cruz all the
right, title, and interest of the state in certain public
trust lands.
2)Pursuant to Chapter 676, Statutes of 1911, Chapter 102,
Statutes of 1925, Chapter 158, Statutes of 1935, and Chapter
138, Statutes of 1964, granted to the City of Long Beach all
the right, title, and interest of the state in certain public
trust lands.
3)In an exchange, requires SLC to impose the public trust on
the lands or interests in lands it acquires.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)The Public Trust Doctrine provides that submerged and
submersible lands are preserved for public use in navigation,
fishing and recreation, and the state, as trustee for the
people, bears the responsibility of preserving and protecting
the right of the public to the use of waters for those
purposes. A trustee is a person, in this case, the city, who
holds legal title to property "in trust" for the benefit of
another person (beneficiary), in this case, the state. The
trustee owes a fiduciary duty to the beneficiary, having to
act in good faith and in the best interest
of the beneficiary. In addition, a trustee possesses a
fiduciary responsibility to the beneficiaries of the trust to
follow the terms of the trust and the requirements of
applicable state law.
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2)Since statehood, the Legislature has transferred in trust
certain tide and submerged lands, including the beds of
navigable waters, to local jurisdictions for specific public
trust uses of statewide benefit. SLC, having the state's
remaining jurisdiction and authority, exercises oversight
responsibility over these lands, and is responsible for
assuring that these legislative trustees comply with their
respective granting statutes and the legal principles under
the Public Trust Doctrine. Quite often, the improvement of
these granted tide and submerged lands results in the
generation of tidelands trust revenues, which are also subject
to the use restrictions of the Public Trust Doctrine and the
granting statutes.
3)Newly acquired lands coming into the trust are, by default,
held in trust by the Commission despite the fact that, in this
case, the lands leaving the trust were granted to the Cities
of Santa Cruz and Long Beach. The parcels acquired by the
Commission are being managed by both cities pursuant to
49-year lease agreements with the Commission.
AB 2179 grants the right, title, and interest of the state in
these parcels to both cities. As trustees, both cities would
manage these parcels consistent with the public trust in
perpetuity and subject to oversight by the Commission.
4)In the City of Santa Cruz, the Commission exchanged 1.6 acres
of filled and reclaimed land for parcels providing public
access to the Pacific Ocean and San Lorenzo River. In Long
Beach, the Commission exchanged filled tidelands cut off from
water for other lands in order to enhance the physical
configuration of the city's trust land ownership. The
Commission also received $605,000 since the land exchange was
not for equal value. This money was deposited in the Land
Bank Fund to purchase other lands to be put into the trust.
5)Support Arguments : According to the City of Santa Cruz, AB
2179 finalizes a beneficial transfer of tidelands to the
City's stewardship. It represents a culmination of years of
effort to resolve tideland ownership questions.
Opposition Arguments : None at this time.
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6)This bill has been double-referred to the Committees on
Natural Resources, where it was heard and passed on April 12,
2010, with a 9-0 vote, and to Local Government.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
State Lands Commission
City of Santa Cruz
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958