BILL ANALYSIS
Bill No: AB
2279
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
AB 2279 Author: Evans
As Proposed to be Amended: June 22, 2010
Hearing Date: June 22, 2010
Consultant: Art Terzakis
SUBJECT
Surplus State Property: County of Napa: Skyline Park
DESCRIPTION
AB 2279 grants the Director of General Services (DGS) the
authority to sell or exchange at current fair market value,
by January 1, 2015, to the County of Napa, certain property
located in the County upon terms and conditions the
Director deems are in the best interests of the state.
Specifically, this measure:
1. Authorizes the Director of DGS to sell or exchange, at
current fair market value , by January 1, 2010,
approximately 850 acres of property, known as Skyline
Park, (located at the Napa State Hospital, 2100 Napa
Vallejo Highway, in the County of Napa) to the County of
Napa, upon terms and conditions the Director deems are in
the best interests of the state.
2. Makes it explicit that the Director of DGS may not sell
or exchange the property at less than current fair market
value.
3. Stipulates that any agreement for the sale or exchange
of the property must require the County of Napa to retain
title to the entire property for use as a park or
wilderness preserve, or in the event of a future sale of
that property by the County, require the County, by
recorded easement, to restrict future uses of the
AB 2279 (Evans) continued
Page 2
property to those same uses.
4. Provides that any agreement for the sale or exchange of
the property must preserve Napa State Hospital's
ownership and use of the property known as "Camp Coombs"
and include an easement that provides the Hospital with
access to the Camp.
5. Provides that DGS shall be reimbursed from sale
proceeds for any costs incurred to sell the property.
Additionally, requires that net proceeds be deposited
into the Deficit Recovery Bond Retirement Sinking Fund
Subaccount.
6. Permits the County of Napa to enter into an agreement
with a nonprofit land trust or nonprofit conservation
entity for the purpose of sharing the costs associated
with the sale or exchange of the property.
7. Contains legislative findings and declarations relative
to the importance of Camp Coombs and declares the
County's intent to ensure that Napa State Hospital
maintains ownership, usage and access to the Camp.
8. Declares legislative intent that any purchase agreement
clearly state that the operations and activities at Camp
Coombs shall remain unobstructed and unaffected by the
sale and that access to the Camp be preserved through a
recorded easement.
EXISTING LAW
Existing law authorizes DGS to perform various functions
with regard to state property and provides for the sale,
lease, or transfer of surplus state property, if authorized
or contemplated by law.
Existing law requires the Director of DGS to request
authorization by the Legislature prior to the disposition
by sale or otherwise of state land reported to it by a
state agency as being in excess of its foreseeable needs.
Each state agency is required to annually review
proprietary state lands under its jurisdiction to determine
what lands are in excess of the agency's foreseeable needs
and to report to DGS.
AB 2279 (Evans) continued
Page 3
This annual review of proprietary state lands does not
apply to tax-deeded land, land held for highway purposes,
lands under the jurisdiction of the State Lands Commission,
land that has escheated to the state or that has been
distributed to the state by a court decree in estates of
deceased persons, and lands under the jurisdiction of the
State Coastal Conservancy. Jurisdiction of all land
reported as excess is transferred to DGS, when requested by
the Director of DGS, for sale or disposition or as may
otherwise be authorized by law.
Existing law provides criteria for state agencies to use in
determining and reporting to DGS lands in excess of the
agency's foreseeable needs. A state agency is to include
land not currently being utilized, or currently being
underutilized, for any existing or ongoing program; land
for which the agency has not identified any specific
utilization relative to future needs; and land not
identified by the agency within its master plan for
facility development.
Where applicable within its jurisdiction, DGS is
responsible for determining if surplus land is needed by
any other state agency. Existing law (Government Code
Section 11011.1) requires the state to first offer surplus
state real property to local agencies, and next, to offer
the property to nonprofit affordable housing sponsors, as
defined, prior to offering the property to private
entities. Existing law also prescribes the procedure for
local agencies and nonprofit affordable housing sponsors to
use to obtain the surplus state real property.
Existing law specifies that the Legislature may authorize a
particular surplus property be sold at less than fair
market value and provides that 30 days prior to executing
such a transaction, DGS must report to the chairs of the
fiscal committees of the Legislature the following
information: (a) the financial terms of the transaction;
(b) a comparison of fair market value for the property and
financial terms; (c) the basis for agreeing to terms and
conditions other than fair market value.
Existing law [Government Code 11011 (k) (1) and (2)]
contains provisions exempting the sale of surplus property
from designated provisions of the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA). Specifically, the law provides that
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Page 4
any disposition of a parcel of surplus property made on an
"as-is" basis shall be exempt from statutory requirements
of CEQA; however, the law makes it explicit that the buyer
or transferee of a parcel shall be subject to any local
governmental entitlement or land use approval requirements
and CEQA.
Furthermore, existing law provides that if any transaction
is not on an "as-is" basis sale and close of escrow is
contingent on satisfying any local governmental approvals
for entitlement or land use requirements, including
compliance by the local government with CEQA, then the
execution of the purchase and sale agreement or exchange
agreement is exempt from CEQA.
Existing law requires DGS to maintain a complete and
accurate inventory of all real property held by the state
and categorize that inventory by agency and geographic
location. The law also requires DGS to update the
inventory annually.
Proposition 60A of November 2004 (SCA 18, Johnson,
Resolution Chapter 103/04) which was adopted by the
electorate (73% margin) requires, among other things, that
the proceeds from the sale of surplus state property, with
specified exceptions, be used to pay the principal and
interest on the Economic Recovery Bond Act of 2004.
BACKGROUND
This measure would authorize the Director of DGS to sell or
exchange, at current fair market value, to the County of
Napa approximately 850 acres of property located at the
Napa State Hospital in Napa upon terms and conditions that
are in the best interests of the state. The measure
stipulates that any agreement for the sale or exchange of
the property must require the County to retain title to the
entire property for use as a park or wilderness preserve,
or in the event of a future sale of that property by the
County, require the County to restrict future uses of the
property to those same uses.
Additionally, AB 2279 permits the County to enter into
agreements with nonprofit entities to share costs
associated with the sale. Also, provides that proceeds
from the sale must be used to pay the principal and
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Page 5
interest on the Economic Recovery Bond Act of 2004.
Furthermore, AB 2279 requires that any sale or exchange
agreement must preserve the Hospital's ownership and use of
certain property referred to as Camp Coombs.
Purpose of AB 2279: According to the author's office, the
850 acres of state-owned property, known as Skyline Park,
has been leased to Napa County and operated as a public
park and natural area since 1979. The property includes
more than 12 miles of hiking, riding and bicycling trails,
a native plant garden, horse arena, archery range and a
"disc" golf course.
The Napa County Board of Supervisors considers "the
preservation of Skyline Park as a publicly-owned
recreational facility a key policy issue and a high
legislative priority."
The author's office points out that the County of Napa has
a Transient Occupancy Tax ordinance in place which sets
aside money to fund county parks, and thus, has a dedicated
revenue stream to afford this property.
Staff Comments: The provisions of this measure were
originally contained in the annual surplus property bills
of 2005 and 2006 (AB 54 and AB 53 - both authored by
Assembly member Negrete McLeod - AB 54 was vetoed by the
Governor because of provisions requiring DGS to initiate a
CEQA review process on the properties identified prior to
any sale, lease, or exchange; and, AB 53 died on the Senate
Inactive File). Additionally, this measure is nearly
identical to SB 1226 of 2006, authored by Senator Chesbro
which was held on the Assembly floor and SB 678 (Wiggins)
of 2007 which was vetoed by the Governor on the basis that
it did not contain a CEQA exemption.
Clarifying Amendment: The June 15, 2010 version of this
measure references the Camp Coombs property as encompassing
approximately 115 acres. DGS and the sponsor believe that
a discrepancy in the actual acreage may exist which could
be problematic. Thus, the author will offer amendments in
Committee on June 22nd deleting reference to the term
"approximately 115 acres."
PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
AB 151 (Jones) 2009-10 Session. Would grant DGS the
authority to investigate the potential terms of a sale,
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Page 6
exchange, or lease of the Board of Equalization building
located in downtown Sacramento, at 450 N Street. (Pending
in this Committee)
SB 1167 (Cogdill) 2009-10 Session. Would authorize DGS to
dispose of all or any portion of two parcels of real
property (the Veterinary Laboratory for the Department of
Food and Agriculture located in Fresno and the Department
of Motor Vehicles field office located in Roseville, Placer
County). (Pending in Assembly Policy Committee)
AB 22xxxx (Evans) Chapter 20, Statutes of 2009-10 Fourth
Extraordinary Session. Authorized DGS to: (1) sell the
Orange County Fairgrounds; (2) sell specified state-owned
office buildings and to enter into long-term leases for
those buildings with the option to buy back any of the
buildings; (3) enter into and approve "long-term" leases of
the state's real properties and determine terms and
conditions of such leases. Also, imposed additional
reporting requirements upon state agencies relative to
information that must be submitted to DGS pertaining to the
state's real property holdings and authorized a loan of not
more than $10 million from the General Fund to support the
management of the state's real property assets and any
extra workload.
SB 760 (Aanestad) Chapter 64, Statutes of 2009. Authorized
DGS to sell, lease or exchange specified state-owned real
property in the City of Red Bluff, that is specifically not
declared surplus to the State's needs, and use the proceeds
to acquire office and related space not to exceed 40,000
net square feet in the City, to consolidate various
departments and state agencies.
SB 256 (Aanestad) Chapter 572, Statutes of 2009.
Authorized DGS to sell, lease, exchange, or any combination
thereof, all or a portion of specified state-owned real
property in the City of Chico, that is specifically not
declared surplus to the State's needs, and is used by the
California Highway Patrol as its area office, in order to
relocate and expand the office.
SB 178 (Aanestad) Chapter 564, Statutes of 2009.
Authorized DGS to sell, lease or exchange approximately
three acres of state-owned real property located in the
City of Redding that is specifically not declared surplus
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to the State's needs and is currently used by the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for the purpose
of consolidating operations on or near the Redding Airport.
AB 8xx (Nestande) Chapter 6, Statutes of 2009-10 Second
Extraordinary Session. Among other things, exempted the
sale of surplus state real property made on an "as is"
basis from designated provisions of CEQA. Also, exempted
from those provisions of CEQA the execution of the purchase
and sale agreement or the exchange agreement for surplus
state real property if the disposition is not made on an
"as is" basis and the close of escrow is contingent on a
specified requirement or compliance with CEQA.
SB 678 (Wiggins) 2007-08 Session. Similar to AB 2279
(Evans) of 2010. (Vetoed by Governor on the basis that it
did not contain a CEQA exemption)
SUPPORT: As of June 18, 2010:
Napa County Board of Supervisors (sponsor)
And, well over 150 private residents of Napa, St. Helena,
Calistoga, Sonoma, etc.
OPPOSE: None on file as of June 18, 2010.
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
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