BILL ANALYSIS
SB 649
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mike Eng, Chair
SB 649 (Ashburn) - As Amended: May 4, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : East Kern Airport District
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans), by June 30, 2010, to transfer specific property, at
fair market value, in Kern County to the East Kern Airport
District (EKAD) for open-space purposes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows Caltrans to acquire any real property that it considers
necessary for state highway purposes.
2)Allows Caltrans, whenever it determines that any real property
acquired by the state for highway purposes is no longer
necessary for those purposes, to sell or exchange it in the
manner and upon terms, standards, and conditions established
by the California Transportation Commission (CTC).
3)Requires Caltrans, to the greatest extent possible, to offer
to sell or exchange excess real property within one year from
the date that it determines the property to be excess.
4)Requires, generally, state and local agencies, prior to
disposing of surplus lands, first to offer property for sale
or lease to local public agencies, housing authorities, or
redevelopment agencies within whose jurisdiction the property
is located. Requires Caltrans to give priority first to
entities agreeing to use the land for low- or moderate-income
housing, then to entities for open-space purposes, school
facilities construction, enterprise zone purposes, and infill
opportunities, in that order.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to Caltrans, Site A is about 507
acres, worth between $2,500 to $3,000 per acre (for a total of
between $1.2 million and $1.5 million); the potential exists for
the total fair market value to be partially offset by work to
fence and re-vegetate the acreage, currently planned for
SB 649
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Caltrans to do, that could, instead, be done by the airport.
COMMENTS : EKAD operates the Mojave Air and Space Port, the
nation's first inland spaceport. EKAD is seeking ownership of
property, currently owned by Caltrans, that is located at the
end of EKAD's primary runway. According to EKAD, it is seeking
ownership of the property to reduce encroachment near its runway
and to curb dust events that have, in the past, forced closure
of runways.
Caltrans owns three properties in the area (referred to as Sites
A, B, and C) and has reportedly used them for pull dirt for
construction of the Mojave Bypass project. Caltrans is
currently in the process of planting vegetation on the
properties to stabilize the dirt but has been slowed in its
progress due to budget constraints. In the meantime, EKAD
reports that numerous dust events, due to unsettled dirt on
Caltrans' properties, have left piles of dirt on airport
property, resulted in forced closure of the airport's runways,
and even caused fatal accidents on State Route (SR) 58.
Negotiations between EKAD and Caltrans over property around the
airport have been going on for years but had stalled. The
author has introduced this bill to re-ignite the negotiations
and bring closure to them over one particular parcel of
property, Site A, by requiring the transfer of the property, at
fair market value, by June 30, 2010. According to the author,
EKAD is prepared to conduct all necessary remediation efforts on
this parcel. The author argues that Caltrans has failed in its
efforts (to stabilize the dirt via re-vegetation) and that the
local officials can save the state short-term re-vegetation
costs as well as long-term financial and legal exposure from
liability arising from dust events. EKAD will reportedly seek
ownership of Site C once Caltrans' current re-vegetation efforts
are successful. (Although EKAD apparently has the means to
remediate Site A, Site C is beyond its ability to fix.)
According to Caltrans, its efforts to re-vegetate Site A were
generally successful and little additional work needs to be
completed before its obligations to stabilize the property are
met. Caltrans has approval to proceed with a vegetation project
for this site. That project is expected to be advertised in
July. Simultaneously, Caltrans is currently proceeding to
declare Site A surplus so that it can be offered for sale to
EKAD, at fair market value.
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Technically, this bill is not necessary because Caltrans has the
authority to sell the property to EKAD once the property is
declared surplus. Furthermore, there is no sanction or remedy
in the bill should negotiations not become final by the due date
set forth in the bill, June 30, 2010. The author contends,
however, that the bill is necessary to keep both parties on
track to complete final transfer of the property in a timely
manner.
SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093