BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 792|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 792
Author: Leno (D)
Amended: 05/06/09
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 10-0, 04/28/09
AYES: Pavley, Cogdill, Benoit, Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Padilla,
Simitian, Wiggins, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hollingsworth
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Tidelands and submerged lands: City and County
of
San Francisco: Candlestick Point and Hunters
Point Naval
Shipyard
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill repeals and readopts, with certain
revisions, the Hunters Point Shipyard Conversion Act of
2002 (AB 2964 [Shelley], Chapter 464,Statutes of 2002), the
Hunters Point Shipyard Public Trust Exchange Act (AB 768
[Leno], Chapter 435, Statutes of 2003), and Section 5006.8
of the Public Resources Code (relating to land exchanges at
Candlestick Point).
ANALYSIS : Existing law grants to the City and County of
San Francisco the right, title, and interest of the State
CONTINUED
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of California in and to certain tidelands and submerged
lands in trust for certain purposes. The State Lands
Commission has jurisdiction over tidelands and submerged
lands of the state.
The Hunters Point Shipyard Conversion Act of 2002 granted
to, and vested in, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency,
all of the state's right, title, and interest in the
Hunters Point trust lands, and, upon conveyance by the
federal government to the agency, in appurtenances located
on Hunters Point submerged lands, subject to the public
trust and the terms and conditions of the act. The Hunters
Point Shipyard Public Trust Exchange Act approved an
exchange of public trust lands within the Hunters Point
Shipyard, whereby certain trust lands that meet specified
criteria and are not useful for public trust purposes are
freed from the public trust and may be conveyed into
private ownership, and certain other lands that are not
public trust lands and that are useful for public trust
purposes are made subject to the public trust. Existing
law authorizes the Director of Parks and Recreation to
enter into agreements concerning the development of a
project in the City and County of San Francisco and partly
within the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area.
This bill repeals and readopts, with certain revisions, the
Hunters Point Shipyard Conversion Act of 2002, the Hunters
Point Shipyard Public Trust Exchange Act, and Section
5006.8 of the Public Resources Code (relating to land
exchanges at Candlestick Point).
This bill grants to the Redevelopment Agency, in trust and
subject to certain reservations, all of the state's
sovereign interest in lands owned or acquired by the
Redevelopment Agency within the project area. This bill
also permits lands granted pursuant to this bill or the
Burton Act to be transferred between the Redevelopment
Agency and the City, subject to certain conditions. The
Hunters Point Shipyard Conversion Act already provides for
a trust grant of lands within the Shipyard, but the bill
extends the grant to include lands at Candlestick Point.
This bill authorizes a public trust land exchange and
boundary settlement within the project area in accordance
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with a diagram set forth in this bill, subject to the
approval of the State Lands Commission and certain
conditions specified in the bill.
The bill authorizes State Parks to convey certain portions
of the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area in exchange
for certain other lands, consistent with a diagram set
forth in the bill, and for other specified forms of
consideration, provided that the exchange provides an
overall benefit to the state recreation area and meets
certain other conditions specified in this bill. Existing
section 5006.8 does not include a diagram and lacks certain
conditions in the new legislation.
This bill establishes the procedural requirements
applicable to the park land exchange.
The bill includes a legislative finding that the
redevelopment project will further the important statewide
interests in redevelopment, the elimination of blight, and
the provision of affordable housing opportunities. The
bill repeals Section 3 of Chapter 2 of the Statutes of
1958, First Extraordinary Session, and authorizes the
Executive Officer of the State Lands Commission to
cooperate with the Redevelopment Agency in the removal of
restrictions or other encumbrances on title imposed
pursuant to that Section, in order to facilitate
disposition of lands in the project area in furtherance of
the project.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/28/09)
African American Revitalization Consortium
Alice Griffith Tenants Association
BART
Bay Area Council
Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services, Inc.
Bayview Merchants' Association
City and County of San Francisco
Honorable Gavin Newsom, Mayor of the City and County of San
Francisco
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Honorable Sophie Maxwell, Supervisor - District 10, City
and County of San Francisco
Hunters Point Shipyard Citizens Advisory Committee
Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center
Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center
San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Sophie Maxwell
San Francisco Branch NAACP
San Francisco Building and Construction and Trades Council
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
San Francisco Housing Action Coalition
San Francisco Labor Council
San Francisco Organizing Project
TidesCenter
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/28/09)
Sierra Club California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
the existing configuration of trust and nontrust lands
within the project area is such that the purposes of the
public trust cannot be fully realized. A substantial
portion of the trust lands are now interior, reclaimed
lands from the Bay that are no longer accessible to
navigable waters, or are "paper streets" laid out in a grid
pattern that is not useful for public trust purposes.
Conversely, other lands within the project area are
adjacent to the waterfront and would have high value as
public trust lands, except they are not subject to the
public trust. The proposed exchange is intended to
maximize overall benefits to the trust. After the
exchange, the entire waterfront within the former shipyard
and at Candlestick Point, as well as certain interior lands
that have high public trust values, will be subject to the
public trust. The Senate Natural, Resources and Water
Committee has received letters of support from local
elected officials, labor organizations, housing groups, the
Bay Area Council, BART, and others.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Sierra Club California is
opposed unless the bill is amended. It reads the bill as
requiring DPR and SLC to accept the proposed public trust
boundary changes and land exchanges without the ability to
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exercise their independent discretion and without any
environmental review. It is also concerned about the
effect of the proposed redevelopment project on birds and
other wildlife. A proposed bridge that will connect
Candlestick Park with the Hunters Point property that will
cross Yosemite Slough concerns this organization because of
the potential effect on a wetlands restoration project by
the California State Parks Foundation. Sierra Club is
also concerned that there are too many unresolved issues
that involve DPR and the proposed land swap, and that the
bill may be premature since so many other regulatory
agencies have not been engaged.
CTW:do 5/28/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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