BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1177|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1177
Author: Kehoe (D)
Amended: 6/1/10
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 5-3, 4/13/10
AYES: Pavley, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Cogdill, Hollingsworth, Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Padilla
SENATE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE : 3-1, 4/20/10
AYES: Florez, Hancock, Wolk
NOES: Hollingsworth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-3, 5/27/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Denham, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SUBJECT : Agriculture: 22nd District Agricultural
Association:
greenway zone
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill directs the agricultural association
to consult with the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers
Authority (JPA), the Department of Fish and Game, and the
Department of Parks and Recreation in designing and
CONTINUED
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constructing a 100-foot buffer zone that includes the JPA
educational boardwalk and the Coat to Crest Trail between
Interstate 5 to Jimmy Durante Boulevard along the northern
edge of the San Dieguito River to be completed by January
1, 2012. The development of the greenway zone will be
implemented as required by state agencies, including the
California Coastal Commission.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that the state is
divided into agricultural districts in which 50 or more
persons, who are residents of a district, may form a
district agricultural association for the purpose of
holding fairs for exhibiting all of the industries and
industrial enterprises, resources, and products of the
state and constructing, maintaining, and operating
recreational and cultural facilities.
This bill directs the agricultural association to consult
with the JPA, the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), and
the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) in designing
and constructing a 100-foot buffer zone that includes the
JPA educational boardwalk and the Coat to Crest Trail
between Interstate 5 to Jimmy Durante Boulevard along the
northern edge of the San Dieguito River to be completed by
January 1, 2012.
The development of the greenway zone will be implemented as
required by state agencies, including the California
Coastal Commission.
This bill also directs the agricultural association to
consult with the JPA, the DFG, and the DPR for a 100-foot
buffer zone from Jimmy Durante Boulevard west to the San
Diego Northern Railway right-of-way, prior to or at the
same time as when the association begins replacement of
exhibits halls
as detailed in the association's adopted master plan.
The purpose of both greenways is to enhance and restore the
overall quality of the San Dieguito River and the adjacent
Wetlands and to help reduce flooding. The greenway will
also connect and extend the Coast to Crest Trail that will
be managed and maintained by the JPA.
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Background
Section 3873 of the Food and Agriculture Code establishes
the 22nd District Agricultural Association. This state
agency's activities include the San Diego County Fair and
horseracing in the summer at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
Its activities occur on state land. The Fair is
advertised as the largest in the state. The association
has approximately 400 acres of land on which it operates
these facilities, plus another approximately 50 acres on
the east side of I-5.
The fairgrounds property is surrounded by more than 600
acres of natural habitat including an $80 million
restoration project of Southern California Edison that was
required for mitigation of the San Onofre Nuclear
Generating Station (SONGS).
The largest piece of the property used by the agricultural
district's facilities is located on the north side of San
Dieguito River very close to where the river empties into
the Pacific Ocean. The eastern border of the fairgrounds
is I-5, and the northern border is a street, Via de la
Valle. The southern edge of the property essentially
borders the river, although parts of the southernmost lands
are in the floodway of the river or are marsh lands. Jimmy
Durante Boulevard bisects the site and provides access to
the parking lots and continues southward into the City of
Del Mar. The property is bordered by Del Mar and the City
of San Diego.
The San Dieguito River has a long history of overflowing
its banks and flooding the fairgrounds property, including
its parking lots. The fairground is located within the
floodplain of the river.
The agricultural association is proceeding with its plans
to develop a hotel and convention center and other new
facilities on the land. Some documents refer to the hotel
as a "condominium hotel." These projects are part of a
15-year Master Plan that would be developed in stages. It
proposes a total of 18 separate projects including a new
parking structure, a hotel and convention center, and a
60,000 square foot sports/fitness complex with lighted
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playing fields on top of three of the buildings. As a
state agency, the proposed project is not subject to the
zoning ordinances adopted by the City of Del Mar or the
City of San Diego and the tallest proposed buildings would
exceed the applicable height limits of the two cities.
The site is in the coastal zone and was built on filled
wetlands, prior to the Coastal Act. The draft
environmental impact report (DEIR) generated significant
public and agency comments, including comments from the
Coastal Commission and two wildlife agencies, the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service and the California
Department of Fish and Game.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Greenway construction Up to $1,374 in some future
year Special*
DFG/DPR consultation Minor and absorbable
Various
* Enterprise Fund; to an unknown extent, these costs may
be required as a condition of future regulatory permits,
regardless of the enactment of this bill.
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/1/10)
C3 - Citizens Coordinate for Century 3
California Chaparral Institute
Cities of Del Mar and Solana Beach
Coastwalk California
Endangered Habitats League
Friends of the San Dieguito River Valley
Lakeside's River Park Conservancy
Move San Diego
North County Coastal Group of the Sierra Club
Project Wildlife
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San Diego Audubon Society
San Diego Coastkeeper
San Diego County Bicycle Coalition
San Diego County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price
San Diego River Coalition
San Diego River Park Foundation
San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority
San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy
Sierra Club - San Diego Chapter
The Nature Conservancy
The Trust for Public Land
Torrey Pines Community Planning Board
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/1/10)
President of Del Mar Fairgrounds
Del Mar Fairgrounds
Premier Food Service
Chuckwagon
Reno's Fish and Chips
Santa Anita Park
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
the buffer zone proposed by the agricultural district is
inadequate to meet the needs of the public. Parts of the
district's proposed buffer are wide, but those areas are
within relatively unusable marshlands. Nearer to the
proposed new development, beginning near Jimmy Durante
Boulevard, the agricultural district proposal is for buffer
zone that ranges from 105 feet to 30 feet at its narrowest,
including a trail that would be 10 feet wide. Such a
narrow buffer would not be suitable for a trail that would
be safe for pedestrians, bicyclists, children in strollers,
rollerbladers, and visitors in wheelchairs, the author
stated.
The San Diego River Coalition said its experience with
inadequate buffers along its namesake river should not be
repeated along the San Dieguito River. Adequate buffers
can provide space for groundwater infiltration, natural
water treatment capabilities, space for wildlife, and space
for people.
The San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy underscores the
importance of understanding that the fairgrounds property
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is state land and that the agricultural association is a
state agricultural agency. Given the development proposals
of the association, the conservancy argues that direct,
protective legislation is needed. The Conservancy points
out that the river is the central feature of the 55-mile
regional San Dieguito River Park and is an element in the
$86 million lagoon restoration project, and that the
development would adversely affect the plan to extend the
Coast-to-Crest trail along this stretch of the river.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Del Mar Fairgrounds opposes
the bill based in part on its view that the bill would
adversely affect the fairgrounds revenues to such an extent
that its covenants involved in specific bond agreements
would be violated. It projects a $6 million decrease in
revenues which would trigger the association's inability to
meet the minimum bond coverage ratios required in its bond
covenants. It also projects a $7 million decrease in food
vendor receipts. The Fairgrounds state that the revenue to
debt service requirement is 200 percent and that in recent
years, because of the decrease in revenues in the horse
racing industry, the association's ratios in 2008 and 2009
were 216 percent and 228 percent, respectively.
According to the letter from the fairgrounds, this bill
also affects 1,900 jobs at the Fair causing an annual loss
of $150 million to the region, jeopardize capital
improvements in the horse-racing facilities, eliminate
emergency response to a major portion of the property,
increase traffic on Jimmy Durante Boulevard, and affect the
fairgrounds' ability to serve as a county evacuation site.
CTW:mw 6/1/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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