BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1847
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
AB 1847 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: March 19, 2012
SUBJECT : City of Long Beach: grant of public trust lands.
SUMMARY : Grants and conveys in trust to the City of Long Beach
(City) all the right, title, and interest of the state in public
trust lands known as the Bixby Park Public Trust Parcels, the
Colorado Lagoon Public Trust Parcels, and the Marine Stadium
Channel Public Trust Parcels. Specifically, this bill :
1)Grants and conveys in trust to the City all the right, title,
and interest of the State of California in public trust lands
known as the Bixby Park Public Trust Parcels, the Colorado
Lagoon Public Trust Parcels, and the Marine Stadium Channel
Public Trust Parcels (collectively referred to here as the
"Public Trust Parcels").
2)Terminates the leases issued from the State Lands Commission
to the City for the Public Trust Parcels.
3)Requires the City to hold, operate, and manage, in trust for
the benefit of the statewide public, the Public Trust Parcels
in accordance with the common law Public Trust Doctrine and
the terms, trusts, and conditions pursuant to Chapter 676 of
the Statutes of 1911, Chapter 102 of the Statutes of 1925,
Chapter 158 of the Statutes of 1935, and Chapter 138 of the
First Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of 1964, as
amended.
4)Makes findings and declarations that, because of the unique
circumstances applicable only to the lands described above, a
statute of general applicability cannot be enacted within the
meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution, and that a special statute is
necessary.
EXISTING LAW :
1) Protects, pursuant to the common law Public Trust
Doctrine, the public's right to use California's waterways
for commerce, navigation, fishing, boating, natural habitat
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protection, and other water-oriented activities. The
Public Trust Doctrine provides that filled and unfilled
tide and submerged lands and the beds of lakes, streams,
and other navigable waterways (i.e. public trust lands) are
to be held in trust by the state for the benefit of the
people of California.
2) Requires the State Lands Commission (Commission) to be
the steward and manager of the state's public trust lands.
The Commission has direct administrative control over the
state's public trust lands and oversight authority over
public trust lands granted by the Legislature to local
governments.
3) Authorizes the Commission to lease public trust lands,
enter into boundary line agreements, and, in limited
circumstances, exchange public trust lands for non-trust
lands.
4) Granted state public trust lands to over 80 local public
agencies (a.k.a. local trustees/grantees) to be managed for
the benefit of all the people of the state and pursuant to
the Public Trust Doctrine and terms of the applicable
granting statutes. The City was granted certain public
trust lands pursuant to Chapter 676, Statutes of 1911;
Chapter 102, Statutes of 1925; Chapter 158, Statutes of
1935; and Chapter 138, Statutes of 1964.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS :
1)This bill is intended to finalize a non-controversial land
exchange between the City of Long Beach and the Commission.
The end result will be the consolidation of management of the
public trust lands within the City of Long Beach. AB 1847 is
sponsored by the Commission.
2)According to the author, "As a result of title disputes, Long
Beach and the Commission agreed on an exchange in 2001, which
was �the] subject of an independent lawsuit that ultimately
invalidated the agreement? The new exchange returned the
'Trust Termination Parcel', which is currently occupied by the
Pike shopping center, to the State Lands Commission. Before
that, the parcel had been held in trust by the City of Long
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Beach. The city also conveyed three coastal or adjacent
parcels to the State Lands Commission. The State Lands
Commission deeded all interest in the Pike parcel back to the
City of Long Beach. It then entered the three other parcels
into the State Lands' trust. The agreement requires
legislation to finalize the agreement, which will return the
three parcels to the City of Long Beach to be held in trust
for the State Lands Commission."
The City of Long Beach adds "The Queensway Bay Title Settlement
and Land Exchange Agreement included a provision that requires
Long Beach and the Commission to pursue legislation to include
�the relevant] properties in the City's statutory tidelands
trust grant.
AB 1847 fulfills this requirement."
3)For over 100 years, the Legislature has granted public trust
lands to local public agencies so that the lands can be
managed locally for the benefit of the people of California.
Virtually all grants have been made by non-codified statutes.
A granting statute generally explains what lands have been
granted and how they are to be managed by the grantee.
Without a tideland grant, the Commission has direct authority
to lease or otherwise manage public trust lands within the
jurisdiction of a local public agency.
Section 6307 of the Public Resources Code authorizes the
Commission to enter into an exchange of filled or reclaimed
public trust lands for other lands if the Commission finds
that, among other conditions, the exchange would enhance the
physical configuration of trust land ownership, enhance public
access to or along the water, or resolve boundary or title
disputes.
4)In 1911, the Legislature granted to the City all filled and
unfilled public trust lands within the City's boundaries. The
grant required the lands and revenues therefrom to be used by
the City solely for the establishment, improvement, and
construction of a harbor, and for the construction,
maintenance, and operation of wharves, docks, piers, slips,
quays, and other
utilities, structures, and appliances necessary or convenient
for the promotion and accommodation of commerce and
navigation. This grant was significant because it allowed for
the development of the Port of Long Beach.
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On June 23, 2011, the Commission approved a title settlement
and land exchange agreement with the City in which the
Commission received the Public Trust Parcels, which include
38.37 acres of land consisting of a) a bluff-top park,
adjacent to existing public trust land, fronting the Pacific
Ocean (the Bixby Park Public Trust Parcels); b) a tidal lagoon
and surrounding beach that was sold into private ownership
over one hundred years ago (the Colorado Lagoon Public Trust
Parcels); and, c) an open space area that is proposed to
become an open channel that will not only provide wetland
habitat but also return tidal flow to the lagoon (the Marine
Stadium Channel Public Trust Parcels). The Commission
determined that these parcels have significant public trust
value based on their location, history, and current and
proposed uses.
In exchange for the Public Trust Parcels, the Commission
terminated the public trust in one 10.24-acre parcel that had
been filled and reclaimed and is physically separated from the
water by 550 feet of fill, bulkheads, and lanes of Shoreline
Boulevard (the Commission had determined that this particular
parcel was relatively useless for public trust purposes). The
Commission then transferred the 10.24-acre parcel to the City
in fee simple.
5)Since the Public Trust Parcels are not part of any previous
legislative grant, the Commission has administrative control
over the parcels. Rather than directly manage the lands, the
Commission has issued 49 year leases to the City. These leases
allow the City to manage and spend local trust revenues to
improve the lands. This bill will grant the Public Trust
Parcels to the City, thus bringing these lands into the same
management as the rest of the City's granted public trust
lands. With this grant, it is no longer necessary for the
City to have leases with the Commission for these lands.
According to the City of Long Beach, if this bill were not
passed, the City and Commission would simply revert back to
the practice of executing 49 year leases to exchange control
of the properties.
6)This bill is roughly comparable in content to AB 2179
(Monning), Chapter 377, Statutes of 2010, which conveyed lands
in trust to the cities of Santa Cruz and Long Beach and passed
out of the Assembly Local Government Committee on consent
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(8-0) on April 21, 2010.
7)Support arguments : This bill merely formalizes a land
exchange agreement to clear up previous title disputes, and
consolidates the management of the public trust lands within
the City boundaries for greater efficiency.
Opposition arguments : None.
8)This bill is double-referred, having passed out of the Natural
Resources Committee on consent (9-0) on March 26, 2012.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
State Lands Commission �SPONSOR]
City of Long Beach
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Hank Dempsey / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958