BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1501
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 13, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
SB 1501 (Kehoe) - As Amended: April 11, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 29-11
SUBJECT : Open-space easements.
SUMMARY : Amends the Open Space Easement Act of 1975 (Act) to
require easement recordings to be consistent with current
practices by a County Recorder, and makes other technical and
conforming changes to the Act. Specifically, this bill :
1)Amends the Act to require, upon the acceptance of any
instrument creating an open-space easement, and upon the clerk
of the governing body recording the instrument in the office
of the county recorder and filing a copy with the assessor,
that the recording of the easement be consistent with the
provisions of existing law that require county recorders to
maintain a comprehensive index of conservation easements and
Notice of Conservation Easements on land within that county.
2)Requires the resolution made by the city or county, in order
for that city or county to accept a grant of an open-space
easement, to include several additional findings of why
preserving open space land is in the best interest of the
state, county, city, or city and county, as follows:
a) The land lies in an area that in the public interest
should remain rural in character and the retention of the
land as open space will preserve the rural character of the
area;
b) It is in the public interest that the land remain in its
natural state, including the trees and other natural
growth, as a means of preventing floods or because of its
value as watershed;
c) The land lies within an established scenic highway
corridor; and,
d) The land is valuable to the public as a wildlife
preserve or sanctuary and the instrument contains
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appropriate covenants to that end.
3)Makes other technical and conforming changes to the Act.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines "grant of an open-space easement" to mean a grant by
an instrument whereby the owner relinquishes to the public,
either in perpetuity or for a term of years, the right to
construct improvements upon the land except as may be
expressly reserved in the instrument and which contains a
covenant with the city or county, running with the land,
either in perpetuity or for a term of years, not to construct
or permit the construction of any improvements, except as such
right is expressly reserved in the instrument and except for
public service facilities installed for the benefit of the
land subject to such covenant or public service facilities
installed pursuant to an authorization by the governing body
of the city or county or the Public Utilities Commission.
2)Provides that the execution and acceptance of an instrument
shall constitute a dedication to the public of the open-space
character of the lands for the term specified, and provides
that any such easement and covenant shall run for a term of
not less than 20 years.
3)Provides that no instrument shall be effective until it has
been accepted by resolution of the governing body of the city
or county and its acceptance endorsed thereon.
4)Provides that no grant of an open-space easement shall be
accepted by a city or county, unless the governing body, by
resolution finds:
a) That the preservation of the land as open space is
consistent with the general plan of the city and county;
and,
b) That the preservation of the land as open space is in
the best interest of the state, county, or city, and is
important to the public for the enjoyment of scenic beauty,
for the use of natural resources, for recreation, or for
the production of food or fiber and specifically because
one or more of the following reasons exists:
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i) It is likely that at some time the public may
acquire the land for a park or other public use;
ii) The land is unimproved and has scenic value to the
public as viewed from a public highway or from public or
private buildings;
iii) The retention of the land as open space will add to
the amenities of living in adjoining or neighboring
urbanized areas;
iv) The land lies in an area which in the public
interest should remain rural in character and the
retention of the land as open space will help preserve
the rural character of the area;
v) It is in the public interest that the land remain in
its natural state, including the trees and other natural
growth, as a means of preventing floods or because of its
value as watershed;
vi) The land lies within an established scenic highway
corridor;
vii) The land is valuable to the public as a wildlife
preserve or sanctuary and the instrument contains
appropriate covenants to that end; and,
viii) The public interest will otherwise be served in a
manner recited in the resolution and consistent with the
purposes of existing law.
5)Requires the county recorder in each county to develop and
maintain, within the existing indexing system, a comprehensive
index of conservation easements and Notice of Conservation
Easement on land within that county. The conservation easement
index developed and maintained pursuant to this subdivision
shall include all conservation easements recorded on and after
January 1, 2002.
6)Defines "conservation easement" to mean any limitation in a
recorded instrument that contains an easement, restriction,
covenant, condition, or offer to dedicate, which is or has
been executed by or on behalf of the owner of the land subject
to that limitation and is binding upon successive owners of
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the land.
7)Specifies that the purpose of a conservation easement is to
retain land predominantly in its natural, scenic, historical,
agricultural, forested, or open-space condition.
8)Requires on and after January 1, 2002, when a county recorder
records a new conservation easement affecting property within
the county, the county recorder to include the easement in the
index developed and maintained pursuant to existing law, as
specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)The Open Space Easement Act of 1974 allows cities, counties,
or a qualified non-profit conservation organization to acquire
open space easements from private landowners for open space
and resource conservation purposes. To qualify as an
open-space easement, a city or county must first make findings
that it is in the local government and public's best interest
to preserve land as open space. The easement must also be
consistent with the local government's general plan. Once
these requirements are met, the city or county grants the open
space easement, makes a record with the county recorder, and
files a copy of the easement record with the county assessor.
2)County recorders must develop and maintain a comprehensive
index of conservation easements and Notice of Conservation
Easement on county lands. On or after January 1, 2002, when a
county recorder records a new conservation easement affecting
property within that county, the recorder must include a
specific notice in the index. For conservation easements
recorded prior to January 1, 2002, any parties to conservation
easements may fill out and record a Notice of Conservation
Easement in the county in which the affected real property is
located.
3)This bill makes several changes to the Act, which has not been
amended or updated in thirty-five years. This bill requires
that an open space easement recording must be consistent with
the current county recorder practices (as specified in Comment
#2 above). Additionally the bill requires a city or county to
make additional findings in the resolution that the city or
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county's governing body must adopt prior to accepting or
approving an open-space easement grant. The bill makes other
technical and conforming changes to the Act that are
non-substantive in nature.
4)Support arguments : This bill updates the Act to make it
consistent with current policies for the recording of
easements and provides a necessary update to the Act.
Opposition arguments : None on file.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958