BILL ANALYSIS
SB 126
Page 1
Without Reference to File
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 126 (Dunn)
As Amended August 31, 2000
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE : Vote not relevant
PUBLIC SAFETY (June 13, 2000) APPROPRIATIONS
(August 24, 2000)
(vote not relevant) (vote not relevant)
SUMMARY : Requires that a portion of the former Tustin Marine
Corps Air Station (MCAS Tustin) be transferred to the Santa Ana
Unified School District (Santa Ana USD) and the Rancho Santiago
Community College District (Rancho Santiago CCD) for construction
of school and college facilities. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires that the City of Tustin:
a) Find that the MCAS Tustin Reuse Plan includes property to
the Santa Ana USD and the Rancho Santiago CCD to construct
school facilities, and specify that the portion of property
to be conveyed lie within the jurisdiction of the Santa Ana
USD consisting of 100 acres; or,
b) Convey a different portion of land that is acceptable to
Santa Ana USD and Rancho Santiago CCD that does not include
any property designated for another public entity or
nonprofit organization.
2)Specifies that, if the land is not conveyed for any reason to
Santa Ana USD or Rancho Santiago CCD, these school districts may
acquire up to a total of 100 acres of property at MCAS Tustin
for classroom facilities.
3)Specifies that classroom use by the Santa Ana USD and Rancho
Santiago CCD shall be irrefutably presumed to be a more
necessary public use than any other use at MCAS Tustin.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Recognizes the City of Tustin as the single local reuse entity
for the former MCAS Tustin under the Military Base Reuse
Authority Act of 1994.
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2)Requires that in preparing, adopting, reviewing, and revising
the reuse plan, the local reuse entity board shall be consistent
with approved air, coastal, water and sphere of influence plans
and other countywide or regional plans required by federal or
state law.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)In 1994, before the federal and state laws on base closures
changed, the Santa Ana USD and the Rancho Santiago CCD received
federal approval from the United States Department of Education
to take over parts of MCAS Tustin. Now they find their proposed
school sites left out of Tustin's reuse plan. While other local
school districts and the other community college district will
gain new sites at the former base, these districts won't get
what federal officials promised them in 1994. Several years of
discussion about alternatives haven't produced results that
satisfy either Santa Ana USD or Rancho Santiago CCD. Because
the Legislature sets the rules for how local officials convert
military bases to civilian uses, the unhappy districts have come
to Sacramento for help. Most legislators prefer to sidestep
land use disputes, letting local officials use the framework of
state law to work out their differences. But when the statutes
don't produce the intended results, then it's time to amend the
law.
2)The Santa Ana USD is one of three school districts with
boundaries that overlap MCAS Tustin. The Santa Ana USD wants to
collaborate with the Rancho Santiago CCD to build a K-14
facility on the acreage that federal officials previously
promised. According to the author, Santa Ana USD needs this
land conveyance because: a) it is the largest school district
in Orange County; b) it has almost two times the number of
students in portable classrooms (25,000) as the Tustin USD has
in its entire school district (14,000); c) it has over 23,000
students reside within three miles of the requested land; d) it
lacks other available sites on which to build new schools; and,
e) it has over 160 acres of the former base within its
boundaries.
The Rancho Santiago CCD: a) is the ninth largest of California's
71 community college districts; b) has experienced a 45% growth
rate in student enrollment in four years; and, c) has landlocked
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campuses that forces it to lease facilities throughout its
service areas to provide
its instructional programs. Both of these districts argue that
Tustin's plan to redevelop the former base ignores their
district's dire need for the land conveyance to build new
schools.
3)Tustin officials say that the 100 acres that these districts
want for its K-12 facility is the
most lucrative site for commercial development on the entire base.
Located at a prime intersection, development of this property
as a corporate office park will generate the redevelopment
revenues needed to improve the rest of the former base. Tustin
argues that: a) passage of this bill would destroy the base
reuse plan and halt the creation of thousands
of new jobs; b) the State of California does not have the
authority to preempt federal law;
c) the State of California cannot enact legislation that prohibits
or conditions Tustin's constitutionally guaranteed police powers
to enter into contracts; and, d) has offered Santa Ana USD 10
acres of land at no cost in an attempt to resolve the dispute.
4)This bill's language is the same as SB 1142 (Dunn) which was
passed with a 6-1 vote by
the Assembly Local Government Committee on August 30, 2000, and in
turn, passed by the Assembly to the Senate with a 46-25 vote
August 31, 2000.
Analysis Prepared by : Frances Chacon / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958
FN: 0007265