City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council discuss AB 3 and determine whether it chooses
to take a position on this bill.
BACKGROUND:
Existing law establishes the Baldwin Hills Conservancy (BHC) to acquire and direct
the management of public lands within the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles
County, as defined, and prescribes the management, powers, and duties of the
BHC. Existing law repeals the provisions establishing the conservancy on January
1, 2008.
On December 4, 2006, Assemblymember Karen Bass, of the 47
th
District, which
includes Culver City, introduced “AB 3: Baldwin Hills Conservancy: repeal”
(Attachment 1). This bill, as it is currently written, would delete the repeal date,
thereby continuing the existence of the BHC indefinitely. On April 9, 2007, AB 3
passed out of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
DISCUSSION:
Currently AB 3 is in the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File. The City’s lobbyist,
Joe A. Gonsalves and Son, indicates that it is on the Suspense File due to the fiscal
impacts and is currently checking to see if any amendments are pending for AB 3.
Attached are two helpful analyses, dated April 9, 2007 (Attachment 2) and April 18,
2007 (Attachment 3). Among other comments on the bill found in the Analyses, the
Meeting Date: 05/29/07 Item Number: A-8
AGENDA ITEM: Discussion of a City Council Position on AB 3 (Bass) Baldwin
Hills Conservancy: Repeal.
Contact Person/Dept.: Shelly Wolfberg,
Intergovernmental Relations Officer
Phone Number: (310) 253-6008
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification:
Assemblymember Karen Bass, Baldwin Hills Conservancy Board of Directors, David
McNeill, and Master Notification List (5/24/07)
Department Approval:
Martin R. Cole (05/23/07)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Iker) (05/22/07)
City Controller Approval:
Marlee Chang (05/23/07)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (05/23/07) City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Legislative Analyst’s Office is cited as releasing a report in March 2007 which
“supports continued operation of the BHC, (and) it also recommends a new five-year
sunset date to be set at January 1, 2013, preceded by a review of the conservancy’s
performance.”
The City Council may choose to formally support, oppose, or watch AB 3 in its
current form or recommend amendments or policy guidelines for AB 3. The
discussion of AB 3 is relevant to the following two elements in the City Council
adopted Legislative Program for 2007:
• Support legislation and grants to fund parks and recreation, capital
improvements, and programs to increase the quality of life for Culver City
residents.
• Explore legislation and seek grants that are intended to serve dense urban
areas.
City Council discussion of AB 3 will provide staff direction regarding any advocacy
efforts to be pursued.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
There is no fiscal impact to have the City Council adopt a position on AB 3. The City
currently has a Professional Services Agreement with Joe A. Gonsalves and Son to
provide advocacy services in Sacramento, should the Council direct staff to proceed
with advancing a City position on this bill.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. AB 3 Baldwin Hills Conservancy: repeal.
2. AB 3 Bill Analysis-Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
3. AB 3 Bill Analysis-Assembly Appropriations Committee.
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Take a position on AB 3; or
2. Propose amendments to AB 3; or
3. Provide other direction to staff.
MEETING DATE: May 29, 2007
AGENDA ITEM:
Discussion of a City Council Position on AB 3 (Bass)
Baldwin Hills Conservancy: Repeal.
ATTACHMENTS
Pages
1. AB 3 Baldwin Hills Conservancy: repeal.
1
2. AB 3 Bill Analysis-Assembly Natural Resources
2-5
Committee.
3. AB 3 Bill Analysis-Assembly Appropriations Committee. 6-7CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE-2007-08 REGULAR SESSION
ASSEMBLY BILL
No. 3
Introduced by Assembly Member Bass
December 4, 2006
An act to repeal Section 32580 of the Public Resources Code, relating
to the Baldwin Hills Conservancy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 3, as introduced, Bass. Baldwin Hills Conservancy: repeal.
Existing law establishes the Baldwin Hills Conservancy to acquire
and direct the management of public lands within the Baldwin Hills
area of Los Angeles County, as defined, and prescribes the management,
powers, and duties of the conservancy. Existing law repeals the
provisions establishing the conservancy on January 1, 2008.
This bill would delete that repeal date, thereby continuing the
existence of the conservancy indefinitely.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:|109| SECTION 1. Section 32580 of the Public Resources Code is
2 repealed.|1010| 32580. This division shall remain in effect only until January|1010| te: :1-: ; - - -:-; -a -a
5 statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2008, deletes or extends
6 that date.
992007 CA A 3 : Bill Analysis - Assembly Natural Resources Committee - 04/09/2007
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2007 CA A 3: Bill Analysis - Assembly Natural Resources Committee
- 04/09/2007
BILL ANALYSIS
Date of Hearing: April 9, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Loni Hancock, Chair
AB 3 (Bass) - As Introduced: December 4, 2006
SUBJECT: Baldwin Hills Conservancy.
SUMMARY: Repeals the sunset date for the Baldwin Hills Conservancy (BHC). In
effect, the BHC would continue in existence indefinitely.
EXISTING LAW
1) Establishes the BHC, until January 1, 2008, to acquire and manage public
lands within the Baldwin Hills area, and to provide recreational, open space,
wildlife habitat restoration and protection, and lands for educational uses within
the area; and
2) Requires the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) to review the effectiveness and
progress of BHC in acquiring and developing open space land and recreational
opportunities in the Baldwin Hills area, and to submit to the Legislature a report
evaluating whether the termination date for BHC should be extended to meet its
goals.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Unknown
COMMENTS:
1) Background
BHC was created by SB 1625 (Murray), Chapter 428, Statutes of 2000 to
acquire and manage public lands in the heavily urbanized Los Angeles Basin (LA
Basin). Surrounded by the densely populated cites of Los Angeles, Culver City, and
Ingelwood, the Baldwin Hills are the largest remaining areas of open space in the
LA Basin. As defined by statute, the area under BHC's jurisdiction covers
approximately two square miles (about 2,000 acres) and is located six miles from
(2,
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downtown Los Angeles. The BHC boundaries include the 500-acre Kenneth Hahn
State Recreational Area, managed by Los Angeles County. Other notable areas
either developed for public use or under development include the Baldwin Hills
Scenic Overlook, Vista Pacifica, the Stocker Trail Corridor, ball fields, and areas
adjacent to Ballona Creek.
Since the early 1900s, petroleum extraction has been the dominant land use in
the Baldwin Hills (the Inglewood oil field is still active). Roads, oil wells, processing
units and other infrastructure still cover about 950 acres. However, a large portion
of the land in the area remains undeveloped. In fact, the Baldwin Hills offers
unique recreational and open space opportunities for Los Angeles area residents
and supports many ecological functions. Though fragmented and often degraded,
the Baldwin Hill's coastal sage scrub habitat constitutes the largest of its type in
the LA Basin and is the last remaining scrub habitat within the Ballona Creek
watershed. This habitat supports about 166 bird species, including the tricolored
blackbird, a California States Species of Special Concern, 18 mammal species,
including the gray fox and 3 potential Species of Special Concern, reptiles and
amphibians, and other animal communities.
2) LAO: BHC is meeting objectives but could do more
In a March 2007 report to the Legislature, the LAO concludes that the BHC "?
has been operating consistently with its statutorily defined role .arid while the
[BHC] has made progress, more remains to be done to meet statutory objectives."
Even though the BHC has not itself acquired any lands within the Baldwin Hills
area, it has facilitated or funded six acquisitions (made by other public agencies)
that have substantially augmented open space in the area. According to the LAO,
these acquisitions cumulatively total 155 acres, representing a 33 percent increase
in open space lands in the BHC.
BHC's underlying statute places great weight in meeting the "needs and desires
of surrounding community" in carrying out its mandate. In its report, the LAO
states that BHC's efforts in this regard "...have influenced acquisitions, planning,
and development within the Baldwin Hills area and helped to ensure that the work
of BHC and other public agencies?has been in keeping with local needs and
desires." According to the LAO, BHC's interagency coordination, local presence,
ties to local communities and property owners all were critical factors in the
acquisitions mentioned above. The LAO concludes that Tin keeping with statutory
requirements, BHC has demonstrated responsiveness to local needs and desires."
However, at the same time, the LAO finds thatBI-IC's statutory objectives have
not been fully accomplished. In support of this finding, it cites 655 acres of
"potentially acquirable" open space that "?remain susceptible to development that
may not be in keeping with the public purposes for these lands?." Moreover, the
majority of BHC ls recent acquisitions are undeveloped, not open to public access
or unrestored. While the LAO acknowledges that this is not entirely unexpected
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given recent acquisition dates (November 2005 and January 2006), its report fails
to provide any details about the 655 acres that are "potentially acquirable." Is BHC
negotiating to acquire some of these parcels? Are the property owners willing
sellers? The BHC reports that it is, in fact, in negotiations with three property
owners and has initiated the planning process to develop the recent acquisitions.
3) Is a 5-year extension enough time?
The LAO recommends that BHC's sunset date should be extended by 5 years,
two years shorter than the BHC's initial 7-year operating period, to January 1,
2013, preceded by another review of BHC performance. This recommendation is
based, in part, to the alleged shortcomings mentioned above. The LAO states:
We believe this shorter operating period is appropriate, given that the
conservancy has been through the "development" period to establish itself as a
conservation resource in the Baldwin Hills area. We would expect the conservancy
to capitalize on existing relationships with surrounding communities, area
governments, and local property owners, so that public land acquisition and
development would occur more quickly during the conservancy's second operating
period than it did during the first (pg. 17).
This recommendation is consistent with a previous LAO recommendation that
every state conservancy be "?periodically reviewed to determine if its mission
continues to be appropriate, of statewide interest, and a priority in terms of
meeting the state's overall land conservation goals." Moreover, the LAO notes that
conservancies with a defined geographic interest (e.g., BHC, Tahoe Conservancy,
Sierra Nevada Conservancy) may frustrate the state's ability to direct limited
resources to the highest statewide conservation priorities. These conservancies,
the LAO continues, "?may create the expectation for continued state funding, even
after the state's goals for the conservancy have been met and state funding is no
longer justified."
The author argues that if the BHC were to sunset under current law, there
would be no entity to carry out BHC's stautory responsibilities in 2008 and beyond.
Thus, given its successful record to date, the author states that BHC's sunset
should be eliminated in order to allow it to continue meeting these objectives and
planning for acquisition and development.
4) Is BHC's sunset unique among other state conservancies?
BHC is the smallest of all the state's nine conservancies with a land area of only
two square miles under its jurisdiction. It was designed to function like most other
conservancies with a mission to provide public recreation and wildlife habitat
through the acquisition and management of land within its boundaries. However, it
is only one of two state conservancies (the San Diego River Conservancy sunsets
in 2010) with a sunset. In 2000, the Assembly Appropriations Committee amended
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SB 1625, which created BHC, to include the January 2008 sunset.
The Governor's 2007-2008 Budget appropriates $3.4 million to the BHC,
including $3 million from Proposition 84, and proposes to extend BHC's sunset to
2018.
PREVIOUS LEGISLATION: AB 856 (Bass), Chapter 223, Statutes of 2005, made
minor changes to BHC is board and open meeting requirements. As introduced, it
proposed to extend BHC's sunset to 2011.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees City of Los Angeles
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: Dan Chia / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
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2007 CA A 3 : Bill Analysis - Assembly Appropriations Committee -
04/18/2007
BILL ANALYSIS
Date of Hearing: April 18, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 3 (Bass) - As Introduced: December 4, 2006
Policy Committee: Natural Resources
Vote: 7-0
Urgency: No
State Mandated Local Program: No
Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill deletes the January 1, 2008 sunset date on the Baldwin Hills
Conservancy (BHC), thereby extending the operation of the BHC indefinitely.
FISCAL EFFECT
Moderate ongoing costs, about $450,000 annually starting in 2008-09, to
support the BHC. (Environmental License Plate Fund (ELPF) and various bond
proceeds.)
COMMENTS
1) Rationale. The author argues the sunset date for the BHC should be deleted
to allow the conservancy to continue to plan for acquisition, development, and
restoration of land within its jurisdiction. The conservancy believes that merely
extending the 2008 sunset would eventually present a major impediment to
acquiring open-space land in the Baldwin Hills.
2) Background. SB 1625 (Murray) - Chapter 428, Statutes of 2000 created the
BHC. This committee, when it passed SB 1625 from its Suspense File, amended
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the bill to include a January 1, 2008 sunset and required the Legislative Analyst
Office (LAO), by December 1, 2006, to review the effectiveness of the BHC in
acquiring and developing open space and recreational opportunities in the Baldwin
Hills area. Since 2001-02, the conservancy's annual support budget has ranged
from $227,000 to $440,000, with most of its funding coming from an ELPF
allocation. Appropriations of $22 million from Prop. 40 resources bond proceeds
and $23 million from Prop 50 resources bond proceeds have helped the BHC
facilitate land acquisitions and improvements within its jurisdiction. The governor's
2007-08 budget proposes to spend $3 million from Prop 84 resources bond
proceeds for BHC projects.
3) Prior Legislation. AB 856 (Bass) of 2005 would have, among other things,
extended the BHC sunset by three years to January 1, 2011. Because deleting a
2008 sunset with legislation that would take effect in 2006 was unnecessary and
because the LAO report had not yet been conducted at that time, AB 856 was held
on this committee's Suspense File.
4) The LAO Report, released last month, found that the BHC is operating in a
manner consistent with its goals but that much progress needs to be made in its
efforts to preserve open space in the Baldwin Hills. The report finds that, while the
BHC has net yet acquired any property, the conservancy has been carrying out its
responsibilities to facilitate the acquisition of open-space land by other public
agencies. The BHC has also enabled recreational, educational and wildlife habitat
projects and fostered communication with, and responded to, surrounding
communities.
While the LAO report supports continued operation of the BHC, it also
recommends a new five-year sunset date to be set at January 1, 2013, preceded
by a review of the conservancy's performance.
Analysis Prepared by: Steve Archibald / APPR. 1(916) 319-2081
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