HomeMy WebLinkAbout13 GC 54221 Inventory Report - Surplus Land ActSTAFF REPORT
SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE
PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
MEETING DATE: September 30, 2021
PREPARED BY: Eric Ceja, Deputy Director of Development Services
REQUEST: Authorize staff to proceed with declaring certain City and Successor
Agency to the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency properties as
surplus land, pursuant to Code 54221 and submit Inventory Report
to the California Department of Housing and Community
Development pursuant to Government Code 54230(a)(1).
Recommendation
By Minute Motion:
1. Review the processes for the declaration and notification of the City of
Palm Desert/SARDA exempt and non-exempt surplus lands, pursuant
to Code 54221;
2. Accept Inventory Report of the same, and authorize staff to submit a
report to the California State Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) pursuant to Government Code 54230(a)(1); and
3. Direct staff to proceed with preparing resolutions declaring properties
listed in the attached Inventory Report as surplus and pursue
compliance with the Surplus Land Act.
Executive Summary
As a result of changes to the Surplus Land Act (Government Code § 54220 et
seq.)(“SLA”), prior to the disposition of City or SARDA held land, staff must identify and
provide annually a resolution that declares the City’s “surplus land.” Certain parcels that
are under contract are not subject to SLA until December of 2022. Certain parcels that
are exempt are not subject to SLA, including properties held for government purpose,
such as City owned properties for parks or Housing Authority properties for affordable
housing. Staff is providing the information as a result of changes to the law that took effect
on January 1, 2020, and 2021, as explained herein. Several definitions and regulations
are reviewed below.
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Background:
The purpose of this report is to provide the City Council a forum in which to understand
compliance with the SLA and its reporting requirements. A future report will be delivered
to the City Council in open session pursuant to California Department of Housing and
Community Development (“HCD”) by April 1, of each year pursuant to Government Code
§ 54230(a)(2), and described herein.
Effective as of January 1, 2020, the Surplus Land Act (Government Code § 54220 et
seq.), as newly amended (the “Act”), requires, among other things, that on or before
December 31 of each year, each county and city in the state must “make a central
inventory of all surplus land … within the jurisdiction of the county or city that the county
or city or any of its departments, agencies, or authorities owns or controls” (the “Inventory
List”), and immediately thereafter make the Inventory List available, without charge, to
those who request it.
The Law:
“Surplus land” is defined as “land owned in fee simple by any local agency for which the
local agency’s governing body takes formal action in a regular public meeting declaring
that the land is surplus and is not necessary for the agency’s use.” Government Code §
54221(b)(1); see also § 54221(a)(1) (defining “local agency” to include cities).
Surplus land includes former redevelopment agency land identified in a Successor
Agency’s Long Range Property Management Plan but does not include land to be
disposed of to a specific entity identified in such a plan (see Government Code §
54221(b)(2)).
To be “necessary for [an] agency’s use,” land must be “used, … planned to be used
pursuant to a written plan adopted by the local agency’s governing board for, or …
disposed [of] to support … agency work or operations, including, but not limited to, utility
sites, watershed property, land being used for conservation purposes, land for
demonstration, exhibition, or educational purposes related to greenhouse gas
emissions, and buffer sites near sensitive governmental uses, including, but not limited
to, wastewater treatment plants.” Government Code § 54221(c)(1).
“Agency’s use” does not include “commercial or industrial uses or activities, including
nongovernmental retail, entertainment, or office development.” Government Code §
54221(c)(2)(A). In addition, “property disposed of for the sole purpose of investment or
generation of revenue shall not be considered necessary for the agency’s use.”
Nothing in the Act establishes what information must be included in the Inventory List.
However, Government Code § 54230(a)(2) provides guidance. Under that section, “each
county and each city” must report to HCD, “a description of each parcel described in
[such county or city’s Inventory List] and the present use of the parcel … [by] no later
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than April 1 of each year, beginning April 1, 2021, in a form prescribed by [HCD], as part
of its annual progress report submitted pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of
Section 65400.” Govt. C. § 54230(a)(2)(A). While no such form has yet been issued by
HCD, it will, at a minimum, contain blanks for the following information for each parcel of
surplus land:
(i) Street address or similar location information;
(ii) Assessor’s parcel number;
(iii) Existing use;
(iv) Whether the site is surplus land or exempt surplus land 1; and
(v) Size in acres.
See Govt. C. § 54230(a)(2)(B). Therefore, at a minimum, the Central Inventory should
contain these pieces of information if for no other reason than efficiency and ease of
incorporation into the report due to HCD next spring.
The proposed list of this year’s surplus properties is attached to this report.
Notification and Offering of Surplus Land Parcels Process:
Once the Council establishes the surplus land inventory, each parcel (or development
site) that is not exempt from the SLA, must be made publicly available for purchase,
which includes distribution of the parcel(s) in question to a list of affordable housing
developers prepared and updated regularly by the State of California Housing and
Community Development Department (HCD). The notification must also be posted on
the City’s website and sent to HCD for notification on their website.
The notification must stand for sixty (60) days in which time the staff shall take proposals
from any interested entity, affordable housing or otherwise. However, the SLA is
prescriptive on which developer must be selected regarding affordable housing; and that
is, priority must be given to an affordable housing project regardless of underlying land
use. If multiple affordable housing projects are proposed, then staff must prioritize the
project with the greatest and deepest affordability.
Once a developer is selected, staff must negotiate in good faith for a minimum of ninety
(90) days with the developer that proposed the greatest and deepest affordability. Two
outcomes may result from this process:
1. If the City and developer come to terms within the proscribed timeline, then the
regular development processes would begin. Or,
1 See Government Code § 54221(f) (listing 11 exemptions from the Act).
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2. If after good-faith negotiations the City and the developer cannot come to terms,
the surplus land being notified is no longer required to be listed for public
notification under the SLA and may be marketed or sold according to the
standards of the authority or agency which owns the parcel(s) in question. With
a firm caveat: future proposals on surplus land that propose more than ten (10)
units of housing are required to provide 25% of the proposed units as affordable.
Penalties for not declaring surplus land as surplus, and for not notifying, or improper
notification of surplus land, are onerous. Failure to comply can result in delays of future
closings, fines of up to 50% of future sale proceeds, and possible legal actions. In
addition, the Riverside County Oversight Board is now requesting that SARDAs declare
their land surplus prior to offering final approval of disposition documents.
In addition, the SLA states that any land under contract now, which has not yet been
made subject to provisions of the SLA, must be listed as surplus and notified according
to regulation if the property transfer does not close by December 31, of 2022. As the
current law is written, the state may, via the SLA, cancel disposition agreements and
force local agencies to comply with SLA after December of 2022 and prior to selling to a
developer who is not proposing affordable housing, whether a disposition agreement is
in effect or not. It is likely that lobbying organizations will compel the state to extend this
“cliff” date out at least one year due to lost time of COVID. Additional political pressure
from local agencies statewide may make a compelling case for this action; however, as
it is written, any land under contract must close by December of 2022, or be subject to
SLA inventory and notification requirements.
Findings:
In a future meeting, the Council will review and adopt the following findings, along with
a resolution for each surplus property:
“Each of parcels of property identified in this report and depicted pictorially in the
attachments hereto and incorporated herein by reference (the “Surplus
Properties”) are not necessary for the City’s use, are currently not being put to
any use by the City, and the City has no planned use for these Surplus Properties.
Therefore, they are surplus land, as defined in Government Code §§ 54221(b).
While all of the Surplus Properties are (a) less than 5,000 square feet in area and
(b) “not contiguous to land owned by a state or local agency that is used for open-
space or low- and moderate-income housing purpose,” thus potentially rendering
them exempt surplus land under Government Code § 54221(f)(1)(B), none of
them are the subject of sale to an owner of contiguous land; in fact, none of them
are the subject of sale to anyone. According to the statute, unless a parcel of
potentially exempt surplus land is being sold to an owner of contiguous land, “it is
not considered exempt surplus land and is subject to this article.” Id. Therefore,
unless and until these Surplus Properties are sold or contemplated to be sold to
owners of contiguous land, they are not exempt from the Act.”
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Environmental Issues:
The actions contemplated by this report do not constitute a project within the meaning
of Section 15378 of the State of California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA")
Guidelines, because they have no potential for resulting in physical change in the
environment, directly or indirectly. The actions do not authorize any specific
development or installation on any specific piece of property within the City's
boundaries. Moreover, when and if a development application is submitted, the City will
at that time conduct a preliminary review of the application in accordance with CEQA.
Alternatively, even if the above-described actions are a"project" within the meaning of
State CEQA Guidelines section 15378, such actions would be exempt from CEQA
review under the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects which have the
potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. (State CEQA Guidelines,
Section 15061(b)(3)).
Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with (i) declaring by resolution the Surplus Properties
to be non-exempt surplus land, as defined in Government Code § 54221(b); and (ii) filing
and receipt of the Inventory List. There is a nominal cost of City staff time in making the
Inventory List available free of charge to those who request a copy of it. Given the timing
of the notification procedure, surplus land that is not under contract can conceivably take
up to 150 days to both notice and negotiate, plus additional time for staff set up of the
notification and processing of proposals.
LEGAL DEPT. REVIEW DEPT. REVIEW FINANCIAL ASSISTANT
REVIEW REVIEW CITY MANAGER
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Robert W.
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City Attorney
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Eric Ceja Dir. of
Deputy Dir. of Development Janet Moore
Development Services Director of
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Andy Firestine
Assistant City
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Common Name APN
Monterey Crossing "Triangle Site"
694060010
Alesandro West
627071067
627071068
627071065
627071069
627071070
627071071
627074014
Ocotillo Site
627232005
Entrada Del Paseo
640370018
640370016
Owner Acre Sf Status
City 0.67 29185 Not exempt
RDA 0.25 10890 Not exempt
RDA 0.38 16553 Not exempt
City 0.16 6970 Exempt
RDA 0.14 6098 Exempt
City 0.38 16553 Not exempt
City 0.14 6098 Exempt
RDA 0.42 18295 Not exempt
City of Palm Desert 0.53 23156 Not exempt
City of Palm Desert 2.01 85365 Not exempt
City of Palm Desert 0.68 23823 Not exempt
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Date: 2021
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Ocotillo Site
EL PASEO SAN PABLO AVEPARK VIEW DR
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Date: 2021
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VICINITY MAP
Alesandro Alley
Entrada Del Paseo
Monterey Crossing "Triangle Site"
Ocotillo Site