Open-space bill moves ahead

A bill to make it easier to form a Santa Cruz County open space district moved out of an Assembly committee this week after last-minute opposition by agricultural interests threatened to kill it.
Senate Bill 211, authored by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, cleared the Committee on Local Government on a 5-2 party-line vote, with the committee’s two Republicans voting against it.
The bill had already been passed by the state Senate. Simitian said he would work with the measure’s opponents to amend the bill before it goes to the Assembly floor, probably in late August or early September.
“There’s not much to be gained by moving forward without the broadest possible support,” Simitian said in a phone interview.
A day before the committee hearing, the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau announced that it opposed the bill, citing the absence of language protecting agriculture and timber harvesting.
Earlier, Watsonville leaders voiced concern about the possibility of unincorporated areas on the city’s outskirts being ruled out for planned eventual development.
When Simitian inserted amendments to try to satisfy the city’s objection, some supporters withdrew, saying the city was being given more power than the rest of the county.
“Some said the porridge was too hot, some said the porridge was too cold, and I thought the porridge was just right,” Simitian joked. “But that’s the way the system works, and I’m attempting to thread the needle.”
The bill, being carried by Simitian and Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, at the request of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, would permit the county Board of Supervisors to detail the operation of such a district and hold a countywide election, giving voters the choice of whether to form the district.
The bill would avoid the usual procedure requiring the gathering of 5,000 signatures on petitions to the Local Agency Formation Commission, which in typical cases then rules on whether the county can have an election.
Legislative aides said it’s unusual for this much detail to be inserted into “enabling legislation.” The concerns now being voiced usually are addressed later in the process, they said.
An open space district would have the power to levy a tax to pay for land acquisition and preservation of open space. The proposed district would encompass the whole of Santa Cruz County except for the northwest corner, which already is in the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.
While the Farm Bureau praised the Land Trust for considering agricultural concerns in its earlier preservation efforts, the bureau also objected to the proposed district’s taxing ability, saying an additional tax would come when local governments are faced with severe budget constraints.
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