June xx, 2022
The Honorable Philip Ting
State Capitol, Ste. 8230
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Assembly Member Ting:
The City of San Marcos regretfully must oppose AB 2357, which undermines the ability of local agencies to conduct appropriate economic development activities on properties they acquire or otherwise own, by expanding the scope of authority for Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to review “any action to dispose of land,” which would include properties retained for agency use, properties declared “exempt surplus,” and properties that local agencies are authorized by other laws to acquire and dispose of for economic development purposes.
The implementation of the Surplus Lands Act (SLA), including HCD’s recent guidelines, have created immense delays and difficulties for local government agencies dealing with the control and disposal of their local properties. Regrettably, AB 2357 would compound those difficulties by expanding state reviews and delays affecting properties retained for agency use and declared exempt surplus.
Rather than expanding the scope of the SLA in this form, the Legislature should hold special hearings to more thoroughly and properly evaluate the difficulties, bureaucratic delays and unintended consequences caused by implementation of the existing law on local agency activities, including addressing unresolved conflicts with other laws and state policy priorities the Legislature has enacted that affect the disposal of local agency property.
For these reasons, the City of San Marcos regrets that it must respectfully oppose AB 2357. Please feel free to contact me at 760-744-1050, or [email protected], whenever needed.
Sincerely,
Rebecca D. Jones
Mayor
Cc: Senator Anna Caballero, Chair, Senate Committee on Governance and Finance Senator Scott Wiener, Chair, Senate Committee on Housing Members, Senate Committee on Governance and Finance
Members, Senate Committee on Housing
Gurbax Sahota, Chief Executive Officer, California Association for Local Economic Development 2 City Clerk
[email protected]