Existing law prescribes requirements for the disposal of land determined to be surplus land by a local agency. Those requirements include a requirement that a local agency, prior to disposing of a property or participating in negotiations to dispose of that property with a prospective transferee, send a written notice of availability of the property to specified entities, depending on the property’s intended use, and send specified information in regard to the disposal of the parcel of surplus land to the Department of Housing and Community Development. Existing law, among other enforcement provisions, makes a local agency that disposes of land in violation of these disposal provisions, after receiving notification of violation from the department, liable for a penalty of 30% of the final sale price of the land sold in violation for a first violation and 50% for any subsequent violation. Under existing law, except as specified, a local agency has 60 days to cure or correct an alleged violation before an enforcement action may be brought. Existing law provides for the deposit and use of penalty revenues for housing, as prescribed.

This bill, until January 1, 2030, would require the County of Orange, or any city located within the County of Orange, if notified by the department that its planned disposal of surplus land is in violation of existing law, to cure or correct the alleged violation within 60 days, as prescribed. The bill would prohibit a County of Orange jurisdiction that has not cured or corrected any alleged violation from disposing of the parcel until the department determines that it has complied with existing law or deems the alleged violation not to be a violation. The bill would authorize a local agency that receives that notice to provide to the Department of Housing and Community Development a statement describing the actions taken to cure or correct the alleged violation within 60 days of receipt of the notice, and would require the department, if it receives that statement, to make specified determinations and notify the local agency of those determinations within 30 days of receipt of the statement.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Orange.

By imposing new duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.