AB 1680

Bill Subjects

Abstract

The California Coastal Act of 1976 (coastal act) requires any person wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, as defined, to obtain a coastal development permit, except as provided. The coastal act requires every person receiving a coastal development permit or a certificate of exemption for development on any vacant lot within specified designated areas, prior to commencement of construction, to pay to the California Coastal Commission (the commission) , for deposit in the Coastal Access Account, an in-lieu public access fee, with the amount of the fee determined by specified costs of acquisition, as provided. The coastal act, for purposes of those provisions governing the in-lieu public access fee amount and with respect to the Hollister Ranch public access program in the County of Santa Barbara, requires that the Hollister Ranch in-lieu fee for public access be $5,000 for each permit. The coastal act also requires that all in-lieu public access fees received pursuant to those provisions be deposited in the State Coastal Conservancy Fund and be available for appropriation to the State Coastal Conservancy for specified conservancy purposes. This bill would require the commission, in collaboration with the State Coastal Conservancy, the Department of Parks and Recreation, and the State Lands Commission, by April 1, 2021, to develop a contemporary public access program for Hollister Ranch that will replace the existing coastal access program for Hollister Ranch that the commission adopted in 1982, and would require that the public access program include specified components, as provided, including the first phase of public access to beach by land controlled by the Hollister Ranch Owners Association to be implemented by April 1, 2022. The bill would provide that a private person or entity impeding, delaying, or otherwise obstructing the implementation of the public access or other public access program requirements constitute a violation of the public access provisions of the coastal act. The bill would require the commission, in collaboration with the conservancy, the department, and the State Lands Commission, to submit a prescribed report to the Legislature within 30 days of missing a public access program deadline. The bill would require that all past, present, and future in-lieu fees received, as well as other moneys received by the conservancy for providing public access at Hollister Ranch from public and private sources, including nonprofit sources, be deposited in the Hollister Ranch Access Management Subaccount, which the bill would create in the State Coastal Conservancy Fund. The bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require moneys in the subaccount to be used for any action necessary to implement the public access program for Hollister Ranch. This bill would increase the amount of the Hollister Ranch in-lieu public access fee to $33,000 for each permit, adjusted annually for inflation. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that the State Coastal Conservancy and the State Public Works Board use their authority to implement the public access policies and provisions of the coastal act at Hollister Ranch. This bill would instead require the conservancy and the State Lands Commission to use their full authority to implement the public access policies and provisions of the coastal act at Hollister Ranch. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for Hollister Ranch.