Local government: City of Escalon: sale of property.

(1) Existing law provides for the acquisition of public park property and facilities and compensation for that transfer under specified circumstances. The Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 (the Villaraigosa-Keeley Act) authorizes the issuance of bonds for the purpose of financing a program for the acquisition, development, improvement, rehabilitation, restoration, enhancement, and protection of park, recreational, cultural, historical, fish and wildlife, lake, riparian, reservoir, river, and coastal resources, as specified. The act allocates a portion of the revenues derived from the sale of those bonds to the Department of Parks and Recreation for grants to local agencies for the acquisition, development, improvement, rehabilitation, restoration, enhancement, and interpretation of local park and recreational lands and facilities, including renovation of recreational facilities conveyed to local agencies resulting from the downsizing or decommissioning of federal military installations. The act prohibits the use of the grant funds unless the applicant has agreed to certain conditions, including, but not limited to, using the property only for the purposes for which the grant was made and making no other use or sale or other disposition of the property, except as authorized by a specific act of the Legislature. The act requires that if the use of the property is changed to a use that is not permitted by the act or if the property is sold or otherwise disposed of, an amount equal to the amount of the grant, the fair market value of the real property, as specified, or the proceeds from the sale or other disposition be used by the grantee for a purpose authorized by the act or that this amount be reimbursed to the fund. This bill would authorize the City of Escalon to sell specified property acquired pursuant to this grant program, conditioned upon, among other things, a requirement that the city complies with the requirements of the Villaraigosa-Keeley Act. The bill would prohibit the transfer until the department determines that all required conditions have been met. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Escalon. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.