2007 California Public Resources Code Chapter 3.3. The Urban Park Act Of 2006

CA Codes (prc:5640-5654)

5640.  This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Urban
Park Act of 2006.



5641.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows:
   (a) The program created by this chapter will finance the
acquisition and development of parks and recreation areas and
facilities in the neighborhoods that are currently least served by
park and recreation providers by emphasizing the expansion of
neighborhood accessibility to parks. These neighborhoods are often
the same areas that suffer most from high unemployment and
destructive or unlawful conduct by youth.
   (b) The program established by the chapter will encourage
community participation in, and a greater sense of responsibility
toward, new parks and recreation areas and facilities, which will
help keep them clean and safe and which will enhance community pride
and sustain neighborhood vitality.
   (c) New parks and facilities will provide safe recreational
opportunities for children and positive outlets for youth, and will
meet the special recreational and social needs of senior citizens and
other urban population groups.



5642.  As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
   (a) "City" means a city or a city and county.
   (b) "District" means a regional park district, regional park and
open-space district, or regional open-space district formed pursuant
to Article 3 (commencing with Section 5500) of Chapter 3, or a
recreation and park district formed pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 5780).
   (c) "Facilities" includes, but is not limited to, places for
organized team sports, outdoor recreation, and informal turf play;
nonmotorized recreational trails; permanent play structures;
landscaping; community gardens; places for passive recreation,
enjoyment of scenic open space, nature appreciation and study, and
outdoor education; multipurpose structures designed to meet the
special recreational, educational, vocational, and social needs of
youth, senior citizens, and other urban population groups; and
infrastructure and other improvements that support these facilities.

   (d) "Heavily urbanized county" means a county with a population of
500,000 or more, and a density of at least 1,100 persons per square
mile, based on the most recent verifiable census data.
   (e) "Nonprofit organization" means any nonprofit public benefit
corporation formed pursuant to the Nonprofit Corporation Law
(Division 2 (commencing with Section 5000) of the Corporations Code),
qualified to do business in California, qualified under Section 501
(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code, and that has among its
primary purposes the preservation, protection, or enhancement of land
or water resources in their natural, scenic, historical,
agricultural, forested, or open-space condition or use, or the
provision of conservation and environmental education and other
recreational, vocational, and educational services to urban youth.
   (f) "Park access" means the distance of approximately one-half
mile or less from a residence to a park.



5643.  The Department of Parks and Recreation shall establish a
local assistance program to offer grants, on a competitive basis, to
eligible cities, counties, joint powers authorities, any district
except a school district authorized to provide park, recreational, or
open-space services, or a combination of those services, and
nonprofit organizations for the acquisition or development, or both,
of property for urban parks and recreation areas and facilities.



5644.  The following entities are eligible to apply for grants
pursuant to this chapter:
   (a) A heavily urbanized county.
   (b) Any city or district, or joint powers authority that includes
a city or district, irrespective of population, in a heavily
urbanized county.
   (c) Any city with a population of 100,000 or more, based on the
most recent verifiable census data, which is not in a heavily
urbanized county.
   (d) A nonprofit organization that is applying for a grant for a
project located within the jurisdiction of an entity that meets the
requirements of subdivision (a), (b), or (c).



5645.  The department may award a grant pursuant to this chapter
only for a project that meets all of the following criteria:
   (a) The proposed project is within the jurisdiction of an eligible
applicant, as specified in Section 5644.
   (b) The project will result in the creation of a new urban park,
new multipurpose facility, or new recreational opportunity.



5646.  In evaluating applications for grants that meet the
requirements of Section 5645, the department shall assign higher
priority to applications, for each of the following criteria
satisfied:
   (a) The amount of the grant applied for, together with any
matching contribution, will meet all the costs of acquiring or
developing, or both, the new urban park or facilities, and when
construction of the project is completed, the new urban park or
facility will be fully usable by the residents of the project's
service area.
   (b) The project's service area has significant deficiencies in
park access and facilities relative to other areas of the applicant's
jurisdiction.
   (c) The project will enhance employment opportunities for
residents, including at-risk youth, of the project's service area, or
of members of the California Conservation Corps or certified local
conservation corps.
   (d) The project will accommodate outdoor learning opportunities
for school pupils or at-risk youth from the project's service area,
or of members of the California Conservation Corps or certified
conservation corps.
   (e) The project will be usable by pupils from one or more public
schools in the project's service area.
   (f) The application includes a commitment for a matching
contribution. The matching contributions may be in the form of moneys
from any source, including funds from other state local assistance
programs; gifts of real property, equipment, and consumable supplies;
volunteer services; free or reduced-cost use of land, facilities, or
equipment; and bequests and income from wills, estates, and trusts.
The department shall evaluate the amount of the matching contribution
in terms of its proportionality in relation to the economic
resources of the applicant.
   (g) The project will wholly or partly replace an area of blight,
recycle property, replace a brownfield, or will contribute
significantly to the economic revitalization of the area in the
project's service area.
   (h) The development phase of the project was planned with public
input from the affected community.
   (i) The project is a joint-use project between two or more
agencies that share responsibility for ownership, development, and
maintenance of the project.
   (j) The project is a partnership in an infill, transit-oriented,
or an affordable housing development.
   (k) The project is easily accessible to pedestrians, bicycles, and
public transit, and encourages use by local residents.
   (l) The project creates a new park in a location where none
currently exists.



5647.  (a) The department may adopt guidelines to amplify or clarify
the criteria specified in Section 5646, and may adopt additional
criteria, to supplement those criteria, but the scope of the
additional criteria shall be limited to providing additional guidance
in selecting projects in areas that have the greatest deficiencies
in parks and facilities.
   (b) The department may develop a procedural guide for the
administration of this chapter and the guidance of applicants.
   (c) The department shall solicit written comments and hold public
hearings at convenient locations throughout the state on any
guideline or procedural guide that is proposed to be adopted or
developed pursuant to this section.
   (d) If the department determines to adopt guidelines or to develop
a procedural guide pursuant to this section, the department shall
adopt the guidelines or develop the procedural guide on or before
April 1, 2002.
   (e) Any regulation or procedural guide adopted or developed
pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the review or
approval of the Office of Administrative Law or to any other
requirement of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
   (f) The department may not expend more than 5 percent of the
amount annually appropriated for the purposes of this chapter for
administrative costs.
   (g) If funding is available, the department shall administer
application requests for proposals and grant awards in no less than
two cycles in two years. The department shall maintain this
application schedule as long as funding is available.



5648.  (a) The local assistance program created by this chapter is
intended to include grants for the acquisition or development, or
both, of parcels of property of any size that will serve urban
residents and otherwise meet the requirements of this chapter.  The
department shall not assign an application a lower priority on the
basis that the application proposes the acquisition of a city lot or
other small parcel.
   (b) A grant may be expended to acquire the fee title, a leasehold,
or other interest in real property.  If an application proposes to
acquire less than fee title, the applicant shall demonstrate in the
application, to the satisfaction of the department, that the proposed
project will provide public benefits that are commensurate with the
type and duration of the interest in real property to be acquired.



5649.  Any eligible nonprofit organization may apply for a grant on
its own behalf or on behalf of an eligible city, county, or district
pursuant to a contract with that city, county, or district to acquire
and develop the urban park or recreation area.  The application
shall include a copy of the contract and the resolution or other
authorization for the contract.  The contract shall specify
arrangements for the long-term management and operation of the urban
park or recreation area.



5650.  (a) Every applicant for a grant pursuant to this chapter and
the entity that will operate and maintain the property, if that
entity is different than the applicant, shall agree to comply with
all of the following requirements:
   (1) To operate and maintain the property developed pursuant to
this chapter so that it is usable by residents of the project's
service area.  With the approval of the department, the grant
recipient, or its successor in interest in the property, may transfer
its property interest and the responsibility to operate and maintain
the property, in accordance with the terms of the grant and any
applicable law, to a public agency or nonprofit organization that is
able to operate and maintain the property in perpetuity.  Any attempt
to make a transfer in violation of this subdivision is void.
   (2) To use the property only for the purposes for which the grant
was made and to make no other use or sale or other disposition of the
property, except as authorized by specific act of the Legislature.
If the use of the property is changed to a use that is not permitted
by the terms of the grant, or if the property is sold or otherwise
disposed of, the grant recipient shall reimburse the state an amount
equal to the amount of the grant, the fair market value of the land
and any improvements constructed with the grant, or the proceeds from
the sale or other disposition, whichever amount is greatest.  If the
property that is sold or otherwise disposed of is less than the
entire interest in the property funded with the grant, the grant
recipient shall reimburse the state an amount equal to either the
proceeds from the sale or other disposition of the interest or the
fair market value of the interest sold or otherwise disposed of,
whichever amount is greater.
   (b) In lieu of seeking reimbursement pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a), the department may impose restrictions on the use of
public park property identical to the requirements for the
preservation of public parks set forth in the Public Park
Preservation Act of 1971 (Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 5400))
with respect to any property used, sold, or otherwise disposed of in
a manner not permitted by the terms of the grant.



5651.  The recipient of a grant pursuant to this chapter may use the
grant funds to pay for any portion of the cost of cleaning up,
removing, or remediating any toxic materials or hazardous substances,
if the amount used for cleanup, removal, or remediation does not
exceed the lesser of 20 percent of the grant allocated to the project
or one hundred thousand dollars (0,000).



5652.  A grant recipient shall encumber grant moneys within three
years of the date of the approval of the grant.



5653.  On or before April 30, 2003, and on or before April 30
annually thereafter, the department shall submit a report to the
Legislature on the status of each grant made pursuant to this
chapter.



5654.  The provisions of this chapter shall be implemented only in a
fiscal year for which funding is provided for that purpose in the
annual Budget Act.