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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-02-11 - AGENDA REPORTS - LAND TRUST OPEN SPACE PGM (2)AGENDA REPORT City Manager Approval Item to be presented A CONSENT CALENDAR Jeff Kolin DATE: FEBRUARY 11, 1992 SUBJECT: INVOLVEMENT OF LAND TRUST IN OPEN SPACE ACQUISITION PROGRAM DEPARTMENT: PARKS AND RECREATION BACKGROUND Staff presented an overall strategy for an open space acquisition and main- tenance program to the City Council at its October 30, 1991, study session. The step-by-step process outlined by staff included the use of a non-profit public land trust to assist with the acquisition of high priority open space parcels in the Santa Clarita Valley. City Council enthusiastically approved the open space strategy, but asked staff to research further the availability of non-profit public land trusts, in addition to the Trust for Public Land, and to determine their willingness to work with the City,. Letters were sent to eight additional non-profit land trusts (Attachment A). The letter explained our Community's commitment to acquiring open.space, trails and parkland. It also summarized our commitment of $2 million to the develop- ment of the Santa Clara River Trail,_ and our pending grant requests and bond act projects totaling another $10 million in potential funding. Responses were received from six of the eight agencies contacted by letter. (See Attachment B.) Four letters were received from various organizations, and two telephone calls. The Land Trust Alliance, an organization of 900 non-profit land trusts nation-wide, referred the City to the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public. Land for non-profit land trusts operating in California. Conservation Resources is a for-profit organization, which works cooperatively with non-profit organizations and public agencies to acquire open space. The American Farmland Trust focuses its efforts on the acquisition and preservation of active, productive farmland. Staff felt that lands within the City limits adjacent to the Santa C1ara.River did not meet the Farmland Trust's criteria. The California Botanical Habitat finances. its acquisition efforts through partial development of the properties it acquires. The additional mailings made to land trusts generated two additional possibili- ties for a partnership with the City in its open space acquisition program. The first of these is the American Land Conservancy. Founded by the former regional director of the Trust for Public Land, the American Land Conservancy has been in existence for just over three years. The American Land Trust offers many of the same services as the Trust for Public Land, but has a smaller staff and does not have the ability to finance acquisitions through a revolving trust program. 1-0 i Therefore, it would be necessary for the City to pay the up -front costs for appraisals, surveys, mapping and research studies. Harriet Burgess, the President of the American Land Conservancy, was the regional director for the Trust for Public Land and was involved when the Trust for Public Land was originally contacted by the Forest Service and BKK regarding a possible land exchange for forest in -holdings and the Elsmere Land Fill. A second potential partner, in the form of a non-profit land trust, was also discovered through the additional mailings. The Environmental Trust is head- quartered in San Diego, California, and has been in existence for approximately one -and -one-half years. It is a small organization with part-time staff and limited trust fund resources. The Trust .focuses on the Southern California area, and.in particular the San Diego and Riverside areas. They offer continu- ing management and conservation services, as well as land acquisition services. They have expressed interest in working with the City on its acquisition efforts; however, they would require the City to fund up -front costs for surveys, appraisals, mapping and any studies or research required for the acquisition efforts. The Nature Conservancy and the American Farmland Trust may become more inter- ested in working with the City as we demonstrate our commitment through the purchase of open space lands. The use of multiple land trusts is not unusual, and may be an option which could be exercised in the future. Specialized parcels, such as active farmland and endangered species habitat lands, may be of interest to these trusts at a later date. The Trust for Public Land continues to be the only non-profit public land .trust that has expressed an interest in working with the City to acquire open spaceand parkland that would not require an up -front commitment of City funds. The Trust for Public Land has offered to begin work with the City with no retainer or contracted guarantee of purchase of the lands they may option. The American Land Conservancy and the Environmental Trust have also expressed interest in working with the City. However, they would require an up -front commitment of City budget funds to finance initial surveys, appraisals and studies to successfully implement the acquisition of open space for the City. The City Council and the Parks and Recreation Commission have expressed concern regarding the Trust for Public Land's involvement. with the land exchange between the Forest Service.and BKK, which involves forest in -holdings within the Angeles National Forest and a proposed solid waste land fill in Elsmere Canyon. The City Council may decide that it is better to designate budget funds to pay some of the up -front costs for open space land acquisition, thereby avoiding the need to use the Trust for Public Land. Use of a non-profit land trust is comparable to the use of an attorney or a real estate agent in a legal action or property acquisition effort. Selection of a real estate agent or attorney is based upon his or her past performance record, skills and ability to provide the services necessary to successfully complete the transaction. A person does not necessar- ily select an attorney based upon the cases he or she has been involved with in the past. Some of the best attorneys, real estate agents and land trusts .have been involved in controversial transactions which require superior skills to facilitate. I The trust for Public Land offers the City the strongest combination of land acquisition services and financial resources. Additionally, they will begin work on the acquisition of open space without a retainer and obtain options for the purchase of fee title or conservation easements based on the potential of the City securing future grants, bond funds or donations. This will allow the City to begin.work on acquiring rapidly disappearing open space now instead of waiting for guaranteed funding. FISCAL IMPACT There will be. no immediate fiscal impact, if the City Council authorizes staff to begin work with the Trust for Public Land. Purchase of the properties will be contingent upon the passage of the Los Angeles County Park, Beach and Recrea- tion Act of 1992, AB72, future state bond acts or a successful application for competitive grants from the Wildlife Conservation Board or other ,state and federal grant programs. If the City Council decides to work with either the American Land Conservancy or the Environmental Trust, funds would be required to be set aside from the City Council contingency fund to pay for appraisals, surveys, mapping and studies. Staff estimates that an initial fund of approximately $50,000 should be estab- lished for that purpose. RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that the City Council authorize staff to begin work with the Trust for Public Land for acquisition of open space lands, trail easements and parkland. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A - Land Trusts Contacted Attachment B - Land Trusts Responses Attachment C - Preliminary Open Space Acquisition Budget JCK:mat PRCOUNC.73 LAND TRUST MAILING LIST Jean Hocker, President The Land Trust Alliance 900 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20002 Harriet Burgess, President American Land Conservancy 44 Montgomery, Suite 4165 San Francisco, CA 94104 Roberta Phillips Administrative Assistant The Nature Conservancy 785 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Kyle Bach Conservation Resources 500 12th Street, Suite 310 Oakland, CA 94607 Shelton Douthit Sempervirens Fund Drawer BE Los Altos, CA 94023 Ralph Grossi American Farmland Trust 1920 "N" Street NW Washington, DC 20036 John.Stearns, Manager California Botanical Habitat 3435 Ocean Park Boulevard, 5201-25 Santa Monica, CA 90405 David Gautereaux Secretary/Treasurer Environmental Trust 11590.Faisan Way San Diego, CA 92124 (202) 785-1410 (415) 403-3850 (415) 777-0487 (415) 567-0454 (415) 968-4509 (202) 659-5170 (310) 457-4195 (619) 573-0448 ATTACHMENT "A" r ATTACHMENT "B" Page 1. LAND TRUST RESPONSES Trust Name and Location Response Land Trust Alliance National organization of 900 trusts nation - Washington, D.C. wide. Referred us to the Trust for Public Land or the Nature Conservancy. American Land Conservancy Interested in working with City. Founder San Francisco, CA and president is former regional manager for the Trust- for Public Land that originally staffed Elsmere project for BKK. Small staff and trust fund would require City funds up -front for appraisals, surveys, maps and .studies. In person visit 1/27/92. In existence for three years. No response to letter. Past phone calls The Nature Conservancy indicated interest in endangered species San Francisco, CA habitat areas of large size only. For-profit corporation interested in coopera- Conservation Resources tive land acquisition with public and non - Oakland, CA profit conservation agencies. No response to letter. Sempervirens Fund Los Altos, CA Interested only in preservation of active American Farmland Trust productive farmlands. Washington, D.C. Focus is on acquisition of open space funded California Botanical Habitat through partial development of the site. Santa Monica, CA One person operation. Limited resources. Interested in working with City. In exist- ence for 1-1/2 years. Emphasis on Southern The Environmental Trust California and San Diego areas. Also offers San Diego, CA long-term management services and conserv- ancy program. Small staff and trust- fund would require City funds for appraisals, surveys, studies and management. Interested in working with the City in open space land acquisition. 20 years plus in The Trust for Public Land California. Large staff and operating San Francisco, CA budget with revolving trust funds. No up -front costs to City. All costs recovered by trust through transfer of land to public agency. Working with BKK and Forest Service in land exchange for forest in -holdings and proposed Elsmere Canyon Land Fill. + AWACEIr,= "B" _Page 2 . LAND TRUST ALLIANCE December 10, 1991 Jeff Kolin Deputy City Manager, Parks & Recreation 23920 Valencia Blvd. City of Santa-Clarita, CA 91355 Dear Mr. Kolin: Congratulations to the City of Santa Clarita for its dedication to the conservation of its natural resources! As you. requested, I have enclosed information about the Land Trust Alliance and land trusts in general. The Land Trust Alliance is the national organization for more than 900 land trusts across the country. The mission of the Land Trust Alliance is to strengthen the land trust movement and ensure land trusts have the information, skills, and resources they need to save land. We do not acquire or hold land ourselves. I have enclosed for your information, however, a list of land trusts in the state of California. I might also suggest that you contact the Trust for Public Land, 116 New Montgomery Street, Fourth Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 495-4014, and The Nature Conservancy Western Regional office, 785 Market Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103; (415) 777-0541. I hope the enclosed proves useful; please call if I can be of any further assistance. 900 SEVENTEENTH STREET NW SUITE 410 Sincerel Karen Richardson Program Assistant F GtYQF�p�t„ulA WASHINGTON, OC 200062501 R-r6d Pape 202.785.1410 FAX 202-7851408 ATTACHMENT."B" Page 3 . Conservation e. Kyle Bach Resource President Inc. (415) 567.0454 "Supporting conservation efforts through the introduction of private investment capital.." S IN November 25, 1991 Y`v�✓�P Jeff Kolin Deputy City Manager, Parks & Recreation 23920 Valencia,Blvd., Suite 300 City of Santa Clarita, CA 91355 Dear.Mr. Kolin: Thank you for your letter. concerning your city's land and easement acquistion.efforts. Our firm is not non-profit land trust: While we are a for-profit corporation, our interest is in cooperative land acquisition with public and non-profit conservation agencies. It is our belief tha6 we offera practical alternative when public funds fall short in the larger transactions. It you believe that your conservation goals are not achievable based on available public funds and assistence from non -profits, then I would be interested in discussing the methods that we can offer to help bridge the gap. Yours Sincerely, /l . Kyle Bach f1 500 12 5 th treet 10 Suite t 3 Oakland California 94607-4010 •Fax 15 891-09 2 �. J (4 ) 4 9 A subsidiary of TransAction Companies Ltd.- . s American Farmland That November 27, 1991 Mr. Jeff Kolin Deputy City Manager Parks and Recreation City of Santa Clarita Suite 300 23920 Valencia Boulevard City of Santa Clarita, California 91355 Dear Mr. Kolin: ATTACHMENT "B" Page 4 RECEIVEM DEC 2 1991 F6'RrS G i:£L:ii:,Tl.^,N CLPr, CITY OF 8A1\TA CLARITA I am in receipt of your 22 November letter regarding assistance in acquiring open space lands and trail easements in your city. Unless these properties contain productive farmlands, I believe they would fie outside the criteria for American Farmland Trust intervention. I would suggest that you contact the Trust for Public Lands in San Francisco. They specialize in assisting local and state governments in the land acquisition process and also in the establishment of local land trusts. If, however, these lands are in productive agriculture and you wish to keep them in productive agriculture as a component of your open space plan, we would be interested in discussing this project further with you. In that case, you should contact Greg Carnill, Western Regional Director of the American Farmland Trust at (916) 753-1073 in Davis, California. By way of this letter, I will alert Greg to that possibility. Wishing you great success in the protection of this critical greenway along .the Santa Clara River, I am Yours iruiy, Ralph E. Grossi President REG/esb cc: Greg Carnill Marty Rosen, President, Trust for Public Land NATIONAL OFFICE 1920 N Street, NW Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20036. Tel: (202) 659-5170 F=(202)6S9-8339 recycled paper 44 Montgomery Street, Suite 4165 • San Francisco, California 94104 • Telephone 415.403.3850 FAX 415.982.2429 December 23, 1991 Jeff Kohn Deputy City Manager 23920 Vallencia Blvd. Suite 300 Santa Clarita, CA 91355 Dear Mr. Kohn: ATTACHMENT "C" Page 5 I received your letter of November 22nd and reviewed it with great interest. I apologize for not responding sooner. The end of the year at the American Land Conservancy is a particularly hectic time as we are closing several major transactions and have been absolutely swamped by those year end obligations. The American Land Conservancy is most interested in your open space acquisition program, in particular since we have been working collaboratively with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in the Santa Susan Mountains. We would be most interested in discussing potential collaboration on open space projects after the fust of the year. If our involvement is still timely, we would like to arrange an appointment and review your acquisition program and priorities. The American Land Conservancy is quite flexible in its fmancial and contractual requirements when collaborating with public agencies. Most recently we have had a very productive working relationship with the City of Pahn Desert to facilitate acquisition of a key parcel important for its scenic and wildlife values. We would be glad to review that relationship and other similar endeavors with other public agencies to find a good plan for working with Santa Clarita. There are no hard and fast rules at the American Land Conservancy. Flexibility is one of the attributes we can bring to such transactions. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, wa/m;-� Harriet Burgess President R E C E I V E R HB/lk DEC 3 0 1991 PAnx3 t: GUM CITY OF SANTA cLARITq President: HARRIET BURGESS Council: BRUCE BAIHmT HARRIET C. BABBITT DAVID R. BROWER BROCK EVANS W. E. GARRETT L. W. LANE, JR. MARTIN LITTON HELEN MCCLOSKEV PETE MCCLOSKEY MARGARET W. OWINGS GALEN ROWELL WALLACE STEGNER ROBERT STEPHENS STEWART UDALL TRUST PUBLIC LAN D L" January 28, 1992 Mr. Jeff Kolin Director of Parks and Recreation City of Santa Clarita 23920 Valencia Boulevard, Suite 300 Santa Clarita, CA 91355 Dear Jeff: With the holidays over and the New Year well under way, it's time for me to map out where and what I'd like to accomplish by year's end. I'm hopeful that in some way I can include the City of Santa Clarita in my planning. I thought I'd drop you a note to remind you of the Trust's interest in working with the City; to again offer to meet individually with the City Council (if that would be helpful); and to let you know I'll be in the Los Angeles basin both the first and last weeks of February -- if there would be a need for us to meet, please let me know. I am curious to learn both the direction of the City Council and the current status of the Santa Clara river restoration plan, and hope to hear from you soon. SincerelWar y,'/ Scotker Project Manager SJP:fda JAN 3 0 1992 FABS B f. _FC�T1- csn: CI -Ty OF SAMA CIARITA WESTERN REGION 116 NEW MONTGOMERY THIRD FLOOR SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA 94105 FAX (415) 495.0541 (415) 495-5660 PRELIMINARY OPEN SPACE Acquisition Budget Surveys Mapping Appraisals Aerial Photography Habitat and Use Studies ATTACHMENT "C" $10,000 $10,000' $15,000 $ 5,000 $10,000