Exempt surplus land: surplus land subject to a valid legal restriction.

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Exempting Certain Surplus Land

The bill allows local agencies to exempt surplus land that is subject to certain legal restrictions from disposal requirements and makes minor changes to the open meetings law.

What This Bill Does

• Defines surplus land as land owned by a local agency that is declared surplus in a public meeting.
• Allows local agencies to exempt surplus land if it has valid legal restrictions preventing housing unless there's a feasible method to fix this issue.
• Includes option agreements among the types of legal restrictions that can make surplus land exempt from disposal requirements.
• Makes minor, non-substantive changes to laws about open meetings for legislative bodies.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local agencies and their governing bodies
• People with valid legal restrictions on land use

Terms To Know

Surplus Land

Land owned by a local agency that is declared surplus because it's not needed for the agency’s use.

Valid Legal Restriction

A legal restriction, like an existing lease or contract, that prevents housing on land unless there's a feasible method to fix this issue.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how local agencies will decide if a method exists to avoid or mitigate the prohibition.
• It is unclear what specific changes are made to open meetings laws, as they are described as non-substantive.

Official Summary Text

AB 2498, as amended, Chen.
Local government: open meetings.
Exempt surplus land: surplus land subject to a valid legal restriction.
Existing law prescribes requirements for the disposal of surplus land by a local agency. Existing law defines “surplus land” for these purposes to mean land owned in fee simple by any local agency for which the local agency’s governing body takes formal action in a regular public meeting declaring that the land is surplus and is not necessary for the agency’s use. Existing law provides that an agency is not required to follow certain requirements for the disposal of surplus land for “exempt surplus land,” as defined.
Under existing law, “exempt surplus land” includes surplus land that is subject to a valid legal restriction that is not
imposed by the local agency and that makes housing prohibited, unless there is a feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the prohibition on the site, as specified. Existing law specifies that valid legal restrictions for these purposes include existing leases, or other contractual obligations or restrictions, if the terms were agreed to prior to September 30, 2019.
This bill would specify that the requirements of an option agreement are among the contractual obligations or restrictions described above.
Existing law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, requires that all meetings of a legislative body be open and public and that all persons be permitted to attend except as otherwise permitted by its provisions. The act defines a meeting for the purposes of its provisions and excepts certain interactions from its provisions.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF