HomeMy WebLinkAbout1797 ORDINANCE NO. 1797
AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS,
CALIFORNIA, DETERMINING IT WILL COMPLY WITH THE
VOLUNTARY ALTERNATIVE REDEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
PURSUANT TO PART 1.9 OF DIVISION 24 OF THE CALIFORNIA
HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE IN ORDER TO PERMIT THE
CONTINUED EXISTENCE AND OPERATION OF THE COMMUNITY
REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS.
City Attorney Summary
On July 29, 2011, the Governor signed a law dissolving all redevelopment
agencies. At the same time, the Governor signed a law that provides a city
the option to continue the existence of its redevelopment agency subject to a
series of new conditions and commitments—primarily commitments to make
payments to other agencies to be used for special district and educational
purposes. Litigation has been filed challenging this legislation and the
California Supreme Court has issued a stay on potions of the legislation
pending completion of the litigation process. Notwithstanding the uncertainty
in the legal status of the legislation, adoption of this Urgency Ordinance
would preserve the ability to continue the existence of the Palm Springs
Community Redevelopment Agency, subject to any judicially validated
requirements provided in the new State law. As an urgency ordinance, a
4/5ths vote is required to approve the ordinance.
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Palm Springs ("City") approved and
adopted the Redevelopment Plan for the Merged Redevelopment Project No. 1 and
Merged Redevelopment Project No. 2 ("Redevelopment Plan")covering certain properties
within the City (the "Project Area"); and
WHEREAS, the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Palm Springs
("Agency") is engaged in activities to execute and implement the Redevelopment Plan
pursuant to the provisions of the California Community Redevelopment Law (Health and
Safety Code § 33000, et sec.) ("CRL"); and
WHEREAS, since adoption of the Redevelopment Plan,the Agency has undertaken
redevelopment projects in the Project Area to eliminate blight, to improve public facilities
and infrastructure, to renovate and construct affordable housing, and to enter into
partnerships with private industries to create jobs and expand the local economy; and
WHEREAS, over the next few years, the Agency hopes to implement a variety of
redevelopment projects and programs to continue to eliminate and prevent blight,stimulate
and expand the Project Area's economic growth,create and develop local job opportunities
and alleviate deficiencies in public infrastructure, to name a few; and
WHEREAS, as part of the 2011-12 State budget bill, the California Legislature has
recently enacted and the Governor has signed, companion bills ABX1 26 and ABX1 27,
Ordinance No. 1797
Page 2
requiring that each redevelopment agency be dissolved unless the community that created
it enacts an ordinance committing it to making certain payments; and
WHEREAS, specifically,ABX1 26 prohibits agencies from taking numerous actions,
effective immediately and purportedly retroactively, and additionally provides that agencies
are deemed to be dissolved as of October 1, 2011; and
WHEREAS, ABX1 27 provides that a community may participate in an "Alternative
Voluntary Redevelopment Program,"in orderto enable a redevelopment agencywithin that
community to remain in existence and carry out the provisions of the CRL, by enacting an
ordinance agreeing to comply with Part 1.9 of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code;
and
WHEREAS, the Alternative Voluntary Redevelopment Program requires that the
community agree by ordinance to remit specified annual amounts to the county auditor-
controller; and
WHEREAS, under the threat of dissolution pursuant to ABX1 26, and upon the
contingencies and reservations set forth herein, the City shall make the Fiscal Year 2011-
2012 community remittance, currently estimated to be Three Million Four Hundred Thirty
Six Thousand, Three Hundred Eighty Dollars ($3,436,380), as well as the subsequent
annual community remittances as set forth in the CRL; and
WHEREAS, City understands and believes that an action challenging the
constitutionality of ABX1 26 and ABX1 27 was filed with the California Supreme Court(the
"Court")on behalf of cities, counties and redevelopment agencies, and that on August 11,
2011, the Court issued a partial stay on the effectiveness of ABX1 26 and ABX1 27 until it
can rule on the constitutionality of the two bills; and
WHEREAS,while the City currently intends to make these community remittances,
they shall be made under protest and without prejudice to the City's right to recover such
amounts and interest thereon,to the extent there is a final determination that ABX1 26 and
ABX1 27 are unconstitutional; and
WHEREAS, the City reserves the right, regardless of any community remittance
made pursuant to this Ordinance, to challenge the legality of ABX1 26 and ABX1 27; and
WHEREAS, to the extent the Court enjoins, restrains, or grants a stay on the
effectiveness of the Alternative Voluntary Redevelopment Program's payment obligation of
ABX1 26 and ABX1 27, the City shall not be obligated to make any community remittance
for the duration of such injunction, restraint, or stay; and
WHEREAS, all other legal prerequisites to the adoption of this Ordinance have
occurred.
Ordinance No. 1797
Page 3
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, DOES
ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Recitals. The Recitals set forth above are true and correct and
incorporated herein by reference.
Section 2. Participation in the Alternative Voluntary Redevelopment
Program. In accordance with Health and Safety Code Section 34193, and based on the
Recitals set forth above, the City Council hereby determines that the City shall comply with
the provisions of Part 1.9 of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code, as enacted by
ABX1 27.
Section 3. Payment Under Protest. Except as set forth in Section 4, below,the
City Council hereby determines that the City shall make the community remittances set
forth in Health and Safety Code section 34194 et seq.
Section 4. Effect of Stay or Determination of Invalidity. City shall not make
any community remittance in the event a court of competentjurisdiction eithergrants a stay
on the enforcement of ABX1 26 and ABX1 27 or determines that ABX1 26 and ABX1 27
are unconstitutional and therefore invalid, and all appeals therefrom are exhausted or
unsuccessful, or time for filing an appeal therefrom has lapsed. Any community remittance
shall be made under protest and without prejudice to the City's right to recover such
amount and interest thereon in the event that there is a final determination that ABX1 26
and ABX1 27 are unconstitutional. If there is a final determination that ABX1 26 and ABX1
27 are invalid,this Ordinance shall be deemed to be null and void and of no furtherforce or
effect.
Section 5. Implementation. The City Council hereby authorizes and directs the
City Manager to take any action and execute any documents necessary to implement this
Ordinance, including but not limited to notifying the Riverside County Auditor-Controller,the
Controller of the State of California, and the California Department of Finance of the
adoption of this Ordinance and the City's agreement to comply with the provisions of Part
1.9 of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code, as set forth in ABX1 27.
Section 6. Additional Understandings and Intent. It is the understanding and
intent of the City Council that, once the Agency is again authorized to enter into
agreements under the CRL, the City will enter into a Remittance Agreement with the
Agency as authorized pursuant to Section 34194.2, whereby the Agency will transfer
annual portions of its tax increment to the City in amounts not to exceed the annual
community remittance payments to enable the City, directly or indirectly, to make the
annual remittance payments. The City Council does not intend, by enactment of this
Ordinance, to pledge any of its general fund revenues or assets to make the remittance
payments.
Ordinance No. 1797
Page 4
Section 7. CEQA. The City Council finds, under Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations, Section 15378(b)(4), that this Ordinance is exempt from the requirements of
the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") in that it is not a "project," but instead
consists of the creation and continuation of a governmental funding mechanism for
potential future projects and programs, and does not commit funds to any specific project
or program. The City Council,therefore, directs that a Notice of Exemption be filed with the
County Clerk of the County of Riverside in accordance with CEQA Guidelines.
Section 8. Custodian of Records. The documents and materials that constitute
the record of proceedings on which these findings are based are located at the City Clerk's
office located at 3200 Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, California, 92262. The
custodian for these records is James Thompson, City Clerk.
Section 9. Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance or the application
thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other
provisions or applications of this Ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid
provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Ordinance are severable.
The City Council hereby declares that itwould have adopted this Ordinance irrespective of
the invalidity of any particular portion thereof.
Section 10. Certification; Publication. The City Clerk shall certify to the
adoption of this Ordinance and cause it, or a summary of it,to be published once within 15
days of adoption in a newspaper of general circulation printed and published within the City
of Palm Springs, and shall post a certified copy of this Ordinance, including the vote for
and against the same, in the Office of the City Clerk in accordance with Government Code
§ 36933.
Section 11. Findings. The adoption of this Urgency Ordinance is necessary for
the immediate protection of the public peace, health and safety. In accordance with
California Government Code Section 36937 and in orderto protect the public peace, health
and safety, the City Council of the City of Palm Springs finds and determines as follows:
(a) ABX1 26 prohibits agencies from taking numerous actions, until the
City Council adopts an ordinance agreeing to comply with Part 1.9 of Division 24 of the
Health and Safety Code, including but not limited to incurring any new monetary or legal
obligations or expanding any existing monetary or legal obligations, entering into
agreements with any person for any purpose or amending or modifying any existing
agreements and taking any action with respect to a redevelopment plan;
(b) Prior to the enactment of an ordinance agreeing to comply with Part
1.9 of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code, the Agency will be unable to continue
efforts to eliminate and prevent blight (including remediation of buildings and structures
which are unhealthy or unsafe to occupy or properties with hazardous waste), stimulate
Ordinance No. 1797
Page 5
and expand the Project Area's economic growth, create and develop affordable housing,
create and develop local job opportunities and alleviate deficiencies in public infrastructure;
(c) Blighting conditions in the Project Area constitute substantial threats to
public peace, health and safety, and are so prevalent they cannot be eliminated without
Agency action, including but not limited to the use of Agency funds and authorization of
redevelopment projects and programs;
(d) During the current economic crisis,the Agency must have the ability to
act and continue the efforts set forth in (b) above. The Agency must have all tools
available in order to eliminate and prevent blighting conditions, including implementation of
the Agency's economic development programs including the reimbursement of landfill
remediation, the provision of parking in the downtown and uptown areas of the City, the
redevelopment of historic properties in the City, and the provision of needed infrastructure
to incentivize private development;
(e) The Agency is actively engaged in efforts to rehabilitate housing units,
to provide assistance for property improvements and to provide safe and affordable
housing. Adoption of this Urgency Ordinance will permit the Agency to continue these
efforts immediately.
Section 12. Effective Date. The City Council hereby declares, on the basis of the
findings set forth above,that an emergency exists and that this Ordinance is necessary to
preserve the public peace, health and safety. Accordingly,this Ordinance is adopted as an
emergency ordinance and shall take effect and be in force immediately upon its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED AT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE PALM SPRINGS
CITY COUNCIL ON THE 21ST DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2011.
STEPH N P. POUGNET, MAYOR
ATTEST:
AMES THOMPSON, CITY CLERK
Ordinance No. 1797
Page 6
CERTIFICATION:
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss.
CITY OF PALM SPRINGS )
I, JAMES THOMPSON, City Clerk of the City of Palm Springs, California,do hereby
certify that Urgency Ordinance No. 1797 is a full, true, and correct copy, and was
introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the Palm Springs City Council on the 21 sc
day of September, 2011, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmember Foat, Councilmember Hutcheson, Councilmember Mills,
Mayor Pro Tem Weigel, and Mayor Pougnet.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
Thompson, CityClerk ,,,4-jZ61i
jmes
y of Palm Springs, California