The Santa Clarita City Council will consider Tuesday whether to support or oppose a handful of bills and resolutions, including the federal St. Francis Dam memorial bill.
After the awards and recognitions portion of the meeting, when council members are expected to make a proclamation for Black History Month, the City Council will vote on their stance on a total of five pieces of legislation.
Here is a breakdown of the legislation council members will consider endorsing Tuesday, as listed in the city staff report:
Senate Bill 129, 47 and House Resolution 1015
City staff recommends that council members support the companion bills, which propose to establish a national memorial and national monument to commemorate the victims of the 1928 St. Francis Dam collapse. The incident, considered among the greatest disasters in California history, claimed the lives of an estimated 411 people.
S. 47 will be considered by the House of Representatives, but a date has not yet been set.
Assembly Bill 213
This bill, authored by Assemblymember Eloise Reyes, D-47-San Bernardino, amends the vehicle license fee adjustment amount to restore revenues to cities that annexed developed areas since Senate Bill 89 was implemented in 2011, as well as generate revenue for future city incorporations.
AB 213 would restore an estimated $390,000 “in annual lost revenue for the fiscal year in which the bill is signed and every year thereafter,” which Santa Clarita lost in vehicle license fee revenues after the passage of SB 89, according to the staff report.
City staff recommends the City Council support AB 213. In May 2018, they supported a similar bill by Reyes, AB 2268.
Senate Bill 50
California State Sen. Scott Weiner, D-11-San Francisco, introduced new legislation to bring back an effort, seen in SB 827, to grow housing construction near major transit lines.
SB 50 focuses on creating an “equitable communities incentive” that can waive local restrictions on residential projects. This would allow for the construction of housing near “high-quality” transit areas and “job-rich” locations within a one-half-mile radius.
Last year, the City Council opposed a similar bill and is recommended this year to do the same, based in part on certain policies in place related to “residential development standards on parking, height and open space of multi-unit residential developments,” which would no longer apply if the bill is implemented.
House Resolution 530
City staff recommends council members support this resolution, which proposes to reverse the adopted Federal Communications Commission’s regulations on the installation of small wireless facilities, such as telecommunication equipment attached to poles, and leasing public infrastructure in the right-of-way.
In 2018 the City Council voiced its opposition to the regulations, which “reduced the time for cities and states to review small wireless facility applications,” and “set a cap on the fees cities and states can charge communication companies on the installation of small wireless facilities and ongoing leasing of the attachment to municipally owned infrastructure.”