I'm honored to be the newest contributor to Red County. As the State Senator for the 35th District, which includes much of the Orange County coastal areas, I'm eager to take part in the online discussion of the issues facing our region. I welcome comments from readers and encourage you to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have about the issues raised in this forum.

During my eight year tenure in Sacramento, I have repeatedly spoken out against the excessive amounts of surplus and unused property owned by the State of California.  I was extremely frustrated when I learned that the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) owns the property where the day labor center in Laguna Beach is located. 

Recently, CalTrans determined that the day labor site was surplus property and they decided to sell it.   At CalTrans request, the property was appraised by a real estate appraiser.   A value of $1.26 million was placed on the property, based on the property being used for commercial purposes.  As required by law, CalTrans put the property up for auction with a starting bid of $950,000,  i.e., 75% of the property's value.  However, when the city of Laguna Beach found out that CalTtrans was planning on selling the property, it threatened to down zone the property so it would have a designation of open space.  With an open space zoning designation, the day labor center could continue its operations at the site. 

Due to the city's threat to re-zone the property, CalTrans was forced to pull the property off the market and re-appraise the site based on the threatened re-zoning.  As a result of the down zoning, the value of the property was greatly reduced. The original appraised value of $1.26 million was reduced to only $18,000.  If the sale of this property moves ahead at the current price it will result in a loss to the state of over $1.2 million dollars.  Given the fact that Governor Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency due to a $16 billion state budget deficit, it is totally unacceptable for Laguna Beach to arbitrarily use its zoning powers to devalue the state's valuable property.   

The loss of over $1.2 million of state funds in order to facilitate a day labor center that caters to illegal immigrants is just plain wrong.  For this reason, I have asked CalTrans to reconsider its decision to sell the property, especially if it is to be sold for only $18,000.  This shockingly low price for the property is simply not acceptable.  CalTrans would be better advised to pull the property off the market and just "sit on it" until the true value of the property can be obtained.  Remember, this property is practically "oceanfront property" being only a half a mile from the beach and located on a major highway, Laguna Canyon Road.  Fortunately, CalTrans has agreed to delay the sale of the property for 90 days while the sale price and safety issues are re-examined.  In addition to working with CalTrans, I have also introduced legislation, Senate Bill 1408, that will prevent the city from using discriminatory zoning to obtain possession of the subject property without paying a fair price for it.
      
Laguna Beach Day Labor Site in the News:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/beach-laguna-caltrans-1984437-state-center

http://www.lagunabeachindependent.com/news/2008/0222/Front_Page/006.html