Title
a. Find the action to be categorically exempt from CEQA;
b. Approve a Lease Assignment and Acceptance Agreement to accept assignment of the lease with the North County Recreation and Parks District for the Japanese School;
c. Accept transfer of ownership from the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency of the County of Monterey of the Japanese School property (Assessor’s Parcel No. 030-102-003) located at 11199 Geil Street in the community of Castroville;
d. Authorize the Chair of the Board to sign the certificate of acceptance and consent to record the Grant Deed; and
e. Direct the Clerk of the Board to record the deed.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Find the action to be categorically exempt from CEQA;
b. Approve a Lease Assignment and Acceptance Agreement to accept assignment of the lease with the North County Recreation and Parks District for the Japanese School;
c. Accept transfer of ownership from the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency of the County of Monterey of the Japanese School property (Assessor’s Parcel No. 030-102-003) located at 11199 Geil Street in the community of Castroville;
d. Authorize the Chair of the Board to sign the certificate of acceptance and consent to record the Grant Deed; and
e. Direct the Clerk of the Board to record the deed.
SUMMARY:
The recommended action will accept transfer of ownership of the Japanese School property (APN 030-102-003) to the County of Monterey in accordance with the provisions of the Successor Agency’s Long-Range Property Management Plan, and will accept assignment of the lease with the North County Recreation and Park District (NCRPD). The County will continue the lease without change or effect to the lessee.
DISCUSSION:
The Japanese School located in Castroville is an historic building listed on the Register of Historic Places, and was acquired by the Redevelopment Agency of the County of Monterey in 2000. The building is historically significant to the County of Monterey because of its use as a Japanese Language School for youth in the 1930s and its association to the internment of Japanese Citizens in the 1940s.
The subject property totals approximately 0.2 acre. The former Redevelopment Agency acquired the property in 2000 from the North Monterey County Unified School District. The property is developed with the 1,500 square foot historic Japanese School building. It has been used continuously as a community facility under Redevelopment Agency ownership since 2000. It was constructed and used as a Japanese-language and cultural school for many years by the local Japanese farmworker community. In 2008 the former RDA spent approximately $950,000 on renovations to the building and outdoor spaces, which include an historic interpretive display.
The RDA leased the facility to the NCRPD for $1 per year for a term of 20 years with options to extend. The NCRPD uses the facility for a wide range of community events, classes, and meetings. The lease requires the NCRPD to use the property for operation of quality youth programming responsive to the needs of the surrounding community and consistent with terms of grant funding for the rehabilitated Facility in accordance with Historic Preservation standards. The Facility is to be used for the purpose of conducting educational, cultural and recreational activities for youth that enhances knowledge and appreciation of the cultural diversity and traditions of the people of the area, including Japanese families who lived in this area in the 1920s-1940s and their contributions to California’s growth. Concurrently, other cultural activities involving art, drama, music, and literature may also take place within the Facility. Programming will be specifically aimed at school-age children and youth (kindergarten through 12th grade) living in the Castroville area.
California Assembly Bill 1X 26, enacted on June 28, 2011 and upheld by the California Supreme Court on December 29, 2011, dissolved all California redevelopment agencies effective February 1, 2012 through amendments to the California Health and Safety Code (the “Amended Code”). Pursuant to Sections 34173, 34175, and 34176 of the Amended Code, and by operation of law, the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency of the County of Monterey has assumed the rights, duties, and obligations pertaining to all functions of the Original Agency, and as such has assumed the rights, duties, and obligations pertaining to the Property.
Pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 34191.5(b), on April 18, 2014 the Oversight Board of the Monterey County Successor Agency submitted a Long-Range Property Management Plan (LRPMP) to the California Department of Finance (DOF). The LRPMP proposed to transfer the subject property to the County of Monterey to continue the existing governmental uses of the property under the terms of the existing leases.
On December 31, 2015 the DOF approved the disposition of the properties listed in the LRPMP in accordance with the Successor Agency’s recommendations.
The recommended action is categorically exempt from CEQA in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15320, Changes in Organization of Local Agencies, and Section 15325, Transfers of Ownership of Interest in Land to Preserve Existing Natural Conditions and Historical Resources.
By separate action on this date, the Board of Directors of the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency of the County of Monterey approved the Grant Deed for the property and an agreement assigning the lease. Upon recording of the deed, the County will notify the lessee that the County will continue the lease without change or effect to the lessee.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County RMA has been involved in all discussions relating to the potential transfer of properties owned by the Successor Agency.
FINANCING:
This action may have a financial impact to the General Fund in the future. The lease with North County Recreation and Park District is clear and specific that the lessee shall provide all routine maintenance of the property, and all repair of any damage resulting from its use of the property, at its sole cost. To date there has been no cost to the former Redevelopment Agency or Successor Agency for maintenance and repair to the property, and no such costs are anticipated in the next five years. If a capital improvement need is identified which falls outside the scope of the lease, such as structural improvements or re-roofing, required to be performed by the County, staff will return to the Board of Supervisors through the Capital Improvement Program process and/or Budget Committee to request the necessary funding.
Prepared by: G.H. Nichols, P.E., Special Projects Engineer
Reviewed by: Melanie Beretti, RMA Special Programs Manager
Benny J. Young, PE, Interim Director of Public Works & Facilities
Approved by: Carl P. Holm, AICP, Director of Resource Management
The following attachments are on file with the Clerk of the Board:
1. Vicinity Map
2. Lease Assignment and Acceptance Agreement
3. Grant Deed