Friday, Jan. 27, 2012

Future of Los Banos Rail Corridor going out with RDA

Planners hear successor agency will take control

The Rail Corridor will be sold by its next owner.

At Wednesday's Planning Commission meeting, City Attorney William Vaughn explained that the roughly 60 acres along H Street from Second Street to Mercey Springs Road is owned by the Redevelopment Agency. Because of AB 26x1, a bill backed by Gov. Jerry Brown and upheld by the state Supreme Court a few weeks ago, California's RDAs will no longer exist by Wednesday.

"The Redevelopment Agency will be dissolved. Any one of the taxing authorities can put its name in to the county auditor to be considered the successor agency," Vaughn said.

The agency that assumes the successor position will be responsible for paying the RDA's debt and selling its assets, of which the Rail Corridor is one. If there are no agencies interested in becoming the successor, three appointees by Brown get the job.

The possible successor agencies are the city, county, Los Banos Unified School District, Merced County Mosquito Abatement District, Merced County Office of Education, Merced Community College District and the Los Banos Cemetery District.

The city declined the successor role on Jan. 11, partly because it is unclear if the successor will be responsible for environmental cleanup of RDA property. Vaughn said he doesn't expect any other agency to volunteer to become successor either.

"Being on the title hooks you into the potential possibility of cleanup," Vaughn said.

He said the RDA struck a deal years ago agreeing to defend Union Pacific Railroad against any lawsuit over the environmental condition of the Rail Corridor. Vaughn said the Rail Corridor is also home to an oil pipeline as well as storage tanks that were used decades ago. Both have caused further contamination on the land, Vaughn said.

"There are plenty of authorities aware of the contamination issues out there. They are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see who ends up with this property," Vaughn said.

He said that ownership of the public facilities on the Rail Corridor, formerly owned by the RDA, will likely go to the public agency that uses them. For instance, Henry Miller Plaza, the Los Banos Community Center and the Rail Trail walking path are expected to go to the city under AB 26x1.

Commissioner Arkady Faktorovich asked if the city's Rail Corridor Master Plan, which commissioners recommended to the City Council this week, will still apply once the property is privately owned. Vaughn said the answer is yes.

"What you're doing is creative zoning," Vaughn said. "So you're legislating what can and can't be done on this property whether the city owns it, RDA owns it or John Smith owns it."

Enterprise staff writer Corey Pride can be reached at 388-6563 or cpride@

losbanosenterprise.com.