Senate bill AB 2484 was authored by Assemblyman Caballero.

The future of the population of Cambria was decided in April, 2008 by the District Court of Appeals.

AB 2824 was approved by the state legislature in October of 2008, which prohibits a local agency formation commission (LAFCO) from approving a special district’s application to establish new or different functions or classes of services unless LAFCO determines that the district will have sufficient revenues. If the district lacks those revenues, AB 2824 allows LAFCO to approve the district’s application if it imposes a condition requires the approval of sufficient revenue sources. If the revenue sources are not approved, the district cannot provide the new services.

This would also apply to the vacant lots within the service area of the CCSD that the district would chose to withdraw a “latent service”, such as water service or sewer service as an example. This is called “divestiture” and was the major reason for the legislature to pass this bill. The bill expanded the definition of a “change of organization” to include a special districts proposal to provide new services or “divest” itself of existing services. The bill clarified that only a special district’s legislative body (Board of Director’s) can apply to LAFCO to provide a new service or divest itself of a service. The bill expanded the required contents of a district’s plan for services they intend to provide or stop providing.

The district must provide a plan for services to LAFCO for those properties within its limited boundaries it does not intend to provide latent powers (services), or how those properties will pay for and receive those eliminated service functions. LAFCO will have to approve the divestiture of those lots not to be served pursuant to a determination under Government Code Section 57075.

If LAFCO approves a boundary change, state law requires a formal public hearing to measure protests, usually from the the affected territory’s registered voters. If the protests are 25% or less, the boundary change goes forward without an election. Protests more the 25%, but less than 50% trigger an election among the “affected” voters. The boundary change stops if there’s a majority protest. By treating a latent power application as a “change of organization”, AB 2428 imposed the same protest rules. If there is a significant protest lodged, the bill requires an election on a district’s latent power application to LAFCO. AB 2428 allows for majority protest by affected landowners who have non-voting rights because they are not registered voters , to stop a district from exercising a latent power or divesting itself of an existing power.

It is so extremely rare that a district by a legislative act of its Board of Directors, eliminates latent power services to over 60% of its existing services area after the special district was formed by LAFCO under a “change of organization” with recorded terms and conditions under Government Code Section 56886. Such is the case when the CCSD closed its wait list(s) for water and/or sewer services (latent powers). In fact, Unclog Cambria, LLC has verified with LAFCO that the district “failed” to file the required application to “detach” the non-wait list lot owners from services to be provided within the CCSD limited service boundary. LAFCO has verified that they did not initiate a proposal to eliminate water and sewer functions (latent powers) to those properties not on the CCSD wait list(s).

What is funny is that LAFCO says they would “not” support creating “islands” of existing legal lots within the district limited boundaries without provisions for water and/or sewer services functions to them, as granted to the CCSD under the Reorganization Plan of 1976, approved by LAFCO, affirmed by the Board of Supervisors, and the Cambria electorate in 1976.

So, it begs the 64,000 dollar question? How did the CCSD close its wait list(s) for latent service functions to non-wait list lot owners within the district services area without application and approval of LAFCO? AB 2428 has resolved this conundrum that the district and LAFCO don’t want to talk about.