City Council

21. RESOLUTION DECLARING A PORTION OF CITY OWNED PROPERTY UPON WHICH\nTHE WEST SAN GABRIEL VALLEY YMCA EXISTS AS EXEMPT SURPLUS LAND;\nAPPROVING AN AGREEMENT TERMINATING CONCESSION AND TRANSFERRING\nPROPERTY TO ACCOMMODATE CONSTRUCTION OF A DOG PARK;\nDETERMINING THE TRANSFER OF PROPERTY AND CONSTRUCTION OF A DOG\nPARK IS EXEMPT FROM CEQA – F2M11-36, F2M18-35, R2M24-26, RFP2M24-13,\nM2M24-103\nThe City of Alhambra is the fee owner of the property located at 401 Corto Street,\nAlhambra, California 91801, APN 5347-028-904 (the “Property”). The City and the West\nSan Gabriel Valley YMCA entered into a concession agreement (the “Agreement”) in 1988\nto allow the YMCA to construct and operate a YMCA recreational facility open to the\ngeneral public. The YMCA subsequently constructed and has since operated such a\nfacility on the western portion of the Property. The eastern portion of the Property is\nimproved with a small below-grade parking area that is not currently used by the YMCA.\nThe City now wishes to construct a dog park on the eastern portion of the Property. That\nlocation is particularly suited for such a use as it is surrounded by the YMCA building to\nthe West, a lowered railroad right of way to the North, a golf course driving range to the\nEast and a large public parking lot to the South. The City also has funding for such a\npark—but the funding must be utilized in the next year. Due to the exclusive use rights\nheld by the YMCA by virtue of the Agreement, the City is not able to utilize the eastern\nportion of the Property for a dog park. The YMCA is willing to terminate the Agreement,\nbut wishes to remain in operation. Accordingly, the YMCA will terminate the Agreement\nand relinquish any and all interest in the eastern portion of the Property in exchange for\nthe City transferring the western portion of the Property to the YMCA, along with a one-\ntime payment of $203,810. The payment is intended to compensate the YMCA for the\nvalue of the loss of the eastern portion of the property (which they currently have the use\nof through 2083 under the Concession Agreement). The transferred property would be\nsubject to a use covenant—the same covenant that exists in the current Agreement,\nlimiting the use to a recreational facility open to the general public. Government Code\nSection 54221(f)(1)(C) allows a City to transfer property as exempt surplus land, without\noffering the property to housing developers or recreational entities, when the property is\nbeing exchanged for City purposes. Exchanging the fee interest in the western portion of\n13\n6-24-24\nthe site for a release of the lease rights held by the YMCA will allow the City to construct\nthe public dog park. Without this exchange, the City will not have access to the Property\nuntil the end of the term of the Agreement. The proposed resolution would satisfy the\nrequirements of the Government Code concerning transfers of public land. The transfer\nmust also be approved by the California Department of Housing and Community\nDevelopment. During the pendency of that approval, City staff is requesting authority to\nrelease a request for proposals for design services for the dog park so as not to lose time\nin furthering the project.\nRecommended Action: City Council, by one motion, take the following actions:\n1. Adopt Resolution No. R2M24-26 entitled: A Resolution of the City Council of the\nCity of Alhambra declaring a portion of city owned property upon which the West\nSan Gabriel Valley YMCA exists as Exempt Surplus Land pursuant to California\nGovernment Code Section 54221(F)(1)(C) which includes a determination that the\ntransfer of property and construction of a dog park is exempt from CEQA pursuant\nto CEQA guidelines sections 15060(c)(2),15061(b)(3) and 15303 and as needed\ndirect City staff to submit the resolution and all required documentation to the\nCalifornia Department of Housing and Community development for review; and,\n2. Approve an Agreement Terminating Concession and Transferring Property in a\nform subject to final language approval by the City Manager and City Attorney and\nauthorize the City Manager to undertake those actions necessary to effectuate the\nAgreement once HCD has approved the exempt surplus land determination; and,\n3. Authorize distribution of a Request for Proposals (RFP2M24-13) for design\nservices for the dog park. (M2M24-103)