Tough Fight Predicted for Incorporation Bill

An attempt by state Sen. Ed Davis to revive a bill that would alter the way California cities are incorporated will face stiff opposition before a Senate committee next week, a California Building Industry Assn. official predicted Thursday.

Although Davis has modified the bill to win the support of some developers, the association still opposes the bill, said Don Collin, the group’s general counsel.

The bill, a response by Davis to lengthy incorporation battles in Calabasas and Santa Clarita, would make it easier for cityhood proponents to challenge local agencies that reject incorporation drives. The powerful building lobby helped defeat an earlier version of the bill last year.

The new bill, introduced March 7, would affect Local Agency Formation Commissions, state-mandated agencies that oversee incorporations and annexations in each county. The Senate’s Local Government Committee is scheduled to consider the bill Wednesday.

Collin said his association opposes the legislation because it would make incorporations easier. Cities have tended to restrict development more than counties, he said.

Also opposing the bill are the County Supervisors Assn. and the California Assn. of Local Agency Formation Commissions. Edward R. Gerber, a lobbyist for the LAFCO group in Sacramento, criticized provisions of the bill that would allow incorporation proponents to challenge LAFCO financial projections in court.

LAFCOs sometimes reject incorporation drives on financial grounds. That was the case last year in Calabasas when LAFCO in Los Angeles County said the area did not have the tax base to support a city.