Public lands: City of Oakland: Port of Oakland: uses of after-acquired lands.

Senator Arreguín’s proposal weaves a targeted, time-limited framework into California’s public-trust regime by authorizing the Port of Oakland to lease after-acquired lands at Jack London Square for nontrust uses through February 1, 2066, with revenues dedicated to trust-consistent purposes and public-access initiatives, while the public-trust restrictions resume on February 2, 2066. The design places a clear sunset on the lifting of restrictions and relies on specified safeguards to govern leasing activities and public-interest goals.

The act defines after-acquired lands as property not original tidelands or submerged lands, acquired with public trust funds from port operations and located landward of the 1872 Allardt survey line. Specific addresses are identified as within after-acquired lands, with two parcels treated as wholly after-acquired for purposes of the act. Jack London Square is bounded by the Oakland Estuary, 2nd Street, Clay Street, and Alice Street. A lease under the framework means any arrangement granting use or occupancy of port lands and includes licenses, subleases, development agreements, or similar rights. The Port of Oakland remains the trustee, and the public trust doctrine governs the lands, subject to the act’s temporary modifications. The Stipulated Judgment from 2005 is held in abeyance for after-acquired lands during the lifting period.

To authorize a nontrust use, the port must satisfy a set of conditions for each proposed lease: revenues from nontrust uses must be used exclusively for trust-consistent purposes such as seating, plazas, wayfinding, and public access programming; nontrust uses must not impair existing public access or public-trust uses and should aim to attract statewide visitors; the lease must be at fair market value; the lease must be consistent with the granting statutes and public-trust doctrine aside from the lifted use restrictions; leases should foster a dynamic, balanced tenant mix that enhances public trust uses; and the lease term must not extend beyond the sunset date. For each proposed lease, findings must be made at a public port meeting, and lease authority may not be delegated to other entities; any lease entered without these findings is void. A detailed annual narrative is due to the State Lands Commission starting January 15, 2027 and continuing each year through 2066, covering tenants categorized by trust-consistency, a map of nontrust leases, Jack London Square’s overall economic health and projections, public-access improvements, and how revenue from nontrust leases is used. The act also holds the Stipulated Judgment in abeyance for after-acquired lands until 2066, at which point it resumes in full force and effect.

Privately funded tenant improvements on leased lands would be subject to prevailing-wage requirements when project costs exceed set thresholds, with CPI-based adjustments starting in 2027, and the port must provide notice to lessees and prospective lessees. The act is presented as addressing the unique circumstances of Jack London Square and is not intended to create a general precedent for other granted lands, establishing a special-statute framework. Reimbursement provisions indicate no automatic local reimbursement for certain mandated costs tied to new or changed crimes, but potential state-mandated-cost reimbursement could apply if the state mandates Commission determines other costs are mandated.