(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, concurrent with the transfers described in subdivision (b), the Department of Parks and Recreation shall transfer Stunt Ranch, which was acquired pursuant to Section 3 of Chapter 1305 of the Statutes of 1980, to the conservancy, and Stunt Ranch shall be deemed to have been acquired by the conservancy pursuant to Section 33204. Subject to the approval of the Director of Parks and Recreation, the conservancy, not sooner than January 1, 1986, may transfer in fee only to the National Park Service to be used for the benefit of the state park system, without payment of compensation, in accordance with Section 33205 of the Public Resources Code, that portion of Stunt Ranch not transferred to the regents pursuant to subdivision (c), subject to rights reserved to the regents by subdivision (c). If operating funds for Stunt Ranch become available to the Department of Parks and Recreation prior to a transfer to the National Park Service, the conservancy shall, upon the request of the Director of Parks and Recreation, retransfer the property, without payment of compensation, to the Department of Parks and Recreation and the property shall be operated as a unit of the state park system, subject to rights reserved to the regents by subdivision (c).
(b) If the conservancy acquires property of the regents commonly known as “362 acres more or less in Upper Temescal Canyon” (hereafter called Upper Temescal Canyon) and “40 acres more or less in Arroyo Sequit” (hereafter called Arroyo Sequit property), the executive director, on behalf of the conservancy, shall do the following:
(1) Transfer Upper Temescal Canyon to the Department of Parks and Recreation as an addition to Topanga State Park.
(2) Offer to transfer, without compensation, the Arroyo Sequit property to the Department of Parks and Recreation for state park system purposes. If the department does not accept the offer of the Arroyo Sequit property within a reasonable time, the conservancy may transfer the Arroyo Sequit property in fee to the National Park Service to be used for the benefit of the state park system, without payment of compensation, in accordance with Section 33205.
(c) If the conservancy acquires the properties specified in subdivision (b) by March 1, 1984, the executive director of the conservancy shall transfer in fee that portion of Stunt Ranch as may be needed by the regents for scientific and educational purposes, upon terms mutually agreed upon by the executive director, on behalf of the conservancy, and the regents. The Department of General Services shall appraise Upper Temescal Canyon, the Arroyo Sequit property, and the Stunt Ranch property and the costs of the appraisal shall be borne equally by the conservancy and the regents. The executive director, on behalf of the conservancy, the Director of Parks and Recreation, and the regents shall each certify that the properties transferred to and offered to the Department of Parks and Recreation pursuant to subdivision (b) are of equivalent value to that portion of Stunt Ranch transferred to the regents pursuant to this subdivision. Subject to the approval of the Director of Parks and Recreation, the executive director shall also execute an agreement with the regents, which shall be effective upon execution, for the use of such other areas of Stunt Ranch as may be necessary for scientific and educational purposes. The agreement may provide that any transfer of other portions of Stunt Ranch to the National Park Service or to the Department of Parks and Recreation shall reserve to the regents the right to continue scientific and educational use under substantially the same conditions as existed prior to the transfer.
(d) The Legislature finds and declares that the transfers of and reservations of rights in, property provided for by this section are in the public interest, further the objectives of, and benefit, the state park system, and further the interest in protecting the Santa Monica Mountains Zone as declared in Section 33001.
(e) In the event of any conflict between Sections 92671 to 92673, inclusive, of the Education Code and this section, the provisions of this section shall prevail.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of the Property Acquisition Law (Part 11 (commencing with Section 15850) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) and any other provision of law, the executive director of the conservancy may take such actions as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
(Added by Stats. 1983, Ch. 1280, Sec. 2.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018