HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 6212RESOLUTION NO. 6212
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL AUTHORIZING
THE SETTLEMENT OF CERTAIN SOVEREIGN LANDS CLAIMS
WHEREAS, as used in this resolution:
(a) "City" means the City of San Rafael, Marin County,
California and its predecessors or successors in interest.
(b) "San Rafael Creek" unless otherwise indicated means the
waterway within the natural banks of the San Rafael Creek as it existed
prior to dredging and realignment and upland reclamation.
(c) "Present waterway" means the presently existinq navi-
gable waterway sometimes referred to as San Rafael Canal or San Rafael
Creek extending from San Rafael Bay to Irwin Street in the city, and
includes dredged "cutoff" channels and all lands below the plane of
mean high water that are subject to the ebb and flood of the tides.
(d) "Cutoff channels" are those parcels described in that
certain deed from the city to the United States of America, recorded
in 225 Deeds 431, and shown on that certain U.S. Army Corps of Engineers'
map entitled "San Rafael Creek, California, Property Deeded to United
States Government by City of San Rafael," dated March 30, 1920, U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers File No. 55 1-4.
(e) "Granted lands" means those lands granted in trust to
the city by virtue of Chapter 83 of the Statutes of 1923, as amended by
Chapter 178 of Statutes of 1967 and as amended by Chapter 1383 of the
Statutes of 1970.
(f) "Statutes" means those statutes noted in subdivision (e)
pursuant to which the granted lands were granted in trust to the city.
(g) "Canal" means Allardt's San Rafael Canal which is that
certain canal from San Francisco Bay to the Townsite of San Rafael,
designated by the Board of Tide Land Commissioners pursuant to the
authority granted by Chapter 543 of the Statutes of 1868 and Chapter 388
of the Statutes of 1870, and which was surveyed by said board under the
direction of G. F. Allardt in 1870 and depicted as "San Rafael Canal" on
that certain map prepared by order of said board entitled "Map No. 2 of
the Salt Marsh and Tide Lands Situate in the County of Marin," a copy of
which is on file in Can "F" of the Marin County Recorder.
RESOLUTION NO. 6212
(h) "State" means the State of California.
(i) "Commission" means the State Lands Commission.
(j) "Tidelands" includes tidelands and submerged lands.
(k) "Claimants" means both public and private individuals
and entities and their predecessors in interest claiming some right,
title, or interest within or adjoining the canal.
(1) "Trusts" means the trusts and conditions imposed with
respect to the granted lands by the statutes or existing in law by
virtue of the previous or present character of the granted lands as
tidelands.
(m) "Plan" means that certain plan for the development and
enhancement of a navigable harbor and waterway for the city referred to
in subdivision (d) of Section 2 of this act.
(n) "Filled lands" means those portions of the canal and
San Rafael Creek which are referred to in subdivision (e) of the recital
immediately following.
WHEREAS, Chapter 1742 of the Statutes of 1971 found and
determined that:
(a) The State of California, by virtue of Chapter 83 of the
Statutes of 1923, as amended by Chapter 178 of the Statutes of 1968, as
amended by Chapter 1383 of the Statutes of 1970, has granted all the
right, title, and interest of the state in and to all the salt marsh,
tide, and submerged lands, whether filled or unfilled, located within
the boundaries of the city and situated below the line of mean high tide
of the Pacific Ocean or any harbor, estuary, bay, or inlet within its
boundaries to the city, to be held by the city and its successors in
interest subject to the trusts set forth in the statutes, and for the
purposes of commerce, navigation, and fisheries and all appurtenances
thereto, including the canal.
(b) The filled lands are, subject to the terms and conditions
set forth in this resolution, no longer susceptible, useful, or required
for the purposes of commerce, navigation, and fisheries, and it is not
necessary that they remain in public ownership.
(c) The filled lands are comparatively small in relation to
the area of the present waterway.
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(d) Certain improvements in the canal have been made sub-
sequent to the establishment of the canal and pursuant to a plan for
development and enhancement of a navigable harbor and waterway for the
city which plan was tacitly or expressly participated in by the city,
the state, claimants, the United States, and members of the public for
many years, and which plan continues to the present time. Such improve-
ments include certain dredging and the cutting off, relocation, and re-
alignment of certain portions of the canal. The cutoff channels exist
at this time and constitute a portion of the primary navigation channels
between city and San Francisco Bay. The plan, as adopted and implemented,
has resulted in a statewide public benefit.
(e) Certain of the claimants have relied on the plan and
certain portions of the canal and San Rafael Creek have been filled above
the mean high tide line as part of the plan and the implementation thereof.
As a result thereof such filled lands are no longer used for purposes of
the trusts, the same being replaced by the waterway developed pursuant to
the plan.
(f) Certain lands of claimants have not been surveyed nor
described in the deeds, patents, or other conveyances by which title was
acquired by private claimants in such manner as to establish their location
in relation to the canal. As a result thereof, the relative locations of
the claimants' lands, the canal, and the patented lands are not known,
resulting in uncertainty of boundaries, clouds on title, and disputed
land claims along the length of the canal. It is in the public interest
that the canal be resurveyed in such a manner as shall show the location
of the mean high tide line within or across the canal, and to enable the
lands claimed by claimants to be later located with relation to the canal.
(g) Numerous persons and their predecessors in interest have
for many years, continuously and openly and notoriously occupied under
color of title, or otherwise certain of the filled lands, claiming owner-
ship thereof adversely to the city and to the state, and paying any taxes
that may have been assessed thereupon. Such persons presently dispute on
numerous grounds the right, title, and interest of the city and the state
to, and contend that they are the true owners of, the filled lands.
(h) The true right, title, and interest of the parties is
subject to a bona fide dispute and depends upon substantial issues of law
and fact, the resolution of which is uncertain, time consuming and costly
to city, the state, and to claimants. Certain litigation is now pending
and it is in the interest of the people of the state that the location of
the canal and the respective title claims therein be resolved consistent
with present conditions.
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(i) It is in the statewide interests for the furtherance and
preservation of commerce, navigation, and fisheries, and of the trusts,
and in the interest of the city, the state, adverse claimants, and of the
public generally, that such boundary and title problems be resolved, and
that public and private rights be established without further delay
consistent with present conditions which have resulted from the long-
standing conduct of public and private parties all in accordance with
the plan for the development and use of the present waterway and for public
access thereto.
(j) It is in the interest of the city, the state, and the
public generally, that a sufficient interest within the presently existing
waterway, including the cutoff channels, to guarantee the perpetual use
thereof as a continuous navigable channel, be acquired by the city.
(k) By reason of the existing public rights within the present
waterway, and over the unfilled portions of the canal, and the comparatively
small area of the filled lands the removal and abandonment of the trusts
over the filled lands will not adversely impair the trusts; and
WHEREAS, the city has caused resurveys of the Canal to be made,
with sufficient ties to monuments of record to enable the relative
locations of the parcels and lots of land along the Canal to be later
established, located, and surveyed in relation to the Canal, and re -
surveys being, and by reference are incorporated herein:
(a) Record of Survey entitled "Resurvey of the San Rafael
Canal as shown on 'Map No. 2 of the Salt Marsh and Tidelands Situate in
the County of Marin' as originally surveyed under the direction of G. F.
Allardt in 1870", filed with the prior approval of the Commission on
May 14, 1974 in Book 12, Official Surveys at page 25, Office of the County
Recorder, Marin County, California hereinafter referred to as "Resurvey of
Allardt's Canal".
(b) Record of Survey entitled "U.S. Corps of Engineers
Dredging Line, City Freeway and Construction Lines within San Rafael Canal
and Levee Easement Lines," filed with the prior approval of the Commission
March 12, 1979 in Book 15 of Surveys at page 61, Office of the County
Recorder, Marin County, California, hereinafter referred to as "Freeway
and Construction Survey".
(c) Record of Survey entitled "Mean High Water Line and San
Rafael Canal Parcels Described in Volume 225 of Deeds, Page 431, Marin
County Records", filed with the prior approval of the Commission on
March 12, 1979 in Book 15 of Surveys at page 62, Office of the County
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Recorder, Marin County, California, hereinafter referred to as "Mean
High Water Line Survey"; and
WHEREAS, sections 4 through 11, inclusive, of Chapter 1742
of the Statutes of 1971 authorize the city, with the approval of the
Commission, to settle by agreement, exchange, or quitclaim, and for
specified consideration, the sovereign lands interests in those portions
of the canal and San Rafael Creek lying above the line of mean high
tide; and
WHEREAS, staff has conducted an initial study by contacting
responsible agencies and environmental experts and recommends the project
to be a compatible use consistent with identified significant environmental
values and staff has prepared a Negative Declaration pursuant to CEQA, as
amended, and implementing regulations, and recommend certification thereof;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City
of San Rafael that:
1. The Mayor, by his execution of an appropriate document,
quitclaim, or conveyance, and upon receipt of such considerations as
are hereinafter authorized or described in this resolution, may convey,
release, or quit the City's interest in those portions of the canal and
San Rafael Creek free of the trust and lying above the line of mean high
tide. Such document, quitclaim, or conveyance may, by its terms, operate
generally and by declaration, and without specifying the name of any
person, and shall operate as to any parcel of land within the described
area only in favor of such persons as have, at the time of said conveyance,
release, or quitclaim a claim of ownership to said parcel based upon a
record chain of title, which chain of title covers a period of thirty (30)
years or more immediately preceding the effective date of this act, or in
favor of such persons who are in actual possession and have, at the time
of said conveyance, release, or quitclaim, a claim of ownership to said
parcel, which claim is based upon a record chain of title of less than
30 years and upon the payment of taxes on said property by the claimant
or his predecessors in interest for a period of 10 years or more, which
period of payment of taxes covers the period immediately preceding the
effective date of this act.
2. The Office of the City Manager, with the approval of the
Commission, is hereby authorized to settle by agreement, exchange or
quitclaim, any dispute concerning whether or not particular land within
either the present waterway or the granted lands, constitutes land in
private or proprietary ownership by reason of title traceable to a state
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or federal patent or other valid sources, or rather constitutes granted
tidelands, title to which is vested in the city. In settlement of such
disputes the Office of the City Manager, with the approval of the
Commission, may by such agreement, exchange, or quitclaim, establish
boundary or compromise boundary lines between the granted salt march,
tide, and submerged lands, and the bordering private or proprietary lands.
3. Any consideration as is given in exchange for any conveyance,
release, quitclaim, or settlement under this act shall be determined by the
Office of the City Manager with the approval of the Commission. In
determining the adequacy of any such consideration, the Office of the City
Manager and the Commission shall give effect in their evaluation to all
factors bearing upon the value, if any, of the public's interest being
conveyed, released, quitclaimed, or settled, and the rights, claims, and
equities of the person in whose favor the conveyance, release, quitclaim,
or settlement is being made and their predecessors in interest. In those
cases where the land has been filled, or reclaimed, or improved, or both,
without the expenditure of public moneys held in trust under the terms
of the statutes, such lands may be valued by excluding the value of the
fill, or improvements, or both. Consideration under this act may consist
of lands, property, interest in property, easements, moneys, or other
things of value given by the grantee or any other person.
4. Any conveyance, release, quitclaim, or settlement made by
the city pursuant to the provisions of this act shall be made by an
appropriate document executed by the Mayor and approved by the Commission.
5. Any portion of the lands granted to the city which pass by
reason of any conveyance, release, quitclaim,or settlement made under the
terms of this resolution is deemed to be freed of the trusts. No right,
title, or interest in land lying below the line of mean high tide of the
present waterway may be conveyed, released, or quitclaimed by the Mayor
under the terms of this resolution, nor shall any such land be freed by
the terms of this act of the trust. Any approval by the Commission of
a conveyance, release, quitclaim, or settlement made by the city shall
conclusively establish the character of the lands described in said
appropriate documents as being above the line of mean high tide.
6. There is hereby excepted and reserved in the state all
deposits of minerals, including oil and gas, in any lands granted to the
city, which pass by reason of any conveyance, release, quitclaim, or
settlement made under the terms of this act, and to the state, or persons
authorized by the state, the right to prospect for, mine, and remove such
deposits from such lands. This section is not intended to prevent the
settlement of title or boundary disputes pursuant to this act. It is also
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the intent of this section that the Commission protect the claim of the
state to commercially valuable mineral deposits. Upon a finding that
the provisions of this section would prevent the settlement of boundary
or title disputes in the public interest pursuant to this act, or that
no commercially valuable mineral deposits exist, the provisions of this
section shall not be binding. In the event that the provision of this
paragraph are not binding, the reasons shall be set forth in any boundary
or title settlement document.
7. The City finds and determines that an Environmental Impact
Report has not been prepared for this project but that a Negative
Declaration has been prepared by staff; that the City certifies that a
Negative Declaration has been completed in compliance with the California
Environmental Quality Act of 1970, as amended, and the State Guidelines
and that the City Council has reviewed and considered the information
contained therein; and that the City has determined that the project will
not have a significant effect on the environment.
I, JEANNE M. LEONCINI, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby
certify that the foregoing resolution was duly and regularly introduced
and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of said City held
on the 16th day of November , 1981, by the following
vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Breiner, Frugoli, Jensen, Miskimen & Mayor Mulryan
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
J NE M. LEONCINI, City Clerk
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