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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. -2- RESOLUTION NO. g1_ (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. -3- RESOLUTION NO. 6212 (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 -4- RESOLUTION NO. 6212 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 -5- RESOLUTION NO. 6212 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 M RESOLUTION NO. 6212 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 -7-