(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) The Sonoma Developmental Center is located in Eldridge, in the County of Sonoma, near the community of Glen Ellen and is composed of a developed campus covering approximately 180 acres and approximately 700 acres of open space adjacent to the Sonoma Valley Regional Park and the Jack London State Historic Park. (2) The Sonoma Developmental Center opened in 1891 and is a state-run residential care facility dedicated to serving individuals with developmental disabilities. (3) In the October 2015 Plan for the Closure of the Sonoma Developmental Center, the State Department of Developmental Services recognized the unique natural and historic resources of the property and acknowledged that it was not the intent of the state to follow the traditional state surplus property process. (4) The State Department of Developmental Services concluded residential operations at the Sonoma Developmental Center in December 2018 after successfully relocating all residents to homes in the community. (5) With the campus closed for developmental services, the property will be maintained and managed by the Department of General Services and a process to determine the future of the site is needed. (6) California is experiencing an acute affordable housing crisis. The cost of land significantly limits the development of affordable housing. It is the intent of the Legislature that priority be given to affordable housing in the disposition of the Sonoma Developmental Center state real property. (7) The Department of General Services recognizes the exceptional open-space, natural resources, and wildlife habitat characteristics of the Sonoma Developmental Center. (8) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a partnership between the Department of General Services and the County of Sonoma that provides for a priority land use planning process. During this process, the Department of General Services will maintain the Sonoma Developmental Center and the County of Sonoma will manage the planning process. The planning and disposition process is expected to be of a three-year duration. (9) It is the intent of the Legislature that the lands outside the core developed campus and its related infrastructure be preserved as public parkland and open space. (b) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) âAgreementâ means the formal agreement between the Department of General Services and the County of Sonoma to implement a disposition and land use planning process. (2) âCountyâ means the County of Sonoma. (3) âPropertyâ means all state-owned real property comprising the Sonoma Developmental Center. (4) âSpecific planâ means a comprehensive planning and zoning document for a defined geographic region of County of Sonoma. (c) (1) The director may, upon those terms and conditions that the director deems to be in the best interests of the state, enter into an agreement with the county for the county to develop a specific plan for the property and to manage the land use planning process integrated with a disposition process for the property, to be carried out by the department. The disposition may include the sale, lease, exchange, or other transfer of all or part of the property or property interest the director deems to be in the best interests of the state. The planning process shall facilitate the disposition of the property by amending the general plan of the county and any appropriate zoning ordinances, completing any environmental review, and addressing the economic feasibility of future development. (2) In carrying out the land use planning and disposition process pursuant to the agreement, the director and county shall provide for the expeditious planning of future land uses for the site and an opportunity for community input, with the intent to reduce uncertainty, increase land values, expedite marketing, and maximize interested third
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