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Report regarding a resolution approving and authorizing the City Manager to enter into a lease agreement between the City of South San Francisco and the State of California Department of Transportation for public use and park improvements of Clay Avenue Park. (Sharon Ranals, Director of Parks and Recreation)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution approving and authorizing the City Manager to enter into a lease agreement between the City of South San Francisco and the State of California Department of Transportation for public use and improvements of Clay Avenue Park.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
In April of 1969, the City of South San Francisco and the California Department of Public Works, now the Department of Transportation (Caltrans), entered into a 50 year lease agreement to allow the City to develop a public park on their property at the end of Clay Avenue, below Caltrans' Highway 280 right of way. This land, now known as Clay Avenue Park, is approximately three-quarters of an acre, and features a basketball court, lawn area, two small playgrounds, hardscape, benches and picnic tables. The park was most recently renovated in 2015, at a cost of $220,000.
The legal mechanism whereby Caltrans can issue lease agreements for public parkland was approved by the California State Legislature in 1969. The legislation, named the Marler Johnson Park Act, does require that reasonable payments are made to the State of California in exchange for the leased property. The 1969 lease permitted the City to utilize the property to provide a neighborhood park for $100 per year. In the fall of 2018, knowing the 50 year lease was expiring in the coming year, Parks and Recreation staff contacted Caltrans staff to inquire about extending the lease.
The new agreement effectively serves as an extension with substantially the same terms, but does have two notable changes, for which Caltrans staff was adamant would n...
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