Just ahead of the deadline for the year, legislators passed a bill that proponents say will make it easier for local, coastal governments to develop bike lanes and pedestrian paths.
Sacramento Snapshot
Editor’s note: Sacramento Snapshot is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County’s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on — from committee work to bill passages and more.
The bill, which is before Gov. Gavin Newsom now, allows local governments to convert an existing motorized vehicle lane into a bicycle path or pedestrian walkway without needing a traffic study.
It also grants the Coastal Commission the ability to forgo more costly and timely hearings if it determines the project “will provide additional public access benefits,” according to the bill analysis.
“We want to encourage projects in coastal areas that make non-driving options easier and safer,” said Sen. Blakespear, the author of the bill whose mostly coastal district includes southern Orange County communities, including Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano.
The bill points to an area in San Diego as an example of what it seeks to change.
The road, shared by vehicles and bikes, is designated as a four-lane road, and changing it to include protected bike plans requires amending the local control program, a land-use document that requires Coastal Commission approval. That means “delayed and increased costs of the redesign,” the bill analysis said.
The bill got some bipartisan support in the Assembly — Assemblymembers Laurie Davies, R-Laguna Niguel, and Kate Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita, were among those who OK’d it in the lower chamber.
But Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, was one who voted against it.
“I opposed this measure because it impacts local control,” said Dixon. “What works for San Diego may not necessarily work for Orange County communities.”
“Local governments have the ability to implement policies that work best for their residents,” she added. “In this situation, a state mandate on all coastal communities relating to bike lanes does not seem necessary.”
The bill got a final OK from the Senate this week, according to CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database, and awaits the governor’s decision.
In other news
• Legislators unanimously passed a resolution last week urging the elimination of what’s called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a collection of debris in the North Pacific Ocean. The resolution also encourages finding solutions for keeping trash out of the ocean.
“Ensuring our oceans are clean is incredibly important. It is our job to protect our coastline, and (the resolution) provides us an opportunity to make that commitment,” said Dixon, who authored the resolution.
• A bill from Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, that extends a beverage container recycling pilot program was signed by the governor last week. The legislation extends until 2034 a CalRecycle a program meant to encourage recycling bottles and collecting redemption fees.
According to the bill analysis, the Bottle Bill program has struggled with consumer participation and ensuring people can easily recoup those fees, particularly as more than half of the state’s recycling centers closed between 2013 and 2022. So the legislature created pilot programs to test more flexible bottle redemption efforts, according to the bill, set to sunset in 2026. Those programs need more time to be fully operational to see if and how they work, the bill analysis said.
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