Chapter 3. District Powers of California Harbors And Navigation Code >> Division 8. >> Part 6. >> Chapter 3.

Any district created pursuant to this part is a public corporation created for municipal purposes.

It has perpetual succession.

It may sue and be sued.

It may adopt a seal.

It may take by grant, purchase, gift, devise or lease or otherwise acquire and hold and enjoy and lease or dispose of, real and personal property of every kind, within or without the district, necessary to the full or convenient exercise of its powers. The board may lease, mortgage, sell, or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property, within or without the district, when in its judgment it is for the best interests of the district so to do.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 6894, the board of the Sacramento-Yolo Port District shall not do any of the following:
  (a) Sell or dismantle the Deepwater Channel or the North Terminal Property without the prior consent of the City of Sacramento, the County of Sacramento, and the County of Yolo.
  (b) Sell or lease for nonmaritime purposes, land in excess of 10 acres located north of Southport Parkway and west of Lake Washington, unless, prior to executing a sale or lease, the board makes a written finding, based on substantial evidence in the record, that the proposed sale or lease is necessary to maintain the financial viability of the port.

(a) Moneys in the Riverfront Enhancement Fund, created by the Joint Port Governance Agreement dated January 15, 2006, shall be expended exclusively on projects related to the Sacramento and American Rivers, including tributaries and fluvial features, encompassed within the Counties of Sacramento and Yolo. Projects may include, but are not limited to, those of regional significance; capital improvements on riverfronts; maintenance and operation of riverfronts, waterways, and parkways; and conservation and environmental studies and projects.
  (b) In order to provide a disincentive for port closure to the host jurisdiction, which would receive properties of the Sacramento-Yolo Port District in event of its closure in accordance with this code, if the Port of Sacramento is closed and liquidated on or after January 15, 2016, and prior to January 15, 2026, the net proceeds from the liquidation shall be distributed to the Riverfront Enhancement Fund, less 10 percent for each year after January 15, 2016, that shall be distributed to the City of West Sacramento.
  (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize or prohibit the sale or lease of any property of the Port of Sacramento.

A district may acquire, purchase, takeover, construct, maintain, operate, develop, and regulate wharves, docks, warehouses, grain elevators, bunkering facilities, cold storage facilities, belt railroads, floating plants, lighterage, lands, towage facilities, and any and all other facilities, aids, or public personnel, incident to, or necessary for, the operation and development of ports, waterways, and the district.

It may exercise the right of eminent domain to take any property necessary or convenient to carry out any of its purposes.

It may incur indebtedness and issue bonds or other evidence of indebtedness for its purposes, and if any bonds issued for port improvement purposes by any part of a district prior to its creation are refunded, the refunding bonds are a lien only upon the lands upon which the refunded bonds were a lien, at the time of the creation of the district.

It may levy and collect or cause to be levied or collected taxes as in this part provided.

It has exclusive jurisdiction over, and it may provide for and supervise pilots and the pilotage of sea-going vessels from the end of jurisdiction of existing pilot authorities to points lying upon any navigable waterway project of the United States, entering the district.

It may contribute money to the Federal or the State government or to any county in which the district is located or to any city within the district, for the purpose of defraying the whole or a portion of the cost and expenses of work and improvement to be performed, either within or without the territorial limits of the district, by the Federal, State, county or city government, in improving rivers, streams, or in doing other work, if such work will improve navigation and commerce, in or to the navigable waters in the district.

A district may do any work or make any improvement within or without the territorial limits of the district, if the doing of the work or the making of the improvement will aid in the development or the improvement of navigation or commerce to or within the district.

It may by resolution hold and save harmless the State of California, the Reclamation Board of the State of California, and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Drainage District, their officers, agents or employees, from all claims, damages or liability due or incident to the design, construction, operation, repair and maintenance of any waterway project of the United States entering the district or other improvement constructed by or for the district for which the approval of the State Reclamation Board must be obtained, whether the same be caused by negligence of the State or of the officers, agents, employees of the State, or otherwise, and it may levy and collect in the manner provided for the raising of funds under this part such sums as may be required to fulfill any obligation incurred hereunder.

A district may enact necessary police regulations providing for control of any waterway project of the United States, entering the district, and it may adopt rules and regulations concerning the construction of wharves, docks, buildings, and improvements of all types.

A district may provide for the opening and laying out of streets leading to the waterfront.

A district may regulate and control the construction, maintenance, and operation, or use, of all wharves, warehouses, structures, improvements, or appliances used in connection with or for the accommodation and promotion of transportation or navigation on any improvement project of the federal government applying to the main waterway entering the district and also on other navigable streams improved or unimproved which lie within the district, and make and enforce necessary police and sanitary regulations in connection therewith.

It may fix, regulate, and collect the rates or charges for the use of wharves, warehouses, vessels, railroads and other facilities, structures and appliances owned, controlled or operated by the district, in connection with or for the promotion and accommodation of transportation or navigation and the rates or charges for pilotage and towage.

It may lay out, plan and establish the general plan and system of harbor and harbor district improvements and modify such plan and prescribe the specifications for such improvements.

It may act as warehousemen, stevedores, lighterers, reconditioners, shippers and reshippers of properties of all kinds.

It may manage the business of the district and promote the maritime and commercial interests by proper advertisement of its advantages, and by the solicitation of business, within or without the district, within other States or in foreign vessels from the end of jurisdiction of existing pilot authorities to points lying upon any navigable waterway project of the United States, entering the district.

Upon a four-fifths vote of all the members of the board, it may issue negotiable promissory notes bearing interest at a rate of not exceeding 7 percent per annum; provided, however, that said notes shall be payable from revenues and taxes levied for purposes of the district other than the payment of principal and interest on any bonded debt of the district; and provided further, that the maturity date shall not be later than 20 years from the date thereof and that the total aggregate amount of such notes outstanding at any one time shall not exceed 1 percent of the assessed valuation of the taxable property in the district, or if such assessed valuation is not obtainable, 1 percent of the county auditor's estimate of the assessed valuation of the taxable property in the district evidenced by his certificate.

Notwithstanding the enumeration and specific statement herein of particular powers, the district may do and perform all acts and things necessary and appropriate to carry out the purposes of this part and the powers of the district.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the Sacramento-Yolo Port District shall not exercise the power of eminent domain in the County of Sacramento, the City of Sacramento, the County of Yolo, or the County of Solano, without specific authorization respectively from the County of Sacramento, the City of Sacramento, the County of Yolo, or the County of Solano.
  (b) This section does not apply to the Sacramento-Yolo Port District if it exercises the power of eminent domain in the City of West Sacramento.