Article 3. Exclusion Of Territory Within Or Without City of California Public Utilities Code >> Division 10. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 10. >> Article 3.

The provisions of this article are alternative to any other provisions for the exclusion of territory from the district.

Any time after the defeat of a bond issue by the voters of the district any city or unincorporated territory, a majority of whose voters voting on a district bond issue proposition voted against said proposition, may be excluded by order of the board upon receipt by the board of a verified petition of ten percent (10%) of the total vote cast in the territory proposed to be excluded, or of a resolution adopted by the city council or board of supervisors having jurisdiction of the territory. However, no city shall be divided and not less than one-half of the territory under the jurisdiction of the board of supervisors and then remaining within the district shall be included in any petition or resolution or combination thereof filed simultaneously, nor shall any territory be excluded by any petition or resolution or combination thereof which creates areas of noncontiguous territory or will be entirely surrounded by the remainder of the district.

The petition or resolution shall state the reasons for the proposed exclusion and that the area will not be benefited by inclusion in the district, shall define the boundaries of the area proposed to be excluded, and request that the area be excluded.

(a) If the exclusion is initiated by a city council or a board of supervisors, such legislative body shall hold a public hearing on the proposal to adopt the resolution. A notice of the hearing shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation published in the area proposed to be excluded, or in a newspaper published within the city and county the legislative body of which has initiated the proceedings, in the event that a newspaper is not published in the area.
  (b) The notice of the hearing shall be entitled "Proposal to Exclude the ________ Territory from the ________ Transit District." The territory shall be designated by an appropriate name descriptive of the area proposed to be excluded. The notice shall also contain a description of the area, state the time and place for a hearing by the legislative body, and shall state that all persons interested in the exclusion may attend and be heard. The hearing shall be held not less than 10 days after publication of the required notice.
  (c) The legislative body shall conduct the hearing and at its conclusion, or at the conclusion of a further hearing to which adjournment has been made, may adopt the resolution and transmit it to the board.

Within 60 days after the receipt of a petition for exclusion, the board shall hear the petition or resolution at a regular or adjourned meeting of the board. Notice of the filing of the petition or resolution shall be given by publication of the petition or resolution in a newspaper of general circulation, published in the district and selected by the board. The notice shall also state the date of the filing of the petition or resolution and that it will be considered by the board, and shall state the time and place of the hearing. The time fixed for the hearing shall not be less than 20 days from the date of the first publication of the notice. The property to be excluded may or may not be specifically described in the notice, but if not described, the notice shall refer to the petition or resolution on file for purposes of a particular description of the property sought to be excluded and shall make reference to the property by a descriptive name.

Any landowner or taxpayer within the district may appear at the hearing, either in behalf of or in opposition to the granting of the petition or resolution.

The petition or resolution shall be heard by the board at the time and place specified in the notice of the hearing.

If, upon the hearing the board determines that it is in the best interests of the district that the lands mentioned in the petition or resolution, or some portion of them, be excluded from the district, or if it appears that the lands, or some portion of them, will not be benefited by their continued inclusion in the district, the board shall make an order that the lands, or some portion of them, as the board may determine, be excluded from the district, describing specifically the lands excluded.

In the event that the board shall not make the order excluding all of the area proposed to be excluded within 10 days after the hearing on the petition or resolution for exclusion, the board shall within 120 days thereof order and conduct an election within the area proposed to be excluded upon the question of whether the area shall be excluded from the district, however, if a general election is to be held within the territory proposed to be excluded within six months after the petition or resolution is filed with the secretary of the district the board may consolidate the election requested by this article with the general election. All resident electors of the area shall be eligible to vote at the election. The cost of the election shall be borne by the district.

In the event that a majority of the votes cast at the election are in favor of the exclusion, the board, upon completion of the canvass, shall make an order excluding the area from the district. In the event that a majority of the votes cast at the election are opposed to the exclusion, the measure fails and no proceedings for exclusion of the area may be subsequently initiated within one year.

A copy of the order of exclusion, certified by the secretary of the district, shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the lands are situated. The record of the certified copy shall be prima facie evidence of the exclusion from the district of the lands which are purported to be excluded thereby.

Subsequent to the making and recording of the order of exclusion, the lands excluded shall no longer be a part of the district. The order of exclusion does not invalidate, in any manner, taxes or assessments previously levied or assessed against the lands excluded, nor relieve the property excluded from any outstanding bonds which are a lien upon the excluded property at the time of exclusion or from any taxes imposed to pay the principal or interest on the bonds.