State Parks Free to Sell Land

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state's regional park districts are free to sell some of their vast land holdings without first gaining voter approval.
 
The unanimous ruling overturned two lower court decisions barring the Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District from selling 161 acres to a community college.
 
State law prohibits districts from selling land dedicated to park use without voter approval, and the lower courts ruled the land is dedicated when it's purchased.
 
The Riverside park district and six other such districts argued that those decisions would force them to spend millions of dollars on elections for many minor land deals that are now handled by district staff. The districts also complained that the election requirement could hinder their acquisition of new land if they are barred from easily selling it later.
 
The state Supreme Court sided with the park districts and said their property isn't dedicated until the districts' governing boards take formal action.
 
There are eight regional park districts in the state, including the East Bay Regional Park District, which contains 65 parks, 97,000 acres of land and more than 1,000 miles of trails.