The Legislature intends by this act to provide prompt and equitable relocation assistance to low-income individuals and families displaced because of the construction of state highway projects in areas where the market value of real property is economically depressed. The Legislature by establishing a replacement housing program for such individuals and families intends to accomplish this objective of providing housing which is decent, safe, sanitary, and functionally equivalent to the housing eliminated by highway construction. Such replacement housing program shall be coordinated with the relocation advisory assistance provided by the department in accordance with Section 156.5. The Legislature further intends that to the extent the department deems feasible such housing shall be supplied by existing housing, moved housing, and refurbished housing before new replacement housing is constructed on a volume basis.

The Legislature finds that the foregoing objectives can best be achieved by enabling low-income persons in economically depressed areas affected by state highway construction to participate in the development and execution of the replacement housing program. Accordingly, when the initial replacement housing program is undertaken for the assistance of persons displaced by the construction of State Highway Route 105 in Los Angeles County, such program shall be conducted in a manner conducive to maximum community participation, thereby assisting in alleviation of excessive unemployment by utilizing local labor and contributing to the development of training programs for unskilled labor.

Terms Used In California Streets and Highways Code 135.3

  • Construction: includes :

    California Streets and Highways Code 29

  • County: includes "city and county. See California Streets and Highways Code 14
  • Department: means the Department of Transportation of this state. See California Streets and Highways Code 20
  • Director: means the director of the department. See California Streets and Highways Code 21
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Freeway: means a highway in respect to which the owners of abutting lands have no right or easement of access to or from their abutting lands or in respect to which such owners have only limited or restricted right or easement of access. See California Streets and Highways Code 23.5
  • highway: includes bridges, culverts, curbs, drains, and all works incidental to highway construction, improvement, and maintenance. See California Streets and Highways Code 23
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • State highway: means any highway which is acquired, laid out, constructed, improved or maintained as a State highway pursuant to constitutional or legislative authorization. See California Streets and Highways Code 24

The Legislature further finds that conventional contracting procedures, including competitive bidding, may not be consistent with the attainment of these objectives. Therefore, in carrying out this initial replacement housing program on State Highway Route 105, the department may enter into the contracts contemplated by Section 135.7 pursuant to such procedures as the director determines to be best suited to the achievement of the maximum community participation consistent with the economical completion of the freeway projects.

The Legislature further finds and declares that the exemption from competitive bidding authorized by this section is made by reason of the unique nature of the initial replacement housing program on State Highway Route 105, and is not to be considered as establishing a precedent for exempting any other public works construction from competitive bidding and other conventional contracting procedures, nor as in derogation of the fundamental policy of the Legislature that contractors for public works be selected by competitive bidding in order to secure economy of construction and other benefits which accrue to the public by reason of such contracting procedures.

(Amended by Stats. 1970, Ch. 924.)

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