CP&DR

Slow-Growth Advocates Win Elections; Proposed El Toro Airport Loses Again

Apr 1, 2002

Featured Articles, Initiatives and referendums, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 04 Apr 2002

Slow growth advocates won eight of 14 easily classified local land use ballot measures in the March primary election. However, development supporters won elections in some long-time strongholds of slow growth, including Napa County and the City of Scotts Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Cities Pressure San Francisco To Repair Hetch Hetchy

Apr 1, 2002

Paul Shigley, Public Development, Vol. 17 No. 04 Apr 2002

Worried about water reliability and feeling neglected, Bay Area water agencies that get water from San Francisco's Hetch Hetchy system are taking the situation into their own hands. The agencies are working with state lawmakers on various approaches that would force San Francisco to repair and update the system, and would even let the agencies raise the capital improvement money themselves.

Dawn Serpa

Apr 1, 2002

Paul Shigley, Q&A, Vol. 17 No. 04 Apr 2002

Dawn Serpa is president of The Surland Companies, a private, 13-year-old residential and commercial developer that builds 100 to 200 houses per year. It is currently building Redbridge in Tracy, a 450-home project that mixes an array of housing sizes and styles in one subdivision, and plans to build Tracy's first mixed-use urban village. Unlike some developers, Serpa does not fear the "smart growth" movement. She even complains that many local regulations prevent traditional neighborhood developments. CP&

State Supreme Court Holds The Line On Takings Law

Apr 1, 2002

Legal Digest, Paul Shigley, San Francisco, Takings, Vol. 17 No. 04 Apr 2002

In its first takings case decision in three years, the state Supreme Court has upheld a San Francisco law that regulates the conversion of residential hotel rooms to tourist use. In a 4-3 decision based largely on its 1996 Ehrlich decision, the court ruled that exactions that are part of a broad plan deserve deferential review, while ad hoc exactions are subject to much closer court scrutiny.

Petaluma Marks 30 Years Of Growth Control

Apr 1, 2002

Initiatives and referendums, Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Sonoma County, Vol. 17 No. 04 Apr 2002

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first voter-approved growth control initiative in California. In 1972, voters in the City of Petaluma — in Sonoma County, 40 miles north San Francisco — capped approval of new homes at 500 units per year, or about half the previous year's total. Growth has remained a hot issue in Petaluma, but today it lacks the urgency it had during the 1970s.

Resort Development Pressue Confronts High Sierra Valley

Mar 1, 2002

Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Placer County, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Vol. 17 No. 03 Mar 2002

Development pressure in the Martis Valley, just north of Lake Tahoe, is as great as anywhere in the high Sierra. Straddling the Placer and Nevada county line about 20 miles southwest of Reno, the area appears to be evolving into a high-end resort destination. Several thousand homes and vacation units are proposed in unincorporated Placer County and the Town of Truckee, as are at least half a dozen golf courses.

Studies Examine State Business Strategies

Mar 1, 2002

Economic Development, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 03 Mar 2002

During a recession, government efforts to boost the economy often gain higher profiles. Three recent studies of state economic development activities paint a mixed picture of the effectiveness of existing programs.

Rural Counties Question Housing Policy

Feb 1, 2002

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 02 Feb 2002

County officials are questioning the state's housing allocation process, which often requires counties to plan for thousands of housing units even as they are also planning to protect agricultural land and open space.

Azusa Jumps Off the Suburban Downward Spiral

Feb 1, 2002

Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 02 Feb 2002

City leaders in Azusa believe they have their community on a more prosperous track after years of political fighting and questionable land use decisions. Downtown redevelopment is finally taking hold, builders are constructing upscale houses, and an exhaustive planning process for a prized 400-acre parcel appears to be settling old disputes.

UC Santa Cruz Plans Laboratory, Housing on Controversial Site

Feb 1, 2002

Paul Shigley, Public Development, Vol. 17 No. 02 Feb 2002

Early this spring, University of California, Santa Cruz, officials intend to release a draft plan for new facilities that will greatly expand the school's marine biology research capabilities.