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Orange County Streetcar Faces Grand Jury Inquiry over Cost Overruns
The Orange County Grand Jury is investigating why the Santa Ana Streetcar project budget increased to over $150 million per mile, running nearly $400 million over the original budget and six years behind schedule. The grand jury noted that no recent ridership studies and unclear community demand for the 4.1-mile route. Lawsuits from both the lead contractor and affected institutions, along with construction delays and poor planning, contributed significantly to the rising costs. Local businesses, particularly in downtown Santa Ana, suffered major financial losses due to prolonged street closures, with some ultimately forced to shut down. In response, the grand jury issued recommendations for improved public engagement, wider project benefits and support funds for impacted businesses, though the streetcar is still slated to open in late 2026.
Alameda County OK's Sale of A's Half of Oakland Coliseum
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the former Oakland Athletics' sale of their share of the Oakland Coliseum to a private development group. The deal will make the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, an investment group focused on community development in Oakland, the sole owner of the the complex. The sale is slated to close on June 30, 2026. AASEG has not released specific details of its plans for the site, but has proposed a multibillion dollar revitalization project at the site with housing, restaurants, and other entertainment ventures. City ordinances dictate that at least a quarter of any new housing developments on the site will be affordable housing, and AASEG said it would not tear down the Coliseum. City officials hailed the development plan as a historic investment, emphasizing the economic opportunities it will create for Oakland. (See related CP&DR coverage.)
Statewide Planning Guidelines to be Updated, with Stakeholder Input
The Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI), with support from Raimi + Associates and a team of planning consultants, has launched an 18-month effort to update California’s General Plan, Specific Plan and Tribal Consultation Guidelines. These revised LCI Planning Guidelines will reflect recent legal changes and incorporate new guidance on equity, climate resilience and innovative long-range planning strategies. Broad input from planners, advocates and stakeholders is being sought through launch workshops, email updates and participation in advisory groups. This initiative presents a key opportunity for professionals to help shape planning tools that support sustainable and inclusive development across California.
San Diego Takes Legal Action against La Jolla Secession
The City of San Diego has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent an effort to give La Jolla cityhood from moving forward. The suit centers on the Association for the City of La Jolla's petition, and whether it obtained signatures from the 25% of registered voters, a number required to move the effort forward. The suit alleges that the Local Agency Formation Commission acted improperly when it reversed the San Diego County registrar of voters' initial determination that the petition did not obtain enough signatures. On April 29, LAFCO issued a certificate of sufficiency to the ACLJ and the petition, prompting the city of San Diego to file a lawsuit.
CP&DR Coverage: Court Rejects Use of "Upstream" Greenhouse Gas Reductions
In a new battle between the Tejon Ranch Company and environmentalists, an appellate court has ruled that Los Angeles County’s environmental impact report for the Centennial community in Antelope Valley was misleading because it tried to count “upstream” reductions in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the state’s cap-and-trade program. In an unpublished portion of the opinion, the appellate court also found the EIR’s treatment of evacuation planning inadequate. The Center for Biological Diversity and Climate Resolve sued L.A. County over the EIR. Climate Resolve eventually settled but continued in the lawsuit as an amicus curiae. The critical issue was whether the EIR treated greenhouse gas emissions reduction correctly. the court concluded, “[t]here is no analysis in the EIR that supports its determination that the extensive off-site project features . . . do not represent dangerous fire hazards, would not include land uses that would, by themselves, increase the risk of fire hazards, and do not require mitigation.”
Quick Hits & Updates
The California Supreme Court will review whether Kern River flows will be kept in the riverbed through Bakersfield. The 5th District Court of Appeals overturned a Kern County Superior Court ruling mandating that water be kept in the river for fish, and the ruling was also "published" to be used as legal precedent. The Supreme Court granted a review of the case, but did not depublish the ruling.
PG&E submitted a plan to federal regulators to tear down two dams on the Eel river as part of demolishing the aging Potter Valley Project hydroelectric system, which would make the Eel the longest free-flowing river in California. The dams' largest use in recent years have been the water they supply to cities and vineyards in Marin and Sonoma counties. Under the plan water shipments would continue at a lower volume. Conservation groups, tribes and other communities on the Eel river praised the plan as a vital opportunity for river restoration and wild salmon recovery.
The City of Monterey issued an apology to Indigenous families who were displaced from the Dutra Street communal village in 1959 for the construction of a fire and police station. The city akgnowledged it's use of eminent domain to acquire land which dispersed the once vibrant-community. Tribe members and advocates hailed the apology as a step in the right direction for the city.
The cost to build the Sites Reservoir in Colusa County, the state’s largest new reservoir in 50 years, has jumped from $4.5 billion to as much as $6.8 billion due to inflation, supply chain issues, and tariffs. Supporters say it’s a vital project to store water during wet years for use during droughts, but environmental groups argue it will harm river ecosystems and question whether wealthy water agencies will continue backing the now more expensive project.
Between 2018 and 2024, neither Coronado nor Imperial Beach permitted any affordable housing, despite their largely different political and economic profiles, one wealthy and resistant, the other willing but underfunded, according to findings from Voice of San Diego. While Imperial Beach has approved some projects that could bring affordable units, none have moved forward to actual construction, highlighting a larger local struggle to meet housing demand amid high costs and limited political will in wealthy areas.
Citizens’ group Petaluma Historic Advocates has filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of a zoning ordinance that would allow construction of a six-story hotel in downtown Petaluma, arguing it would cause lasting harm to the city. The suit follows failed negotiations over a proposed ballot referendum and seeks a court ruling to nullify the ordinance entirely, bypassing a public vote. City officials argue that the group’s referendum only affects one part of the project’s rules—related to building size—not the full zoning change that allows the hotel.
A coalition of environmental groups has sued the city of Santee to halt the approval of the Fanita Ranch development, which proposes to build 3,000 homes in a very high fire hazard severity zone, the highest risk designation in California. The suit alleges that the city violated state laws by not conducting adequate fire risk analysis, and by substantially increasing the number of homes planned without voter approval. Courts have previously ruled against the project, most recently in 2024. (See related CP&DR coverage.)
SB 549, which included language giving a new local authority the ability to rebuild and sell lots burned in the Pacific Palisades fire back to the original homeowners at a discount, has been put on hold amidst policy hurdles to passing it before the Legislature adjourns in September. Controversy surrounding the bill was fueled by misinformation and conspiracy theories holding that the government would become a major landowner in the palisades and re-zone burnt areas for high-density housing, policies which were not a part of the bill.
The newly released annual Silicon Valley Pain Index shows widening income inequality in the region, with .1% of households holding 71% of the area's wealth and the wealthiest 9 households alone accounting for 15%. The Index also highlighted the increased difficulty most residents face meeting their basic needs, particularly housing.
A report from Stanford's Institute for Economic Policy Research finds that California's homelessness crisis remains one of the worst in the country, citing insufficient shelter capacity, a shortage of housing, and weak incentives for drug treatment as key drivers of the state's high rate of homelessness, particularly unsheltered homelessness. The report emphasized that data collection and transparency has not kept up with massive new government investments, and need to be overhauled to understand the effectiveness of policies and investments.
The California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH), conducted by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, found that the median age of someone experiencing homelessness in the state is 47, and Black, Latino and Indigenous persons are overrepresented in the statewide population of homelessness. It also found that high housing costs and low income are significant factors leading to homelessness, with many participants experiencing mental health and substance use challenges before and during their homelessness.
