CP&DR News Briefs: September 29, 2026: Light Rail Suit; Data Centers Update; Navy OKs Concord Project; and More

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Canceled Light Rail Extension Draws Lawsuit from Montclair

The Inland Empire suburb of Montclair is suing the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) after the agency withdrew funding for the planned A Line light-rail extension to Montclair. The city claims SBCTA broke its long-standing commitment to extend the rail line from Claremont to the Montclair Transit Center. In September 2025, SBCTA voted 15–11 to redirect its $37 million allocation, citing rising costs and concerns about limited input into project decisions. Montclair argues that abandoning the project could cost the city millions in planning expenses, property value increases, and future tax revenue. The lawsuit also alleges that SBCTA discriminated against Montclair, a lower-income community with a large Hispanic and immigrant population, by redirecting funds toward more affluent communities. Montclair is asking the court to enforce Measure I funding requirements, prevent unlawful discrimination, and award damages. Meanwhile, the A Line extension from Pomona to neighboring Claremont is moving forward, with construction expected to begin in late 2027 and finish in 2031.

Data Center Update: Majority of Californians Opposed; L.A. County Moratorium

A Politico poll found 51% of registered California voters oppose building new data centers in the state and opposition rises to 61% when a proposed data center would be in their own community. Most voters prefer local over state control, and there is a distinct split along party lines. The study found 45% of Republican-leaning voters support new centers, compared to about one eighth of Democrat voters. Recently, LA County's planning director ordered an immediate prohibition on large AI data centers in unincorporated areas, and El Monte, Baldwin Park, Oakley, Gilroy, and Richmond have passed bans or moratoriums. In San Francisco, Supervisor Shamann Walton proposed a 45-day moratorium, possibly extendable to two years, as a step toward a citywide ban, just as a little-known firm was reported to be eyeing a large waterfront site in the area. Meanwhile, the Dogpatch Power Station developer nearby plans to retract a data center amendment after community pushback. The Eureka City Council has moved forward in their effort to restrict data center construction, directing staff to create zoning regulations allowing data centers of 20,000 square feet or less to be built in industrial areas of the city, with a potential ban on large facilities. The decision comes two weeks after the city passed their 45-day moratorium on all data center planning until a decision could be reached.

Navy Gives OK to Redevelopment of Concord Base

The U.S. Navy approved a financial term sheet for redeveloping the Concord Naval Weapons Station, a 12,800 acre former munitions storage facility that fell out of use in 1999. The term sheet covers roughly 2,422 acres and is backed by master developer Brookfield Properties, which can now work with the city on a specific plan for construction and zoning. Planned features include 12,272 housing units, a 75-acre first responder training facility, a 4-acre veterans community center, a $5 million sports park, 5,038 acres for Thurgood Marshall Regional Park, 16 acres for permanently supportive housing and 10 acres for food bank expansion. Brookfield was chosen as master developer in 2023 after original developer Lennar withdrew in 2020 over a dispute with labor organizers.

San Francisco Mayor & Supes Consider Raft of Housing Proposals 

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announced six proposals that protect tenants from eviction and provide other renter protections in an attempt to counter skyrocketing rents and increased housing insecurity amid the artificial intelligence boom. Median rent prices in San Francisco are up nearly 26% over last year, and eviction notices have increased 44%. The package includes increased payments tenants are owed if evicted by 25%, directing $3 million to free legal representation for tenants threatened with eviction, $27 million on rental subsidies to cover the loss of federal housing vouchers set to expire at the end of the year, a 10% cap on “banked” rent spikes, and $1 million toward a public awareness campaign for renters. Meanwhile, San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar plans to introduce legislation creating a dedicated housing department to coordinate and streamline affordable and market-rate housing. The proposal comes as San Francisco falls behind its goal of building 82,000 homes by 2031, which Melgar blames on a current system fragmented across multiple agencies, slowing housing approvals and construction as rents and home prices rise.

CP&DR Coverage: Coastal Commission Power Trumps Builders Remedy

The Coastal Commission’s powers trump the state’s builders remedy law, an appellate court has ruled in yet another case from Redondo Beach. New Commune DTLA, developer Leo Pustilnikov’s company, attempted to use builders remedy to end-run Redondo Beach’s local coastal program (LCP) for a project that would include 30 condominiums (six affordable) and 141,000 square feet of commercial space. Pustilnikov has been aggressive in pursuing builders' remedy projects and associated litigation in both Redondo Beach and Beverly Hills, most recently winning a court battle over whether Redondo could use overlay zones to meet its housing element requirements. The coastal litigation involves potentially high stakes in affluent areas up and down the coast where cities must get Coastal Commission approval for their local plans and developers are seeking to end-run local processes with builders' remedy projects.

Quick Hits & Updates

Pacifica, a coastal city in San Mateo County, has resisted development at the site of a 90-acre former limestone quarry. Now Michigan-based developer Eenhoorn and Netherlands has filed an application with builder’s remedy for what may be the most likely plan yet, a 21-building development with 1,225 units that would cover about one third of the property. So far, the city has rejected the development, and the developer has appealed to the City Council.

Roseville City Council has advanced plans for a $77 million civic campus. It will replace aging, overcrowded facilities, and add a license and passport center and a dance studio near Lexington Avenue and Woodhill Drive. The maintenance operations center is estimated to cost around $64.1 million, while the license, passport and dance studio portion is down to roughly $13 million from $14.5 million.

The Costa Mesa City Council has approved a plan for 2,300 residences on the former Fairview Developmental Center, including 920 units set aside as affordable for low-income tenants. The vote advances a long effort to reuse the 80-acre property, which once housed more than 2,500 patients and closed in 2022 as the state moved care for people with developmental disabilities toward community-based settings. Though the city faces state pressure to add 11,760 homes by the end of the decade, council members scaled back a Planning Commission plan that would have allowed up to 4,000 units.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission filed a 54-page federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging what they call an unlawful buyout that removed a major floating wind project off Morro Bay from development. It is the state's second such suit against the Trump administration. The complaint targets a $765 million buyback of four wind leases held by Chicago-based Invenergy, announced in June. The deal included the $111 million Even Keel Wind project, whose lease covered more than 80,000 acres off the Central Coast.

Incoming Angels owner Stan Kroenke has not finalized plans for a new ballpark, although a replacement for Angel Stadium remains a possibility under the $4 billion purchase agreement. The stadium sits on roughly 130 acres of land that could support a larger mixed-use development. The Angels’ current lease runs through 2032, with an extension possible to 2038, and the state’s new “Home Run for Anaheim Act” would allow the team to circumvent affordable housing requirements if the team reverts to their name as the Anaheim Angels.