The newest among the many notable assets of the City of Burbank is what is billed as the “World’s Largest Ikea". The mega-store recently opened in February, replacing a normal-sized Ikea about a mile away. For all its Scandinavian appeal, the new Ikea surely does nothing to mute Burbank’s image as an unremarkable quasi-suburb that tries, and often fails, to distinguish itself from Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley, which abuts it to the west and north.

Among the cities of Silicon Valley, large buildable lots are nearly as rare as unemployed programmers. Amid the regional housing crisis and strong slow-growth sentiment, battles over their fate have been fierce – few more so than in Los Gatos. The Los Gatos Town Council approved plans to develop its last large undeveloped piece of land, 44 acres at the junction of Highway 85 and Highway 17, Aug. 1. Though public opinion on the fate of the parcel is far from settled, the decision was essentially forced after a judge ruled against the city earlier in the summer in a long-running legal battle concerning roughly half of the parcel. By some measure, it’s a win for state housing laws that are often seen as powerless to compel cities to actually realize their housing allocations. Currently the incongruous site of a walnut orchard, among single-family homes and strip commercial, the North 40 development is to include 320 residences and 68,000 square feet of retail on a 22-acre plot near the city’s border with San Jose. The project includes about 50 low-income and moderate-income apartments.

San Diego Association of Governments Executive Director Gary Gallegos, who has led the agency since 2001, announced that he will retire by the end of the calendar year. Gallegos, 57, has overseen the agency for 16 years. In 2004, Gallegos led the effort to extend TransNet, a regional half-cent sales tax for transportation; 67 percent of county voters approved the extension. That measure has been mired in controversy of late as reports surfaced that agency staff, including, presumably, Gallegos, was aware that the agency’s official estimates overstated the amount of revenue that the tax would generate. Gallegos said that he achieved many of his personal and institutional goals in the course of his tenure -- including the construction of the Mid-Coast Trolley extension and South Bay Rapid, along with planning for the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry — and noted that "The independent examination found that SANDAG did not intentionally mislead the public or the Board regarding its forecast.” “Gary Gallegos will leave us as a giant in regional planning and transportation,” said SANDAG Chair and County Supervisor Ron Roberts in a statement. “His drive and effectiveness as a transportation leader are nationally renowned, particularly when it comes to bringing investment into our community and getting creative projects started and completed.” Report Suggests Cozy Relationship between Chiang, Affordable Housing Developers A report by the Sacramento Bee suggests that State Treasurer and gubernatorial hopeful John Chiang gave political favors to affordable housing developers who donated to his campaign. The Bee found that developers, who collectively gave around $100,000 to Chiang’s campaign, have received millions in tax credits and bond funds over the years. In some cases, monies were dedicated to the developers within weeks after they made donations. The Bee singles out Pacific West Communities and Domus Development, the latter of which which reportedly gave $40,000 to Chiang’s campaign committees while receiving 9 percent tax breaks on three projects in the Sacramento region through the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. In response to the allegations, a Chiang spokesperson told the Bee, "The evaluation and scoring are done by professional staff who have nothing to do with or any knowledge as to who supports my campaigns.” Ballot Measure Could Extend Reach of Prop. 13 A proposed statewide ballot measure would adjust Proposition 13 with the intent of helping young homeowners purchase homes. The measure, sponsored by the California Association of Realtors, would allowing them to carry a portion of their existing property tax rate across county lines when they purchase a new house. According to Alex Creel, lobbyist for the Realtors, many people feel locked into their properties because of Prop. 13. Currently, homeowners over 55 in certain counties can already transfer existing property tax rates to a new home of equal or less value, but Creel’s initiative would expand the program. Caltrans Seeks Input on SB 1 Planning Guides for $45 Million in Planning Grants Caltrans is preparing to launch new grant funding from Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, and released for public review and comment the final drafts of the SB 1 Sustainable Communities and Adaptation Planning Grant guides. SB 1 will provide more than $270 million in planning grants for local communities over the next decade. Caltrans will provide $25 million in annual grants for local and regional planning to support the goals and best practices cited by the California Transportation Commission in its regional transportation plan guidelines. Caltrans will provide $20 million over three years to local and regional agencies to support resilient transportation infrastructure planning for areas that are potentially vulnerable to climate change. This funding will help these agencies conduct adaptation planning in a way to ensure transportation assets are resilient in the face of climate change. The formal 30-day comment period for the final draft guides will be open through Aug. 31. The draft guidelines and comment forms can be found at  http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tpp/grants.html . Two workshops will be held, in Sacramento (Sept. 1) and Los Angeles (Sept. 6).  Meetings to Discuss Cap-and-Trade Funding Guidelines The Air Resources Board invites stakeholders to participate in a series of community meetings and a statewide webcast later this month to provide input on the draft updates to the CARB Funding Guidelines for Agencies that Administer California Climate Investments. California Climate Investments is a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities. The meetings will be held in Fresno (Aug. 22), Los Angeles (Aug. 23), Oakland (Aug. 28), and Sacramento (Aug. 31).

Two nearby residents don’t have standing in a CEQA lawsuit against Mt. San Jacinto College, an appellate court has ruled. Even if they did, the court ruled, their claims would be struck down because a purchase agreement for property is not an action subject to the California Environmental Quality Act.

In a 77-page opinion, the California Supreme Court has partially overturned a lower court and concluded that the environmental review of a railroad project is not pre-empted by federal law if the state is the project’s owner and the environmental review does not conflict with the scope of federal regulation. The ruling could have significant consequences for the state’s high-speed rail project, in which federal pre-emption of the California Environmental Quality Act has been a significant issue.

Reports Point to Further Cover-Ups over Misleading SANDAG Ballot Measure In an investigative series, Voice of San Diego reports that the San Diego Association of Governments misled the public on two separate ballot measures. An internal document discussed in November 2016 suggests that agency staff knew that a 2004 ballot measure to increase county sales tax included misleading language but declined to publicly admit the deception. As reported by Voice of San Diego last month, SANDAG misled by telling voters the tax would raise far more funds than the agency actually expected. SANDAG staffers offered the SANDAG board members and the public explanation for its ongoing scandal that they knew were false or incomplete. Agency staffers had multiple opportunities to disclose this information to the board or public and repeatedly withheld the information. The TransNet ballot measure has been running an extreme revenue shortfall, it was predicted to bring in $14.2 billion but now is closer to $9 billion. Now the Voice of San Diego contends that staff at SANDAG took steps to hide public records and delete official documents last year after the major errors in revenue forecasting were revealed. Lake Tahoe Report Card Indicates Warming, Record Precipitation UC Davis’ Tahoe Environmental Research Center released the report, “ From Treetops to Lake Bottom, Tahoe’s Annual Report Card .” In 2016 the lake saw the hottest temperatures on record as well as unprecedented levels of rain and snow. The report looks at the ongoing, decades-long measurement programs as well as what autonomous underwater vehicles are finding in the lake. Key findings include the record numbers of dead and dying trees due to drought stress, insect attack and disease. Climate change has led to the warming of the lake 0.5 degrees per year, longer summers, and increased algae growth in the water. The annual report is aimed informing non-scientists about the most important factors affecting lake health and the influence on decisions about ecosystem restoration and management within the lake basin. Court Strikes Down Sonoma County Climate Action Plan  Judge Nancy Case Shaffer rejected the environmental document supporting Sonoma County’s Climate Action Plan for reducing GHG emissions, finding it does not adequately account for emissions generated outside the county. Shaffer said the plan adopted by supervisors last year is based on insufficient information and violates CEQA. The California River Watch sued the county and the Regional Climate Protection Authority over the plan. Supervisor David Rabbitt says the county and its nine cities are among the first in the nation to initiate such a progressive policy and access River Watch of halting growth. The county now will have to amend the plan or start over. CEQA Suit over Inland Empire Highway Goes to Appeal The Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over concerns of environmental impacts of a proposed 16-mile highway corridor intended to link San Jacinto and Perris. The suit arguing the project is a waste of taxpayer money, will not solve traffic problem, will break up neighborhoods and wildlife habitat. In May, U.S. District Judge George Wu ruled in favor of the proposed Mid County Parkway. The $1.7 billion project is jointly involving the Riverside County Transportation Commission and the Federal Highway Administration. The project is still in the design phase, but RCTC has already initiated the process of identifying how to mitigate impacts related to construction of an interchange in Perris. Greenhouse Gases Fell 0.3 Percent in 2015 California’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 0.3 percent in 2015, meaning the state will most likely reach 1990s levels by 2020, according to the California Air Resources Board's annual greenhouse gas inventories. However, more distant goals may be more difficult to meet. The data shows emissions from electrical plants fell in 2015, largely due to the growth of solar facilities, but the amount of GHG from planes and cars increased. The largest source of greenhouse gases in the state is transportation, contributing around 39 percent of the state’s emissions. Since peaking in 2004 at 489 million metric tons, California’s emissions have fallen 10 percent to 440. Quick Hits & Updates The Trump administration rolled back controversial regulations for wetlands imposed during the Obama presidency. Now the State Water Resources Control Board plans to adopt its own regulations that could protect more of the state’s wetlands from being plowed, paved, drained or otherwise damaged. In March, Los Angeles Metro approved track alignments and funding increase for LinkUS – the estimated $2.75 billion project that would convert Union Station from a stub-end to a run-through station. In July, the Metro Board Planning and Programming Committee introduced an above-grade concourse which would be circular with escalators and stairs down to the train platforms. In October, Metro is expected to released an RFI/Q/P to clarify how LinkUS could potentially proceed with additional private development onsite. The study is currently evaluating possible bike/walk connections between the station and the planned LA River multi-use path. The group leading Sacramento’s bid for a Major League Soccer team has begun pre-construction activities at the site of its planned 19,621-seat stadium. The team’s goal is to complete the first phase of construction before winter. Republic FC officials say the stadium is on a realistic timeline to be completed in time for the 2020 MLS season. The area around the stadium, a former railyard, will also include a Kaiser Permanente hospital complex and 10,000 homes. Anti-abortion protesters have targeted the San Francisco Planning Commission for its recent  approval  of a Planned Parenthood Center on Bush Street. Protestors have shown up at four of the commissioners’ homes and have written messages in chalk on the sidewalk. According to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, some county officials and residents are concerned about the increased number of wells being drilled by cannabis farms in the area. The region has little water, which is very shallow and salty, and the spike from two wells drilled in 2015 to 20 in 2016 is alarming to some. Some county officials are not confident about the current water supply and some lawsuits have been filed against cannabis growers for their potable water wells being drained for cannabis cultivation. According to ApartmentList, the city of San Francisco added one new home per 8.2 jobs between 2010-2015. Census data shows a ratio closer to 10 jobs per home for the City. The ApartmentList numbers come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and US Census survey of building permits. The analysis shows that rents are up 43 percent since 2005. Google has bought roughly four dozen properties in Sunnyvale around Moffett Park for approximately $800 million. The buildings provide around 2.3 million square feet of space and will be part of the downtown San Jose campus the tech company has planned. More than 11,000 employees could potentially work in these buildings. Plans were revealed for one of the largest redevelopments in the county in recent memory: a $1-billion redevelopment of the 20-acre Orange County Register newspaper property in Santa Ana. The project, named 625IVE, calls for 2.35 million square feet of offices, multifamily residential units, retail space, and a hotel. The tallest of the proposed towers would have a maximum height of 493 feet.  San Diego’s real estate department sent city officials the appraisal it commissioned of the Qualcomm Stadium and found the land to be worth $110 million. If the SoccerCity initiative is successful, it would require investors to pay fair market value for the land. This may be the boost Mayor Kevin Faulconer needs to keep alive his push for a special election.  Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 617, aimed at improving air quality in disadvantaged communities. The law imposes new requirement to monitor and reduce pollution near oil refineries, industrial facilities and freight corridors. The City of Newport Beach City Council approved , 7-0, changes to the zoning code and local coastal program to give homeowners in single-family zones the opportunity to construct accessory dwelling units or convert existing space within a structure into livable facilities. Approximately 13,126 homeowners could construct new units on their property and 18,836 are eligible to repurpose existing space. Both cases would require administrative approval and must meet city building codes.  According to a survey from construction analysts finds that the number of cranes at work in Los Angeles has jumped to 36 at the beginning of July. Only Seattle has more cranes in the U.S., and Toronto has 72 cranes. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced he will file another motion in an antitrust lawsuit to stop Valero Energy Corp. from purchasing a Martinez oil terminal, which he says could raise gas prices. The oil terminal is currently owned by Plains All American Pipeline, which imports and exports petroleum. According to Becerra, if Valero acquired the property all three “critical” Northern California terminals would be owned by refineries.

The last time the Office of Planning and Research updated its General Plan Guidelines, climate change was not yet an inconvenient truth rather than a full-blown reality, urban infill meant cheap downtown apartments, and online mapping still meant Mapquest. Times has changed since 2003.

The City of San Diego City Council approved legislation designed to quickly increase the amount of housing constructed at affordable prices to middle and low-income residents. The new law is intended make it easier and cheaper for homeowners to add accessory units; it also expedites approvals. The goals of the 12 initiatives Mayor Kevin Faulconer plans to enact in the next two years are lowering housing costs, boosting supply and promoting “smart growth” along transit lines. The City Council unanimously approved two of the three new laws; looser granny flat rules were approved 8-1. The city’s “Expedite Program” makes it so more projects can benefit if they have at least 10 percent of units reserved for low/very low income families or are near transit lines. Streamlining approvals would revamp the appeals process by increases the cost for an appeal from $100 to $1,000 and requiring hearings to be scheduled within 60 days instead of the average 105 days. New Point Reyes Plan to Eliminate Ranching, Dairying The Point Reyes National Seashore will update its general management plan and prepare an environmental impact statement that evaluates alternatives including eliminating historic ranching and dairying operations. Three environmental nonprofit groups sued the National Park Service last year as ranching was criticized over its impacts to water quality and public access. The park may issue five-year leases to agricultural operations while it updates the general management plan. In 2012, the Interior Department mandated standards for ranching leases and practices but the park argued that it was postponing an update to its general plan in order to prioritize the ranch plan. Those suing the park say this was “unlawfully prioritizing ranching above other uses of the national seashore,” saying there was no environmental review of the ranch operations particularly changes such as global warming, expired reservations of use and occupancy for the ranches, endangered species listings, and evolving visitor uses. The settlement agreement reached states the general management plan amendment and environmental impact statement will address alternatives for future management of the lands within four years. New Santa Monica Downtown Plan to Require Up To 30% Inclusionary Housing The Santa Monica city council approved its new downtown Downtown Community Plan on a 4-3 vote. The plan is the final piece of the city’s updated General Plan, which has been in process for years and been marked by successive efforts to reduce densities from levels the plan had originally envisioned. Height limits throughout downtown zone are 84 feet, while three specific sites can go up to 130 feet. The document streamlines administrative approval for housing projects up to 75,000 square feet. Residential projects are required to provide between 20-30 percent affordable housing for all new condos and apartments. Parking minimums will be eliminated and commercial projects up to 10,000 square feet are required to have administrative approval. Some developers say the high affordable housing percentage would dissuade construction in the city, thus stifling the production of both market-rate and affordable housing; they cite a crash in development that occurred when San Francisco raised its inclusionary zoning requirements above 20 percent. Supporters say other housing incentives may be enough to encourage growth that the plan foresees in the famously expensive coastal city. The City Council will receive a monitoring report on housing production every six months to see the effects of the new requirements. (See prior CP&DR coverage here and here .) PPIC Finds Californias Support Environmental Policies The Public Policy Institute of California released a survey and paper on “Californians and the Environment”. The survey finds a majority of Californians are in favor of state policies related to global warming including the law mandating statewide reduction of GHG emissions and the cap-and-trade program. Even with the reminder that an estimated 15 cents will be added to each gallon of gasoline by 2021 with revenue to be spend on affordable housing near public transit, energy efficiency, high-speed rail, and public transit, 60 percent of adults and 51 percent of likely voters were still in favor of the state’s efforts. Only 25 percent of Californians are in favor of offshore drilling while 73 percent approve of wind power and wave energy projects and 67 percent are in favor of desalination. Related to oceans and beaches contamination of fish and seafood is a big problem (46 percent), declining marine life (45 percent) and limited public access to the coast and beaches (18 percent). While 24 percent of Californians say air pollution is the biggest problem, 38 percent say its somewhat of a problem. However, 55 percent say air pollution is a more serious health threat in lower-income areas and 79 percent are in favor of empowering local air districts to require industries to curb emissions of air pollutants.  SGC Seeks Comments on Transformative Climate Communities Guidelines The Strategic Growth Council released its fourth revision of the Draft Guidelines for the Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Program. This revised draft has updated requirements applicants must meet for implementation and planning grants. Comments are due Aug. 2 via  tccpubliccomments@sgc.ca.gov . The final proposed version will be considered by the SGC Aug. 24. CARB also released a draft TCC Greenhouse Gas Emission Quantification Methodology. CARB will be accepting public comments through Aug. 2. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Sacramento to Demolish Federal Housing to Make Way for new Neighborhood Under a new plan, Sacramento’s Twin Rivers neighborhood will be demolished and replaced with an expanded mixed-income district. The changes for the affordable housing-rich neighborhood will test a new federal housing policy “Choice Neighborhoods Initiative.” The Twins Rivers neighborhood was originally developed in 1952 by the federal government as 218 public housing units. The new project will include 480 units, half of which will be set aside for current residents. The renderings show tree-lined streets with three and four-story townhomes, neighborhood park, grocery store, and new light rail station for existing Blue Line. The existing project will begin demolition in May 2018. The project received a $30 million seed grant in 2015 and the rest is expected to come from tax credits, cap-and-trade funds, and other government grants and private construction loans. Draft Earthquake Maps Reveal Faults in West Los Angeles Officials released new draft maps showing earthquake faults in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and the West Los Angeles as part of a new effort by the state to locate fault lines so that new buildings are not constructed on top of them. An LA Times analysis in 2013 showed more than a dozen projects were approved along the path of the Santa Monica and Hollywood faults in the last decade. Once these maps are finalized, state law will require anyone looking to build in a fault zone to hire a geologist to investigate whether construction can occur on an actual fault line. The maps may still be revised and public feedback is due Oct. 11. Quick Hits & Updates The City of Rosemead filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles Metro for throwing out the 710 tunnel expansion saying the decision was premature and violated state environmental laws. The complaint alleges the board should have waited until the final environmental study was certified by Caltrans, which is not expected until next year. The board rejected the 6.3 mile tunnel saying it does not have the $3-5.3 billion needed.  Joshua Tree National Park will be officially designated as an International Dark Sky Park which is a park that has “an exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights and a nocturnal environment that is specifically protected for its scientific, natural, educational, cultural heritage, and/or public enjoyment”.  Controversial pro-housing advocate Sonja Trauss has announced her candidacy for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Sixth District seat. Jane Kim currently holds the seat but cannot run for reelection due to term limits. Founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Renders Federation, Trauss has become a YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) leader and promotes policies and projects that increase housing stock of all kinds. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is seeking a court order to force Uber and Lyft to share records on driver safety, disability access and other operations. The actions are an attempt for the city to ensure drivers are not creating “a public nuisance by jeopardizing public safety, discriminating or otherwise violating local and state laws.” Lyft originally was willing to work with the city but demanded unreasonable provisions and Uber refused to cooperate. Last month, San Francisco County Transportation Authority found that these rideshare programs make up 15 to 20 percent of the city’s traffic during the week. San Jose Councilmember Johnny Khamis is pushing back on a proposal to rezone a piece of Valley Transportation Authority-owned property near a light rail station be from Agriculture to Mixed-Use. Transit advocates contend that the parcel is an ideal place for high-density transit-oriented development Khamis, along with neighbors of the Branham LRT station, say the application would first have to address traffic because a land use amendment could be considered. Los Angeles City officials have decided to take the remaining 37 parcels of Manchester Square near LAX through eminent domain in preparation for expansion of airport facilities. Of the remaining parcels , owners of 26 properties have decided to sell and tenants will receive relocation assistance. The remaining 11 properties whose owners are holding out are waiting to receive proper compensation. City Council is expected to vote next month. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a new Office of Cannabis in advance of recreational marijuana sales starting early next year. The office will analyze disparities that keep certain minority groups out of the business and make recommendation on how to keep medical marijuana affordable. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The Los Angeles City Council  approved a plan to legalize 1,700 unpermitted units in apartment buildings that will increase the housing supply. The apartments can become legalized if they existed before 2016, meet standards for safety and other measures, and if the landlord is willing to rent that unit – or another one- at below market rates.

CP&DR Vol. 32 No. 7 July 2017

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors certified a revised environmental impact report and approved two subdivisions in Newhall Ranch, the controversial master-planned community northwest of Los Angeles. The EIR was revised in response to a 2015 Supreme Court decision ruling that an earlier version of the document did not properly account for greenhouse gas emissions and threats to native fish. The project, developed by FivePoint, has been rebranded “Netzero Newhall” and includes a range of features designed to lessen the development’s environmental impact. These are the first major approvals for the project, which has been in development for over a decade. Both were approved in 4-0 votes. Members of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment had planned to speak out during a public hearing at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting. The group is concerned over environmental changes made for the 21,500 units proposed as Newhall Ranch development. The group had asked the board to hold off certifying the plans for two housing tracts, which would make up 5,500 residences, until the public has more time to review changes made to the EIRs. The recent changes made include adding electric car chargers in garages and two bridges that would go over the Santa Clara River. (See pior CP&DR coverage .) Coastal Counties Sue Fossil Fuel Producers over Climate Change Marin County, San Mateo County, and the City of Imperial Beach are suing 37 oil, gas and coal companies for allegedly knowing their fossil fuel products would cause sea level rise and coastal flooding and failing to reduce GHG pollution. The suit continues that although there was a narrow window to take action, the companies engaged in a “coordinated, multi-front effort” to discredit scientific evidence and “persistently create doubt”. The counties are looking for compensatory damages, punitive damages, and disgorgement of profits and lawyers’ fees. Marin County Supervisor Kate Sears says the lawsuit has similarities to what state attorneys did with the tobacco industry in the 1990s. The group Sher Edling will be representing the counties. Arts Council Names 14 Cultural Districts Statewide The California Arts Council announced 14 districts that will serve as California’s inaugural state-designated Cultural Districts that highlight thriving cultural diversity and unique artistic identities across the state. The cultural districts in the San Diego Region include Balboa Park, Barrio Logan, and Oceanside. In the Deserts Region there is only the BLVD Cultural District in Lancaster. The San Francisco Bay Area Region has the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District in San Francisco, Downtown San Rafael Arts District, Rotten City in Emeryville, and SOMA Pilipinas. The Los Angeles Region has Little Tokyo and San Pedro Waterfront Arts, Cultural & Entertainment District. Other Cultural Districts throughout the state include Eureka, Grass Valley-Nevada City, Redding, and Truckee. These 14 districts will receive the designation for five years and receive benefits such as technical assistance, peer-to-peer exchanges, branding materials and promotional strategies. Santa Clara’s Proposed CityPlace Garners Key Support A trio of environmental agencies have accepted Related Co.’s plans for CityPlace, $6.7 billion mixed-use complex with up to 1,680 housing units across from Levi’s Stadium on a former landfill. The company's massive technical document, which includes elaborate safety systems to block the escape of methane gas and other dangerous vapors and prevent groundwater contamination from the landfill, was accepted by environmental overseers Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health, California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (also known as CalRecycle) and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. The project would also include 5.7 million square feet office, retail, and a hotel. The City of San Jose sued the City of Santa Clara last year because of the imbalance between jobs and housing units. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Environmental Groups Sue over Proposed Border Wall The nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity filed suit against the federal government in District Court early July over the environmental resources at stake if Trump decides to build his 14 miles of double-layer border fence. The proposed fence would stretch inland from Imperial Beach through a sensitive salt marsh, which is home to the Quino checkerspot butterfly and vernal pools. The lawsuit claims that the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection failed to prepare and publish legally required environmental impact analyses for the project. The Center also alleges violations of the Freedom of Information Act because the Center’s attorneys did not receive responses for FOIA request in the legally required timeframe. The government has until early September to respond to claims in the lawsuit. Bay Area Bike Share to Rebrand, Expand San Francisco’s Bay Area Bike Share has been rechristened Ford GoBike and is planning a massive relaunch of 7,000 bikes throughout the region. East Bay already received its first phase of 450 bikes at 43 stations in Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville. GoBike is a public-private partnership between Motivate and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission with Ford as the title sponsor. To ensure more equity in the program, GoBike launched a $5, first-year annual membership for low-income residents, cash payment options for residents without credit cards, and a commitment to playing 35 percent of the stations in “communities of concern”. The group TransForm conducted outreach and created a report called OakMob 101 (Oakland Mobility) and found of survey respondents, 33 percent did not have access to a bike at home. Environmental Group Sues over Proposed Carpool Lanes in Sacramento The Environmental Council of Sacramento is suing Caltrans over plans to build carpool lanes on Highway 50 in downtown Sacramento saying the state failed to analyze health impacts on local residents from potential increased vehicle emissions. Caltrans chose not to conduct a full environmental review because it did not expect significant environmental issues. ECOS argues the freeway expansion would lead to a significant increase in vehicles on the freeway and instead encourages Caltrans to turn one of the existing lanes into a carpool lane. Caltrans plans to begin construction in 2019 for the $187 million project if it can obtain the funds. For the first part of the lane expansions between Watt Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard, the two groups settled out-of-court and Caltrans agreed to spend $7 million on improvements to the Sacramento Regional Transit light-rail line. Quick Hits & Updates The Fremont City Council backed away from pursuing rent control measures after weighing options and hearing from dozens of landlords and tenants. The council did not vote on any of the three rent-control options that were presented. Landlords said rent control measures make it more difficult to evict problem tenants while those in favor say the city has taken too long to tackle renter protections. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The state has finalized its environmental review of the California WaterFix. The project still needs a number of other permits and financial support before construction can begin. Present to voter-approved Measure JJJ, the Los Angeles Department of City Planing has drafted a proposed Value Capture Ordinance to link approval of certain discretionary entitlements that allow for consideration of increased density or floor area ratio (FAR) with affordable housing requirements. Currently, affordable housing requirements are only imposed on residential development projects proposing more than 10 units that requireapproval of a general plan amendment, zone change, or height district change. The Coastal Commission unanimously approved an agreement to end beach sand mining in Monterey County. This decision ends the last operation of its type in mainland US. Instead of facing court battles, Cemex agreed to stop extracting sand from 400 acres of beach in the city of Marina by Dec. 31, 2020. The settlement also requires Cemex to sell the site at a reduced price to a nonprofit organization that would preserve the property and provide public access. The Department of Housing and Community Development is awarding  (pdf) $36 million to 64 cities and 31 counties across the state for the Housing-Related Parks Program. The program’s funds will go towards creating or improving parks and is funded through Proposition IC, the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2006. This will be the last round of funding, as the grant funds have been used over the last seven years for a variety of projects such as community centers, parks and recreation facilities, playgrounds, and improvements to existing parks. Gov. Jerry Brown signed controversial legislation, SB 106, allowing cities in Marin County to continue to impose strict limits on the number of new homes built in their jurisdictions, regardless of Regional Housing Needs Allocation numbers. The sponsor of the bill, Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael), says it allows for more affordable housing because smaller buildings would lower construction costs. San Francisco officials have requested the City Attorney’s Office to look into legislation that would allow the city to impose a vacancy tax, similar to Vancouver's, on property owners who “warehouse” their valuable residential and commercial units. Commissioners remark that more units seem vacant and that the city lacks data on numbers. According to the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey , San Jose is the least affordable city in the US and 5th least affordable in the world. Los Angeles comes in 8th and San Francisco 9th in the 10 least affordable cities in the world. The first phase of the new Jordan Downs public housing complex is set to be finished next year with 115 new apartments. However, a report shows the city’s 17-month effort to clean up the former industrial property had failed as toxins were detected below the surface in groundwater and soil vapors. Of the 21 lots only one poses health risks and that area will require vapor barriers and to be deed-restricted to commercial uses.  Orange County Great Park will open the long-awaited first phase of the 194-acre park Aug 5. The available amenities include a 2,506-seat soccer stadium, six soccer fields, 25 tennis courts, and five sand volleyball courts on 53 acres. The new sports park is part of the 713 acres FivePoint is building for the city in exchange for approval to build more than 4,600 homes adjacent to the park.  Transbay Joint Powers Authority voted to let San Francisco-based Salesforce put its name on the transit center opening next year. The 25-year $110 million sponsorship agreement will change the name of the facility to the Salesforce Transit Center and place the company’s name or logo on as many as 177 signs throughout the building. The station is adjacent to the new Salesforce Tower.  Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners approved plans this week to renovate two terminals and lease a future terminal to Southwest Airlines. This future terminal will be sandwiched between Terminals 1 and 2 and cost an estimated $490 million to build and open in 2020. Delta Air Lines will spend up to $1.9 billion to upgrade Terminals 2 and 3. The City of Huntington Beach has unveiled its General Plan Update through 2040. Residents and city officials will review and discuss the document in the upcoming months and it will be presented to the City Council Sept. 18.

Urban freeways are often described in the language of carnage. Bisecting neighborhoods, disrupting street grids, harming disadvantaged populations, and barreling through valuable downtown real estate, they are variously referred to by detractors as scars, gashes, and wounds inflicted on the urban landscape.  Now, as California’s urban resurgence continue apace, several cities are considering reconstructive surgery.  The poultice of choice is made out of the same material as the scar itself: concrete. Cities are now envisioning caps that are, essentially, bridges that cover trenched freeways, typically for three or four blocks. Traffic would pass under them undisturbed while cities would gain acres of new space while restoring their street grids for the benefit of pedestrians and residents.  Cities in California have considered freeway cap projects for years, predating the recession of the late 2000s. Several projects performed initial studies, including several that received initial planning grants from the Southern California Association of Governments. But none has yet gotten past preliminary planning stages.  Now, with the resurgent economy and dearth of urban land, cities are redoubling their efforts.  Several projects are competing for the title of California’s first freeway cap.  Los Angeles’s Park 101 would cover a section of the 101 Freeway on the north side of downtown, where the freeway separates Chinatown, Olvera Street, and Union Statin from the Civic Center and the rest of downtown. A few miles north, the Hollywood Central Park would cover a 38-acre diagonal slash of the 101 through a medium-density commercial and residential part of Hollywood. The City of Glendale has similar plans for the 134 Freeway on the north side of its downtown, branded Space 134.  The 101 Freeway would disappear under a proposed cap park in downtown Los Angeles.  “There’s all this urban design, active transportation, health benefits to it,” said Cecilia Estolano, co-CEO of Estolano LeSar Perez, a planing firm that has conducted studies on Park 101. “There are also financial benefits. You’ll be unlocking the value of these parcels that heretofore have not been useful.” More speculative projects include one in downtown Santa Monica, extending the McClure Tunnel and connecting the city’s retail district with its civic center; coastal Ventura, where Highway 101 separates the city from its beachfront; downtown Oakland; and two projects in San Diego.  Many of these projects have received support in the form of planning grants, and some are championed by nonprofit groups set up by civic leaders.  “We continue to fund them because now we see them as providing destinations, non-motorized connections, active transportation, park amenities, economic development, the whole range of benefits,” said Marco Anderson, program manger at SCAG and convener of the agency's ad hoc Freeway Cap Coalition.  While caps could support all manner of buildings, most of these projects propose that parks and other types of public space would occupy the reclaimed real estate.  “We’re a built-out city as many are,” said Glendale City Manager Scott Ochoa. “How do you create new property for open space?” “With property values rising...imagine trying to build this type of park by acquiring land in downtown,” said Estolano. “We have dedicated so much land to the automobile. We are finally seeing a generational shift in our thinking. We want to reclaim this space for people.” That’s the case in Glendale and both Los Angeles projects. Ventura, though, takes a more pragmatic approach. Ventura Community Development Director Jeff Lambert said that the city doesn’t necessarily need more park space, at least not in that location, since it’s a few blocks from the beach. And the cap could enable the city to demolish an obsolete beachside parking structure and thereby create more recreational space. Lambert said that the cap could provide for a whole host of projects, including a parking lot, a conference center, and, ideally, a new train station created from the existing Union Pacific trestle. “We are in some ways creating new land….. if we can move that structure on to the freeway, we create a whole beachfront property for development,” said Lambert. “We have a beach, so we don’t necessarily need the open space. We need something more commercially oriented." In many ways, boosters see freeway caps as true win-win situations, enhancing the public realm without distributing the essential transportation function of the freeways they cover. But several impediments lie in their way.  For the most part, engineering is the least of cities’ worries. Arguably less complex than the freeways they cover, caps present relatively straightforward engineering challenges. As massive as they are, they are essentially very wide bridges. They do not need supports because the trench walls already exist.  “The technical component is not challenging at all,” said Estolano. “This is not an engineering masterpiece, as I understand it.” Freeway caps are, therefore, not necessarily as expensive as other meaty pieces of infrastructure might be. The 22-acre Park 101 is estimated to cost roughly $390 million, while Glendale officials estimate about half that for its 5.2-acre proposal . By far the largest proposed freeway cap, Hollywood Central Park is estimated to cost $1 billion. (By comparison, developable land in downtown Los Angeles has sold recently for well over $20 million per acre.) “It’s not a small sum of money, but building it and getting the money to build it are not one of my bigger concerns,” said Glendale Community Development Director Phil Lanzafame. He noted that the immediate neighborhood has recently seen over $1 billion in investment for two retail centers alone.  In return for these investments, Estolano noted that the development of Park 101 would enable the city to develop several parcels that are currently moribund because of their proximity to the freeway, thus defraying the cost. It would also free up real estate by eliminating several little-used on- and off-ramps. And the plan calls for improvements throughout the surrounding area. She also suggested that freeway caps present ideal opportunities for cities (or other lead agencies) to use Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts, a relatively new funding tool based on tax-increment financing. (See prior CP&DR coverage here and here .) “EIFD’s are really going to be pivotal,” said Estolano. “To make these projects work in this day and age, without redevelopment, we’re really going to have to figure out value capture.” Even with these funding opportunities, freeway caps are not going to build themselves, in part because they are not considered amnesties and not essential infrastructure.  "While the public sector is going to play the kind of key facilitating role...what’s really going to move the needle is a private sector foundation and champion….and to raise a lot of the seed money,” said Anderson. Even with funding, none of these caps will see the light of day without approval from the California Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over the freeways in question. When many of these projects were first conceived, Caltrans’ cooperation seemed unlikely. Caltrans officials hesitated to support freeway caps because they would essentially prevent widening of the freeway segments that they covered. There was also debate about ownership of air rights.  “It’s not something that’s conceived of in the Caltrans manual,” said Estolano. Recently, though, the agency has taken on a supportive tone. Anderson said that new leadership at Caltrans and the adoption of Smart Mobility Framework has encouraged the agency to embrace sustainability more so than in the past. It even sponsored a study of a cap over a small portion of State Route 94 in San Diego.  “It goes hand in hand in the last five years with the realization in LA County….those segments of freeway aren’t going to be widened anyway,” said Anderson. “Now there’s an understanding that Caltrans and SCAG and Metro are in a position to say, we know this segment is not going to be widened so we are comfortable going ahead.”  That’s not to say that Caltrans will rubber-stamp any of these projects.  “Our biggest issue is convincing folks that the money question isn't the major question; it’s the collaboration among government agencies,” said Ochoa. But at least cities now see some hope.  Regardless, none of these projects will proceed without public support and political will. Lambert said, for instance, that Ventura’s project has stalled in part because of the retirement of former City Council Member Carl Morehouse, who had been its leading proponent.  But boosters claim that the time may be right for many of these projects. The continuing renaissance of downtowns, like those in Los Angeles and Glendale, plus the dearth of park space make freeway caps essential and urgent, according to backers.  “LA can’t wait,” said Estolano. “We need to create better health impacts for people. We need to address some of the environmental inequities that occurred in the last half-century.” Moreover, these mega-projects have, of late, become less fanciful and less daunting. Boston’s “Big Dig” — which included not just a cap but also an entirely new sunken highway — notoriously ran billions of dollars over budget in the early 2000s. But, in 2012, the 5-acre Klyde Warren Park opened atop a 1,200-foot stretch of the Woodall Rodgers Freeway in downtown Dallas. It cost $50 million, paid for with a combination of philanthropic, municipal, and federal funds.  “It is possible,” said Anderson. “It's not kind of a fantasy idea.” As idyllic as they sound, some critics see a dark side to freeway caps — and they’re not just referring to light-deprived tunnels.  Chris Sensenig, an urban designer with Van Meter Williams Pollack in the Bay Area, founded a group called Connect Oakland. It advocates not just for capping Oakland's 980 Freeway but rather for its removal entirely. Sensenig’s position is grounded in a fundamental opposition to urban freeways.  "Freeways were created to connect cities. They were never meant to go through cities. The way they were implemented in cities were, quite frankly, systematic racism.” Sensenig said that the 980 in particular never should have been built in the first place, that it’s under-used. At the same time, it commits all the other sins that urban freeways are accused of. Sensenig envisions removing the freeway, reconfiguring the surrounding streets, and reclaiming land for development. Most ambitiously, Sensenig sees it as a possible BART station served by a proposed second Transbay Tube.  The prospect of removing the freeway and turning it into a multi-lane boulevard with opportunities for development is included, in rough form, in Oakland’s recently adopted downtown plan. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) And Sensenig rejects the win-win notion of a traditional freeway cap, which, he said, simply perpetuates cities' reliance on automobiles and automobiles’ offenses against cities. He believes that caps accommodate — literally covering up — something that cities should be demolishing with enthusiasm.  “Fundamentally, caps are foolish endeavors. It doubles-down on the freeway,” said Sensenig. “You’re putting that much more investment in the freeway being there. It’s going to be there forever, once that second round of investment is made.”  Despite objections such as these, support for freeway caps statewide may be reaching critical mass. And once one project gets approved, others may follow as the novelty wears off and regulations catch up with cities’ ambitions.  “If Hollywood cracks the nut, we will follow along,” said Estolano. “I would hate to think that each project will have to through all the same battles on their own.” “It would be very interesting to see a piece of legislation that would map out a process that others could use,” said Estolano. Selected Freeway Cap Proposals  East Lost Angeles (pdf.) Glendale Space134 Hollywood Central Park Friends of Park 101 (Downtown Los Angeles) Connect Oakland (Interstate 980) San Diego State Route 94 Contacts & Resources  Marco Anderson , Program Manager, Southern California Association of Governments, anderson@scag.ca.gov Cecilia Estolano , Co-CEO, Estolano LaSar Perez, cecilia@elpadvisors.com Jeff Lambert , Community Development Director, City of Ventura, jlambert@cityofventura.ca.gov Phil Lanzafame , Community Development Director, City of Glendale, PLanzafame@glendaleca.gov Scott Ochoa , City Manager, City of Glendale, sochoa@glendaleca.gov Chris Sensenig , Founder, Connect Oakland, info@connectoakland.org Images courtesy of Friends of Park 101 and Space 134.

It’s tempting to say that the big SANDAG sustainable communities strategy lawsuit ended with a whimper and not a bang. After all, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the San Diego Association of Governments’ approach to dealing with possible 2050 emissions reduction targets in the environmental impact report for the 2011 SCS. At the same time, environmentalists were arguing off the record that this was the best loss they could have imagined, because it didn’t say that SANDAG’s approach was adequate for future analysis.