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CP&DR Vol. 37 No. 5 May 2022

After 48 years of wrangling, Marin County is negotiating with a property owner over possible purchase of a spectacular 110-acre parcel of land in Tiburon. The negotiation comes after an appellate court upheld Tiburon’s recent reluctant approval for a 43-unit subdivision. The appellate court’s ruling was written by veteran Justice James Richman, who concluded his 110-page analysis of the California Environmental Quality Act by saying, “Something is very wrong with this picture.” “The dispute is almost as old as CEQA itself,” Richman wrote as part of an extensive tirade against CEQA. “CEQA was meant to serve noble purposes, but it can be manipulated to be a formidable tool of obstruction, particularly against proposed projects that will increase housing density.” Unless local open space advocates appeal the ruling to the California Supreme Court, Richman’s ruling would appear to be the end of the line for the property on the southern tip of the Tiburon Peninsula, which the advocates have dubbed “Easton’s Point”. The Martha Company put the property on the market in 2018 for over $100 million but has since dropped its price to around $60 million. Martha and the Trust for Public Land are now engaged in a joint appraisal of the property. If the case does go to the Supreme Court, Richman is essentially daring the justices to draw a bright line on CEQA delays. The court case revolved around the question of whether Tiburon’s CEQA analysis was boxed in by two federal court stipulated judgments, one dating back to 1976.

Coastal Commission Officially Kills Huntington Beach Desalination Plant The Coastal Commission officially voted against Poseidon Water's desalination plant proposal in Huntington Beach, handing a victory to several environmental activist groups and many Huntington Beach residents after a decades-long dispute. Though the plan was intended as a solution to magnifying drought, the commission staff's recommendation against the plant which spurred the department's permit rejection will likely put an end to the $1.4 billion project. The commission voted in opposition to Gov. Gavin Newsom's push for desalination plants and argued that the project would have generated high costs and proved risky atop an earthquake fault and with sea-level rise. Those in support of the commission's vote noted that the project would have further commodified water infrastructure instead of pushing for effective regulation and conservation. Number of Homes Threatened by Wildfire to Grow Sixfold by 2052 The number of properties at risk of wildfire devastation is expected to multiply by six 30 years from now, according to new data from First Street Foundation that considers just the impact of global warming on increased risk. The data suggests that the 100,000 properties currently at a 1% or greater annual chance of impact would grow to 600,000 by 2052, assuming development remains constant. In California, over 4.6 million properties currently have a .03% or greater chance of facing wildfire burden, a figure that would rise by 7.6% three decades from now to 5.5 million. Risk is expected to increase particularly in Sonoma (41.6%), Napa, Marin, Yolo, and Santa Barbara, and California will likely be home to the largest number of properties facing a 1% or greater annual risk. Tribes Seek Historic Designation for 186 Square Miles in Owens Valley Five Indigenous tribes who have long lived on Owens Valley land have nominated 186 square miles of the dried up lakebed for recognition in the California Register of Historical Resources and the National Register of Historic Places. Noting the region's history of plentiful resources for the Indigenous population prior to the devastating impacts of colonialism and Los Angeles's secretive land acquisition operation to construct an aqueduct in the 1900s, tribal members intend for the nomination to reflect both "beauty and suffering." If approved, the Patsiata Historic District would become the largest in-state National Register site, spanning 119,303 acres. The National Register identification would not require preservation but would necessitate attention to land use impacts on tribal and cultural resources. Redevelopment of Concord Naval Base Threatened Again Untenable infrastructure costs may shut down a plan to bring 13,000 homes to the Bay Area, the largest proposed housing development in the region. Developer Concord First Partners, which intends to reimagine the Concord Naval Weapons Station into a housing community, noted that, in addition to rising costs, land use requirements and community commitments are making the project unfeasible for completion without extensions and other guarantees. The team has requested a 90-day extension of the negotiating agreement, an extra year for project approval, and reimbursements from the city if its project does not come to fruition. Concord First Partners also asks that the agreement over the cost of the land and time of transfer move to the beginning of the approval process. The potential complication is yet another setback after many years and several efforts to redevelop the site. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Quick Hits & Updates  Attorney General Rob Bonta is asking a court to put a hold on the sale of Angel Stadium to the company of Angels owner Arte Moreno after an FBI affidavit has put Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu under investigation for corruption, which may make the uncompleted $320 million sale illegal. The investigation proposes that Sidhu intended to solicit campaign contributions in exchange for completing the sale. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla and Representative Tony Cárdenas have announced their support for the Department of Transportation's allocation of $1 billion in federal funds to the $3.635 billion East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor light rail line project as part of the Federal Transit Administration's Expedited Project Delivery. The 6.7-mile line will connect Pacoima to Van Nuys with 11 stops and two connections along the way. The state Department of General Services and the Department of Housing and Community Development have awarded two blocks in Downtown San Diego to Michaels Organization, which will construct affordable and market-rate housing and office and retail space. The move is a part of Gov. Gavin Newsom's Excess Land for Affordable Housing Executive Order. California will acquire 2,100 acres known as Dos Rios Ranch in Stanislaus County, near the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers, to establish a new state park intended to reduce flood and rehabilitate the area. The last time the state established a new park was in 2009. After a plan to develop Richmond's Point Molate fell through, the Guidiville Rancheria of California tribe will now purchase the 270-acre site for $400. While the tribe's plan is unknown, it originally intended to construct a mega casino. The City of Ojai, the County of Ventura, and the clothing brand Patagonia are included in a group of several organizations who are pushing back against the U.S. Forest Service's plan to thin the Los Padres National Forest's Pine Mountain. The federal agency argues that its proposal would reduce firefighting risks, while plaintiffs are concerned about the project's damage to the region's culture and ecosystem. Los Angeles' Exposition Park Master Plan has achieved the gold award for Urban Design Concept. Designed by Torti Gallas + Partners, the proposal is championed for its open communication with community members, its desire to improve pedestrian mobility, and its dedication to the site as significant for culture and climate resiliency. The UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies released a new report that recommends a strategy for implementing congestion pricing while alleviating impacts on low-income residents: using revenue from the rolls to financially assist low-income residents. The goal of the policy is to decrease auto dependency and reduce emissions while reducing inequity.

As goes California, so goes the nation.

Ever since the first SB 35 project was proposed in Burbank last fall, many city residents – and their elected officials – have indicated that the developer would have a fight on its hands. At a special meeting in mid-April, the city council decided it’s not an SB 35 project after all. The developer has filed a lawsuit challenging the decision. After early skirmishes in the Bay Area, Burbank would appear to be ground-zero now for the fight over how to implement SB 35. So what’s going on? The proposed project would build almost 100 townhomes on the site of the Pickwick bowling alley on Riverside Drive near the Los Angeles Equestrian Center along Highway 134. Nearby residents have opposed the project, saying it’s not consistent with the plans that the city has adopted for the area over the years. There’s nothing surprising about this; the so-called Rancho area near Pickwick has relatively large lots and there’s a large equestrian contingent in the area. (Rancho residents are allowed to keep horses.) But there’s a dispute over whether residential development is allowed in the location – and, it would appear, an inconsistency between the general plan and the zoning ordinance. The Burbank situation is a good example of what can happen if cities do not maintain strict consistency between those two documents – especially in the context of aggressive state housing production laws like SB 35. SB 35 permits ministerial approval of housing projects in some circumstances, assuming they meet affordable housing and labor requirements, in cities that are not meeting their regional housing targets. (See a collection of previous CP&DR SB 35 coverage here .) We’ve seen SB 35 fights in many cities, but most of the time the staff has made the determination as to whether SB 35 applies – a logical approach given that ministerial, by definition, means that city councils and planning commissions don’t get to review the project. But not in Burbank, where the city council has adopted an ordinance giving itself the power to determine whether a project meets SB 35 criteria. The run-up to April’s meeting was pretty contentious. As early as last August, Emily Gabel-Luddy – a Rancho resident, longtime and highly respected Los Angeles city planner, and former councilmember and mayor in Burbank – asserted that “the Pickwick site is not eligible for an SB 35 ministerial approval process.There’s no residential permitted on the Pickwick property, not in the Plan or in the .” Then, in October, at the behest of Burbank’s elected officials, State Sen. Anthony Portantino wrote a letter stating that the Burbank staff had erroneously interpreted the situation. “It is my understanding that Pickwick requires a General Plan amendment in order for the ministerial approval provision of SB 35 to be relevant and applicable,” he wrote. Portantino voted against SB 35 in 2017, saying it would have a negative impact on communities such as Burbank. After that, at its organizational meeting in January, the Burbank City Council took the unusual step of adopting an ordinance declaring itself, not the staff , as the final decisionmaker on whether a project conforms with SB 35. Throughout all this controversy, the Burbank community development staff continued to take the position that, under the general plan, residential development is permitted on the Pickwick site and elsewhere and therefore the project qualified for SB 35 treatment.

A Los Angeles judge has ruled the SB 10 is constitutional even though it gives local elected officials the power to overrule a local ballot initiative in some cases.

Fresno Mayor Unveils Housing Plan Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer has introduced his One Fresno Housing Strategy intended to improve housing affordability in response to the county's increasingly hot, and unaffordable, housing market. The proposal spans 150 pages and features 47 priority policies across four categories: "preserving housing, producing housing, preventing displacement, and promoting equity." Policies include affordable housing incentives, inclusionary zoning, eviction protections, and fewer restrictions for market-rate housing construction. The three-year plan will cost an estimated $260 million, and the mayor's office hopes that 6,926 new affordable and 4,110 market-rate homes will become available. This target would not meet the state's RHNA number. The city council will welcome public commentary on which policies to prioritize and implementation strategies. State Analyzes Location of New Housing; Inland Built Faster than Coastal Out of the 112,886 single-family, multi-family, and mobile homes constructed throughout California in 2021, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco added the most new housing, in absolute numbers, according to a new report from the Department of Finance. Though these big cities built the most housing, inland communities and regions recovering from wildfire damage saw the largest year-over-year increases in housing, trends that reflect patterns of population migration inland. The research indicates that roughly 46% of the new units were single-family homes, while 52% were multifamily. However, the new units represent only a 0.7% increase, suggesting that cities are far from building enough new units to meet the statewide housing need. Among cities with populations over 30,000, Santa Cruz had the most dramatic increase by percentage, at 11.3%. High Speed Rail Authorizes Valley-Bay Segment; L.A. Station Upgrades The California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors approved two new projects: one that would modernize Union Station and one that would construct a bullet train from Central Valley to the Bay Area. The first $420 million project includes a management and funding agreement with L.A. Metro through the Link Union Station project. Meanwhile, the 90-mile bullet train route is moving forward after the Authority environmentally cleared a segment between Merced and San Jose. While construction has been in process in the Central Valley for several years, the Authority's vote marks the first approval of a route to the coast. Officials hope the system will confront a jobs-housing imbalance by linking Fresno to San Jose in a roughly one-hour ride, though the estimated opening date has been delayed until 2031. Portola Valley Residents Threaten Legal Action over Potential Upzoning A group of homeowners in the wealthy Silicon Valley suburb of Portola Valley have threatened to sue the city over proposed zoning changes that are designed to help the city accommodate its Regional Housing Needs Allocation. The homeowners, through attorney (and former San Jose Mayor) Chuck Reed have filed a request under the Public Records Act for all documents related to the city's proposed zoning changes. At issue are residential properties slated for upzoning that, according to owners, have little or no chance of being redeveloped and, therefore, cannot reasonably help the city fulfill its RHNA requirements. Residents have threatened to sue the city and to report it to the Department of Housing and Community Development to urge the department to find the city's housing element out of compliance. CP&DR Legal Coverage: AIDS Healthcare Loses Again The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has lost yet another appellate case challenging a mostly market-rate development project in Los Angeles – this time unsuccessfully arguing that affordable housing requirements in the long-extinct Hollywood Redevelopment Plan should still be in place. This time, AHF argued that the city should have imposed a 15% affordable housing requirement on a 200-unit project at Sunset and Cahuenga, three blocks from AHF’s office, because the 15% requirement was contained in the Hollywood redevelopment plan. (The project was approved with 5% of the units set aside for very low-income residents, meaning residents with between 30% and 50% of the area’s median income.) But the Hollywood plan disappeared in 2012 when the state eliminated redevelopment, and the appellate court rejected a variety of AHF arguments that the 15% requirement should have been imposed. Quick Hits & Updates Millbrae City Council is planning to approve several restrictions, including size limits and affordability requirements, for projects built under SB 9. The city intends to require that new construction does not differ too much from existing architecture and that a certain number of units houses low-income residents. Pasadena City Council and Caltrans have approved a relinquishment agreement over a property intended for use in the unconstructed 710 Freeway Extension project. Before the city, which already displaced hundreds of residents to form a freeway connection, decides its next plan for the parcel, the state Transportation Commission must approve the agreement. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a plan to establish a new office or department that would manage the county's approach to homelessness. The new branch would supervise other agencies and act in close contact with the Board of Supervisors. Following Attorney General Rob Bonta's letter to Fresno County that warns against industrial development plans, neighbors of the proposed 3,000-acre project are expressing their concerns about the project's impacts. While residents want more housing, high-paying jobs, grocery stores, and health care, the new plan threatens to bring more warehouses and pollution. While most adults believe homelessness is a big problem in their local community, views on the issue have shifted since the start of the pandemic, according to a survey from the Public Policy Institute of California. The data suggests that the largest change occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the percentage of those who are very concerned about homelessness declined by 24 points, down to 39%. The San Diego City Council has introduced a new method for increasing ADU construction designated for very low-income tenants: an incentive that shortens the time period that homeowners must keep their second ADU as affordable. The city council suggests that shortening the period from 15 to 10 years will allow for more flexibility for developers, who will then build more affordable housing. Pasadena housing and rent control advocates have obtained over 15,000 signatures that will put rent control and a pro-tenant, "just cause" charter amendment on the November ballot. The 15,352 signatures must still be approved by city officials. The Contra Costa County Superior Court sided with Save Mount Diablo and rejected the City of Pittsburgh's and Seeno/Discovery Builders' 1,650-unit development in Faria/Southwest Hills. The court maintains that the environmental impact report violated the law regarding air quality, traffic, and water supply. A new survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies suggests that nearly two-thirds of Los Angeles voters are extremely concerned about rising temperatures, wildfires, and air pollution and their health impacts. The majority of voters expressed a need for concrete action on global warming and fossil fuel pollution, especially relating to transit use and reducing auto-dependency.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has lost yet another appellate case challenging a mostly market-rate development project in Los Angeles – this time unsuccessfully arguing that affordable housing requirements in the long-extinct Hollywood Redevelopment Plan should still be in place.

Budget Surplus May Boost Funding for Climate, Infrastructure, Affordable Housing, Homelessness Programs State Senate leaders have proposed several plans for spending California's budget surplus , which has blown past the projected $29 billion figure to $68 billion. Several officials are primarily seeking to return $8 billion in tax rebates to help residents face rising costs and small businesses repay federal unemployment debt. Proposals related to housing include $3 billion for each of the next three years on houselessness programs and extending Project Homekey and $2.7 billion for affordable housing projects. For students, officials propose $5 billion toward housing and facilities maintenance. Meanwhile, $20 billion would go toward previously proposed infrastructure projects and $18 billion for climate resilience programs, including a new and balanced water system and wildfire prevention programs. California Population Declined Slightly in 2021; Losses on Coast, Gains Inland While California's declining population trends seem to be slowing, continued outward migration trends reflect the persistent impacts of the pandemic and the housing crisis. Population numbers between April and December of 2020 demonstrated a decline rate of 0.59%, while the rate between Jan. 1, 2021 and Jan. 1, 2022 totaled 0.3%, with 117,552 residents leaving California. Experts suggest that, as the pandemic slows, so do COVID-19 related deaths and federal delays in approving migration to California from out of the country. However, population loss along the urban coast remains severe, especially in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange, California's three most populous counties. Meanwhile, the Central Valley and Inland Empire, where affordable housing and remote work opportunities remain attractive, continue to see strong growth. Upscale S.F. Neighborhood Seeks Historic Designation to Thwart SB 9 A state commission unanimously approved a recommendation to designate San Francisco's St. Francis Wood, a famously wealthy neighborhood, as "historic," which would allow the community to avoid SB 9. To fully circumvent the construction of denser development, the neighborhood would still have to receive the approval of Keeper of National Register of Historic Places Joy Beasley within 45 days, before which Beasley will accept public commentary. Many residents have suggested that St. Francis Wood is intentionally attempting to restrict housing to single-family development, while the St. Francis Homes Association claims that it has been hoping to achieve this status for years to honor its unique architecture and landscaping. Many have also brought attention to the neighborhood's history of exclusion, marked by the blatant banning of people of color from owning property when it was established in 1912. Study Catalogs Prevalence of Single-Family Zoning in L.A. Area A study from UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute that considers single-family zoning in the greater Los Angeles area found that 78% of neighborhoods are zoned for single-family homes and therefore do not allow apartment buildings. Additionally, six of the 191 cities studied feature purely single-family zoning. Areas with these restrictions are also frequently whiter and wealthier, which suggests that this policy contributes to racial segregation and inequitable access to significant educational and financial resources for low-income communities and communities of color. The report builds on a previous UC Berkeley study that found that, in 2020, 85% of San Francisco Bay Area neighborhoods were zoned for single-family housing, demonstrating a statewide trend amidst a major housing crisis. California Cities among Most Polluted in United States California metro areas composed 11 of the top 25 spots on the American Lung Association's annual State of the Air Report, with Los Angeles-Long Beach taking the number one spot for ozone pollution. Meanwhile, several Bay Area metros, notably Bakersfield and Fresno-Madera-Hanford, topped the list of the areas with the most year-round particle pollution. People of color were 3.6 times more likely than white people to live in a county with failing pollution grades. The report also found that nine million more people were exposed to increases in deadly particle pollution and that 40% of U.S. residents, or over 137 million people, live in environments with unhealthy levels of particle pollution or smog. CP&DR Coverage: Emeryville Embraces High-Density Housing The second-smallest city in the Bay Area, Emeryville currently has a current population of 13,000--and it wants to get larger. In the RHNA process, the Association of Bay Area Governments has assigned the city an increase of about 1,800 units. If built, those units will not alleviate the area’s housing shortages on their own. But for many leaders in Emeryville, the greater densities that the RHNA goal will require, and the amenities that will accompany them, are goals in and of themselves. The city is also deliberately pursuing a “Prohousing Designation” from the Department of Housing and Community Development, which will unlock financial assistance from the state. Quick Hits & Updates The state Department of Finance owes the City of Huntington Beach at least $5.2 million in redevelopment loan reimbursements, as determined by a California Superior Court judge. The city sued in 2018, hoping for a $75 million reimbursement for multiple loans intended to spur Surf City Development starting in the 1980s. The City of Vernon, which had 222 residents according to the 2020 Census and has been plagued by accusations of corruption throughout its history, is attempting to increase housing availability with its Westside Specific Plan, which has begun its environmental review period. The plan, in line with the 2021-2029 Housing Element, would bring mixed-use and multifamily complexes in place of more industrial development. (See related CP&DR coverage .) San Francisco Supervisors have voted , 7-4, to permanently keep the east end of JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park car-free following months of public debate. About 1.5 miles will be dedicated strictly to the walkers, runners, and bicyclists, who began to make use of the street in larger numbers toward the beginning of the pandemic. Senator Anthony Portantino has is sponsoring SB 932, a bill that would prioritize bicyclist and pedestrian safety by requiring cities and counties to include a map of areas where high rates of injury occur in their general plans, which would then force them to implement policies that protect bicyclists and pedestrians. The Southern steelhead trout has received temporary protection status under the Endangered Species Act, meaning future development in Ventura County must consider and reduce impacts on the species. In the next year, the Fish and Wildlife Commission will determine if the species should be listed as "endangered" or "threatened." LADOT's Sustainable Transportation Equity Project, in an effort to achieve "universal basic mobility," is offering 2,000 South L.A. residents $150 monthly to pay for public bus and train fares, shuttles, and scooter and bicycle rentals. Priority will be given to low-income residents, students, senior citizens, and people with disabilities, and the program will also aim to increase clean transit and pedestrian- and bike-friendly streets. In 2021, San Jose saw new records of permits for accessory dwelling units, totaling 804 requested permits and 464 issued. While San Jose began issuing ADU permits in 2015, numbers increased in 2019 with the city's introduction of its ADU permit program, which helps inform residents through the process, and upward trends are continuing through 2022. State officials are proposing a $2.6-billion deal with the federal government and several water suppliers that would support the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a critical water source and habitat that has been significantly depleted to meet human demands. The new memorandum of understanding suggests an eight-year plan for identifying supplies to restore the river, though environmental advocates reject the proposal, stating it was created through backroom negotiations and will not benefit the river delta. A judge will not block a San Francisco ordinance that permits some small businesses to not pay rent due to pandemic-induced shutdowns, allowing the ordinance, unanimously approved by supervisors last July, to move forward despite pushback from property owners. Amazon is shifting plans to build five new warehouses in the Bay Area due to criticism from labor unions and environmental groups that they would bring unjust jobs and pollution from vans and trucks. While unclear what the next steps will be, the company has either withdrawn, delayed, or modified its plans, in tandem with San Francisco's 18-month moratorium on Amazon delivery stations. The Strategic Growth Council is accepting applications for community-led infrastructure projects interested in receiving a portion of the $106.2 million in funding available as part of Round 4 of the Transformative Climate Communities Program. These developments should center environmental, health, and economic benefits for underserved communities. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla announced that the Federal Transit Administration will provide over $1.9 billion to California over the next year to fund transit projects, including buses, trains, and ferries, that will increase accessibility and reduce pollution. UCLA Lewis Center Housing Initiative released a report that advances the idea of the "zoning buffer" and its impacts on land values and affordable housing. Author Shane Phillips contextualizes the zoning buffer, or the gap between existing housing and maximum housing allowed by zoning, with current attempts to upzone for higher-density housing to combat historical downzoning and housing shortages that has resulted in higher land values and decreased affordability. He argues that broad upzoning, or policies permitting at least moderate density on many parcels is the only way housing will become more affordable in the long-term because it results in expansive development opportunities that minimize increases in land value, benefitting many stakeholders and maintaining affordability.

To put it mildly, Emeryville Mayor John Bauters takes to Twitter prolifically—especially for an elected official. Amid endorsements of peanut butter ice cream, backpacking, otters, and support for LBGTQ+ youth, Bauters makes his urbanist sensibilities clear. He enjoys biking, walking, public transit, and street trees. He loves affordable housing. He critiques the slow pace of housing production in San Francisco, directly across the bay. And Bauters does not like obstructionist NIMBYism one bit. He tweeted recently, “I’m tired of it all. I’m tired of being told that as a local elected I should defend ‘local control’ all the time. When used in the housing context, it’s a racist weapon. It needs to be reformed, and NIMBYs need to be neutralized. They perpetuate our housing crisis.” Bauters is simply – though loudly – reflecting his city’s own commitment to housing. San Francisco loudly espouses liberal virtues without building much housing. Cities like Berkeley and Oakland have slowly embraced the prospect of permitting more housing, and more suburban Bay Area cities have contorted their regulations to avert even the production of accessory dwelling units. But Emeryville has embraced housing on a scale that no other Bay Area city has even considered. In particular, the city hopes to not only meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation goals, but to exceed it — by as much as 50%. “It means they definitely are supportive of housing development projects, sometimes at higher densities than other cities may be interested in, and possibly even higher than what our zoning may allow,” said Emeryville Community Development Director Charles Bryant, referring to the City Council. It does help to be small. Emeryville currently has a current population of 13,000. In the RHNA process, the Association of Bay Area Governments has assigned the city an increase of about 1,800 units. If built, those units will not alleviate the area’s housing shortages on their own. But for many leaders in Emeryville, the greater densities that the RHNA goal will require, and the amenities that will accompany them, are goals in and of themselves. “I don’t know many other cities that are as happy to meet their RHNA goals as we are,” said Bauters. The city is also deliberately pursuing a “Prohousing Designation” from the Department of Housing and Community Development, which will unlock financial assistance from the state. Most of Emeryville’s new units are likely to be built on former industrial sites and in other underused spaces left over from a different era. For most of the 20 th century, Emeryville was known as a home of heavy industry, with a paint factory, a scrap metal mill, a truck factory, and extensive rail yards. It was also known for brothels and speakeasies. Many of those businesses have given way to tech and science-related firms, including major offices of Pixar Animation, Novartis, Peete’s Coffee, and Clif Bar. The city has roughly twice as many jobs as residents. In suburban areas, aggressive housing increases often entail relatively indiscriminate development of single-unit homes on greenfield sites—resulting in sprawl--a development pattern that, Bryant said, "kind of makes my skin crawl." In Emeryville’s case, sprawl is not an option—the city is bounded by the cities of Oakland to the east and south, Berkeley to the north, and the San Francisco Bay to the west—and the city’s planning process allows for anything but a free-for-all. “A pro-housing attitude doesn’t mean that people can do whatever they want,” said Bryant. Emeryville requires developers to meet certain conditions and provide some combination of public amenities and upgrades in order to gain approval, including affordable housing set-asides, impact fees, public art, park space, and active transportation infrastructure. The city requires 12-18% affordable units in all new buildings, and it has a density bonus system that allows for a bonuses up to a nearly unheard-of 100%.

Complex Deal Paves Way for Redevelopment of Angel Stadium The City of Anaheim and the Department of Housing and Community Development have reached a settlement over Anaheim's violation of the Surplus Land Act, allowing the Angel Stadium land sale to move forward to Angels owner Arte Moreno. Moreno's development company plans to transform the 150-acre parking lot parcel into a site with homes, shops, restaurants, hotels, and offices. While Moreno does not plan to construct much affordable housing on the site, he has agreed to use $96 million out of the city's $124 million in credits to build 1,000 affordable units elsewhere in Anaheim in order to comply with the Surplus Land Act. Attorney General Rob Bonta supports the agreement. Once the city council ratifies the settlement, the deal should not face any more legal challenges. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Coastal Commission Staff Recommends Against Orange County Desalination Plant Coastal Commission staff members voiced their opposition to Poseidon Water's persistent attempt to desalinate ocean water off Huntington Beach and produce tap water for Orange County. In their report, officials noted that the project risks environmental harm for vulnerable communities and is too expensive, totaling $1.4 billion. They recommended that the commission votes against the project during the May 12th public hearing. If the commission rejects the project that would produce 50 million gallons a day, Poseidon's efforts may come to an end and set a precedent for future desalination proposals. Thus far, Poseidon has spent over $100 million in research, marketing, planning, and political efforts and asked the commission in a letter to disregard the staff's recommendation. Padres Affiliate to Develop 1,800 Units Near PetCo Park San Diego officials approved the $35.1 million sale of Tailgate Park to a developer group run by the San Diego Padres. The team has a plan to transform the four-block parking lot into a $1.5 billion residential project, with 270 of the 1,800 proposed units reserved for low- and middle-income households. One council member voted against the sale, stating that the plan did not include enough affordable housing, while other members noted that the sale is an important step in creating more affordable housing and confronting homelessness. If the transaction does not close escrow before the end of 2022, officials will have to restart the process and designate 25 percent of the units as affordable. Study: California Environmental Regulations Disfavor Minority Communities A new study from the University of California San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy reveals more evidence that California's environmental regulations preferentially protect white people from exposure to air pollution, leaving communities of color more at-risk to health burdens. Researchers compared patterns of air pollution both before and during COVID-19 shutdowns and found that Black communities continued to face higher pollution from emission sources that did not shut down with the in-person economy, and Asian and Latinx communities saw an increase in air pollution when businesses returned to in-person. Additionally, low-income communities are regularly exposed to more pollution in a fully-functioning economy. Researchers suggest that the evidence signals a policy failure to confront systemic environmental racism. Study Analyzes Relationship between New Construction, Tenant Protections, Displacement A new study from a coalition of researchers analyzes the impact of new housing construction, rent stabilization, and just-cause eviction policies on displacement in the Bay Area. Key findings in the research show that market-rate housing production typically serves the most wealthy residents, and while displacement for low- and moderate-income residents is not as high as is feared when market-rate housing is built, it is consistently associated with a higher likelihood of downward mobility. Research also shows that rent stabilization and just cause eviction protections minimize displacement but also make it harder for low-income residents to move in. CP&DR Coverage: Excessive Homeownership "Tenure" in California Cities A recent report from the real estate listing site Redfin reveals a slow pace of life, at least for Los Angeles's homeowners. As of 2021, the median Angeleno homeowner has stayed put for 18.1 years. Los Angels ranks dead last among the 74 cities that Redfin analyzed. Every single one of them. Other California cities follow closely: San Jose, Oxnard, and Anaheim all have average tenures of over 16 years. San Diego and San Francisco are over 15 years. Tenures in all California cities in the report are well above the nationwide average of 13.2 years and are, respectively, 3-4 years longer than the study's 2012 benchmarks. The causes and effects are equally dispiriting, according to CP&DR's Josh Stephens.  Quick Hits & Updates Orange County's Airport Land Use Commission is pushing back against plans from Newport Beach and Irvine to increase affordable housing availability by constructing new housing adjacent to the airport, noting that future residents may be at risk to environmental pollutants and noise disruptions. The commission cannot reject the cities' plans but can file complaints that force cooperation or a city council vote. The Inglewood City Council approved a proposal to construct the 1.6-mile Inglewood Transit Connector that would connect the Crenshaw Line's Downtown Inglewood Station to SoFi stadium and the future Intuit Dome. Construction is estimated to cost $1.4 billion, though officials are hoping to attain new funding sources following a federal environmental review process in order to complete the extension before the 2028 Olympics. Instead of pursuing a regional transit center involved in the redevelopment of the U.S. Navy's Old Town NAVWAR site, San Diego leaders are chasing a two-part plan that includes a rail transit connection to the airport in the short-term and a larger transit hub in the long-term. The City of Fontana and Attorney General Rob Bonta have reached a settlement over a planned warehouse development adjacent to Jurupa Hills High School. The project will still move forward but with restrictions intended to protect at-risk communities from industrial pollution, including emissions reductions through clean energy and the establishment of a community benefit bund to increase green spaces at the high school. About 78,000 very low-income Sacramento renters cannot find an affordable home to live in, according to a recent study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Researchers also reported that thousands of low-income residents spend over 30% of their income on rent and that only 41 affordable and available homes exist for every 100 very low-income household in Sacramento. The U.S. Supreme Court chose to not consider an appeal from the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, a landlord group attempting to overturn the city's eviction moratorium. The move will ensure that eviction protections for renters burdened by the pandemic remain in place, delivering a win to tenant advocates. Most registered voters, including 70% of Democrats, continue to support a statewide high-speed rail system, according to a new study, even though construction has been a slow process since voters approved funding 14 years ago. Meanwhile, 35% of voters were opposed to carrying on with the project. The Coastal Commission rejected a federal plan to confront water pollution and other burdens of cattle ranching in the Point Reyes National Seashore. The commission noted that the plan, which would allow park staff to shoot some of the park's tule elk to minimize fighting over property, is insufficient and unclear. San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney has defeated former Supervisor David Campos in a special state Assembly election that left Haney with roughly 63% of the votes. Haney has the support of a coalition of labor unions and housing advocates. He had recently been involved in a controversy over the disapproval of a high-rise building in his district; other supervisors overruled his support for it. (See related CP&DR coverage .)

CP&DR Vol. 37 No. 4 April 2022