Los Gatos Group Pushes for Ballot Referendum to Rescind General Plan Update Despite a statewide housing crisis, a group of Los Gatos residents is launching a ballot-box challenge to the town's 2040 General Plan for planning for too many housing units. The Los Gatos Community Alliance filed a referendum against the plan that was -- by a small margin -- approved by the town council in June. The residents are also claiming that town officials should outline more incentives for constructing affordable housing and should draft a fiscal impact analysis. While Los Gatos town planners chose to concentrate new housing in high-density neighborhoods instead of bringing denser development to single-family communities, the alliance believes that more apartment complexes will negatively impact the "small town atmosphere" and aesthetics of Los Gatos. If the group gathers 2,200 signatures, the Town Council would be forced to either place the referendum on an upcoming ballot or rescind the General Plan of its own volition. State, Feds Agree to Halt Issuance of Fracking Permits California and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management have reached a settlement that will temporarily block new fracking leases on federal land. If approved in court, the federal government will not be able to lease over 2,500 square miles of Central Valley land containing oil and gas drilling spots until it conducts an analysis of the environmental dangers of fracking. The settlement comes after environmental groups and California sued a Trump administration extension of an Obama-era plan to lease land for extraction. The move prompts widespread celebration for reducing water pollution, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, land extraction, and more, though closing extractive sources without implementing more renewable and efficient energy systems may induce worries about energy cost increases and job losses. Attorney General Weighs in on Livermore Housing Dispute Attorney General Rob Bonta is providing significant backup to Livermore, whose plan for a 130-unit affordable housing development in the city's downtown area is facing backlash from Save Livermore Downtown. Livermore is hoping to dismiss or expedite the residential group's appeal filed in attempt to stop construction on the complex, which Save Livermore Downtown claims will "degrade" the city center and increase congestion. Bonta filed a court brief in support of the city, stating that Save Livermore Downtown is unfairly relying on CEQA by doing so not out of concern for environmental burdens but in order to prevent a new development that would provide housing for over one hundred low-income families. Newsom Pushes Smaller Version of Sacramento Delta Water Tunnel Plan In response to California's severe drought, Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration has introduced a scaled-down version of Gov. Jerry Brown's Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Delta tunnel plan. Newsom's plan includes one 45-mile long, 39-foot high tunnel under wetlands and marshes set to break ground by 2029 instead of the previously-proposed two tunnel approach. State officials hope that their underground plan to pump water from the Sacramento River to the State Water Project will steer clear of pumping limits put in place to protect wildlife. The plan finds support from several significant water districts, including Santa Clara and Los Angeles, who are concerned about the potential impacts of an earthquake and climate change on water flow. Opponents, composed of environmental groups and Delta residents, do not want to see the state and big agriculture extract large sums of water from the Delta. CP&DR Coverage: San Francisco Housing Process Under Scrutiny The Newsom administration has taken unprecedented step of initiating a review of the City and County of San Francisco’s housing processes – the most aggressive move so far by a state government that is increasingly pressuring cities around the state to plan for approve more housing. HCD’s review will be undertaken in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Institute for Urban and Regional Development – part of Berkeley’s College of Environment Design, which also contains the Department of City and Regional Planning. HCD's move is likely to increase tensions between the state, which is promoting increasing both affordable and market-rate housing supply, and housing advocates in San Francisco, who believe that the private market cannot solve California’s housing affordability crisis and favor only new deed-restricted units. Quick Hits & Updates  Berkeley voters will make their voice heard on a $650 million bond measure that would pay for infrastructure and affordable housing initiatives on the November ballot. The measure would also place a tax on vacant houses and apartments. A Modesto developer's lawsuit against the city whose downtown reconstruction it helped build came with a $776,000 price tag for the city to settle. The developer, Civic Partners, claims that Modesto's Redevelopment Successor Agency overcharged for a lease payment. A new study evaluates the impacts of bus rapid transit systems on nationwide property values and suggests the positive potential of BRT ridership improvement. The results included a mix of appreciation, depreciation, and no change data, with multi-family properties seeing more appreciation and single-family properties seeing depreciation. The Downtown San Francisco Partnership's newly-released Public Realm Action Plan includes six defined initiatives to make the area that is currently auto-centric more pedestrian-friendly, vibrant, and green. The plan includes investments in public art, accessibility, and nature. Watsonville's November ballot will include two measures that will face off to determine the future of the city's housing, retail, and green spaces. With approaching expiration dates on agricultural land boundaries, Measure U could extend farmland protections until 2040, while the "counter measure" would grant officials the opportunity to decide which areas should be developed and how. Long Beach officials have released the findings of a new study that explains the city's extensive history of housing discrimination. The report also includes an explanation of the exclusionary policies that intentionally prompted segregation and disparate access to resources for white residents and residents of color. A recent PPIC survey investigates Californians' opinion of the environmental crisis and illuminates drought as the primary concern for most residents, with wildfires and climate change following. Many surveyed also voiced that climate change is not a distant worry but an existing harsh reality that severely impacts quality of life and the economy. Rising housing values statewide have created a new, very large group of California residents, up to 1.2 million, who have become millionaires due to the appreciation of their homes. These millionaires, according to data from the PPIC, are typically older, white or Asian, have paid off their mortgages, and are long-time homeowners. Increased access to electric bikes and ride sharing programs may soon come to Stockton after the city's Mobility Collective introduced its plan to improve transit options for low-income residents. The program is funded by a $7.4 million state grant from the Sustainable Transportation Equity Project. What used to be San Geronimo Golf Course is in the process of becoming a nature preserve intended to propel climate and environmental health and resilience. The Trust for Public Land purchased the Marin County space and intends to transform it into the San Geronimo Commons with uncovered creeks and habitats and new hiking and biking trails.

When is a policy change substantial enough that it requires a whole new environmental impact report? Apparently when the city council abandons one policy, even if the rest of the policy regime remains in place. At least that’s the implication from a new Superior Court ruling from Tulare County. The dispute revolves around what type of environmental review was required after the Visalia City Council adopted – and then abandoned – an agricultural mitigation program as part of its general plan. When the ag mitigation program was abandoned, the city circulated an addendum to the general plan environmental impact report, arguing that neither the land uses nor the significant impacts were changed as a result. Local community activists and environmentalists sued, saying the city should have undertaken a subsequent or supplemental EIR instead. Superior Court Judge David Mathias agreed, saying that even though other agricultural mitigation measures were retained, the environmental review should have examined the impact that the elimination of the ag mitigation program would have on “changed mitigation outcomes.” “The fact that other mitigation measures would remain, and that farmland loss would remain significant, does not establish whether the loss of the AMP (ag mitigation program) requirement mitigation measure would, itself, have a significant impact on farmland loss.” Visalia adopted its 2030 general plan in 2014 . The plan called for a tiered system of growth, permitting development of land further from the center of the city only when certain triggers had been met.

The Department of Housing and Community Development is planning to focus on its review of San Francisco’s housing approval processes for now and isn’t currently planning to do similar reviews of other jurisdictions – at least not in the near future. “We’re not ruling out the possibility of doing this kind of review elsewhere,” David Zisser , head of HCD’s Housing Accountability Unit, said in an exclusive interview with CP &DR. “ But right now we’re not planning to do that, in part because it’s prudent to see how this goes. It is a first of its kind, and it will take some real resources on our end, we want to give it the time it needs.” San Francisco has come under fire for supposedly missing deadlines under the Permit Streamlining Act, and Zisser said the department has more open complaints about San Francisco than about any other city in the state. Zisser also said he expects the San Francisco review to focus only on policy issues but the department will work with the attorney general’s office if it also finds violations of state rlaw. “It is important to think the review as largely a policy audit, at the end of the analysis we will have hopefully a really good set of recommendations that are policy-oriented for the most part,” Zisser said. “That said, as we dig in we may find things that lead us to see a potential violation of state law. And where that happens, we will be consulting with the AG’s office as needed.” On August 9, HCD initiated an unprecedented review of the City and County of San Francisco’s housing processes – the most aggressive move so far by a state government that is increasingly pressuring cities around the state to plan for approve more housing. In a statement , HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez said: “We are deeply concerned about processes and political decision-making in San Francisco that delay and impede the creation of housing and want to understand why this is the case. We will be working with the city to identify and clear roadblocks to construction of all types of housing, and when we find policies and practices that violate or evade state housing law, we will pursue those violations together with the Attorney General’s Office. We expect the cooperation of San Francisco in this effort.” The legal basis for HCD's move is Government Code Section 11180  et seq.,  which specifically gives state department heads the authority to "make investigations and prosecute actions concerning ... all matters related to the business activities and subjects under the jurisdiction of the department." Zisser said the review was expected to take about nine months, once HCD puts a researcher under contract. HCD's press release said the review would be undertaken with UC Berkeley’s Institute for Urban and Regional Development – part of Berkeley’s College of Environment Design, which also contains the Department of City and Regional Planning, but Zisser did not say for sure that IURD would be the contractor.

A beach protection district created by the City of Malibu to restore Broad Beach cannot lay off all the costs of the project onto property owners. Rather, under Proposition 218, the district is required to separate out special and general benefits, an appellate court has ruled. Broad Beach is a one-mile long beach near Trancas Canyon facing the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, which includes 121 private homes and two county parks. But it is no longer broad. The shoreline has retreated 65 feet since 1974 and now consists of a narrow strip and almost no sand beach at high tide. Local property owners created a revetment to protect their houses, apparently without any governmental permits. Subsequently, they asked the City of Malibu to create a special district for beach protection – which the city did. The district divided property owners into three zones, depending on the amount of benefit received from the improvements. Vacant parcels received a discounted assessment and county parks parcels were not assessed any amount. In the process of legalizing the revetment and making other improvements, however, the district had to bear additional costs imposed by the Coastal Commission and other government agencies.

For decades, it’s been an article of faith that you can create an expansive general plan designation and then box individual zoning with more specific zoning designations – often, a zoning designation that allows a lower density than the general plan would permit. But now a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled that under SB 330 the general plan designation prevails – and single-family zoning means essentially nothing.

San Bernardino County Developer Leads Secession Drive Following a suggestion from a San Bernardino developer that the county should secede from California due an unfair allocation of resources and mandates, local voters will voice their opinion on the matter. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an initiative that places the option to request that officials study funding and the potential of secession on the ballot. While more vocal advocates of secession have floated around "Empire" as the name for the new state, some board members have clarified that they do not support secession but want to understand whether or not San Bernardino receives a fair amount of funding considering a portion of inland residents believe that coastal cities collect more than their fair share. Proposed Whole Foods Faces Lawsuit from Neighbors in San Jose A proposal to bring a new Whole Foods market to San Jose in its El Paseo de Saratoga retail center redevelopment is facing legal trouble on environmental grounds. Citizens for Inclusive Development is arguing that the city's failure to include plans for the 40,000 square-foot market in its environmental impact report misled the public by failing to consider pollution and traffic dangers. The group wrote that the city's rushed actions are not only a violation of CEQA and the State Planning and Zoning law but of local residents' need for safe, affordable housing. The new development is intended to include 165,949 square-feet of commercial space, with buildings reaching 132 feet. California Metros Among Nation's Most Unaffordable The rental and ownership housing crisis has reached the entire country, with a nationwide shortage or underproduction of 3.8 million homes and prices increasing over 30% during the past few years. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura has taken first place for the metro area with largest increase in housing shortage (-11%) over the past decade, according to nonprofit research group Up for Growth, which has identified the severity of housing shortages throughout the United States. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario took fourth place, lacking 9% -- over 138,000 units. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim came in sixth, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara took tenth, and several other California metro areas filled spots in the top 20. The largest issue, according to CEO of Up for Growth Mike Kingsella, is outdated zoning restrictions. Up fro Growth's analysis suggests that the housing shortage is extending beyond coastal cities to inland communities, pointing to extreme shortages and, accordingly, high demand, in areas such as Merced, Stockton, Vallejo, Fresno, Bakersfield, and Yuba City. In 2012, Merced had a +1.9% surplus of housing units, but in 2019, its shortage reached as low as -8.7%. Meanwhile, coastal cities, especially those in Northern California, are seeing demand cool remarkably fast, with many potential buyers priced out of their housing options. RAND Estimates Potential for Commercial-to-Residential Conversions Transforming underused commercial buildings into housing could add about 100,000 residential units to Los Angeles County's housing stock, according to a new report from RAND Corporation. Researchers found that redeveloping vacant hotels, motels, retail centers, and office buildings could account for 9% to 14% of the housing that the county must provide by 2030, as required by the RHNA. About 2,300 underused complexes are available for adaptive reuse, though the hotel layout would be most translatable to more easily complete a new housing development. Due to existing infrastructure, the process of adaptive reuse is expected to be financially feasible, depending on real estate prices and the scope of the project. (See related CP&DR coverage.) Quick Hits & Updates San Rafael approved an ordinance that will set in-compliance height, design, and parking restrictions on SB 9 projects. While the city originally planned to allow for eight residences on split lots, community input regarding traffic and density has persuaded officials to only allow for four residences. Los Angeles' largely unused General Hospital Building will be transformed into an affordable housing site after Los Angeles County Supervisors approved a plan to move forward with construction and financial brainstorming. Supervisors have given planning officials four months and $194.7 million to produce 184 market-rate and 371 affordable units. Instead of allowing voters decide, Laguna Beach officials will move forward with plans to place restrictions on new projects to prevent overdevelopment. New design guidelines would include height, mass, and bulk restrictions to preserve the city's small-town character. A lengthy environmental report on a proposed South County mine near Gilroy details the damage that would be caused to Indigenous people, air quality, and wildlife habitats if developed. The report also states that producing sand and gravel locally could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, stressing the debate over the project whose fate will soon be decided by the city council. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control has requested that the federal government include the site of Exide Technologies, notoriously polluted with lead, arsenic, and cadmium and abandoned, on the National Priorities list. If added, the site would be eligible for clean-up funding, though the battery recycler already released severe contamination to many surrounding working-class Latino neighborhoods during its operation. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will not have to draft an environmental review before making decisions about water deliveries to city-owned pastureland east of Yosemite. The agency is celebrating the state appellate court decision, citing the difficulty of delivering water and meeting environmental requirements during a severe drought. Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved funding to relocate train tracks operating along a stretch of eroding San Diego seaside cliffs as part of the state budget. Previously, local governments had been paying to build structures that support the deteriorating sections of the bluffs. Though many members remain in support of rent control, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors chose to table a charter amendment that would have rent-controlled new housing due to concerns that opponents of the measure could have been successful at preventing it from passing on the November ballot. In support of the potential of ADU's, new research from UC Berkeley's Terner Center for Housing Innovation details the various financing options for building ADUs and proposes recommendations for facilitating construction, including considering ADU rental income in underwriting, improving ADU appraisal, and updating loan eligibility requirements. California's forests are suffering from the climate crisis, with 1,763 square miles (6.7 percent) of tree coverage destroyed since 1985, mostly due to wildfires. While northern California shows more resiliency, the damage to carbon dioxide absorbance and clean air remains an extreme threat to residents local and widespread.

In the latest skirmish between the UC Berkeley and resident groups in the city, an Alameda County judge ruled that the university can move forward with a student housing project in People’s Park , the site of an infamous confrontation between student protesters and police in 1969. But two days later a state appellate court stayed the judge’s ruling until at least October. After Judge Frank Loesch made issued his written ruling August 2, UC officials immediately began clearing People’s Park, leading to a series of protests. But on August 4, Justice Teri Jackson of the First District Court of Appeal, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, issued a stay blocking “all construction and further demolition, tree-cutting, and landscape alteration activities” unless health and safety issues are involved and also denied UC permission to build a security fence. The case involves many of the same players as the recent Berkeley enrollment case – including the same plaintiffs’ lawyer, Thomas N. Lippe – and made many similar arguments, arguing that UC’s environmental documents do not consider capping or reducing enrollment as an alternative and that the university should have considered alternative sites. People’s Park is a 2.8-acre off Telegraph Avenue along Dwight Way that UC originally purchased via eminent domain in 1967. The site was originally slated for student housing and other purposes, including a sports field, but in 1969 local residents essentially appropriated the site as a park. In May 1969, a protest on campus moved to the park and protesters argued vocally to keep the park from further development. Law enforcement officials responded by seeking to disperse the crowd but at least one person was killed in the melee. Recently, People’s Park has been occupied by a large number of homeless people living there. UC’s plan for the park calls for 1,100 student housing units, more than 100 supportive living units, and the retention of 1.7 acres of the site’s 2.8 acres as a park. Earlier this year, UC officials began relocating homeless residents to nearby apartments and clearing the site.

San Francisco Upzoning Ordinance Faces Veto by Mayor Breed A controversial proposed ordinance that would do away with single-family zoning throughout San Francisco -- but impose what critics describe as onerous burdens on land owners who want to develop small mulit-unit buildings -- is effectively dead. Mayor London Breed wrote a letter to the Board of Supervisors promising that she would veto the ordinance if it passed. Breed suggested that the ordinance's approach to development of fourplexes in residential neighborhoods and six-unit homes on corner lots would undermine SB 9 by increasing restrictions that make it harder to build housing. As only six board members supported the measure, the board cannot override the veto. However, supervisors continue to disagree with the mayor's decision, urging that they worked diligently to ensure the law would encourage both density and local land use decision making. The Department of Housing and Community Development, meanwhile, voiced its support for the mayor's veto, stressing that the proposed law would have severely undermined SB 9. San Jose, Santa Clara Reach Settlement in Long-Running Feud In a settlement agreement with Santa Clara, San Jose is drafting a plan to invest $38.5 million in transit infrastructure aimed at minimizing congestion in the northern part of the city. The plan would open up opportunities to build more affordable housing near key transit areas that does not, as previously required, have to pair with commercial space. In return, Santa Clara will not sue San Jose over the construction process. San Jose has committed to ensuring that 20% of total new housing is affordable, though the first 8,000 built would be market-rate. The agreement follows two decades of legal turmoil between the cities, though Santa Clara County has not yet approved the agreement due to the unfinished construction of several San Jose projects. HCD Releases Online Tool to Promote Fair Housing The Department of Housing and Community Development released a new feature of its Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Data Viewer that will more comprehensively identify the impacts of segregation. The Racially Concentrated Areas of Affluence (RCAAs) map layer builds upon a metric established by researchers at the University of Minnesota to consider racism and segregation specific to California's geography. In an effort to confront policy that has systemically driven racially concentrated areas of poverty and affluence, the AFFH and RCAA will remain accessible to the public, including researchers, nonprofits, and elected officials, who would be able to reference data as support for affecting change. SANDAG Advances New Housing Agency A new regional affordable housing agency may come to fulfillment after the San Diego Association of Governments' board of directors voted in favor of amendments to SB 1105. The new program, titled the Regional Equitable and Environmentally Friendly Affordable Housing Agency, would center housing accessibility for residents making 120% or less of the area median income. It would raise finances through taxes and applying for state and federal funding, though that opportunity would not come until the 2024 general election. Its tax and governance structure and proposed effectiveness is facing pushback from nonprofits such as the San Diego Housing Federation and other elected officials, implying many debates to come before the program can be established. Quick Hits & Updates  The Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission's Operations Committee and Applied Wayfinding Inc. have agreed to a $6 million contract to establish a mapping and wayfinding system for Bay Area transit agencies across the region. Information would include information on pedestrian access to bus stop, shuttle, and major transit hub locations. Despite vociferous criticism from equitable housing activists, St. Francis Wood has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, which will severely restrict the construction of new housing in the neighborhood. Though the St. Francis Homes Association claims the area will be inclusive, the decision continues to face criticism for preserving racial and economic segregation. Rising housing values statewide have created a new, very large (1.2 million) group of residents who have become millionaires due to the appreciation of their homes. These millionaires, according to data from the PPIC, are typically older, white or Asian, have paid off their mortgages, and are long-time homeowners. The Costa Mesa City Council is considering a ballot measure that would slightly minimize the impact of Measure Y, which allows voters to decide the fate of large-scale development projects. Due to the minimal approval of such projects, officials are proposing a new measure to go in front of voters that would exempt proposals to meet state housing goals from voter approval. The potential for housing exemptions in commercial and industrial neighborhoods under  Measure Y, though, is not yet set in stone and may in fact be relaxed, as city officials will continue to update the ballot measure before handing its fate off to voters in November. Palmdale will join an updated Joint Powers Agency intended to facilitate the construction of a high-speed rail system between Antelope and Victor valleys that connects to Las Vegas. The city will work with Los Angeles County, Lancaster, Adelanto, and Victorville, with LA Metro potentially joining as well. Though Elon Musk ditched his plan to build an underground tunnel for high-speed transit between the Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink station and Ontario International Airport, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority intends to move forward with an updated $492 million two-tunnel plan for simultaneous travel in both directions in less than 10 minutes. Colton Joint Unified School District officials have entered a deal with an Orange County warehouse developer to swap the land that holds Zimmerman Elementary to avoid a plan that would surround the school with 2.7 million square feet of warehouses. The developer will spend $45 million to construct a new school, though community members remain concerned by the extreme level of warehouse pollution throughout Bloomington. The Glendale City Council is reviewing two plans for a streetcar line that would connect downtown Glendale to other regional services, spanning a 2.6 square-mile area. Transit officials intend for the system to eventually lead into Burbank. The Port of Long Beach's Board of Harbor Commissioners is reviewing the cost of restoring the Queen Mary after the ship's prior operator filed for bankruptcy. As the city attempts to transfer the ship to the port, officials estimate that an assessment of the Queen Mary will cost $3 million and that restoration and upgrades will total hundreds of millions.

CP&DR Vol. 37 No. 7 July 2022

Thousands of Acres Preserved in L.A., Ventura Counties As part of a significant effort by nonprofits to purchase land for environmental protection, the Trust for Public Land completed the final purchase phase of 6,000 acres of Los Angeles County ranch land known as the Hathaway/Temescal Ranch. The group transferred the property to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, which will operate the land with the goals of improving biodiversity, increasing green space access, and reducing carbon saturation. In addition, the Ventura Land Trust purchased 1,645 acres of Ventura's Mariano Rancho hillsides in an effort to restore wildlife habitats and public access in the next few years. The land trust received financial support from state legislators. SGC Program Helps Cities Develop "Resilience Centers" The Strategic Growth Council (SGC) launched its new Community Resilience Centers program as part of the state's 2021-2022 Climate Budget Package. Over the next two years, the SGC will receive $100 million to invest in upgrades to local resilience centers that provide shelter and resources for residents experiencing dangerous climate and environmental conditions, including extreme heat and air pollution. The program also includes food distribution and workforce development training year-found and will center community hubs, such as schools, libraries, health clinics, and places of worship. The SGC intends to release draft program guidelines in September 2022 for public commentary, and the first round of funding is expected to kick off as applications open early 2023. Environmental Groups File Suit to Block L.A. River Master Plan The Los Angeles River Master Plan is facing legal trouble after two environmental groups identified officials' failure to adequately review its environmental impacts. In their lawsuit, LA Waterkeeper and the Center for Biological Diversity maintained that the county violated CEQA and are requesting that officials conduct a proper environmental impact review before approving the plan. The lawsuit follows several nonprofit groups' withdrawal of support in advance of supervisor approval, with many specifically concerned about Frank Gehry's plans to build "elevated platform parks." Instead, the plaintiffs and other associated groups hope that the plan more directly concerns naturalizing the path that runs along the river. CP&DR Coverage: Budget Surplus Skimps on Housing The state hit the jackpot in 2021 with, by some measures, a surplus of over $95 billion above projections. That surplus is bigger than the entire annual budgets of all but eight states. This year's total general fund budget amounts to $235 billion, up from $196 billion last year. Based on a budget revision released in May and adopted in early July, relatively little of those funds will go toward the state's multimillion-unit housing crisis, with only a handful of line items, each in the hundreds of millions of dollars, dedicated to various housing programs. For planners, the biggest bang for the state's buck may come in the form of increased funding for the Office of Planning and Research, including $65 million to establish a new office dedicated to outreach and partnerships between OPR and localities. Quick Hits & Updates The Pomona City Council  approved a 45-day moratorium on new warehouses and trucking facilities while city officials study the burdens of industrial development on neighboring communities. The moratorium may be extended and includes exceptions for businesses expanding by a maximum of 20,000 square feet. Two donations totaling $2 million will fund the introduction of the University of California San Diego's Homelessness Hub, a program that will conduct research, center education, and inform policy and action on homelessness in San Diego. A $50 million state grant will help finance the Sacramento Valley Station renovation project, which includes a new regional bus layover and vehicle charging station, additional regional transit stops, and updated payment technology. The redevelopment of San Jose's Cambrian Park Plaza into a mixed-use village will move forward after the San Jose Planning Commission approved a plan for the old shopping center. The new development is proposed to include housing units, retail and office space, a hotel, and playfields. A ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the public opening of San Francisco's new 14-acre Presidio Tunnel Tops park. The park received funding from many San Francisco private donors, who contributed $98 million to the park. The Strategic Growth Council opened the Full Application for Round 1 of the Regional Climate Collaboratives Grant Program with a deadline of October 7, 2022. The program aims to provide more climate grants to under-resourced communities and improve local action and collaboration. The San Francisco November ballot will include a measure that would add formal oversight to the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing following a report that the department does not properly track housing stock. A proposal for a passenger rail link between the Coachella Valley and Los Angeles's Union Station will move forward after the Riverside County Transportation Commission adopted a service plan for the project. The 144-mile path would use existing tracks and necessitate up to five new stations in Riverside County. A California federal judge reversed Trump-era restrictions to the Endangered Species Act, siding with several environmental groups and restoring protections for hundreds of wildlife species facing development and climate danger. A new feasibility study that analyzes redevelopment potential for the L.A. County General Hospital building and 12 acres of surrounding land proposes several options for the 1.2 million square foot Art Deco building, including housing for very low-income residents, community service spaces such as schools and health centers, and open green space. San Francisco and San Jose have been identified as the first and ninth most livable large U.S. cities, while Berkeley is one of the most livable midsize cities, according to a new tool from AARP. The group's Public Policy Institute has a new Livability Index that identifies the most livable cities using 61 factors, from environment to housing and transit options. The Santa Ana City Council approved an ordinance that increases developer fees from $5 to $15 per square foot for projects without affordable housing. Officials also established incentives fro contractors to hire local union workers. Executive Director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Heidi Marton announced her resignation, mentioning her disagreement with LAHSA's board over her decision to increase salaries of the organization's lowest-paid employees. Fresno County is pushing back against Attorney General Rob Bonta's letter critical of the county's draft general plan that is generous toward industrial development that would harm at-risk communities. Fresno officials describe the letter as a bureaucratic charge. Measure E, San Jose's ballot measure approved by voters in 2020, has brought in over $140 million over the past two years, with totals a $65 million surplus. The real estate transfer tax was originally intended to contribute $40 million per year to affordable housing and homelessness programs, in which officials plan to invest more with the extra funds.

In the first half of the 20th century, Beach Boulevard served day trippers traveling from inland Orange County to Huntington Beach, earning it the nickname “The Road to Summer.” Even today, most drivers are likely to want to get through the boulevard as quickly as possible, bypassing an unattractive streetscape of strip malls and seedy motels. Now, Anaheim is attempting to revitalize 1.5-mile stretch of the road in hopes that it becomes a new focal area of the city. The boulevard, which is also a part of State Route 39 and serves over 60,000 vehicles daily, remained popular with travelers for decades, even as Orange County suburbs began popping up in the area. The route is a major north-south artery through western Orange County, serving some of the area’s major tourist attractions, including Knott’s Berry Farm. “As these suburbs sprang out, and the freeways came along in SoCal in the ’60s and ’70s, they had a better way to travel,” Planning and Building Director Ted White said. “Beach Boulevard. as a traveler’s highway lost its way, and it became more of a commuter highway.” The city shared control of the highway with Caltrans, and neither entity implemented a progressive vision for the road, especially in an era when cities--especially in heavily suburban Orange County--were focusing more on malls and other private spaces than they were on streets and public amenities.

In the latest court battle over a self-storage facility in Granite Bay, an appellate court has ruled that a previous appellate ruling declaring a California Environmental Quality Act case moot doesn’t prevent the neighbors from pursuing a separate lawsuit challenging the issuance of a business license for the facility.