Articles

State prison officials are moving forward with plans to build a new death row at San Quentin, but elected officials and business interests in Marin County are urging the state to reconsider.

This month's selection of In Brief includes: Los Angeles County Supervisors approve revised Santa Clarita Valley EIR; agreement reached on environmental dispute at Northstar Ski Resort; San Joaquin County lobbyist is convicted on 17 counts over involvement with Stockton power plant proposal; Yolo County sues the City of Woodland over retail power center and auto mall; and more.

The Third District Court of Appeal has published its decision in a case involving the environmental impact report for the 6,000-acre Sunrise Douglas community plan in the City of Rancho Cordova. In a rather harsh opinion, the Third District ruled against the Environmental Council of Sacramento and Vineyard Area Citizens for Responsible Growth. The court found that the project opponents failed to state the facts fairly and did not address the evidence in the record (see CP&DR Legal Digest, March 2005).

As has become customary for at least the last five years, the state Capitol is awash in legislation concerning housing. And, as usual, much of the legislation deals with small pieces of California's housing puzzle. This year, though, the cast of characters is different, and there is serious talk about major policy changes.

The scenes we see when strolling around the periphery of River Park, a master-planned development in Oxnard, tell us a lot about the history of Ventura County.

I've just read the Places article about Santa Monica in the February CP&DR. Morris Newman wrote, "Seeking to maximize its public investment, the city wants to build one or two 12-story residential buildings along the avenue."

California, it is oft-noted, has a larger economy than all but a handful of countries in the world. And the ongoing state budget deficit suggests the government could use more tax revenue. Yet the economic development bills that lawmakers introduced this year are a motley collection.

After years of planning, negotiations and political battles, redevelopment of the former Marine Corps base in Tustin is proceeding. A developer is in the midst of building 565 single-family homes, townhouses and "paired homes," and another 4,000 housing units are on the way.

Nearly seven years ago, state Sen. Byron Sher wrote what turned out to be a prophetic commentary for the San Francisco Examiner about the pending resolution of one of the most bitter, drawn-out and violent disputes over forest management in California history. "Look beyond the hype over the deal to save the Headwaters Forest," he wrote in June 1998, "and you'll see that taxpayers may not be getting their money's worth."

Here is a list of one-liners about suburbia, inspired by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, originator of the popular "you-know-you're-a-redneck-when" jokes. You know you're in suburbia when: The only ethnic restaurants you can find are Italian and Chinese. The churches are all bunched together in a "religious-use" district. The synagogues have no Hebrew lettering on them, only English transliterations that make sense in no language whatsoever...

An overhaul of the flood control system in the Central Valley is in the works. Exactly what the new approach to flood control will be is uncertain. But what is clear is that a 2003 court decision making the state liable for more than $400 million in damages from a 1986 flood in Yuba County has dramatically raised the profile of flood control as a state policy issue.

Half a century ago, farmers cultivating the fertile plains and valleys of Ventura County sprayed their crops with the miracle pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, a potent post-war product of American chemical ingenuity.

If there was ever a city that needed to roll the dice and get lucky, it's Richmond. Facing problems of poverty, crime and budget deficits, the city really could use a new pair of shoes. The city's plight might explain why the City Council recently made a controversial deal with an Indian tribe to allow the development of a casino on prime real estate on San Francisco Bay.

It is rare for a suburban city of 50,000 people take the lead in a $440 million transportation project. The City of Placentia in northern Orange County has, though, and the effort has stirred political controversy and placed the city under financial strain.