In a victory for landlords, an appellate court has ruled that a Hollywood property owners did not have to analyze the impact on renters of an apartment conversion to a boutique hotel because the owner had already taken the building off the market under the terms of the state’s Ellis Act. The case turned on the question of the proper baseline for the environmental analysis.

San Diego County’s approval of a 24-parcel subdivision of 40-acre lots has been thrown out by an appellate court, which concluded that the county’s action violates the Williamson Act.

CP&DR Vol. 34 No. 7 July 2019

Report Calls for More Multifamily Development  California needs to build more apartments to close its housing gap, according to a new report from the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation. The report , “Is California’s housing market broken?” uses new local land use data from the Terner Center California Residential Land Use Survey. The data showed that most California cities are building very few multifamily dwellings. The report also found that, economically speaking, local housing markets are working in the opposite direction than expected: high-rent communities build fewer, rather than more, new apartments. This is because statewide, cities use zoning and community approval processes to deter development of new multifamily buildings. The data showed that cities with “anti-apartment zoning" have been successful: cities that set lower allowable densities and building heights build fewer apartments. Additionally, the report showed that the ad hoc, discretionary local permitting process makes new building longer, riskier, and more expensive. The authors suggest stronger policy to financially incentivize new building, not merely on-paper zoning revisions. “California’s governor and states legislature will need strong spines to face down recalcitrant homeowners,” the authors conclude.  Federal Tax Cuts Take Toll on Statewide Housing Development  According to an analysis by the Sacramento Bee, corporate tax cuts delayed or killed 15,000 affordable housing projects in California since their 2017 passage. The data showed that this corporate tax rate reduction – from 35 to 21 percent – had the unintended consequence of diminishing the potential benefits of the federal low-income housing tax credit. The analysis showed that companies were willing to invest about 10 to 15 percent less than they had before the 2016 election. According to Matt Schwartz, president and CEO of the California Housing Partnership, this has meant a 23 percent decrease in affordable housing production: from about 24,000 units in 2016 to less than 19,000 in 2018. It has also delayed or ended 10,000 proposed housing units in 2017 and 5,500 in 2018. This amounts to about a $1.4 billion decrease in affordable housing statewide between 2016 and 2017, and a $400 million less in 2018 than in 2016. "That has really painful effects, even if it doesn’t sound that big,” Schwartz said. “For the folks on the waiting list for this housing, it makes a huge difference. These are people in fragile conditions, living paycheck to paycheck or some of them even homeless.” San Francisco Strives for Zero Emissions by 2040 The City and County of San Francisco released its “Electric Vehicle Roadmap” with the goal of reaching zero-emissions transportation by 2040. Measures proposed include providing incentives for zero-emission vehicles, developing greater charging infrastructure, focusing on grid integration of renewable energy and EV charging capacity, raising public awareness of electric mobility; and advocating for emission-free technology in future mobility projects. The roadmap sets incremental targets to reach this goal: including requiring all commercial parking lots and garages with more than 100 spaces to build EV charging stations for at least 10 percent of the stations by 2023. The city is also including a lower rate in their proposed TNC Traffic Congestion Tax for electric vehicles, are transitioning Muni cars to electric power. “Of course we’d like to see walking, biking, and public transit prioritized,” said Mayor London Breed in the Roadmap announcement. “But if San Franciscans are going to drive, we hope they go electric.”  Groups Sue to Protect Mountain Lion Habitat  Seeking greater protections for Southern Californian mountain lions, the Center for Biological Diversity and Mountain Lion Foundation formally petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to protect the species under the California Endangered Species Act. The petition follows a March 2019 study finding that the species could face extinction in little over a decade, due to inbreeding caused from isolated territories disconnected by private properties and highways. Should mountain lions gain protected status, state and local agencies will have to take measures to manage threats – such as creating wildlife corridors under freeways. The Department of Fish and Wildlife has three months to make an initial recommendation to the Fish and Game Commission, which will then vote on the petition at a public hearing later this year. Quick Hits & Updates  After months of protests against a temporary 200-bed homeless shelter approved by the San Francisco Port Commission, a coalition of local residents filed a CEQA lawsuit to block construction of the shelter. The coalition, Safe Embarcadero for All, argued that the city didn’t gain approval from the State Lands Commission, which has oversight over waterfront development, and that it didn’t go through the full environmental review process. The $37,000 navigation center, planned to replace a parking lot near the Ferry Building, is a crucial part of Mayor London Breed’s homelessness production goals. Newport Beac h residents may not develop on public beaches, according to a ruling from the California Coastal Commission. The city attempted to amend its Local Coastal Program to allow for homeowners to pay a fee for up to 15 feet of encroachments on Peninsula Point. Many such encroachments, including landscaping and other property, have been in place for years and extend as far as 80 feet onto public beaches. However, the commission struck down even the attempted compromise, in favor of public access for all and removal of all current encroachments. As part of its plans for mega-expansion throughout the Bay Area, Google entered into a $15 billion agreement with real estate developer LendLease to transform downtown San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View. Major mixed-use projects in each of these cities will help Google realize its $1 billion commitment to build up to 20,000 homes in the Bay Area. Notably, Google has already proposed a transit-oriented community near Diridon Station in San Jose. Stockton City Hall will likely be transformed into market-rate housing and retail, after the city council voted unanimously to grant exclusive negotiating rights for the building to developer Cort Companies. The developer’s plans will preserve the facade of the 93-year-old historic building, but add 35 housing units and retail space to its interior. Plans for three adjacent buildings include an 80-unit family residence and and community center. Los Angeles’s Hollyhock House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site – the first such honor for the city. The house joins 1,121 World Heritage Sites around the world – 869 of which are awarded cultural status. It is one of eight Wright-designed buildings to share the designation, joining sites such as New York City’s Guggenheim Museum and Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. Los Angeles completed a four-year, $4.3 million restoration to the grounds and the home in 2015. Riverside County Transportation Commission is considering a ballot measure to double a half-cent sales tax increase to finance freeway widening and other big transportation projects. Officials claim that doubling the existing 1989 half-cent Measure A would generate $3 billion to $6 billion over 30 years – giving the area funds to build greater transportation improvements faster. A final decision to put the item on the 2020 ballot would come next year. The San Bernardino County Transportation Authority has broken ground on its Redlands Passenger Rail Project, which will add a nine-mile rail connection between the University of Redlands and the San Bernandino Transit Center. The project will house the Arrow commuter line, which will add low-emission passenger trains for conversion to zero-emission – the first-ever zero emission train vehicles in North America. Toll roads are likely coming the Riverside County highways during the 2020s, according the the Riverside County Transportation Commission. The commission is launching a $1.4 million engineering study to examine the feasibility of extending Corona’s 91 Freeway toll lanes to downtown Riverside, and adding toll lanes on the 60 and 215 freeways in Jurupa Valley, Riverside and Moreno Valley. Funds from toll lanes will go to transportation infrastructure projects. San Francisco Supervisors killed Mayor London Breed’s proposed charter amendment to streamline affordable and teacher housing projects. Breed’s proposal would have saved such projects millions of dollars, and between six and 18 months per project. To get the amendment on the November ballot, Breed would have needed majority supervisor support – which she failed to obtain. All 11 Kern County municipalities failed to meet their state affordable housing production goals, and four failed to submit an annual housing development progress report at all, according to a recent report from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). According to the 2017 SB 35 law, cities that fail to report their annual progress update are required to adopt a streamlined permitting system for new housing. The Highland Greenspot Village & Marketplace project will finally move forward more than a decade since its inception, after the Highland City Council certified a new environmental report allowing the city to buy the land from the county. The initial plans at the "“Golden Triangle" off of Greenspot Road envisioned a bustling center with 800 residential units and about 75 acres of mixed-use and commercial space, as well as the city’s first movie theater. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated the entire site critical habitat for the endangered San Bernardino kangaroo rat – and any development plans will need to address their protection. The Federal Transportation Administration awarded $100 million to L.A. Metro’s Purple Line subway extension to Westwood. The grant will fund construction of the third segment of the line connecting Century City with Westwood, a 2.6-mile stretch that will include two new stations. L.A. Metro has requested a total of $1.3 billion in funds from the FTA, and the total extension project is projected to cost $3.6 billion. The 51,000-acre N3 Cattle Company ranch in the East Bay is for sale for $72 million – the largest current land offering in the state. The ranch’s principle owners, who have held the land for 85 years, claim that they aren’t interested in a piecemeal sale – and hope to sell to conservationist groups. The massive property spans four counties: Alameda, San Jose, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus.

In an important ruling for infill development, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled that the City of Sacramento properly used the truncated environmental review process under SB 375 in analyzing a 15-story condo project in Midtown Sacramento, rejected a citizen group’s contention that the region’s sustainable communities strategy can’t be used as the basis for environmental review because it does not contain densities and intensities at the local level as a general plan would.

In a similar way to housing production, California is trying to make it easier to build solar power facilities while at the same time maintaining some semblance of local control over relevant land use regulations. One recent battle over local control of solar facilities pitted the City of Hesperia against the Lake Arrowhead Community Services District – a special district providing water and wastewater that sought to build a solar facility.

Any public-sector planner in California who is not yet aware of the pot of money available from Senate Bill 2 must work for a city that either has slid into the ocean, or is so wealthy that free money — in the six-figure range — does not warrant the bother of filling out a 12-page application.

State Reviews Cities’ Progress on Housing A record-high 86 percent of cities have submitted their housing development progress updates, but almost all are falling short of their goals, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. All cities are required to submit annual housing development progress updates – but just a few years ago, less than 50 percent of cities met this requirement. Following the passage of SB 35 in 2017, cities that fail to submit the update are automatically required to streamline new housing developments. Still, the numbers reported fall far behind targets: only three percent of California jurisdictions are on track to reach their targets on all income levels, and only five percent are on track to reach their low-income housing goals. In February, Governor Gavin Newsom met with noncompliant cities to help them create plans for compliance. In response, six cities have regained compliance – most recently, Fillmore gained state approval for its housing element. Legal Settlement Scuttles Housing Development in Desert Hot Springs A proposed housing development has stalled in Desert Hot Springs , after the city reached a settlement with two environmental groups and agreed to further environmental review before moving forward. The proposed Mission Creeks Trails development would have added over 2,000 homes, commercial development, and walking trails near the base of the 154,000-acre Sand to Snow National Monument. However, according to the lawsuit from the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, the plans fail to accommodate the sensitive wildlife habitats in the area for species including the burrowing owl and the Palm Springs pocket mouse. Desert Hot Springs is facing statewide pressure to meet its housing goals – it was among the noncompliant cities that Governor Gavin Newsom met with in February to discuss future affordable housing development. The city’s updated housing element will be complete in the fall. Navy Considers Transit Hub at Point Loma  The Navy expressed interest developing a “San Diego Grand Central Station,” at its Naval Base Point Loma Old Town Complex . Recently, the Department of the Navy, Commander Navy Region Southwest and the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) announced a “memorandum of understanding,” acknowledging a mutual interest in developing a transit hub at the 70-acre SPAWAR site that will provide direct transit to the airport. That means that the military branch can ask the private sector to include a transit center in its redevelopment solicitation, and allows the agencies to share data as they work through the environmental review process. This is the first major agreement reached as part of SANDAG’s massive transportation overhaul vision – which focuses on new rail lines rather than road fixes. Additionally, this would qualify for funding under the San Diego Regional Airport Authority’s recent 10-year funding pledge to raise over $350 million. “This is the beginning of what I expect to be a long partnership with the Navy,” said Steve Vaus, who chairs the SANDAG board and is the mayor of Poway. “The MOU creates the opportunity for SANDAG and the Navy to do something very special in the region, clearing a path for us to work on a major transportation hub and providing a transit link to the airport.” California Housing Costs Rise Faster than Rest of Nation The increase in housing costs in California metro areas outpace  that of other regions, according to the 2019 State of National Housing Report. The report, published by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, uses U.S. Census Bureau data to analyze trends in housing price burdens across the nation. The report finds that California leads the country in high housing cost burden: of the twenty regions nationwide with over 40 percent of households classified as “cost-burdened,” seventeen are in California. Furthermore, Los Angeles county residents have the highest proportion of “cost-burdened” households, at 46 percent. Notably, the report also finds that all ten regions where less than 25 percent of its recently sold homes are classified “affordable” to the median home buyer are in California. Finally, Bay Area regions show by far the greatest change in land prices over the 2012-2017 period. Many Bay Area cities surpass a 100 percent increase in land price – and San Benito hit the national high at a whopping 200 percent price increase. Only a handful of cities in Washington, Oregon, and Florida came close to the sharp increase in land price changes endemic to many California cities. Quick Hits & Updates The California Department of Housing and Community Development announced the release of a Notice of Funding Availability  for $178 million in funds for the Multifamily Housing Program. This funding provides loans to individuals, public agencies, or private entities. Applications are due August 20.  The Funders' Network, in partnership with the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, has announced the opening of Round 15 of the Partners for Places grant program. Partners for Places is accepting proposals for the creation of a community-focused sustainability, climate action, and sustainability. The application deadline for Round 15 is July 30. The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority entered into a 10-year agreement with airline partners to improve transportation access to the airport, including a potential trolley route. The pact includes a half-billion dollar investment to fund infrastructure projects between the city and the airport, including access roads, increased transit connections, and rapid bus and trolley lines. The Airport Authority is working with the city and transportation agencies to draft potential connections, but will not receive any additional funding from agencies. Marking the end of a historic local industry, San Fernando Valley’s last commercial orange grove is for sale – likely to be replaced by new upscale single-family housing. The property, once surrounded by similar orchards, has since become surrounded by housing. Marketing materials for the $13.9 million sale include a site plan to split 14 acres into 26 half-acre lots for development into single-family homes. The City of Los Angeles’s ban of short-term vacation rentals from services like Airbnb officially went into effect. The home-sharing ordinance, passed in December, bars any short-term rentals of properties other than someone’s permanent residence – or where a person lives at least six months out of the year. This ordinance combats a growing trend in an already-stifled housing market of non-residents transforming units and buildings into hotel-like businesses. The ordinance also bans short-term rentals in rent-controlled units, nonresidential buildings or temporary/mobile units. Home-sharing in permanent residences will be monitored and regulated with a home-sharing registration codes required for listings. San Francisco teacher housing may get the same approval streamlining as affordable projects, following a measure proposed by four supervisors. The measure, which follows a similar proposal by Mayor London Breed earlier this year, would allow 100% affordable and educator housing on more than 3,000 publicly owned sites, and would streamline their approval. The San Francisco Unified School Distrcit is seeking developers for teacher housing sites citywide. In small but significant step forward for the massive and ambitious second BART Transbay Railway project, the BART Board of Directors approved a $50 million contract for up to 10 years of consulting planning services. The consultants, HNTB Corporation of Oakland, will help BART understand how to move forward with a complex mega-project that spans 21 Bay Area cities. The project addresses the growing need for a second bay-crossing line, and will examine both underwater and aboveground rail options. BART has $110 million toward planning the crossing from its 2016 Measure RR bond, as well as $50 million from a Measure 3 funds and $1 million from the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority. Following community backlash for approving the demolition of over 100 rent-controlled apartments this year, the Mountain View City Council adopted stricter affordable housing requirements. In a unanimous decision, the council amended the city’s below-market-rate ordinance. The new measure requires for-sale townhouse projects to have15 percent of the units available to residents earning between 80 to 120 percent of the area’s median income, which is about $120,000, and 10 percent of units available to residents earning between 120 and 150 percent of the area’s median income. The council hope that this ordinance will allow more residents, particularly families, to feasibly buy homes. The Sacramento-Yolo Port Commission approved the $5 million sale of a 21-acre site for a new light industrial manufacturing development. The developer, the Trammel Crow Co, plans to build a 237,600 square foot manufacturing building as well as a 108,000 expansion building. The site, which will begin its first phase of constriction this year, is expected to create at least 300 new jobs. Two California cities claimed 2019 All American City Awards from the National Civic League. Every year, the League recognizes ten communities that created healthy communities through inclusive civic engagement. This year, Rancho Cordova was recognized for a program that promotes urban farming and nutrition, its mentorship program for at-risk youth, and its housing community for homeless veterans. West Hollywood was recognized for its advocacy for the marginalized: including an advisory board for Russian speakers, its celebration of the LGBTQ community, and the housing, healthcare, and services provided to its homeless population. The Bay Area Water Emergency Transit Agency unanimously approved a hovercraft ferry feasibility study. The above-water floating ferry service, which transit agencies considered a long shot just last year, may potentially serve towns in the Carquinez Straits, the South Bay, San Francisco, and Treasure Island. The feasibility study will examine operating costs for the service, compared to traditional ferry costs. It will also consider environmental costs, with input from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to assess the impact on the bay. Revitalization of Sunset Strip in  West Hollywood  should target more pedestrian accessibility, according to findings from a recent survey commissioned by the City of West Hollywood and Gehl Studio. The study, titled “The Sunset Experience, Piloting Change on the Sunset Strip Toward Public Life Improvement,” found that few people walk on the 1.6-mile Strip: traffic estimates show 88 pedestrians per hour, and 2,144 vehicles per hour in the area. It also found that the sidewalks don’t support people waiting for restaurants, and few people sit outside. Finally, the study showed broad public support for a parklet installation, as well as for more activities available beyond bars and restaurants.

The end result of all the wrangling between the state and local governments over housing policy in this legislative session was a trailer bill that opens the door to big fines for local governments that don’t have valid housing elements and get slapped by a judge in court over the issue. There is no new Regional Housing Needs Assessment methodology (at least so far), no withholding of transportation dollars for cities that don’t meet the standard (at least so far) – and, perhaps most significant from the local governments’ point of view, no penalty for failing to produce housing rather than plan for housing. Which raises the question yet again about whether the housing element – one of the seven required elements of a California general plan – is or can be an effective policy tool to produce more housing in the state. California legislators certainly seem to think so: A half-dozen or more bills in the last two years have either beefed up housing element requirements or included penalties for cities that don’t have housing elements that meet the approval of the Department of Housing & Community Development. But that may be simply because housing elements are the main policy tool out there in California, not necessarily the best one. Housing elements have long been recognized as a painful bureaucratic exercise and it’s always been questionable how effective they are in producing more housing. Indeed, housing policy experts often debate what the real purpose of housing elements is; some say its original purpose was fair housing – that is, to ensure that affordable housing was fairly distributed among cities and counties – rather than housing production.  Much as they dislike housing elements, local governments do seem to take comfort in the fact that the state’s policy approach is about planning rather than production, since – as the League of California Cities frequently reminds everyone – cities and counties don’t actually build housing themselves. The only empirical study on the topic – produced by political scientist Paul Lewis, then of the Public Policy Institute of California and now at Arizona State University – found virtually no correlation between a valid housing element and actual housing production.  But Lewis conducted his study almost two decades ago and the California housing crunch has gotten a lot worse since then. And both Gov. Newsom and the Legislature continue to focus on housing elements and the RHNA process as the state’s key policy tool to increase production. Among the new legislation adopted since 2017 are the following laws: *A bill that allows the Department of Housing & Community Development to review housing elements at will, rather than on a schedule, and refer housing element violations to the Attorney General’s Office (AB 72 of 2017). *A controversial bill (SB 35 from 2017) that allows developers to trump local control over development in certain circumstances when a city doesn’t have a valid housing element.  *Two bills (AB 1771 and SB 828 from 2018) that move the state in the direction of requiring cities to take account of past housing shortfalls in undertaking the RHNA process. And now comes this year’s budget trailer bill, AB 101, which adds the fines. Specifically, the bill permits the Attorney General to order a jurisdiction to bring its housing element into compliance within 12 months or face fines of up to $100,000 a month. (The fines would be deposited into the same affordable housing trust fund account that holds funds from last year’s SB 2 real estate transfer tax.) Gov. Newsom has not signed the bill yet but probably will do so soon. If you add all this up, it looks pretty powerful. RHNA methodology will be revised in a way that will almost certainly jack up the number of housing units each jurisdiction must plan for, meaning it will be much harder for cities and counties to write valid housing elements. HCD can review a housing element and find it out of compliance at any time. Developers can override local control when housing elements aren’t in compliance. And if the Attorney General files suit, then a judge can impose crippling fines on the local government. But take a closer look. With the exception of SB 35 – which allows developers to override local control under certain circumstances – the laws all rely heavily on HCD and the Attorney General’s Office to be aggressive in pursuing errant jurisdictions. And the state’s metropolitan planning organizations will continue to be highly motivated to engage in RHNA methodologies that keep the housing target as low as possible, because that’s in the political interest of their member cities and counties. Furthermore, in reality, HCD has a reputation for engaging in extremely bureaucratic housing element reviews and the Attorney General’s Office hardly ever brings a lawsuit on a housing element case.  It’s true that, right after Newsom was inaugurated, the state sued Huntington Beach over its housing element – a lawuit that got everybody’s attention. But according to leading housing element lawyer Barbara Kautz of Goldfarb & Lipman, fewer than 50 lawsuits have ever been filed over housing elements. Most of them are brought by housing advocates and poverty lawyers, not by the Attorney General, and most of them are settled over fairly narrow issues of interest to the plaintiffs.  So in the absence of major reform at HCD and a more aggressive approach at the Attorney General’s Office, it’s unclear how much impact all the housing element legislation will really have. And maybe that will stimulate a discussion of how to streamline the very complicated RHNA and housing element process so that it is simple, elegant – and achievable. Recently, UCLA planning professors Paavo Mankonnen and Michael Manville put forth a proposal to simplify the whole process, with two elements: *First, require every jurisdiction to plan for 10% more housing than it currently has. *And second, institute a state override for affordable housing projects in any jurisdiction that does not have at least 10% income-restricted units.  The UCLA proposal isn’t perfect – you could probably spend the rest of the day picking it apart. But it does highlight the fact that the current system – no matter what new laws are piled on top of it – is complicated and clearly isn’t accomplishing the goal of meeting the demand for new housing. In the absence of a muscular HCD and an aggressive Attorney General, you could do worse in thinking about where to start in reforming state housing policy.

Tribe Envisions Sports Arena for Palm Springs Palm Springs’  Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians announced plans to build a new sports and entertainment arena on tribal land downtown. This follows a recent announcement from NHL Seattle of plans to create a new AHL team for Palm Springs. Agua Caliente plans to build the 3000,000 square foot, 10,000-seat arena on 16 acres of tribal land north of the Agua Caliente Casino. Local businaess owners have supported this move, and expressed hope this will create a greater year-round tourism market. But it will likely require new infrastructure changes: including possible updates to streets, new access points, and greater police and fire support in the area. The tribe expects the arena to be game and performance ready by fall of 2021. “We are creating a healthy community gathering place for Coachella Valley families and visitors from around the world to celebrate, play, and experience diverse entertainment opportunities in a state-of-the-art arena,” Tribal Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe told the Desert Sun. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Running Afoul of CEQA The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has failed to meets its obligations as a responsible CEQA-compliant agency, according to a state audit. The state agency is responsible for issuing permits for projects affecting lake and stream habitats or endangered species. Under CEQA, the Department must thoroughly review proposed projects and inform stakeholders the public about their potential environmental impacts. However, the audit found the agency deficient in several key responsibilities. First, the audit found that the department has failed to provide consultation and commentary to lead agencies for CEQA compliance, nor has it provided its staff with policies and procedures to do so. Furthermore, it found that the department has not used all of its available funding to fulfill CEQA requirements: it has failed to track the costs of its CEQA filing activities, and has spent $5.7 million in filing fee revenue on non-CEQA activities. Finally, the audit found that the department has created unnecessary delays and costs by mailing CEQA documents rather than submitting them electronically. The audit recommends that the agency should establish a policy for a CEQA review timeline by March 2020, should immediately begin tracking CEQA costs, and should implement a timekeeping mechanism by December 2019 for all CEQA-related activities. California Cities Push for Federal Action on Homelessness Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti is leading a coalition of mayors petitioning Congress to pass a $13 billion measure to combat homelessness nationwide. The so-called Ending Homelessness Act, sponsored by Representative Maxine Waters, would direct funds to high-risk cities to provide shelter and services to homeless populations. The bill provides $5 billion over five years for 85,000 new permanent housing units; $2.5 billion over five years to housing choice vouchers; and $1 billion to the National Housing Trust Fund, which will create 25,000 new units for extremely low-income housing. Mayor Garcetti leads mayors from other California cities – including Oakland, Sacramento, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Riverside – as well as cities nationwide such as Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Honolulu. Los Angeles faces a growing homelessness crisis: it has grown by 12 percent county-wide and 16 percent city-wide to hit an all-time high in the past year. Garcetti will lead the coalition to rally for federal support, and will deliver a testimony in front of the House of Representatives. “Cities are fighting hard every day to turn the tide on this humanitarian crisis – and Washington has to match our urgency, our commitment, and the investment we’re making to confront it,” said Mayor Garcetti, according to a recent press release. Study: $22 Billion Needed for Seawalls to Combat Sea-Level Rise Defending Californian seawalls against rising sea levels would cost about $22 billion statewide, according to a recent analysis by the Center for Climate Integrity and the environmental engineering firm Resilient Analytics. The study, titled “High Tide Tax; The Price to Protect Coastal Communities from Rising Seas,” calculates the cost of seawall construction in areas threatened by inundation. According to its findings, the city of San Diego would have the largest expense, at $357 million, closely followed by Fremont ($348 million), San Francisco ($256 million), Long Beach ($246 million) and Newport Beach ($236 million). The study uses the most conservative model featured in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report, which estimates sea level will rise 11 to 24 inches by the end of the century. And, the report asserts, the cost estimate is also conservative: it represents only about 10 percent to 15 percent of the total cost of addressing chronic seawater inundation. Other preventive measures could include re-engineering infrastructure, to moving roads and rail lines inland – both of which are more costly measures. The authors of the study call California’s projected $22 billion only a “minimum down payment for short-term defense against rising seas.” Calaveras County Adopts General Plan Update  Following a 12-year planning process, the Calaveras County Planning Commission adopted the county’s General Plan update. The commission voted unanimously, following a month of public hearings, to approve the 20-year vision for community growth. The plan builds new land use and housing recommendations around state Department of Finance population growth estimates, and may change with shifting economic demands or new statewide affordable housing laws. The Calaveras Planning Coalition has expressed concerns about the update, including its elimination of community plans for Valley Springs, Arnold, Murphys and Avery/Hathaway Pines – which all had their own plans in the latest 1996 update. The commission, however, argues that many of those community-specific plans were adopted into the larger county plan. The plan will move to the Board of Supervisors for hearings later this month. Quick Hits & Updates The planned High Desert Freeway , connecting Victorville and Palmdale, is a “top national boondoggle,” according to a new study ranking the nation’s costliest highway projects. The report, titled “The Highway Boondoggles 5” released in partnership between CALPIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group, examines the adverse effects of nine new highways on the climate, community, and economy. According to the report, the planned $8 billion, 63-mile High Desert Freeway would directly undermine California’s climate goals by leading to more driving, more pollution, and greater sprawling development. The Department of Conservation is proffering $950,000 for local and regional planning grants to support the integration of natural and working lands, specifically agricultural lands, into local and regional planning documents. Grant applications are due July 31.  San Francisco Mayor London Breed appointed a task force to review the troubled SF Muni rail service and recommend improvements. The working group, formed as the city’s Metropolitan Transit Agency's chief prepares to step down, will comprise of two supervisors and the city controller. This move, which follows the mayor’s repeated warnings against the long-faltering agency, will also put a critical eye on the agency’s structure and methods. A federal court struck down a Bureau of Land Management decision clearing the way to build the controversial Cadiz water pipeline across public land. Last year, the Trump Administration reversed a previous BLM decision in order to grant the water company permission to pump groundwater from its desert property for sale in urban areas. However, environmental groups sued, and a U.S. District judge ruled that the BLM failed to legally justify its reversal. The Anaheim City Council voted against rent control for the second time this year. In April, councilmember Joe Moreno proposed a measure to temporarily cap rent increases at mobile home parks in the city, prompted in part by pleas from residents of the Rancho La Paz park. This week, council members affirmed their stance on rent control by turning down Moreno’s latest proposal for a six-month limit on rent increases at older apartment buildings in the city. The Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority is the most expensive and least efficient in the entire country, according to a recent grand jury report. The report follows a tumultuous period for the bus-and-rail authority: last week, the Amalgamated Transit Union threatened work stoppages. The report claims that the agency has grown too big and too political to make sound decisions to serve the community, and is squandering taxpayer dollars. The VTA Board has 90 days to respond to the report with proposed solutions. A proposal for a new Bay Area ferry service from Larskspur Terminal to the Warriors’ Mission Bay Chase Center stadium is gaining momentum. Transit officials proposed the ferry service in April, anticipating a potential transportation bottleneck to the soon-to-open stadium – which will seat 18,000 and offers only 950 parking spaces. The proposal now faces the board of directors for Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, which will hold a public hearing on the special service. The ferry would replicate an existing special event service to Giants games at Oracle Park.  The LA Metro certified  the Final Environmental Impact Report for its proposed "LINK US" track expansion project at Union Station. The project’s design expands the central concourse hallway and eliminates loop tracks. The overall project, planned in anticipation of potential greater Metrolink, Amtrak, and High-Speed Rail service, is estimated to cost $2.3 million. Metro has raised $950 million in funds for an elevated track structure. The remaining $2 billion in needed funds will fund the station expansions. A group of conservationists purchased a new 17-mile land tract surrounding the Pacific Crest Trail in Mount Shasta from a logging company for public access purposes. The $15 million purchase, which has been negotiated for five years, combines funds from the Trust for Public Land, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the charitable Wyss foundation. The Forest Service will now manage the land. Previously, hikers were permitted to only pass through specifically marked trails on the private land. Kaiser Permanente may be paying the Golden State Warriors up to $295 million to name the area around its new San Francisco Mission Bay arena “Thrive City,” according to records obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle. The deal would grant Kaiser naming rights for the plaza and park adjacent to the Chase Center, as well as ensure the nonprofit healthcare company the team’s official healthcare provider. The team and Kaiser would also partner on community projects. According to an analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle, Google’s plans to build 20,000 Bay Area homes – to which it has pledged $1 billion – would likely require closer to $14 billion. The $1 billion investment comes out to $50,000 per unit. However, the nonprofit San Francisco developer Bridge Housing estimates that the average cost of building a rental apartment in the Bay Area is closer to $700,000. Additionally, Google's pledge doesn’t include actually building the housing itself – the company plans to work with developers and is seeking models to reduce costs. Orange County launched a new joint powers housing authority tasked with finding funds for 2,700 new affordable units over the next six years. The nine-member Orange County Housing Finance Trust, which aims to help solve the area’s growing homelessness problem, will partner with county and state agencies to find and approve developments. The trust will seeks up to $1 billion in funds from private donors and city and county agencies; the county Board of Supervisors just granted $5 million to the agency. Still, the 2,700-unit goal will not close the area’s homelessness gap: the most recent Point in Time counts identify 6,789 homeless people in the county.

Fourth Round of AHSC Funding Doles out $402 Million The Strategic Growth Council has awarded $402 million in 25 community development projects under the Affordable Housing Sustainability Communities (AHSC) program. AHSC, which invests cap-and-trade dollars in affordable housing projects that connect residents to transportation infrastructure and services, has invested over $1 billion total over its four rounds of funding. This round's 25 projects will add over 3,000 housing units statewide, over 2,500 of which will be affordable, and almost 1,000 for extremely low-income residents. All projects will offer residents transit connections, and the AHSC will fund free or discounted transit passes for residents' first three years. The majority of the projects funded in the current round are in Southern Californian (37 percent) and the Bay Area (34 percent). The remaining regions served are the San Joaquin Valley, Sacramento, San Diego, and one project on the North Coast. All approved projects target communities with a high volume of disadvantaged communities. “At a time when the state is struggling with spiraling housing costs, these projects will provide much-needed affordable homes that are also near transit and jobs." said Kate Gordon, Chair of the Strategic Growth Council and Director of the Office of Planning and Research. "These projects truly are a win-win for the future of our state.” (See prior C&PDR coverage .)  Stanford Offers $4.7 Billion Housing, Transit Deal to Gain Approval for Expansion Responding to county-wide pushback against its planned 2.3 million square foot expansion, Stanford University committed to invest $4.7 billion in local housing, transit, and public education. In April, Santa Clara County suspended planning negotiations with the university, claiming that the plans failed to address the local affordable housing crisis. In a recent letter to the county, the University offered $3.4 billion for housing and $1.3 billion for transit and public education for new projects concurrent with its planned expansion. It’s the largest-ever such “benefits package,” and will include 575 affordable units and 1,597 market-rate units – most of which will be built before 25 percent of new academic buildings are constructed over the next twenty years. Transit funds will go to infrastructure improvements and a new transit program, while public education funds will benefit the Palo Alto Unified School District. But Joe Simitan, president of the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors, still does not approve of current plans. “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is,” he said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “It doesn’t address the underlying concerns around traffic, housing, and open space.” After reviewing the proposal, the county Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, and the final vote will come in the fall. Trump Administration Cuts California’s Share of Transportation Grants California’s share of grants from a Department of Transportation infrastructure program has more than halved under the Trump Administration, according to a recent analysis from the Sacramento Bee. In the eight years of the Obama Administration, California received a larger share of funds from the TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) and BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) programs than any other state in the nation – at an average of 8.5 percent. However, in the two fiscal years since Trump’s election, the state’s share has shrunk to an average of 3.5 percent. In the past, these awards have funded transformative infrastructure improvements for rail, roads, and bridges statewide. Grant dollars awarded in the largely Democratic states of Illinois, New York, Washington, Minnesota, and Connecticut have similarly shrunk – leading some to guess that such discretionary decisions are politically motivated. “You’ve got a staff that screens these things down to maybe the top three or four dozen,” Tony Boren, transportation planner and Executive Director of the Fresno County Council of Governments, told the Bee. “Then they take those to (Transportation Secretary Elaine) Chao, who I expect consults with the White House. It’s no surprise that more money would be going to those places that favor the president.” Study Equates New Transportation Metrics with Increased Housing Production Switching CEQA transportation impact measurements from Level of Service (LOS) to Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) will likely increase housing development statewide, according to a study from the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. The study precedes a July 1, 2020 deadline for local governments to make this metric switch for environmental review processes. The car-centric LOS metric, which favors projects that make it more convenient to drive, has historically slowed down environmental reviews – particularly for urban developments. By contrast, the VMT metric takes a more holistic view at transportation impact, measuring whether or not a project contributes to state goals like reducing greenhouse gas emissions, developing multimodal transportation, preserving open spaces, and promoting diverse land uses and infill development. By examining the historic timelines for 153 housing development approval processes in Los Angeles in the past 16 years, the researchers found that the change in metric would have significantly streamlined the environmental review process for these developments – particularly those in low-VMT urban areas. From this, researchers extrapolate that such acceleration of the approval process can bring California closer to reaching its housing production goals. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Quick Hits & Updates  U2 guitarist “The Edge” David Evans’s 14-year legal battle for five Malibu mansions came to an end after the California State Supreme Court declined to review his appeal. Following a Sierra Club lawsuit against the $100 million development, a lower court denied his bid to build the mega-complex in the Santa Monica Mountains. Should he still attempt to pursue the development, the musician will have to start at the beginning by reapplying to the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning. Los Angeles City Council members are publicly claiming that neighboring cities are pushing homeless populations into L.A. According to Councilmembers Joe Buscaino and Mike Bonin, many suburban communities are not complying with a 2018 ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that cities cannot stop people from sleeping on sidewalks if they lack shelter. This claim comes a week after L.A. officials announced a 16 percent increase in homelessness within the city. A coalition of environmental groups sued the Trump Administration for its rollbacks of key safety measures from the 2016 federal Well Control and Blowout Preventer Rule. The rule, put in place by the Obama Administration in the aftermath of the fatal 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, regulates oil drilling with strict performance standards, real-time monitoring, and third-party reviews of equipment. The Trump Administration amended the rule after public pushback from the oil and gas industry. The lawsuit claims that the U.S. Interior Department was not transparent when replacing the 2016 rule, and failed to consider the evidence and expert findings behind the 2016 law. UC Berkeley is facing two separate lawsuits for its proposed $126 million redevelopment project on the northeast corner of campus. The proposed Upper Hearst Project, which converts a parking garage into classrooms and housing, attempts to patch the university’s gap in faculty space. The lawsuit from Save Berkeley Neighborhoods claims the university violated CEQA by failing to assess the burdens of rising enrollment on the area – U.C. Berkeley has surpassed its predicted 2020 enrollment by more than 9,000 students. Also citing the over-enrollment, the city of Berkeley wants the university to pay more impact fees for its development plans. However, the city contends that it supports the development plans overall. The San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency is considering extending the upcoming Central Subway line to North Beach and the Presidio, according to a recent public interest survey submitted by the agency. The current plans for the line, scheduled to open in mid-2020, extend 1.7 miles from Fourth and Brannan to the northern end of Chinatown. However, the agency’s online survey asks residents about possible terminuses at North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Marina, Cow Hollow, and the Presidio.  In the spirit of the recently-shelved Senate Bill 50 – which called for greater density near transit – San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer proposed eliminating height limits for new housing projects near transit lines. The proposal, which aims to help solve the city’s housing crisis, lifts height limits in areas already zoned for apartments and condominiums within a half mile of a transit line, excluding coastal zones. The mayor’s proposal follows a similar proposal last winter to eliminate parking requirements for new condo and apartment complexes near mass transit. The Pleasanton City Council agreed to taller height limits and greater density as part of its new 20-year downtown specific plan draft. The council’s recommendations focus on the city’s “mixed use downtown area.” In this area, they support increasing building height limits from 40 feet to 46 feet, and increasing development density to a 300 percent floor area ratio – meaning, for example, that 30,000 square feet can be built on a 10,000 square-foot parcel of land. The recommendations will go to the Planning Commission and return to the City Council for the downtown specific plan’s final approval later this summer. In response to the Cupertino City Council’s scheduled "study session" on the controversial Vallco Mall redevelopment project, Senator Scott Weiner and the project’s developer both publicly commented that the session will attempt to sabotage an approved project. At the study session, the council will discuss a general plan amendment to exclude housing and office space uses at the site. Under the Weiner-authored SB 35 law, cities must approve housing developments such as Vallco’s as long as they include affordable homes and meet zoning and planning rules. The amendment, if passed, may not even affect the already-approved 2,4202-unit development, should a judge uphold it. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Young adults in Los Angeles County who live near medical marijuana dispensaries use marijuana more frequently than their peers and report more positive feelings about the drug, according to a recent study from Rand Corporation. Most notably, the study is the first of its kind show that dispensaries with storefront signs had the biggest impact on local young people’s attitudes. In response to research from the same project, the city of Los Angeles adopted legislation in 2018 to restrict some storefront and billboard advertising. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The L.A. Metro Board revealed its latest proposed alignment of a new 20-mile San Fernando Valley bus rapid transit line. The proposed alignment would connect regional destinations in the San Fernando Valley, as well as other transit services including local bus lines, the Orange Line, Metrolink, and the forthcoming light rail line on Van Nuys Boulevard. The project currently has $180 million from the Measure M half-cent sales tax, and is estimated to cost between $297 and $417 million, depending on the alignment. Services are estimated to begin in 2025, and carry between 27,461 and 28,652 daily riders. The Federal Transit Agency awarded BART $300 million in funds for its planned Transbay Tube project. BART officials expressed surprised at the positive outcome for its funding request, which has been awaiting federal approval since 2017. The “Transbay Tube” project, which will add a new rail line crossing the San Francisco Bay, will increase hourly ridership capacity from 27,000 people to 39,000 people. This move puts BART on track to receive the full $3.2 billion requested for a new line. The new Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve just opened its first park section 15 miles south of downtown San Jose. Made possible by a $300 million 2014 bond measure, the 1,432-acre park includes six miles of trails, a 52-car parking lot, restrooms, thousands of redwoods, and a lake. The park sits at the former site of Alma College, and will retain the old chapel and library sites. The other two sections of the park will open in two phases: the former college site will open between 2020 and 2026, and a final southeast piece after 2026. Over 56 percent of San Diegan solo driver commuters would consider other forms of transportation “under the right circumstances,” according to a recent survey from the San Diego Association of Governments . The survey, which polled 3,945 people from San Diego County and Western Riverside County, found that 84 percent of commuters drive to work by themselves. According to additional questions, “the right circumstances” point toward improved convenience: including faster and more frequent service and free parking at transit stops. The San Francisco Transbay Transit Center and rooftop park will reopen to the public on July 1, the Transbay Joint Powers Commission recently announced. The $2.2 billion center in the East Cut neighborhood closed in September 2018 only six weeks after opening after cracks were discovered in its steel beams. San Francisco and Oakland mayors London Breed and Libby Schaaf called for an independent Metropolitan Transportation Commission investigation, which has now concluded. Muni and Golden Gate Transit plans to resume limited bus service from the plaza. Developers of affordable supportive housing in 37 communities statewide received $179 million in funds from the California Department of Housing and Community Development. This is the first award from the voter-backed 2018 No Place Like Home program, and the first statewide program to directly fund developers. The funds will push projects toward construction that will help approximately 2,100 households permanently exit homelessness.

As legislators lurch forward with a hodgepodge of bills designed to ease the state’s dire housing shortage, Gov. Gavin Newsom has agreed to a controversial plan to fine cities that don’t meet their housing goals.