Search Results

Los Angeles will eliminate a controversial provision that gave city councilmembers the power to block funding for homeless housing in their respective districts. Under the current city regulations, LA has required developers seeking funding for homeless or affordable housing projects to obtain a “letter of acknowledgement” from the City Councilmember who represents the area. If the local politician declined to provide the letter, a proposed project would not get funding from the city. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new law that would ban state money or tax credits from being awarded to any housing development that is restricted by such requirements. LA City Council voted 11-0 instructing the housing department to take any steps needed to eliminate the requirement for Prop HHH. Tahoe Adopts New Planning Guidelines  The Tahoe Regional Planning Agenc y Governing Board approved changes to its development rights system and updated its shoreline plan. The development rights system changes include allowing the conversion of different development rights using environmentally neutral exchange rates. The change does not affect the overall development right cap in the Tahoe Basin but does expand the income eligibility for residential bonus units to help the “missing middle” afford a home. The Shoreline Plan involved numerous stakeholders and sets development caps and regulations for new structures, including piers, buoys, and boat ramps. The new changes also create a fee system that includes mooring registration fees, an increase in boat sticker fees, and boat rental concession fees. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Judge Tentatively Upholds Use of Bond Funds for High Speed Rail Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Richard K. Sueyoshi tentatively ruled against opponents seeking to stop the flow of bond funds to the California High-Speed Rail project. A final decision could take three months. The case was brought by almond farmer John Tos, Kings County, and other groups that claim that the 2008 $9-billion high-speed rail bond was an unconstitutional modification of a voter-approved act.  The group is arguing that the Legislature violated legal precedent that the state Constitution requires voters to approve any change in the use of bond dollars. The state argued the legislation only clarified the bond measure’s language and not the project intent. Bay Area Housing Development Lags Behind Job Growth MTC and ABAG released data as part of the agencies’ Vital Signs performance-monitoring initiative that shows the Bay Area’s housing stock has increased by only 14,900 units in 2017. The majority of the units are apartments or condominiums. The units is less than 30 percent of the 52,700 new jobs estimated by the California Employment Development Department to have been added in the region last year. Other findings from the report include multi-family housing accounted for 70 percent of the 21,000 units permitted by Bay Area cities in 2016. Permits for single-family homes is largely flat since 2008, with only 5,000 permits issued in the region each year. Majority of the multifamily housing projects have been in San Francisco and San Jose. These two cities have added nearly 42,000 new units since 2010. Los Angeles Homelessless Strategy Wins $1 Million Grant from Bloomberg The City of Los Angeles was selected a winner of Bloomberg Philanthropies U.S. Mayors Challenge, a yearlong competition that challenges city leaders to uncover and test inventive ideas to confront the toughest problems faced by cities today. LA was selected as a winner for its innovative approach to combating the city’s homelessness crisis. LA offers incentives to make it easier and cheaper for single-family homeowners to build ADUs in exchange for allowing a homeless resident to rent the unit for three years. LA won a $1 million grant that could help residents build enough ADUs for hundreds of Angelenos. Group Sues to Block Up-Zoning around Los Angeles Light Rail Advocacy group Fix the City is suing the City of Los Angeles in the hopes of overturning a plan that would allow the construction of up to 6,000 new apartment and condominium units within a half-mile of five Metro Expo Line stations. The group argued the city should not have approved the Expo Line density plan, part of the city’s series of “Transit Neighborhood Plans," without first assessing and fixing West LA’s “overburdened and inadequate infrastructure.” According to the lawsuit, Los Angeles officials made a binding commitment in court filings and in blueprints that governs citywide development decisions to ensure that streets, sidewalks and public services are adequate before allowing further growth. Quick Hits & Updates According to an arbitrator, the Golden State Warriors must pay off an estimated $40 million in remaining debt to the City of Oakland and Alameda County for renovations to Oracle Arena. A demolition and redesign of the arena two decades ago cost about $150 million to be paid over a 30 year period. Since then, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority has collected an annual payment of $7.4 million to help pay off the debt. Since the warriors are leaving for San Francisco next year, attorneys for the city and county argued the team was trying to not pay the remaining debt and both sides agreed to let an arbitrator make the final call. According to court filings made public this week, US Department of Justice intends to sue Navy Contractor, Tetra Tech EC, accused of widespread fraud in the cleanup of San Francisco’s Hunters Point shipyard. This bolsters whistle-blower allegations of misconduct and deepens federal scrutiny of one of the city’s most ambitious redevelopment projects. San Francisco Planning Commission unanimously rejected a proposed ordinance that would amend the city’s Planning Code to prohibit new “employee cafeterias within office space.” The legislation will now move to the Board of Supervisors Land Use and Transportation Committee with a negative recommendation from the Planning Commission. The cafeterias have been blamed for the high retail turnover on central Market Street despite the rapid growth of neighborhood companies such as Square, Uber and Twitter. The Planning Department report said cafeteria workers earn 30 percent higher wages than restaurant workers and that the 9-to-5 corporate jobs often have more predictable hours and better benefits than those in restaurants. The San Diego City Council committed to building 1,260 transitional housing units by January 2021. Modeled after a similar program in Los Angeles last winter, San Diego’s effort calls for at least 140 units for the formerly homeless to be built in each of the city’s nine geographic council districts. Spreading the units evenly across the city aims to ensure no particular area bears an unfair share of helping solve the city’s homelessness problem. The group Save Famosa Canyon has launched a petition to stop a proposed housing project in Point Loma Canyon in San Diego County. The San Diego Housing Commission owns a roughly five-acre area that is proposed to be developed with 78 affordable housing units. Opponents say Famosa Canyon has steep canyon walls and drainage issues that would make it almost impossible to build on. L.A. Metro's Board of Directors approved contracts for environmental studies and engineering to extend the Eastside Gold Line light rail. The Eastside Gold Line has funding under Measure M: $3 billion for an initial extension programmed to break ground in 2029 and open in 2035 and $3 billion to break ground in 2053 and open in 2057. However, the project has been approved for potential acceleration in Metro’s 28 by 2028 initiative in time for the 2028 Olympics. The Great Communities Collaborative, with $10 million investment from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission,  launched the Bay Area Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Fund as a new $40 million initiative to promote equitable transit-oriented development across the region. The initiative provides financing for the development of affordable housing, community services, fresh food markets, and other neighborhood assets near transit lines throughout the nine-county Bay Area. According to the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission’ s annual top 10 congested corridor list, the evening Bay Bridge commute out of San Francisco into the East Bay topped the list for the fourth year in a row. Second worst was the commute along I-80 from Hercules to the Bay Bridge toll plaza. In the South Bay, 101 southbound in the evening from Fair Oaks Avenue to Oakland Road/13th street was third worst and I-280 southbound in the evening from Foothill Expressway to Seventh Street was eighth worst. The High-speed Rail Authority settled a lawsuit with the City of Shafter for a lawsuit the Central Valley city filed under CEQA arguing the rail authority didn't do enough to mitigate environmental or other effects on the proposed route. The rail authority did not disclose the dollar amount but will reimburse the city for up to $200,000 worth of staff time. This ends one of seven environmental lawsuits filed against the ambitious project. The San Diego Association of Governments announced that, in an effort to meet the state’s targets on greenhouse gas emissions, agency staff recommended more than $400 million in bus projects through 2025, while also enacting policies to discourage driving such as increased parking fees and highway tolls. Riverside County is planning to start construction in 2020 on the first piece of a new six-lane freeway that will run 16 miles from Perris to San Jacinto. That first piece is a $65 million interchange on the 215 Freeway at Placentia Avenue in Perris. Transportation officials say they received $7.1 million in state gas-tax money. The plan is to add an entrance and exit to 215, improve a frontage road, widen the existing Placentia Avenue bridge and widen Placentia between Harvill and Indian avenues. Los Angeles Metro broke ground on a project aimed at improving bus speeds and safety for the Orange Line busway, while also preparing the line in the San Fernando Valley for a future conversion to light rail. The project will install two aerial bridges and stations as well as bike and pedestrian path grade separations at Van Nuys and Sepulveda boulevards. The goal of the project is to achieve a 20 percent reduction in bus travel times, increase ridership capacity by 39 percent and “virtually eliminate” the potential for vehicle intrusions onto the busway while improving safety. Airbnb and the City of San Jose are teaming up to create Host Corps, a pilot program to encourage homeowners to rent their residences as free, temporary housing after natural disasters. This is the first time Airbnb is working with a city to recruit disaster hosts. The initiative is an expansion on Airbnb’s Open Homes program which was created after one Brooklyn resident offered her home for free when Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast in 2012. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a statement, “with floods and fires becoming all-more-frequent occurrences, we must utilize every tool available to ensure we’re prepared to house residents displaced during a disaster.”

A new poll from USC Dornsife/ LA Times found that just 13 percent of eligible California voters believe too little home building is a primary contributor to the state’s housing crisis. Lack of rent control topped the list with 28 percent of voters. The next highest repossess included lack of funding for affordable housing (24 percent), restrictive environmental regulations (17 percent), foreign buyers (16 percent), and the influence of the tech industry (15 percent).  The poll ranked overly restrictive zoning rules as the last out of the eight options offered with just 9 percent of those surveyed. However, academic researchers, state analysts, and California’s gubernatorial candidates all agree that the fundamental issue underlying the housing crisis is that there is not enough homes. While many residents in California are dealing with the effects of the high housing costs, the poll results show that the public hasn’t rallied around a cause. USC/LA Times poll was conducted Sept. 17 to Oct. 14 and surveyed 1,180 adult residents in the state. (See CP&DR commentary .) Sonoma County Streamlines Housing Development in Wake of Fires Sonoma County supervisors unanimously approved a number of policy changes intended to pave the way for new types of housing, encourage the construction of smaller, more affordable units and help simplify development in certain areas destroyed by last year’s wildfires. The policy revisions only apply to urban areas where sewers are available, and allow for a so-called cottage housing, or clusters of smaller units intended for those who earn too much to qualify for low-income housing but can’t afford market-rate units. The board also changed the county’s policy for how density is assigned to each housing unit in certain zones. Now, in an area where ten units are allowed, a developer could build 10 three-bedroom units, 15 one-bedroom units, or 30 micro-units. San Diego Reconsiders Short-Term Rental Policy The San Diego City Council is deciding between having to rescind its August 1 vote on new regulations for short-term rentals, or ask voters to decide on the regulations within the next two years. STR platforms Airbnb and HomeAway have succeeded in gathering enough signatures to force a public vote on the matter. Under the regulations approved by the City in August, individuals would have been able to rent out their primary residences for up to six months a year if they applied for a permit and paid an annual fee of $949. Second homes would not be allowed to be listed as vacation rentals. Of the estimated 11,000 STRs in San Diego, more than one-quarter were concentrated in the beach areas of Mission Beach and Pacific Beach. UC Berkeley Weighs in on Prop. 10 UC Berkeley’s Urban Displacement released a policy brief , “Proposition 10: Estimating the Scale of Expanded Rent Control in the Bay Area”.  The report concludes that Prop. 10 would make sense in the Bay Area as many more tenants could be protected from rent hikes. Key takeaways from the brief include around three-quarters of all renter households in the Bay Area are not protected from rent hikes and most also do not have protections against no-cause evictions. Approximately 41 percent of the households not protected are families with children. Prop. 10 could result in an expansion of rent control to cover tens of thousands more tenants in cities, especially those in single-family rentals. Quick Hits & Updates  The Port of San Diego is elevating a portion of the City of Chula Vista ’s bayfront by as much as 8 feet in preparation for a $1 billion hotel and convention center. When all the soil is moved the area will be about 14 feet above sea level. This project is one of several the Port is taking to prepare for sea level rise. Others include elevating Shelter Island boat launch by two feet and building an oyster reef along Chula Vista’s shoreline to prevent erosion. Caltrans released the Fiscal Year 2019-20 Grant Application Guides, application forms, and required templates on the Caltrans Division of Transportation Planning Grants website. The website also includes a list of grant webinars and workshop events throughout October. A total of $40 million is available for transportation planning projects including $29.5 million in Sustainable Communities Grants, $4.5 million in Strategic Partnerships Grants, and $6 million in Adaptation Planning Grants. The application deadline is Nov. 30 . Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor issued a stay on the approval of projects in unincorporated San Diego County until at least the end of the year if the projects rely on rules that allow developers to offset greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing carbon credits out of the county. This would include large proposed developments such as Newland Sierra, Lilac Hills Ranch, and Warner Ranch in inland North County. However, the Newland Sierra project still has a hearing scheduled for Sept. 26. This ruling is a response to a complaint filed by the Sierra Club and the Golden Door Spa. Sonoma County Board of Supervisors unanimously decided to scrap a controversial plan to sell an 82-acre property where a developer wanted to build 867 housing units. The Board decided not to appeal a July ruling from a Superior Court judge who said the county incorrectly decided the sale agreement when the developer was exempt from state environmental review requirements. Supervisors instead directed staff to offer most of the property for sale again. San Francisco’s program to permit accessory dwelling units has resulted in just 81 new homes so far, according to the Examiner . The low number is blamed primarily on the long and complicated process applicants have had to go through and the challenges associated with fire codes of units within older buildings. A Civil Grand Jury report in July identified challenges and recommended fixes – most of which city departments have or will implement- as well as a directive from mayor Breed end of August streamlining permitting and clearing the backlog. Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved the Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan--the first update to the plan since its adoption in 1992. David Martin, Director of Planning and Community Development says, “We have been working for more than two years with Coastal Commission staff to ensure that our updated LCP Land Use Plan will support a coastal development permit process that aligns with our sustainability and mobility goals”. The City of Los Angeles has been announced as the winner of the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge . The city will receive a support package valued at $2.5 million, which includes new team members to facilitate the development and passage of policies and resources for training, analysis, and public engagement. The Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge is a $70 million dollar program to help 20 cities accelerate local efforts to combat climate change. According to a recent report from Attom Data Solutions, the affordability crisis in Los Angeles County has led to one of the highest net migration losses in 2017 with Riverside County has one of the highest net migration gains. The report found affordability has dropped to the lowest level in a decade. The Department of Housing and Community Development launched a new webpage for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities . The site now includes current notice of funding availability (NOFA), previous NOFAs, lists of awards, management memos, grants and funding program forms, and training and technical assistance. A new Public Policy Institute of California statewide survey found 48 percent of likely voters would vote no on Prop 6 to repeal the fuel taxes and vehicle fees while 41 percent would vote yes and 11 percent are undecided. When asked about traffic congestion on freeways and major roads, 66 percent say it is a big problem in their region. When read the ballot title and label of Prop 10, 60 percent of likely voters would vote no while 25 percent said yes and 15 percent are undecided. Renters are more likely than homeowners to support Prop 10 (34 percent to 22 percent). San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a 1,575-unit housing development with parks and commercial space in India Basin after rejecting appeals of the project. The Board voted 10-1 to reject the two appeals of the EIR, which challenged the inadequacy of the document under CEQA. Approximately one-quarter of the units would be offered at below market rates.

CP&DR Vol. 33 No. 10 October 2018

The California Chapter of the American Planing Association gave out its annual awards at the APA California conference in San Diego in early October. AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE Opportunity and Empowerment Award CHW Arizona Street Development & North Park Seniors Community HousingWorks Comprehensive Plan Award, Large Jurisdiction South Los Angeles  &  Southeast Los Angeles Community Plans City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning Comprehensive Plan Award, Small Jurisdiction Belmont Village General Plan ,  Specific Plan , and  Climate Action Plan City of Belmont and Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners Implementation Award, Large Jurisdiction Willow Springs Wetlands , City of Long Beach City of Long Beach, Department of Parks, Recreation & Marine Innovation in Green Community Planning Award Butte County Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC) Strategy Butte County Department of Development Services (DDS) Economic Planning and Development Award Sacramento Central City Specific Plan City of Sacramento Transportation Planning Award West Contra Costa High-Capacity Transit Study West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC) Best Practices Award Metro Transfers Design Guide Los Angeles Metro Grassroots Initiative Award Pop-Up Care Village SITELAB Urban Studio Public Outreach Award SCAG Go Human Tactical Urbanism Demonstration Projects Southern California Association of Governments Urban Design Award West Los Angeles VA Campus Master Plan Framework Johnson Fain Planning Advocate Award David Salazar Planning Agency Award Los Angeles Department of City Planning Emerging Planning and Design Firm Award SITELAB urban studio Advancing Diversity and Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff Cannabis Social Equity Program City of Los Angeles Academic Award Old Town Urban Design Concept Plan City and Regional Planning, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Communications Initiative Award The View from Here: Place and Privilege Capital Public Radio Hard-Won Victories Award Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan Update City of Palo Alto AWARDS OF MERIT Opportunity and Empowerment Award Disadvantaged Communities Infrastructure and Planning Policy Study Tulare County, Resource Management Agency, Economic Development and Planning Division Comprehensive Plan Award, Large Jurisdiction Propel Vallejo General Plan 2040 City of Vallejo Planning Division Comprehensive Plan Award, Small Jurisdiction Temple City Mid-Century General Plan and Crossroads Specific Plan Temple City Innovation in Green Community Planning Award Rancho Cucamonga Sustainable Community Action Plan City of Rancho Cucamonga Economic Planning and Development Award Go Little Tokyo, Neighborhood Marketing Campaign Community Arts Resources (CARS) Transportation Planning Award Culver City Transit Oriented Design (TOD) Visioning Study and Recommendations Johnson Fain Best Practices Award SB 1000 Implementation Toolkit California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) Public Outreach Award Uptown Open Space Vision Plan City of Long Beach, Department of Parks, Recreation & Marine Urban Design Award Healdsburg Citywide Design Guideline City of Healdsburg Academic Award SMART Parks: A Toolkit Department of Urban Planning, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

San Diego County established a significance threshold for environmental review by quantifying a so-called “Efficiency Metric” for greenhouse gas emissions in a 2016 “guidance document” derived from the county’s Climate Action Plan, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled.

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority released a report, “ TNCs & Congestion ” which found that the single biggest factor in increased congestion on city streets is the arrival of tens of thousands of ride-service vehicles such as Uber and Lyft. In comparing data from 2010 and late 2016, SFCTA found that the ride-service firms are responsible for about half of the increased congestion on city streets during that time period. The report also includes an interactive map that shows the congestion impact of ride services, population, and employment growth and the resulting changes in the city’s street network. Uber says the study failed to account for a dramatic increase in tourism in recent years or traffic bottlenecks caused by more frequent freight and e-commerce deliveries into the city. Lyft point to studies that suggest TNCs may actually reduce congestion. The report acknowledges a host of unknowns such as a lack of data on how delivery services, freight traffic, and construction activity on city streets might be affecting congestion. Both Lyft and Uber are working with the city to impose a new tax on ride-service trips, the proceeds would go to funding transportation improvements. San Diego Transit Reconsiders Development of Parking Lots The board of San Diego’s Metropolitan Transportation System (MTS) voted unanimously to update its policies on developing parking lots it owns. MTS accepted the recommendations made by Circulate San Diego in a recently published paper that urged the agency to allow its underutilized surface parking lots to be developed for affordable housing. The report, “Real Opportunity”, estimated that MTS has about 57 acres of property that could be made available for development. This could result in enough space for 8,000 new homes, of which 3,000 should be made permanently affordable for low-income families. The recommendations in the report include creating  joint development program that actively solicits development partners, requiring a certain percentage of any residential development to be made permanently affordable for low-income families, and eliminating the requirement for new developments to replace or maintain any underutilized parking. ‘Split Roll’ Property Tax Ballot Measure Advances Supporters of a bid to increase taxes on commercial land — through a “split roll” -- announced they’ve collected more than 860,000 signatures to force a vote on the issue in 2020. The initiative would make a change to the existing tax system established by Prop. 13, which caps how much property tax bills could increase every year. The proposed measure would boost property tax revenues from commercial and industrial properties by assessing them at their current market value. Residential property tax would remain unchanged. The change could net $6 to $10 billion annually in new property tax revenue statewide according to an estimate from the Legislative Analyst’s Office. However, the report from LAO also warned the measure could have significant downsides for the state’s economy by causing businesses to leave or decide not to relocated to the state. Report Analyzes Potential Impacts of Prop. 10 According to the California Budget & Policy Center, Proposition 10 , which would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Act and give cities broad latitude to enact rent control measures, would address the more than half of Californian renters and over a third of homeowners with mortgages with high housing costs and workers’ earnings that have not kept up with rising rents. According to the research group, Prop. 10 would allow cities to choose to limit rent increases within a broader range of rental homes, including single-family homes and apartments built since 1995. However, potential disadvantages of rent control include incentivizing landlords to neglect maintenance of their rental properties, discourage developers from building as much new rental housing as they otherwise would have, and reduce expected profits from renting out single-family homes or newer apartments.   Del Mar Rejects Coastal Commission’s Approach to Sea Level Rise The  Del Mar city council voted, 3-1, to submit a sea level rise plan to the Coastal Commission that omits the state-mandated managed-retreat approach. Instead of retreat, the city will rely on existing seawalls and future sand replenishment programs to protect the hundreds of vulnerable homes near the beach and the mouth of the San Dieguito River. City officials say the required study of managed retreat was completed but found to not be workable for the city. This puts the city at odds with the Coastal Commission and means without an approved sea-level-rise plan the City could become ineligible for millions of dollars in federal grants.  Quick Hits & Updates  According to a survey from USC Dornsife/LA Times poll, Prop. 10 , the initiative that would expand rent control in California, faces uncertainty. The survey found that 41 percent of likely voters favor Prop. 10 with 38 percent opposed and 21 percent undecided. Prop 10 has its strongest support among Democrats and younger voters. The Vallco Mall r edevelopment has begun demolition, but not without continuing the controversy surrounding it. Neighbors accused developer Sand Hill of starting demolition without proper clearance. Sand Hill responded saying they complied with the city’s demolition permit process and agreed to implement mitigation measures. The city says the permit it issued was only for the two parking structures near the old Sears, and such work does not require noticing. The Better Cupertino group is collecting signatures to qualify a measure on next year’s ballot that would place the approved plan for Vallco in jeopardy. Sand Hill has threatened to proceed with its own plan or toss out some of the benefits associated with the community plan if it encounters delays. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) A San Francisco judge turned town a request by startup Lime to block the city’s e-scooter pilot program, which is schedule to start Monday with 1,250 scooters from two rival companies: Scoot and Skip. Lime was one of the dozen companies that vied for up to five permits to operate electric scooters through the SFMTA permit process. Lime (and other companies) were dinged in the selection process for past bad behavior. Lime, Spin and Uber’s Jump all filed an appeal. Lime has now followed up with a temporary restraining order to stop the rollout until it could argue why it should have been selected. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts’ office commissioned a report to study the feasibility of using a “skyway” to connect people from the convention center to San Diego International Airport with a few stops along Harbor Drive. The report cost $75,000 and was prepared by consulting firm WSP Global with help from SANDAG.  HCD released the availability of approximately $400 million in Round 1 Competitive Allocation funds for the No Place Like Home (NPLH) program. The NPLH program provides deferred payment loans to counties or their Development Sponsors for the development of permanent supportive housing for people living with serious mental illness who are experiencing homelessness, chronic homelessness, or are at-risk of chronic homelessness. Round 1 Competitive Allocation funds are due to HCD on January 15, 2019. HCD will release a few training workshop dates and Technical Assistance sessions. The Los Angeles City Planning Commission recommended the City Council adopt the Department’s Processes and Procedures Ordinance , designed to significantly streamline the planning process. The proposed changes would consolidate over 100 existing processes to about 50. This lays the groundwork for a more user-friendly, transparent, and predictable set of rules for project review. The Legislative Analyst’s Office evaluated the Property Tax Postponement Program (PTP). The program is for homeowners who are over the age of 62, blind or disables; have household incomes less than 35,500; and own at least 40 percent equity in their home. The report evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of the program and found challenges in eligibility, participation, affordability, budgetary, and administrative. For instance, PTP only has around 1,000 participants compared to the one million Californians who would quality. A key advantage of the program is that it does not carry a cost to taxpayers, however there is a high administrative cost which PTP participants must pay. According to Census data analyzed by Apartment List, more than 220,000 households in the Central Valley spend at least half their monthly incomes on rent. The report found one in every four rental households in the nation spends at least 50 percent of their income on rent. In Central Valley, that number jumps to 27.5 percent of renters. The percentage of Central Valley renters severely burdened by rent has decreased slightly form 2016. Placer County Judge Michael Jones ruled in August against Sierra Watch’s claim that the county violated public meeting laws when it approved Alterra Mountain Co.’s expansion at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows . The conservationists were ordered to pay more than $225,000 in attorney bills over the ski resort legal battle. Sierra Watch is appealing to the California Court of Appeals seeking to overturn the judge’s earlier ruling. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced plans to find a director of housing delivery. The person would be responsible for tracking housing developments and guiding them around bureaucratic logjams as they bounce among city departments. The new position would hopefully be filled by the end of the year. The Coastal Commission scored an appellate court victory in its long-running battle with the Port of San Diego over the state agency’s right to require low-cost lodging in connection with a proposal to develop new hotels on Harbor Island. In a ruling issued in September, state appeals court reversed an earlier Superior Court decision that the Coastal Commission had wrongly rejected plans to develop up to 500 hotel rooms on East Harbor Island. The third phase of Los Angeles's Purple Line Extension , connecting Century City and the West LA VA Hospital, received reimbursement from the FTA for early work on the project. This means the phase can be completed quicker and for much less money than previously anticipated. According to Metro, this decision means the agency can take advantage of competitive bids for boring the tunnel. These bids could save Metro an estimated $130 million. The tunneling bids were set to expire on October 3, but the FTA approval allows Metro to avoid having to re-bid the tunnel delay which would have cost an additional $200 million and delayed the project by nearly two years. The phase is expected to be completed by 2026. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and three Bay Area nonprofits announced a new $9 million pilot program that would provide support services for low-income city residents. Oakland residents at risk of homelessness could qualify for emergency rent checks and legal representation under Keep Oakland Housed.

The San Diego City Council approved a plan to develop the area surrounding an aging Sports Arena in the Midway District into a district of more dense housing, modern commercial projects, 30 acres of parks, and a bay-to-bay trail. The population of the district would rise from 4,600 to 27,000 because land with large commercial projects would be re-zoned for housing thus increasing the number of units from under 2,000 to more than 11,000. The staff report on the plan contends that 89 percent of area residents will drive to work, with transit use increasing from 6 percent today to 8 percent in 2035. The plan calls for the city to work with state and local agencies to build new connector ramps between I-8 and I-5, and to pursue creation of a special district that could generate tax revenue for infrastructure projects. Officials say while traffic would increase in the area, it would only be about a one percent increase from a 1991 development blueprint for the area. Critics would like the plan to include more subsidized housing for low-income residents and say the plan should do more to help the city achieve its climate action goals. 3,000-Bed UC Davis Housing Plans Face Lawsuit  Numerous groups filed a lawsuit against UC Davis  and UC Regents to delay proposed housing expansion plans by saying that CEQA requirements were not met. The environmental concerns are inadequate analysis for agricultural resources, air quality, biological resources, greenhouse gas emissions, noise, traffic, housing and population, and aesthetics of the 3,000-bed project.  In a response to the lawsuit, UCD wrote: “We are perplexed and profoundly disappointed by AFSCME’s California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit related to the UC Davis Long Range Development Plan. We have previously made a series of generous offers to AFSCME that would have benefited UC Davis’ represented service workers and enabled UC Davis’ housing projects to move forward. Despite agreement that more student housing is a benefit to all, AFSCME’s suit will likely prevent UC Davis from building affordable student housing in the near term.” OPR and LAFCO Promote Sustainable Communities Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and the California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions   released   "Creating Sustainable Communities and Landscapes: Recommended Practices and Tools for Local Collaboration on Climate-Smart Growth,” which is intended to help support coordination among local entities to advance efficient growth and conservation of natural resources. The document highlights case studies in which LAFCOs, cities, counties and special districts successfully partnered to reduce suburban sprawl and increase the conservation of natural and working lands, while also considering how to improve community resilience. The paper also aims to raise awareness of available tools and resources that can be used to create more environmentally and economically sustainable communities throughout California. San Diego Considers New ‘Mobility Board’ to Advise on Transportation  San Diego City Council Rules Committee voted unanimously to advance a plan to create a new “ city mobility board ” that would advise officials on efforts to improve transportation. The proposal would dissolve the two existing board—the Parking Advisory Board and the Bicycle Advisory Board--and create a new board that would approach the topics of mobility more holistically. However, bike advocates are concerned the action would dilute the voice of cyclists and slow down the progress towards a safe bike network. The goal of the board would be “to inform transportation decision-making and ensure that people driving, walking, bicycling, taking transit, or using other transportation modes, will have safe, connected, easy to use choices to move around the city." The committee action directed city staff and the city attorney’s Office to prepare a draft ordinance that would likely be ready for full City Council vote before the end of the year. L.A. Transit Lines May Get New Names Los Angeles Metro officials are considering an overhaul of the agency's transit map that would replace the system’s color names with letters or numbers. The agency hopes to begin eight major bus and rail projects over the next decade, including extension of the Gold Line to Montclair by 2026, San Fernando Valley rail line by 2027, and a 20-mile light-rail route between downtown LA and Artesia by 2028. The maps would still show the current hues, but would also show a letter or number to help differentiate between similar colors. Metro board of directors will hear the naming proposal later this week and the agency plans to return to the board end of the year with a cost estimate for changing thousands of signs at 93 rail stations and creating a countywide public awareness campaign. Bay Area Council Envisions ‘Megaregion' The Bay Area Council  recently convened in the Central Valley city of Merced to discuss potential future connections between Merced, UC Merced, and the Bay Area. UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland said, “Today we are focusing on the economic potential of building greater interconnectedness, which would have major benefits to both regions. It’s not just about creating a bedroom community here. We will be attracting businesses and industries that will help lift Merced, the Valley and the state.” The group discussed the “Megaregion” which includes 21 counties in Northern California being groups into four regions: Bay Area, Sacramento Area, Northern San Joaquin Valley, and Monterey Bay Area. Quick Hits & Updates  The California Department of Housing and Community Development released the SB 2 Planning Grants  Draft Guidelines . The program is part of the Governor's 15 bill housing package aimed at addressing the state's housing shortage and high housing costs. SB 2 establishes a permanent source of funding intended to increase the affordable housing stock in California. The legislation sets-a-side 50 percent of the revenue in the first year to make grants available to local governments. The grants will be available to update a variety of planning documents and processes to streamline housing approvals and accelerate housing production.  Last week, the two candidates for California governor faced off in a “wide-ranging conversation” on San Francisco public radio station KQED. Both Gavin Newsom and John Cox said they support building more housing, Newsom wants to see 3.5 million homes through 2025 while Cox wants developers to build 3 million over the next decade. Researchers at USC Dornsife Institute released a report , “Rent Matters: What are the Impacts of Rent Stabilization Measures?” The report covers how rent stabilization is one tool used to address the housing crisis with far fewer negative impacts than was previously thought. The research found moderate rent controls do not constrain new housing, do promote tenant stability, may lead to condo conversion (which can be limited with other tools), and may deter displacement from gentrification. Sen. Scott Wiener said he plans to introduce a new version of his controversial housing bill SB 827 next year in the legislature. The wildly contested transit density bill will be transformed to include input of advocates to the original bill. Particularly Wiener has been taking a hard look at anti-displacement provisions. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The City of San Jose is reviewing its downtown height limits which are currently between 120 to 200 feet due to flight paths of San Jose International Airport. San Jose officials due to many new towers downtown and major expansion by Google and Adobe Systems in the urban core have launched a major study of raising the heights of some buildings. The city is considering four scenarios which were unveiled at a recent city council meeting. A report released from the City of San Francisco found between 50 and 65 high-rises in the city used a specific type of steel welds that were later found to fracture during the 1994 Northridge earthquake in LA. These structures should be inspected for previously undetected damage they might have sustained during the Loma Prieta earthquake three decades ago. The document, “Tall Buildings Safety Strategy” recommendations include conducting intensive inspections and creating a special program that would notify and provide guidance for building owner and tenants. A Voice of San Diego analysis found over the last 15 years, developers in the city have paid about $120 million to satisfy a policy meant to combat a shortage of affordable housing. The city has helped subsidize more than 2,000 affordable-housing units. However, the analysis revealed nearly a quarter of the roughly $85 million in inclusionary funds doled out by city housing officials over the last 15 years have supported programs to aid first-time homebuyers and homeless San Diegans, or covered administrative costs at the San Diego Housing Commission, rather than simply bankroll the housing the policy aims to deliver. San Diego Superior Court Judge Timothy B. Taylor agreed with the Sierra Club that  San Diego County  is temporarily forbidden from approving certain types of new development if they rely on potentially flawed parts of the Climate Action Plan. The Board of Supervisors are set to vote this week on whether to allow Newland, the 2,100-unit project. Taylor’s ruling has set the project into limbo. However, the county and Newland think the ruling doesn’t apply even though Newland uses an “offset: scheme similar to the one the county has. The Southern California Association of Governments prepared a new technical study that encourages transportation authorities in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties to explore a variety of options to improve transit between the two counties and Ontario International Airport . The Los Angeles and San Bernardino Inter-County Transit and Rail Connectivity Studyprimary purpose was to assess connectivity to ONT, which has experienced significant growth since returning to local control end of 2016. Some options assess are expanding BRT between the future Montclair Gold Line Station and San Bernardino, expanding Metrolink, or extending the Gold Line from Montclair. Hundreds of students enrolled in the Beverly Hills School District took part in a district-organized protest against the construction of the Purple Line subway, whose current alignment would run under Beverly Hills High School. The protest calls on President Trump and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to rescind already approved federal funding for the subway extension. District officials have fought the alignment for years, claiming that tunneling under the school would disrupt the campus and endanger students. The district has already exhausted its legal remedies. (See prior CP&DR commentary .)

In implementing the 2017 package of housing legislation, the California Department of Housing & Community Development is going to get more aggressive in using both carrots and sticks to push local governments to approve more housing. That was the message from HCD Director Ben Metcalf and his staff at the California Chapter, American Planning Association conference in San Diego this week. On the one hand, HCD is using its new power to engage in continuous review of housing elements – and the newly strengthened Housing Accountability Act – to hold local governments’ feet to the fire on housing elements and project approvals. But on the other hand, HCD is about to release tens of millions of dollars in planning grants and technical assistance to help local governments do better planning for housing. Meanwhile, everybody is trying to figure out how to interpret SB 35, the new law that allows developers to seek ministerial approval for some projects – and end-run the California Environmental Quality Act – under certain circumstances if cities are not meeting their state-mandated housing numbers. At a session on Monday, Metcalf’s staff said that under the new continuous review process they have already contacted 46 jurisdictions at risk of having their housing elements decertified. HCD is providing most with technical assistance to comply, though two are about to lose their certification. At the same time, however, HCD on Tuesday issued draft guidelines for the SB 2 planning grants. These grants are pretty open-ended, available to local governments that can make the argument that the planning tasks they are undertaking are designed to increase housing supply. At Metcalf’s session on Monday, there was vigorous debate as to whether the SB 2 planning grants would be another source of funding for routine plan updates. Mark Rhoades, who often works with developers, said the grants were not a way “to update your 2001 general plan.” “No, no,” he said. “The point is, how do we get to the place where in a year or less we are updating and accelerating our reciew processes to get shovels in the ground?” But Eric Phillips of Goldfarb & Lipman, who often represents cities, disagreed. “Updating your 2001 general plan is a great way to do this. Adopt specific plans at the same time and get the shovels in the ground.” In addition to the planning grants, HCD recent put out a request for proposals for consultants to provide technical assistance. Some of the technical assistance will be provided straight to local governments, but much of it will also go to create a self-assessment tool for locals as well as creating a best practices toolkit. The goal, Metcalf’s staff said, was the help locals see what bottlenecks they have in housing approval. There was considerable discussion at the conference about SB 35 and the fact that only three or so projects have sought approval so far using the law. Cupertino approved redevelopment of the Vallco Mall with SB 35 while Berkeley has rejected SB 35 approval of a mixed use project due to historic landmark concerns. “We’re working on several applications right now,” Rhoades said. “They take time to put together.” Both both Rhoades and Metcalf said the use of SB 35 as leverage by developers is changing the balance of power with local governments. Finally, a separate panel put together by Goldfarb & Lipman highlighted renewed interest in the Housing Accountability Act, a 1982 law that was mostly ignored up until the housing package was passed last year. The law requires local governments to provide developers with written notification if their projects are inconsistent with local plans, and supposedly reduces local governments’ ability to deny reduced density if the project is consistent with local plans. Dolores Dalton of Goldfarb & Lipman said that in lawsuits emerging from the Housing Accountability Act, usually developers seek a rehearing for their projects and also demand a Housing Accountability Act analysis for every project. “Some of our clients have not been agreeing to that,” she said. “Others see the opportunity to inform the public and give cover to elected officials.” The Rubik's Cube seems to be an impossible puzzle but it's easy to solve it using algorithms.

One of the little-noticed consequences of the one-week delay in Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court was that he missed oral arguments in the two cases most likely to affect California land-use planning issues this term.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla to keep a Martins Beach private. This is a significant victory for coastal access rights in the state and whether a property owner needs state permission to gate off the road. However, Khosla and his attorneys argue that the case is not about coastal access but rather interference of his private property rights. While the Coastal Commission is not an official party to the lawsuit, it is considering how to proceed and hopes that Khosla “will work with us to assure that the historical public access to Martin’s Beach remains available for present and future generations.” The State has created an account to gather donations to appraise, acquire, and maintain public access way at the beach. The State Lands Commission has suggested a public route with hours of operation, trash bins, and portable toilets. Controversial Housing Project Approved in N. San Diego County  The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the 2,135-home Newland Sierra development along I-15 in North County. The approval came one day after a Superior Court judge refused to halt the vote due to a lawsuit of the Sierra Club and Golden Door spa. The two groups argued the way the developer was proposing to mitigate the project’s greenhouse gas emissions was likely to be ruled illegal later this year. Opponents of the project say a lawsuit challenging the decision will be filed within weeks. Opponents are also collecting signatures for a referendum in March 2020 that would ask voters to overturn the approval. The hearing also had many pro-speakers stressing the need for more housing in the County. The project calls for 1,140 single-family homes, 995 multi-family units, 81,000 square-feet of office and retail space, including a grocery store, 1,209 acres of open space, and a six-acre school site. Report: Los Angeles Employers Grapple with High Housing Costs The Los Angeles Business Council Institute released a report, “ The Affordable Housing Crisis in Los Angeles: Impacts to LA’s Fastest Growing Industries ” prepared by USC’s Dr. Gary Painter. Since the Great Recession, the employment rate has been cut down to 5.4 percent in 2017. The report found the three business segments with the fastest growing job growth are healthcare and social services; accommodation and food services; and professional, scientific, and technical services. The research team surveyed 18 employers in the three industries to explore how they were responding to the region’s high cost of living and lack of affordable housing near job centers, and how these trends impact employees. Key findings were the Professional, Scientific, and Technical services industry were more likely to reflect the high cost of living in their hiring packages while the other two industries agreed it adversely affected employees and employers in the area.  The majority of employers surveyed had not taken any steps to directly assist employees with housing, and the lowest wage workers received the least housing related assistance. Some recommendations from the report include employers offering housing related assistance, organizing business leaders to support and advocate for housing at all income levels, and building bridges between private, nonprofit, and public entities to create more affordable housing. City of Orange’s ‘The Plaza’ Named to APA ‘Great Places in America’ List  The American Planning Association released its  Great Places in America , which “recognizes the neighborhoods, streets, and public spaces that make communities stronger and bring people together through good planning.” One of the 2018 Great Public Spaces winner was The Plaza in Orange, California. This area has preserved residential and commercial buildings that contribute to local character and charm; the Plaza and historic core are at the heart of a highly intact sidewalk network that connects the surrounding neighborhoods and Chapman University; the Orange Transportation Center is a three-block walk from the Plaza; and, community holiday celebrations, food festivals, and parades attract visitors. Quick Hits & Updates  The City Manager of Lafayette , Steven Falk, announced his resignation after three decades because of differing views with residents over housing. In his resignation letter Falk wrote, “All cities — even small ones — have a responsibility to address the most significant challenges of our time: climate change, income inequality, and housing affordability. I believe that adding multifamily housing at the BART station is the best way for Lafayette to do its part, and it has therefore become increasingly difficult for me to support, advocate for, or implement policies that would thwart transit density.” In recent years, Lafayette has failed to meet about a third of its RHNA housing goals. San Diego officials have created a 25-member working group and hire Keyser Marston Associates to analyze inclusionary housing legislation in the city to determine how aggressive the potential legislation can be without scaring of housing developers. The new law would require developers building apartment complexes to include units reserved for low-income residents. Supporters say the legislation could play a key role in solving the city’s housing crisis while critics warn that it could choke off housing construction by slashing the profit margins of developers. UCLA’s Luskin Center released a paper titled, “People are Simply Unable to Pay the Rent: What History Tells Us About Rent Control in Los Angeles.” The report evaluates two previous moments in history when the city experienced a severe shortage of affordable housing stock: the early 1940s and late 1970s. The paper reviews the history and proposes a range of solutions such as extending the city’s rent stabilization law, modifying the “vacancy decontrol” provision, and extending just-cause eviction protection to all renters. UCLA Transportation’s Bruin Commuter Transit Benefit program earned the Commuting Options in Public Transit award at the Association for Commuter Transportation’s 2018 International Conference. The international group received more than 80 nominations in 15 categories, which recognizes and honors outstanding achievements in transportation demand management. The UCLA program provides eligible employees and students new to public transportation with free transit pass that covers unlimited rides on Metro, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, and Culver CityBus. Almost 1,600 commuters opted out of a parking permit to take advantage of the program since its launch last summer.

According to a new staff report released by the Coastal Commission , coastal cities should be prepared for the possibility that oceans will rise more than 10 feet by 2100. The report says, “there’s potential for rapid ice loss to result in an extreme scenario of 10.2 feet of sea level rise” by the end of the century. Earlier drafts of the guidance stated at most 6 feet by 2100. In Southern California as much as two-thirds of the beaches may be completely lost due to rising sea level. The Commission will consider approving the guidance this fall. The new guidance, if adopted, would advise municipalities to evaluate the 10-foot scenario for planning and permitting. Some agencies such as the Port of San Diego are complaining about the proposed guidance saying it has a low degree of certainty. Other cities such as San Francisco could see up to 3.4 feet of water rise by 2100. S.F. Supervisors Advance Central SoMa Plan San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to certify the EIR for the Central SoMa  plan which would allow up to 8,550 housing units and a projected 32,500 jobs in a portion of downtown. Five groups argued the report does not adequately address worsening traffic, air quality, and earthquake safety. Supervisor Kim questioned the increased seismic risk and health impacts from development in the area. She also criticized the plan for being out of date as it was originally proposed almost a decade ago. Kim recommends the Planning Commission begin working on a supplemental EIR to account for increased housing. The Board also unanimously approved an ordinance to raise the minimum wage that for-profit contractors pay workers to $17 per hour. Three supervisors also introduced a supplemental budget proposal to increase the minimum wage for nonprofit and in-home supportive services workers to $17. Gas Tax Opponents File Measure to Starve Transit Projects Proponents of Prop. 6 , the measure to repeal the gas tax hike, filed a new ballot measure that would prevent the state from spending gas tax funds on mass transit, such as the high-speed rail project. The proposed initiative would mandate that all gas tax revenue go to road and require all public transportation infrastructure project funded by cars sales tax to require annual audits. The initiative would also shift decision-making power on gas and car tax revenue from the state to city and county governments. These changes would go on the November ballot in 2020. Supporters say it would boost the states funds for roads from $5.2 billion to $7.5 billion as well as increasing general transit infrastructure from $1.8 billion to $7.4 billion annually. Poll Shows Opposition to Repeals of Gas Tax, Costa-Hawkins The Public Policy Institute of California released a statewide survey and found a small majority of California’s likely voters oppose Prop. 6, the measure to repeal the recently enacted gas tax and vehicle registration fees. 52 percent of likely voters say they would vote no, 39 percent said yes, and 8 percent are undecided. Prop. 10 would repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. Among likely voters, 48 percent would vote no on the proposition, 36 percent would vote yes, and 16 percent are still undecided. UC Davis Strikes Deal to Provide More Student Housing In a deal between UC Davis , City of Davis, and Yolo County, the university has agreed to build enough housing to accommodate 100 percent of any new enrollment growth among students who are guaranteed housing; this would be nearly 5,200 beds by fall 2023. The university currently has about 9,818 beds and much increase to at least 15,000 by fall 2023. Shorter-term deadlines include 10,500 beds by next fall and 12,500 beds by fall 2021. UC Davis will pay the city and county $500 apiece for each bed not delivered within six months of every deadline. The University currently enrolls about 38,400 students and housing on campus is currently only guaranteed for the first year. Quick Hits & Updates  The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted , 5-0, to order an impact report for an initiative that would require a public vote for General Plan amendments which increase density on parcels with semi-rural or rural land use designations. If approved, it would appear on the March 2020 ballot.  The California Coastal Commission granted the City of Fort Bragg a change to its local coastal program process, which may allow the city to rezone the former Georgia Pacific lumber millsite as early as this winter. At a town hall meeting, the community development director for Fort Bragg, Marie Jones, presented the commission with what she said was a city-community-based vision for rezoning the 430 acre property. The rezoning would emphasize industrial jobs, workforce housing, and sustainable long-term growth. The City of Millbrae has achieved one of its priority goals in developing a feasibility study for the formation of a business improvement district in downtown. The city will work with local stakeholder groups, Millbrae Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Vitality Commission, City officials, and New City America to determine if a BID is right for Millbrae. The Orange County Transportation Authority board voted to award a contract to Walsh Construction to build the first modern streetcar in Orange County for $220.5 million. The 41.5-mile streetcar in Santa Ana and Garden Grove should start construction in late 2018. The streetcar will make 10 stops in each direction and connect the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center to Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue. San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced legislation that would prohibit office space on the lower floors of Union Square buildings and allow office space in higher floors for a fee that would fund improvements in public areas. Peskin says the area is being impacted by changes to the retail market, necessitating these new regulations. The funding from the fee would go towards such projects as improving Hallidie Plaza, Powell Street Promenade, and alleyways. The Santa Rosa City Council voted 6-0 to reduce development fees in downtown areas to spur high-rise housing development. Developers say the slashing of park and infrastructure fees makes it easier for new housing to pencil out. This is the latest step by the Council this year intended to speed up the production of multi-family housing the downtown area. In a ruling issued earlier this month, the 4th District Court of Appeals reversed an earlier Superior Court decision that the California Coastal Commission had wrongly rejected plans to develop up to 500 hotel rooms on East Harbor Island in San Diego. The Appeals Court rejected the lower court’s reasoning that the Coastal Commission overstepped its authority by requiring the Port of San Diego to provide low-cost lodging as part of the project consideration. The Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted to spend $10 million on an environmental study for a new rail line between San Joaquin Valley to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. The commissioners also directed staff to draft a policy that would set criteria for funding projects outside the nine-county region of the Bay Area. While the environmental review was unanimously approved, several commissioners raised questions about the cost and merits of the Valley Link train service. The rail line would open for business by 2027. Los Angeles Metro has received the go-ahead from the FTA to begin preliminary work on the third section of the Purple Line subway extension to Westwood. Metro is asking for a $1.3 billion grant from the FTA to help cover costs. The FTA had approved grants for the extension’s first two sections. Metro anticipates federal approval of the third grant in early 2019.

CP&DR Vol. 33 No. 9 September 2018