Search Results

In the perennial race between technology and public policy, the electric scooter got out to a serious head-start last year. But urban planners are catching up.

The Cupertino City Council approved a massive $4 billion housing and office development that would replace the mostly vacant Vallco Mall. It is one of the first projects statewide and the largest to date, to make use of Senate Bill 35, a 2017 law that requires cities to approve projects if they include a certain amount of housing and meet other conditions. The project is located less than a mile from Apple’s new headquarters. After 14 hours of city meetings, the project won a major victory after city staff found that it qualified for a streamlined approval under SB35. The state housing law requires cities that haven’t built enough housing under state guidelines to approve projects with affordable units that meet other requirements including using union labor for construction. The proposal includes 2,923 residential units, 1.5 million square feet of office space, and 485,000 square feet of retail space. Other amenities include a performing arts center, city hall, cash benefits to the Cupertino Unified School District, and six acres of public open space at the proposed town center site. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) State Auditor Faults HCD Oversight of Housing Bond Funds The California State Auditor found the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) oversight of housing bond funds remains inconsistent. Since 2007 the auditor agency has performed five required audits of HCD’s housing bond program management. In each audit, similar problems related to the agency’s monitoring of certain bond programs, particularly CalHome and Building Equity and Growth in Neighborhoods (BEGIN). Both generally enable low-income and very low-income households to become or remain homeowners, The Auditor’s report made 28 recommendations in the first four reports, which HCD previously asserted that it implemented. However, during this review it was determined that HCD had not followed through on half of the recommendations. The new recommendations include HCD immediately obtaining all required performance reports for its grant-based programs and performing on-site visits of the CalHome recipients. HCD should determine CAPES’s usability for the housing bond program and develop a plan to address feasibility of continuing to develop CAPES and develop a long-term plan describing how it will address instances when it has exceeded its administrative spending limits and how it will avoid exceeding the limits of the additional programs in the most immediate danger of overage. Florida Company Revives Victorville-Las Vegas High Speed Rail Florida-based passenger rail company Brightline acquired XpressWest , a high-speed passenger rail project with rights to develop a federally approved corridor connecting Southern California and Las Vegas. Brightline will take over the development, construction, and operation of the project and work with federal and local transportation officials to connect Las Vegas with Victorville with future plans to expand into the Los Angeles area. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said, “The introduction of high-speed rail between Las Vegas to Southern California will bring significant economic and environmental benefits to our state and support increased tourism. Brightline has built a proven model for privately funded high-speed rail service in Florida and we are excited to welcome them to Nevada.” Brightline expects to be able to make the 300-mile trip in less than two hours. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Study Finds Housing Prices Causing Segregation in Bay Area UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project and the California Housing Partnership published a study that found the Bay Area’s housing costs are pushing poor people into neighborhoods where poverty and racial segregation are on the rise. The researchers tracked migratory patterns and demographic changes across the region from 2000 to 2015 and found particularly minority families are increasingly cut off from relatives, their children may face worse health outcomes and parents’ commute to work can dramatically lengthen. Many neighborhoods in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond saw declines in black populations while farther out in the East Bay saw increases. The research found in 2015 in San Francisco, a low-income white family was three times more likely to live in a high-resource area than a moderate- or high-income black family. In Alameda County low-income white households were seven times more likely. Alignment Chosen for High Speed Rail Segment into Los Angeles California High Speed Rail Authority revealed its preferred route for the Palmdale-to-Burbank segment during a webcast. The three remaining route proposals would all travel through the northeast San Fernando Valley where the rail plan ahs faced opposition from some residents. All routes would end at a station near Hollywood Burbank Airport. On September 24 an open house for the community will be held in Sunland and September 25 in Pacoima. Two other meetings are scheduled in Palmdale and Agua Dulce. The SR14 alignment follows State Route 14 before going belowground through the San Gabriel Mountains and along San Fernando Road through Pacoima and Sun Valley.

San Jose became the first city in California to receive Platinum LEED certification in a pilot program for green cities offered by the US Green Building Council. The city was recognized for it’s Zero Waste Strategic Plan, new transit metric Vehicle Miles Traveled, and Climate Smart San Jose – a plan to reduce air pollution and save water among other goals. In all three projects, community input was shared in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese to encourage collaboration. The certification will give San Jose access to Arc software, which tracks data about sustainability and environmental health in a central platform. The city will also receive a grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation along with five other cities in the US. PPIC Poll Finds Support for State’s Climate Change Efforts According to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California , the majority of Californians (54 percent) say that it is very important that the state is a world leader in climate change. Approximately 65 percent of those polled said they are in favor of the state acting independently of the federal government to combat global warming. Two-thirds of Californians (67 percent) say the effects of global warming have already begun. Asian Americans are most likely to say the effects have already begun (78 percent) while white (12 percent) are most likely to say the effects will never happen. Most polled, 80 percent, view global warming as a very serious or somewhat serious threat to the state’s future economy and quality of life. The polls found most Californians support state efforts to address global warming, specifically supporting SB 32. Many Californians, 62 percent, say the issue of global warming is important to them personally. SPUR Looks into Future of Bay Area  San Francisco Planning and Urban Research released its Regional Strategy , “Four Future Scenarios for the San Francisco Bay Area” which aims to develop a vision for the Bay Area in the year 2070, along with strategies needed to make it a reality. The report focuses on adding new housing and creating a functional transportation system in parallel with the economy’s expansion. The report looks at four uncertainties: the economy, housing, transportation, and the physical form that growth takes. The four resulting scenarios show potential long-term outcomes of today’s choices. It includes external forces such as climate change, earthquakes, and the federal government. The four scenarios are the "Rust Belt West," with economic decline and social inclusion; "Bunker Bay Area," with economic decline but social exclusion; "Gated Utopia," with social exclusion and economic prosperity; and "A New Social Compact," with high social inclusion and economic prosperity. Residents Sue to Stop Transit Oriented Development in Millbrae A group of residents in Millbrae are suing the city for improperly preventing them from filing a referendum seeking to stifle development of a new mixed-use development at the city’s train station. Better Millbrae alleges in the documents filed in county Superior Court that their petition to impede progress of the Gateway at Millbrae Station was unjustly denied by City Hall. City officials maintain the more than 1,400 signatures collected were filed outside the 30-day window, which opened following councilmembers approving the project. The disagreement revolves around the uncertainty determining which day the officials signed the documents and started the clock ticking on the referendum process. Millbrae City Council voted April 10 to approve 150,000 square feet of offices, nearly 30,000 square feet of retail space, 400 new housing units and a hotel abutting the city’s train station. UC Berkeley Paper Analyzes Impacts of Prop. 10  UC Berkeley economist Kenneth T. Rosen released a study, “ The Case for Preserving Costa-Hawkins: Three Ways Rent Control Reduces the Supply of Rental Housing ” which warns that repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act would worsen the state’s housing shortage. The paper focuses on impacts of Prop 10, which would give cities and counties the opportunity to adopt extreme forms of rental control, including rent caps on new apartments and single-family homes. The three primary ways that rent control decrease overall supply of apartments includes: incentivizing property owners to convert rental units to other uses such as for-sale housing units or non-residential buildings; reduces the effective supply of available rental units through an inefficient allocation of housing; and limits the creation of new rental supply by discouraging development activity. Rosen said, “California cities need more rental housing at every price level, but rent control is a major road block to solving the statewide housing shortage”. Los Angeles County Adopts Interim Rent Control Ordinance The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved , 4-1, a policy designed help tenants living in unincorporated county communities by capping rent increases at 3 percent per year. The policy also requires that landlords cite legitimate reasons for evictions. The interim ordinance is meant to protect older people on fixed incomes from becoming homeless or unable to meet their basic needs. According to nonprofit California Housing Partnership Corp., Los Angeles County’s inflation-adjusted median rent increased 32 percent between 2000 and 2015 while median renter income decreased three percent. The proposed law would come to the board for approval in two months. County officials estimate the ordinance would apply to approximately 57,000 households. The ordinance will be in place for six months while the county devises a long-term ordinance. The county is the first county in California to institute rent control.  Long Beach Proceeds with Upgrades for 2028 Olympics City of Long Beach City Manager Pat West released the first six-month update of the progress of Mayor Robert Garcia’s “8 by 28” plan for the 2028 Olympics . The city is a large part of LA’s plans to host the summer Olympics. Long Beach is set to host water polo, handball, triathlon, marathon swimming, BMX racing, and sailing. The eight projects are Belmont Veterans Pier rebuild, Belmont Pool, lifeguard towers, beach concession stands, Long Beach Arena improvements, a Pine and Ocean hotel airport improvements, and Metro Blue Line improvements. A schedule for the $1.2 billion Blue Line improvements has already been announced with the south half of the line closed for four months early in 2019 and the north half closed the next four months. Update reports are expected every six months until projects are completed. Quick Hits & Updates  The  California Coastal Commission  has released a public draft of its  Environmental Justice Policy  for public review. The report is based on initial feedback from stakeholder meetings held throughout the state. available for review. The Commission will take public testimony on the draft policy until November 7, with a goal of revising and adopting the final policy by the end of the year.  The Urban Land Institute will award its Open Space Award to one of five parks at the ULI Fall Meeting in Boston in October. The award recognizes “open and transformative spaces that promote healthy, sustainable and equitable outcomes in their communities.” Ricardo Lara Linear Park in Lynwood is the only park in California and is located in a densely populated neighborhood that for years lacked open space. The city used a $5 million grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation to fund the project. Placer County Superior Court Judge Michael W. Jones ruled in favor of Squaw Valley Real Estate and Placer County in the second of two lawsuits filed by Sierra Watch against the county’s approval of the Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan. The plan includes new lodging, indoor recreation area, commercial space, leveled parking and employee housing on 93.3 acres of developed land and parking lot. The plan was approved by Placer County Board of Supervisors in 2016 but has since faced lawsuits from environmental groups. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The City of Costa Mesa Planning Commission voted 3-0 to recommend eliminating a controversial two-year-old program that opened the door for potential high-density residential development at designated locations along Harbor and Newport boulevards. The commission decided to send the issue to City Council, which will make a decision on whether to eliminate the “residential incentive overlay” at a future meeting. The overlay permits building up to 40 housing units per acre at certain sites. The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that the City of Los Angeles complied with state environmental law and did not abuse its discretion by changing local zoning laws to allow a Target store on Sunset Boulevard. The store was half completed with the project was stalled by litigation brought by neighborhood groups opposed to the height. The neighborhood group is planning to appeal the decision. The City Council first approved the store in 2010, but Target withdrew its application and agreed to more extensive review after some critics challenged the project. The project was approved again in 2012 but was sued by two groups. The State Lands Commission voted 3-0 to set up a program to accept donations from the public, government agencies, non-profit groups, and others that could be used to purchase a route through billionaire Vinod Khosla’s land on Martins Beac h in San Mateo County. The state agency may use its power of eminent domain to require Khosla to sell the easement, or public right-of-way, over a path from Highway 1 to the beach. A 2016 appraisal by the agency valued the 6.4 acres of Martins Beach Road at $360,000 but Khosla has said he would only sell for $30 million, nearly as much as he paid for the entire 89 acre property. The U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to take up the high-profile case that has come to define whether wealth residents in California can limit the public from the shoreline. The California Coastal Commission approved a modified version of the original Downtown Specific Plan for the city of Manhattan Beach . The agency had 27 amendments, which ranged from allowing short-term rentals in residential, commercial, and mixed-use zones to removing plants from a suggested plant palette. The City Council then had one meeting to discuss the alterations before the Coastal Commission hearing and submit a response. City Council now has the option to either approve the Coastal Commission’s amendments or reject them. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The California Apartment Association reports that the state is at least 1 million housing units short of what is needed to meet current demand. The group said they are concerned about rent control as it will only shrink the supply of available housing. New analysis from Zillow found that residents in LA and Orange counties would have to put aside nearly 47 percent of their income (earning close to the area’s median income) to afford rental payments for a median-priced home or apartment. This was the highest amount among all 35 metro areas studied. Between 1985 and 2000, a typical rental would have required about 36 of a middle-earning resident’s salary. Lower-income residents (Zillow defines as those in the bottom third of LA earners) would need to spend about 121 percent of their income to afford a typical rental. Housing advocates are demanding Caltrain withdraw from exclusive negotiations with developer Sares Regis to build housing on Caltrain-owned land at the Hayward Park Station. Caltrain has been negotiating with the developer for years about a TOD project, which would include removing underused parking and build 189 units. Housing advocates argue that the amount is not enough and Caltrain is violating the Surplus Land Act by only negotiating with one developer. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced the city is pledging to spend $100 million on affordable housing orders from a proposed modular building factory in the coming years. The first phase of an economic feasibility study is currently underway for a proposed factory to be built on industrial land overseen by the Port of San Francisco. The second phase would involve developing a business plan for the factory, which could start operation within a few years. Housing and Community Development announced a request for proposal for a Technical Assistance Consultant to “aid local governments with streamlining their planning and permitting activities, facilitating housing supply.” SB 2 signed by Governor Brown in 2017 directs the HCD to use 50 percent of first year revenue to establish a program that provides local governments planning grants to help accelerate housing production. The deadline to apply is October 5. Sacramento City Council conducted a public workshop on rent control and eviction policies. After, they proposed an ordinance that would offer new protections to tenants without restricting rent levels. Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he supports temporary rent control in the city. Steinberg said he would support a five percent rent increase cap for three years that would apply to units that are at least 20 years old. The mayor also said he does not want the council to take action on rent control until after the November election. If the repeal of the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act passes it would make it possible for cities to expand rent control policies. According to Rentcafe , Los Angeles’ 90024 (Westwood neighborhood around UCLA) was the third most expensive zip code in the nation. San Francisco’s 94105 was sixth with average rent of $4,666. Manhattan had the eight other slots in the top ten list. Silicon Valley claimed seven spots among the top 50 most expensive areas for renting including Redwood City, Menlo Park, Mountain View, San Mateo, Cupertino and Sunnyvale with apartments between $4,025 and #3,609.

So, the City of Berkeley has shown that it’s possible to poke a hole in SB 35. And it’s a good case to examine in assessing whether Sen. Scott Wiener’s controversial law, passed last year, will help to build more housing or will instead force cities to be more creative in getting around the law.

The housing element is a policy document designed to accommodate growth rather than induce it, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled. In so doing, the court rejected a wide variety of CEQA challenges made by a citizens group against San Francisco’s 2004 and 2009 Housing Elements, which actually overlapped in their adoption.

The City of Berkeley rejected plans for the state’s first residential project proposed under SB 35, a controversial state law which forces city officials to grant special, expedited approval for certain residential projects to alleviate the region’s affordable housing shortage. City officials say the 260-unit and 27,500 square-foot commercial space does not meet the bill’s requirements. A letter to Timothy Burroughs, director of Berkeley’s Department of Planning & Development, said the project would have been built on land designated by the city as a historical landmark and contains an ancient Native American burial ground. Other issues include not reserving enough units for very low-income families and increasing traffic in the area beyond what is allowed by the city’s zoning rules. Meanwhile, Vallco Mall redevelopment in Cupertino under SB 35 passed its first hurdle by approval from Planning Commission. The plan is to build 2,404 housing units, 1.8 million square-feet of office, and 400,000 square-feet of retail. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Oakland Places Vacant Properties Tax on Ballot The Oakland City Council voted, 6-2, to place a measure on the ballot that would tax vacant properties to generate income for new affordable housing.  This tax would be the first in the state on privately-owned vacant properties. The city estimates the tax could raise as much as $10 million annually for homeless services, blight remediation, and to stem illegal dumping. Owners of properties in use fewer than 50 days per year could be taxed as much as $6,000 per parcel annually if two-thirds of voters approve the measure in November. Critics of the tax worry it could disproportionately hurt small landowners and push some to sell their property to investors. Proponents of the tax say it is a creative incentive to transform thousands of vacant lots and buildings into homes businesses while decreasing blight. Study Ranks Global Cities’ Carbon Footprints; Los Angeles Ranks 5th CityCarbonFootprints released a Global Gridded Model of Footprints which estimates the carbon footprints per capita and absolute terms across 189 countries. Nine California cities were included in the model. Los Angeles was ranked second-highest domestically and fifth globally with a footprint of approximately 195 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (Mt CO2) and approximately 15 tons of carbon dioxide (t CO2) per capita. San Jose ranked 8th domestically and 29th globally, with 70 Mt CO2 and 17.5 t CO2 per capita. San Diego ranked 18th within the US and 85th globally. The city had a footprints of 28 Mt CO2 and approximately 15 t CO2 per capita. Sacramento, 113th globally and 24th domestically, had a footprint of approximately 21 Mt CO2 and per capita 14 t CO2. Carlsbad, Oakland, and Fresno were 50, 51, and 52 respectively, domestically. All three had approximately 8 Mt CO2 total. Carslbad had a footprint of 15.5 t CO2 per capita, Oakland was almost 20 t CO2 per capita, and Fresno was 13 t CO2 per capita. Bakersfield was 69th domestically and 455 globally with a footprint of 5 Mt CO2 and 11 Mt CO2 per capita. Palm Springs was the last US city ranked with 4.6 Mt CO2 and 15.4 t CO2 per capita. Denser Development May Come to California’s First BRT Line L.A. Metro released the Orange Line Transit Neighborhood Plans project, which calls for denser development along the Metro Orange Line. The proposal would allow taller buildings along the 18-mile bus line that carries about 30,000 riders each day. The plans don't include specific development projects but instead seek to rezone pieces of industrial land, allowing developers to build higher office towers and multi-family apartment buildings within a half-mile radius of the Orange Line stops in North Hollywood, Van Nuys, and Sepulveda.  The plan is partially funded through Metro grants and is intended to turn areas along the Metro Orange Line into TOD districts where residents can cycle, walk, or take the bus to work. Some community organizers are concerned with the displacement that comes with densification. The plan is inspired by SB 374 which requires city planning agencies to create Substantial Communities Strategies and cut greenhouse gas emissions by developing land around transportation hubs. Los Angeles Displays Nation’s Worst Heat Island Effect IoT firm Geotab studied 20 of the most populous cities in the United States and found Los Angeles has the biggest variance among all American cities. “ Heat in the City ” defines “variance” as the difference between temperatures in different locations within city limits at a given time. The study, which uses readings taken at 12pm Jne 21, 2017, found that Los Angeles’ temperature varies by 37 degrees Fahrenheit. Phoenix has the hottest average temperature in the United States, with an average temperature of 111 degrees Fahrenheit. The study cites the “heat island effect,” caused by pavement, buildings, and shortage of trees. The research shows that heat mitigation efforts like smart surfaces need to be done on a hyperlocal level as circumstances are so different across jurisdictions. The temperature maps were created using data recorded by Geotab GO sensors and show the value of mapping tools and data collection in cities. The research firm’s goal is to promise to “improve city-wide efficiency, discover key infrastructure challenges and guide deployment of automated solutions for issues such as congestion, parking and poor road conditions. Quick Hits & Updates The City of Oakland is preparing to file an antitrust suit with the NFL and the Las Vegas-bound Raiders for millions of dollars in damages. Three outside law firms will handle the litigation and have agreed to cover the up-front costs of the suit in exchange for a cut of potential monetary damages received. However, Coliseum authority board member Ignacio De La Fuenta called the lawsuit ridiculous. The Coliseum authority is currently in negotiations with the Raiders on extending their lease for the next season. Coliseum authority Executive Direcyor Scott McKibben said the Raiders, “made it very clear to me that (if) the City decided to file a lawsuit they would not seek a lease extension to play at the Coliseum but would play elsewhere.” McKibben said he would recommend a path without litigation. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced her ambitious plan to have the city’s buildings be carbon neutral by the year 2050. The new plan also includes halving landfill waste, financing green infrastructure, and transitioning the city to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030. The announcement comes before next week’s Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco hosted by Gov. Jerry Brown. Sacramento State Downtown , a multipurpose hub that will host research, special events, classes, and other programming had its grand opening recently. Near the Capitol, the university’s newly established location at 304 S St. is an effort to cement “Sacramento State as California’s capital university.” University President Robert S. Nelsen has deemed the opening of the downtown venue as a signal of the school’s status as an anchor university focusing on community engagement rather than the ivory tower. Sacramento Regional Transportation cut bus and light rail fares for the first time in its nearly 50-year history. The agency will drop the base fare from $2.75 per ride to $2.50 and reduce monthly passes from $110 to $100. The reductions will bring fares back to what they were in 2016 before the agency raised rates to among the highest in the country. The agency board also agreed to bring back 25-cent transfers which RT stopped allowing in 2009. The agency will dip into its reserve account to compensate for about $600,000 in lost revenue, but believes the reduction could boost ridership by about 350,000 boardings annually. Central Coast environmental watchdog group Los Padres ForestWatch released a new map that shows areas in San Luis Obispo County that the BLM could open for fracking . The interactive map shows 273,000 acres of federal land and mineral holdings in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. The BLM is required to evaluate the environmental impacts of fracking on this land as part of a settlement reached after a 2015 lawsuit. San Luis Obispo County voters will consider a ballot measure banning new fracking in the region, but that would not apply to federally owned land. The City of San Diego’s Ethics Commission fined Phil Rath, board chair of Civic San Diego , $11,000 for his failure to disclose his financial relationship with a developer that won a competition to build a $47 million project and $5.8 million loan from city affordable housing funds. Rath also failed to recuse himself from two votes related to the project and had received $100,000 from the developer 10 months earlier. The  Strategic Growth Council has announced Nicole Capretz, Executive Director of San Diego’s Climate Action Campaign, as the newest member of the Council. Capretz was appointed by California Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins and replaces Dr. Manuel Pastor as one of the groups public members. (See prior CP&DR coverage .)

The on-again, off-again multistory Target in Hollywood is on again, thanks to an appellate court ruling that can best be described as “CEQA-inside-out”.

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia announced a plan to develop the entire waterfront south of Ocean Boulevard, an area that was not included in the city’s Downtown Plan. Garcia said a specific focus will be developing the “ elephant lot ” which is currently used for parking just east of the Long Beach Convention Center. It is the biggest parcel of undeveloped land in the city. Another announcement was that a new project will claim the tallest building in Long Beach with between 40 and 43 stories and 694 residential units. The tower is planned for the land at 600 West Broadway behind One World Trade Center. Other large projects downtown include the Shoreline Gateway project, a 35-story tower, and 3rd + Pacific, a mixed-use 23 story tower iwht 366 residential units. The total construction boom includes 5,000 new residential units, of which 800 would be affordable housing. Mayor Garcia said, “The Long Beach skyline is going to look very different five years from now”. Tejon Ranch Ranch Wins Support from L.A. County Planning Commission The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission voted 4-1, to recommend the county Board of Supervisors certify the Centennial development’s EIR and approve associated land-use plans and permits. The project is a 19,000-home community on Tejon Ranch. Centennial development was first proposed by landowner Tejon Ranch Co. in 1999 and has been controversial since then. Environmental advocates say the project would destroy one of the last native grasslands in the state and disrupt the habitat of many animals that inhabit the ranch. They also say development in such a remote part of LA County would considerably increase vehicle travel and GHG emissions. However, project supporters say it is consistent with the Antelope Valley Area Plan and would bring services and homes to northern LA County. The project will now go to the Board of Supervisors for final consideration. Two public meetings will take place; the first is likely late 2018 or early 2019. San Francisco Mayor Announces Effort to Streamline Approvals   San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced an executive order designed to dramatically accelerate the city’s process for assessing and approving accessory dwelling units by clearing the backlog of 900 housing units stuck in the approval pipeline. Breed noted that various city departments offer conflicting interpretations of the same building codes when reviewing applications. Breed is instructing her departments to clear the 900-unit backlog within a half year. The order will give the city a four-month timeline for approving code-compliant applications. Additionally, the Fire Department and the Department of Building Inspection will be creating a checklist for property owners to follow that is intended to provide clear and consistent guidance about what they’ll need to do to get their units approved. According to the mayor’s office, the city has approved 377 ADUs sine 2014 of which nearly 92 percent were build in rent-controlled dwellings. Laguna Beach Sues Orange County over Great Park Development The City of Laguna Beach has filed a lawsuit against the County of Orange and the Lowe Enterprise Real Estate Group claiming a proposed hotel, homes, retail space, and office on a proposed 108-acre development that is part of the Irvine Great Park would bring “a significant portion of its traffic” to the city. The complaint was filed early August in Orange County Superior Court against the El Toro Development Plan, which is allegedly inconsistent with the county’s general plan. According to the claim, the general plan calls for land development on the former Marine Corps Airbase El Toro to be restricted to park, recreational, cultural or public-use activities. These restrictions were placed on the 47,000-acre site after plans for the voters did not approve an international airport in 2002. The Irvine parcel was approved, 4-1, for development by the Board of Supervisors in November 2017. Quick Hits & Updates  For the second year, LA is hosting the LA New Mobility Challenge 2018, a joint initiative of LA CoMotion, the NewCities Foundation, and the LA Cleantech Incubator (LACI). The goal is to invite innovative and environmentally-friendly entrepreneurs from around the world to push the envelope on urban mobility solutions from ride-sharing and zero-emission electric bikes and scooters to self-driving vehicles and flying cars. The first edition of the Challenge attracted some 234 early-stage companies from 16 countries. The six focus area of the Challenge are shared mobility solutions, personal mobility, electrification, autonomous vehicles solutions, smart infrastructure, and urban air mobility. To compete, the startups must be less than five years old, revenues of up to $5 million, and have a product at least in pilot, beta or prototype stages. Two environmental groups and four residents have filed lawsuits against a settlement reached amid an eight-year legal battle between the City of Richmond and casino developers over the Point Molate peninsula. The groups allege the settlement violates California’s Ralph M. Brown Act, which sets guidelines to provide public access to meetings of local government agencies. The settlement reached between the developers and the city allows a part of the land to be sold for development and the profits to be split 50-50. Executive director for Citizens for East Shore Parks said in an interview, “At a minimum, the terms of the agreement should have been made public and there should have been public input on whether or not this is a good thing. There should have been a discussion like a normal city council would do.” Iconic Horton Plaza in San Diego has officially been sold to real estate investment firm Stockdale Capital Partners who plans to turn the 900,000 square-foot shopping mall property into an ultra-modern office campus geared toward top tech firms. Horton Plaza opened in 1985 with a Disneyland-meets-Italian-hills vibe but 30 years later many of the mall’s storefronts have been abandoned. Stockdale anticipates two years of construction with tenants by end of 2020. The result could end up as many as 4,000 high-paying jobs and an estimated $1.8 billion in annual economic impact. Bjarke Ingles Group (BIG) has been hired to lead design for a new ballpark for the Oakland A’s stadium at Howard Terminal. The City of Oakland is buying out Alameda County’s stake in the jointly-owned Coliseum site. This will give the city control over the public amenity to pass on the costs of redeveloping the site to developers. BIG will work together with Gensler and James Corner Field Operations to craft the new ballpark and surrounding areas. UC Merced along with its public-private partnership development team, Plenary Properties Merced, have recently celebrated the opening of two new housing structures, a 600-seat multipurpose dining facility, and new classrooms. This is the first phase of Merced 2020, a four-year expansion project which will add approximately 1.2 million gross square-feet of teaching, research, residential, and student-support facilities to the existing campus. The buildings include energy-efficient design and systems that surpass the current Title 24 requirements by 33 percent, and will utilize 40 percent less water for indoor uses than the national standard.

CP&DR Vol. 33 No. 8 August 2018

Four companies linked to the Seeno family of homebuilders are suing the US Navy for allegedly violating NEPA by issuing an insufficient environmental review for nearly 5,000 acres of land in Concord. The four companies once competed for the chance to redevelop the former Concord Naval Weapons Station and are suing the Navy to halt it from transferring the property to the city. The environmental review authorized plans from developer Five Point Holdings, spinoff of Lennar Corp, that could add up to 12,272 residential units and 6.1 million square-foot of commercial space on the former base. The lawsuit accuses the Navy of underestimating and ignoring the full impacts of the proposed redevelopment on local traffic, air quality and public health. The City of Concord’s direct of reuse planning, Guy Bjerke, said the lawsuit may slow down the Navy’s property transfer but the city will continue planning for the project. The proposed project will cost $6.3 billion to build out over a few decades and ultimately generate nearly 19,000 jobs. Cities Approach Agreement over Contentious Inland Empire Tract The Inland Empire cities of Diamond Bar, Chino Hills, and Industry are negotiating a partnership that would give each city partial control over the 2,500-acre Tres Hermanos Ranch , one of the largest swaths of open space left in the area. Last month, Diamond Bar and Chino Hills agreed to freeze their lawsuits against the City of Industry for 90 days to give the parties time to negotiate. The land is owned by Industry but situated within Diamond Bar's and Chino Hills’ jurisdiction. Tres Hermanos has avoided development and is still used for grazing cattle. Industry unveiled plans to develop a solar farm on the land, which sparked objections. The solar farm idea is now dead due to reaching mutually beneficial agreements. FEMA Agrees to Shrink Newport Beach Flood Zone The City of Newport Beach has persuaded the Federal Emergency Management Agency to exclude about 2,700 properties in the coastal part of the city from updated flood maps. This means owners in parts of Balboa Peninsula, Balboa Island, and West Newport won’t need flood insurance, which can save up to about $3,700 each or $10 million combined each year in premiums. City staff has worked for two years to show FEMA that municipal infrastructure such as seawalls and san berms on the beach protected more of the waterfront and adjacent neighborhoods than the federal agency models predicted. In 2016, FEMA added more than 3,000 Newport Beach properties to the expanded flood zone maps. The revised flood maps will become permanent in early 2019, and the city will waive its $99 fee for related mortgage holder forms for a year after the map goes into effect. L.A. Controller Identifies Dubious Benefits for $1 Billion in Tax Breaks Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin said city officials have signed off on about $1 billion in taxpayer assistance for hotels and other development since 2005, yet they lack a rigorous process for finding out whether the money was well spent. In a 29-page report, Galperin said the Mayor and City Council should receive yearly reports that examine whether the multimillion-dollar financial aid packages are providing benefits for the public. For instance policymakers need to know whether the numbers used to determine a real estate project’s “financial gap” turned out to be accurate. Real estate developers are able to retain a portion of the tax revenue that their projects generate, money that would otherwise flow to the city’s budget. The report recommends city leader improve their negotiating advantage by hiring people with experience in real estate transactions to examine subsidy requests. Bay Area Solicits Ideas for ‘Transformative Projects’ to Improve Mobility MTC and ABAG have announced the Horizon initiative’s request for project ideas. Individuals, community groups, nonprofits, and private companies can present ideas for redefining the way to travel in and around the Bay Area. The Request for Transformative Projects is focused on major investments that were not previously assessed in Plan Bay Area 2040. Five to ten innovative ideas will be selected for full evaluation by MTC and ABAG. The proposals are encouraged to be transit or roadway projects that improve capacity, frequency or coverage; have a lifecycle cost exceeding $1 billion; and were not evaluated in Plan Bay Area 2040. The projects can make existing transportation infrastructure more resilient to rising sea levels or seismic hazards or be operational strategies with transformative regional impacts such as all-lane tolling or transit fare simplification. All projects must be submitted by Sept. 6. Quick Hits & Updates Placer County Superior Court Judge Michael W. Jones rules the EIR for Squaw Valley ’s major redevelopment project adequately examined the regional and environmental impacts including traffic, greenhouse gases, noise, water, and emergency evacuations. The project was originally submitted in 2012, involves up to 850 room hotel, condominium and residential units, and a 90,000 square-foot indoor adventure center. The Sierra Club has said, “Obviously, we respectfully disagree and we are preparing to take our case to the California Court of Appeals.” (See prior CP&DR coverage .) San Diego State University announced a plan to redirect Murphy Canyon Creek’s flow as part of its SDSU Mission Valley redevelopment plan. Mission Valley is currently a floodplain. The proposal would divert the creek, which converges with the river near the stadium, to a more winding course with less potential for flooding. Builders would also raise the proposed project and its adjoining neighborhood above the floodplain using crushed concrete recycled form the old stadium. Representatives of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Healthy Housing Foundation, and the Coalition to Preserve LA announced a lawsuit to halt the pending demolition of Los Angeles’ defunct former police headquarters, Parker Center. The 300,000 square-foot International Style complex is proposed to be converted into a 700-bed temporary housing shelter. Last year, community opposition took off to save the tower by petitioning it to be considered for Historic-Cultural Landmark status. LA City Council voted in favor of destroying the structure instead and making space for a new office tower. A new lawsuit has been filed against the proposed Los Angeles Clippers arena in Inglewood, this one claiming a pair of city-related boards violated state laws related to open meetings and CEQA. The lawsuit was filed earlier this month in LA County Superior Court by law firm Chatten-Brown & Carstens, representing Inglewood Residents Against Takings and Evictions. The Successor Agency to the Inglewood Redevelopment Agency and the Oversight Board to the Successor Agency to the Inglewood Redevelopment agency violated the Brown Act by failing “to inform the public that the parcels being transferred are specifically designated… in the for construction of the arena project” before their meetings in June. US HUD filed a formal complaint against Facebook accusing the social network company of allowing housing discrimination on its platform. The agency claims Facebook allows landlords and home sellers to hide housing ads from people based on their race, color, religion, sex, familiar status, national origin, disability, and zip code. Anna María Farías, HUD’s assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity, wrote in a news release “The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination including those who might limit or deny housing options with a click of a mouse. When Facebook uses the vast amount of personal data it collects to help advertisers to discriminate, it's the same as slamming the door in someone’s face.” A company representative said Facebook will respond to the complaint in court and will continue working with HUD to address the concerns. The Executive Director of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness , Matthew Doherty, paid a visit to San Francisco and had a first meeting with Mayor London Breed. San Francisco received $9 million more this year in homeless grants than it did last year. The San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Services Director Jeff Kositsky also was part of the meetings and declared himself “very happy”. Doherty said he was “impressed” with the city’ efforts. Doherty has held the position during both the Obama and Trump administrations and seen the city’s homeless population flat at about 7,500 while most other city’s have had escalating street counts. LA Metro sent a Request for Information to Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies (ARTT) asking for a more detailed proposal for an aerial tram between LA Union Station and Dodger Stadium. The RFI is a confidential document that includes technical, operational, business-related, and legal questions that Metro would like to see addressed. Castro Station , an 115,000 square-foot office complex adjacent to Mountain View’s Caltrain station has been purchased for almost $180 million. The office complex consists of three buildings and is a quick walk from downtown, transportation, and other amenities. The seller was affiliated with Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association and the new purchaser is affiliated of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, according to county documents. The Coastal Commission voted to tear down a seawall protecting an oceanfront home in Laguna Beach. Previous owners received a retroactive approval for the previously unpermitted seawall under the condition that the seawall would be removed if there were new development on the site. The current owners remodeled and increased the value of the home from $14 to $25 million, without removing the unpermitted seawall. The attorney for the homeowners argued the work qualified as “repair and maintenance” and so did not require a commission permit. All 11 commissioners were unanimous in agreement that the extent of the work required a permit, and doubled the staff recommended fine amount to $1 million.

Back when I used to teach California land-use planning classes all the time, I usually chuckled when I got to the section where I had to cover the Regional Housing Needs Assessment and Housing Elements. The whole system, I used to say, was just strong enough to be annoying and just weak enough to be useless. That’s not quite the case anymore, but the value of the whole system is still debatable. In fact, in the brand-new edition of Guide to California Planning , which was published earlier this month (shameless plug, I know), Paul Shigley and I stil declare: “It is very difficult to show that a good housing element will lead to more housing – especially more affordable housing – being built in a community.” Housing element advocates may disagree with me, but it’s worth noting that there appears to be no relationship between housing element compliance and housing construction in the state. Nevertheless, whenever policy wonks start noodling about how to solve California’s housing crisis, they understandably turn to the RHNA process and the Housing Element. It’s a cumbersome and often ineffective process, but it’s the closest thing that the state has to a housing production policy. If you’re going to turn California housing policy into an effective tool for housing production, this is probably where you start. That’s why two bills pending in the legislation – bills that appear likely to go to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk by the end of the week – are worth looking at. They’ve both changed and been watered down, but they at least begin to tackle some of the underlying structural issues having to do with Housing Elements. Of the two, the easier one to understand – and the one likely to have the most direct impact on the Housing Element process – is Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB 828 . This is the bill that originally required local governments to plan in their Housing Element for 200% of their RHNA housing allocation. It was the companion bill to SB 827 – the notorious local-override bill that got shot down in committee. 828 has got more legs than 827, but it has been watered down. Wiener played around with 150% of RHNA, then 125%. The current version has no percentage of RHNA allocation in it. But it still has language that the Department of Housing & Community Development could use to begin attacking some of the structural and methodological barriers to higher housing targets. As it’s currently written, the bill directs HCD “to address the historic underproduction of housing by completing a comprehensive assessment on unmet need for each region and including the results of the assessment in regional allocations for the next housing element cycle” and then work that unmet need into its methodology. That’s a big deal. One of the criticisms of the RHNA process is that it doesn’t take into account the current housing shortage – estimated by some as being around 2 million units -- and Wiener’s bill would at least give HCD room to begin to tackle that problem. It won’t take long for huge controversies over methodology to erupt. Then there is Assemblymember Richard Bloom’s AB 1771 . This is a more complicated bill, but it still holds the potential to be a game-changer. Bloom’s primary focus is on jobs-housing balance and housing opportunities for low-wage workers – not surprising considering that he’s from Santa Monica. But the bill also contains several methodological requirements that will make things tougher for councils of governments and local governments. For example, it requires councils of governments to consult with HCD on the RHNA methodology, not the RHNA allocation plan, which is a later step. And it gives HCD a little more power in its review of the methodology. And if you think this is just back-and-forth process among the locals, the COGs, and HCD, think about the fact that HCD is getting more aggressive in its housing element enforcement. Last year, the legislature gave HCD the clear power to review housing element compliance at any time – and the power to revoke that compliance at any time. Then, a couple of weeks ago, HCD Director Ben Metcalf sent a pretty clear message by releasing a video documenting HCD’s stepped-up enforcement efforts under the new law. Among the highlights: 53 jurisdictions are out of compliance. But … HCD sent out almost 90 warning letter this year. Message received: HCD is getting tougher on enforcement. And the state is going to get tougher on methodology – which is likely to lead to higher RHNA numbers. Now we’ll see whether all that results in more housing.

The election of Donald Trump incited near-panic among city officials nationwide on the assumption that, in appealing to his conservative and largely rural voter base, his administration would show little love for urban America. That goes double for California, which has been a repeated subject of Trump’s derision. But, the federal Opportunity Zone program promises, according to supporters, to direct tens — and possibly hundreds — of billions of dollars of private investment capital into some of the nation’s most needy communities, including over 800 Census tracts in California. Unlike relatively small-scale and heavily regulated programs like Enterprise Zones, Opportunity Zones essentially administer themselves. Passed as part of the 2017 tax bill, the program confers tax benefits on investors by deferring capital gains taxes on proceeds from prior investments that are put into either real estate or businesses located within Opportunity Zones. They do so by investing in a Qualified Opportunity Fund. Funds can be broad-based or can be single-purpose entities. The Opportunity Zone program allows investors to contribute the entirety of a liquidated prior investment — not just the gains themselves — into an Opportunity Fund. And, while the program is defined geographically, investors need not have any connection to the places where they invest. It could amount to an enormous windfall of investment in distressed communities. Early reviews are startlingly positive compared to those for other economic development strategies. “The Opportunity Zone program has potential to be the greatest economic development tool in the last century,” said Christopher Coes, vice president of Real Estate Policy and External Affairs at Smart Growth America. He estimates that between $3 trillion and $6 trillion worth of capital could be eligible for the program. “Even if we can get $1 trillion or half-trillion….that would be larger than any public program ever created,” said Coes. The U.S. Treasury has certified about 8,700 Opportunity Zones nationwide covering roughly 12 percent of the nation’s Census tracts and nearly 35 million residents. Based on data from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey, the designated tracts had an average poverty rate of over 32 percent, compared with a rate of 17 percent for the average U.S. census tract.