CP&DR Vol. 34 No. 3 March 2019

As part of a possible push to restructure the state’s Active Transportation Plan (ATP) budget, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released the first comprehensive review of the ATP since its inception in 2013. The ATP, established and administered by the California Transportation Commission and the California Department of Transportation, provides $220 million of funding to infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects to increase citizen walking and biking statewide. First, the review explains that it’s impossible to accurately track the ATP’s progress on its goal: the state lacks sufficient data collection to assess the success of ATP programs. Additionally, the LAO raises questions about the kinds of projects the ATP funds. The review notes that most current funding supports similar types of infrastructure projects: such as sidewalks, bike lanes, and crossing signals. The LAO points out that the plan’s original inception was to support larger, more transformational projects beyond infrastructure updates – and recommends that the ATP reallocate future funding accordingly. San Francisco Considers Overhaul of Civic Center  The San Francisco Planning Center proposed a sweeping redesign of the Civic Center, in what could become its biggest project since last year's Transbay Transit Terminal. The planned update, helmed by CMG Landscape Architecture, will revamp three areas: Civic Center Plaza, United Nations, Plaza, and the Fulton Street block that connects them. For decades, these public spaces surrounding City Hall have been beleaguered by high vehicular traffic, vandalism, and crime. Proposed changes include a permanent Fulton Street block closure, new lawns, and a revamp of the controversial, poorly-maintained, and currently waterless 1973 United Nations Plaza fountain – which has since informally become a public toilet. One highlight of the plan is the proposed “Fulton Mall”: a series of lawn terraces between the Main Library and Asian Art Museum framed by benches, gardens, pavilions, and new bathrooms. Further improvements incorporate a dog park, fitness park, youth soccer lawns, and artwork into the area. The redesign also aims to reduce congestion with a possible traffic lane reduction. However, any proposed street changes require approval pending from city traffic and design analysis.The plan still needs community input, political and monetary support, and a two-year environmental review before it can commence.  1.4 Million Affordable Units Needed Statewide  Two years after California passed legislation to expedite affordable housing construction, the California Housing Partnership (CHP) found that the state is leaving renters far behind. CHP’s report found that the state needs 1.4 million rental homes to fill its current demand, and that it currently spends 14 times more on homeowners than renters, in the form of mortgage tax deductions and other tax breaks. For low-income families, rental costs impinge on basic living expenses: CHP calculated that of more than two million very low-income renter households in California, roughly two-thirds spend more than half their income on rent. Yet the report also found that low-income housing development funded by the statewide tax credit has declined by 23 percent since 2016. CHP blames the federal tax reform for this decline. The report recommends that the state give more $1 billion annually to cities and counties to build housing, and to offer more tax breaks to renters. The California Housing Partnership is a nonprofit comprised of charitable organizations, including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Wells Fargo Foundation. Low-Income Californians Suffer from Poor Air Quality A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists published has found that vehicular air pollution  disproportionately affects Californians of color and low-income communities. The study quantified and compared the exposure of racial and economic demographics to particulate matter from on-road sources. It found that Latino, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and low-income communities are exposed to substantially more air pollution. Notably, it found that African American Californians are exposed to pollution that is 43 percent higher than that for white Californians, and Latinos are exposed to 39 percent higher pollution levels than whites. Additionally, it found that the lowest-income households in the state live where pollution is 10 percent higher than the state average, while the highest-income households live where pollution is 13 percent below the state average. The report outlines steps that the state can take to reduce this disproportionate pollution impact. These include more efficient conventional vehicles, incentivizing decreased driving, and targeted actions to reduce emissions in low-income communities and communities of color––like clean vehicle incentive programs for lower-income households. Rent Control Resurfaces in Legislature  Following last year's failed ballot for statewide rent control, Democratic lawmakers proposed a rental housing legislation package to increase tenant protections. The legislation includes Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco)’s AB 1482, a measure to cap rent increases statewide. Additionally, Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) AB 36 expands rent control: allowing local governments to apply rent control to single-family homes and 10-year-old construction. In 2018, California voters rejected a measure to repeal limitations on rent control. Still, California renter vulnerability continues: according to a UC Berkeley study, 9.5 million tenants spend at least a third of their income on rent. This latest rent control legislation package is the first proposed response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s call in his February State of the State address: “Here is my promise to you: Get me a good package on rent stability this year and I will sign it." Quick Hits & Updates  Following a week of six serious traffic collisions, San Francisco Mayor London Breed demanded that three city agencies create policies to accelerate safety projects and increase traffic law enforcement. Breed directed the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency to expedite the installation of measures like safety posts and temporary sidewalks, ordered the Police Department to crack down on speeders, and asked the Public Utilities Commission to add staff to the city’s “Vision Zero” goal of eliminating traffic fatalities by 2024. A Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled that the City of Santa Barbara must resume allowing vacation rentals in coastal zones. The ruling claimed that the city’s 2015 ban of short-term vacation rentals was illegal and in violation of the California Coastal Act, which requires that the public must have affordable accommodations within and access to coastal zone. Cal State University Dominguez Hills is pursuing a new master plan for its Carson campus in efforts to double its full-time equivalent student population to 20,000 by 2035. The proposed plan will add 1.28 million square feet of new development to the 346-acre campus. This includes housing for up to 988 student housing beds, 2,149 market-rate housing units, 100,000 square feet of retail space, and 720,000 square feet of office space. Pending San Jose City Council approval, Silicon Valley will conduct an international design competition for a universally-recognizable area landmark. The San Jose Light Tower Corporation has raised $1 million so far toward the competition, and expect tens of millions more in funds. Proposed projects will face review by Light Tower’s board, and the winning idea could be erected as early as 2021. Developers revised a proposed San Jose urban village plan to create a more pedestrian-friendly, nature-oriented complex. Plans to develop 22.6 acres of agriculture and open space include one million square feet of offices, 2,000 homes, 320,000 square feet of retail, an amphitheater, and a 150-room hotel. The updated plans scale back both home and retail square footage, and include five acres of open space area.  Two developments signal Bakersfield’s reluctance to support the downsized High-Speed Rail Project: the Kern County board of supervisors approved a resolution, 4-1, to completely abandon the project, and Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) introduced legislation to repurpose the funds to water infrastructure projects. McCarthy’s proposal, dubbed the Repurposing Assets to Increase Long-Term Water Availability and Yield (RAILWAY), would repurpose up to $3.5 billion toward water storage statewide. The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) proposed temporary train service from Los Angeles to Indio County to carry hundreds of thousands of festival goers on special Amtrak trains. The $8.6 million project, which has received a $5.9 million grant from the California State Transportation Agency, attempts to solve the extreme traffic problems in and around Indio County during the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals. The temporary train could arrive as early as 2020.  The San Jose City Council will consider a unique “offset fund” solution to gain support to build taller buildings near the San Jose International Airport. Raising height caps downtown will require the alteration of flight paths and, therefore, cut into airline revenue, forcing a reduction in plane cargo and passenger load to avoid tall buildings. To offset these losses, the city proposed a fund of up to $1.5 million raised by airline stakeholders and property developers, to which qualifying airlines could submit claims. In the wake of California’s biggest wildfire year in state history, the San Diego County board of supervisors is asking for measures to strengthen the county’s wildfire-prevention program.Their goals include initiatives to improve vegetation management, expand the network of fire safe councils, upgrade emergency planning technologies, and create stricter building codes for fire-resistant materials and ventilation.  The Environmental Protection Agency ruled that property in  Redwood City  owned by Cargill Salt is not bound by the federal Clean Water Act, potentially greenlighting future development or sale to the government. In 2009, Cargill Salt and Arizona developer CMG Associates proposed building 12,000 homes on the San Francisco Bay-side area, but withdrew the project amid opposition from environmentalists. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Oakland city officials reported that though they’re set to exceed their goal to build 17,000 new homes by 2024, they’re lagging far behind their low-income housing targets. When Mayor Libby Scharff set the targets three years ago, she pledged that 28 percent of new units developed would accommodate low-income families – but so far, only 7 percent of building permits issued include low-income unit allocations. As the Salton Sea dries and recedes, the California Resources Agency is working to keep dust particles from the exposed floor out of the air. This dust, once airborne, represents a potential public health crisis: not only does floating particulate matter increase asthma rates, but this matter likely contains toxic substances from the long-polluted Sea. The agency plans to dig trenches to slow winds that disturb and carry lake dust. (See prior CP&DR coverage .)  Voting on Sacramento's “ Waterfront Idea Makers ” redesign competition has officially opened to the public. In January, the city invited five professional design teams and the public to submit concepts that reimagine the “Old Sacramento” riverside stretch. Proposals include concepts such as art installations, transportation projects, and public space redesign.  The Caltrain board of directors approved a proposal to sell Caltrain station naming rights. The approval, which will likely offer branding opportunities to local Silicon Valley players, comes in response to Caltrain funding challenges as the rail system expands. The Ventura County board of supervisors narrowly passed a measure to establish wildlife corridors, marking the most comprehensive effort in the state yet to protect common paths for local roaming animals. The measure requires reductions of nighttime outdoor lighting, curtails development, restricts fencing, and protects native vegetation around designated wildlife corridor areas in unincorporated areas throughout the county.  LA Metro’s Board of Directors unanimously approved an increased budget for the third and final segment of the Purple Line extension, bringing the total cost of the 2.6-mile rail segment from less than $1.4 million to $3.2 billion. Metro predicts the line will produce 75,000 daily trips to Westwood by 2026.

Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) has amended Senate Bill 50 , his sweeping statewide transit oriented housing bill. The bill, named the “More Homes Act," proposes major changes in zoning laws to allow for greater density near transit hubs. One amendment expands those rezoning laws to include ferries: any development within a quarter or one-half miles of ferry lines and ports will also be rezoned.  The bill also defines the key term “jobs-rich areas” as areas that “would allow people to live close to where they work, or new housing developed in this area would help to reduce vehicle miles traveled”. Another key amendment sets minimum inclusionary requirements for low-income housing near transit hubs, at 15 to 25 percent “depending on the size of the project.” This amendment help SB-50 avoid the fate of last year’s failed SB 827, which critics claimed didn’t do enough to create affordable housing. Finally, the amendment extends displacement protection to mobile home residents. Many localities remain wary of SB 50 and fear worst-case scenarios.  A recent estimate from the Embarcadero Institute, the population of Palo Alto could nearly triple in size if fully built-out according to SB 50 regulations. Supporters of SB 50 dispute this finding as extreme.  Study Predicts “Massive" Damage from Sea Level Rise  A U.S. Geological Survey assessment found that even a modest rise in sea levels could lead to more catastrophic damage than the worst earthquakes and wildfires in California state history. The study is the first to combine sea level rise and storm data. It finds that this combination produces greater magnitudes of wave action, cliff erosion, and other devastating environmental outcomes than previously estimated. Responding in part to recent UCLA research showing that California storms are increasing in frequency and severity, the study finds that adding 100-year storm data to a modest two-meter sea level rise triples the number of people exposed to catastrophic outcomes. This will result in potentially dire consequences: more than half a million Californians and $150 billion in property – equivalent to six percent of the state’s GDP – risk flooding by 2100. Such costs would be on par with Hurricane Katrina. Additionally, sea level rise will increase the impact and damage of all storms. Patrick Barnard, the study’s lead author, warns that storm damage will only increase in severity and frequency over time, and it’s impossible to foresee all consequences. “The effects are far, far greater than these numbers suggest,” he told the Los Angeles Times, “And these numbers are already massive.” Water Agencies Tussle over Colorado River Plan; Salton Sea Restoration at Stake Facing a March 18 federal deadline to agree to terms of the Colorado Drought Contingency Plan, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District wrote the Imperial Irrigation District out of California’s part of the plan. The plan requires an agreement between the seven states that depend on the Colorado River for water, and so far California has failed to sign on. If the states fail to reach an agreement, the federal government will impose its own plan. Metropolitan’s drastic move comes after months of back-and-forth with Imperial, the state’s other massive water agency. Imperial has refused to join the plan without a pledge of $200 million to protect the dying Salton Sea – a pledge that the federal government won’t commit to. Under the update, Metropolitan takes on Imperial’s entire 250,000 acre-feet of water contributions, bringing its new contribution to nearly 2 million acre-feet between 2020 and 2026. According to the terms of the agreement, California isn’t required to provide water unless Lake Mead drops to 1,045 feet – which may never happen. With under a week until the deadline, Metropolitan chose that it’s willing to take that risk. “The more we delay, the harder it is to hold that deal together,” Metropolitan general manager Jeff Kightlinger told the Associated Press.  San Francisco to Take Over Troubled Housing Authority The City and County of San Francisco will take over most of San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) duties, citing a federal government complaint that the agency is mismanaging its housing voucher program. Mayor London Breed announced that SFHA “received noticed from the U.S. Department of Housing and Development (HUD) that SFHA is in default of various agreements and obligations.” This move comes after SFHA’s nearly $30 million 2018 budget deficit which required a bailout from combined federal and city efforts. To explain the deficit, SFHA’s acting director Barbara Smith referenced an “over-utilization of Housing Assistance Payments” and an inability to retain finance staff. The city's takeover comes after years of SFHA budget shortfalls, resulting in a 2013 firing of then-director Henry Alvarez. Earlier this year, SFHA considered, but decided against, doubling the minimum rents of the city’s poorest Section 8 families. HUD’s mandate puts the city directly in charge of rental assistance for the 14,000 units benefiting from the voucher program. Water Shortages May Require Extensive Fallowing in Central Valley The San Joaquin Valley may have to give up a vast tracts of farmland to achieve sustainable water use, according to a new report  "Water and the Future of the San Joaquin Valley"published by the Public Policy Institute of California. The Valley, California’s largest agricultural region and contributor to the nation’s food supply, is a naturally arid region, and recent droughts and growing demand for drinking water in the state have escalated surface water scarcity. Decades of groundwater pumping have escalated problems like groundwater overdraft, drinking water contamination, and declines in habitat and native species. Some areas of the Valley have sunk as much as 28 feet. In 2014, California passed a law to end groundwater overdraft, setting a 20-year goal. For the Valley to achieve this goal, the PPIC report claims that it will need to idle out one out of every ten acres of irrigated farmland, amounting to as many as 780,000 acres. The report proposes alternative uses for the unirrigated land: some could be used for solar panels, some restored to native ecosystems, and some could be zoned for urban development.

Gov. Gavin Newsom will engage cities in a three-year process to revamp the Regional Housing Needs Assessment process – and split $250 million in housing planning money between regional agencies and local governments – according to draft language for a budget trailer bill released by his office last week.

In a bold move to meet the state’s housing and carbon reduction goals, the San Diego City Council approved an ordinance to eliminate parking requirements for new condominium and apartment complexes in neighborhoods near mass transit. The new policy will require developers to “unbundle” the cost of a parking spot from housing, allowing residents without cars to pay less. Further, it sets a maximum of one parking space per unit for new projects downtown. Current city parking requirements – at least one spot per unit – take up valuable space in development plans and impede the construction of more housing units. Furthermore, they increase the costs of building: parking typically elevates a unit’s costs from $35,000 to $90,000. Councilwoman Dr. Jennifer Campbell, the sole “no” vote, argues that the policy is premature for the 95 percent of county residents who own cars because it does not directly provide more housing or accessible mass transit. However, Mayor Kevin Faulconer advocated for the change, according to reporting from the San Diego Union-Tribune: “We need to get government out of the way so constructing homes becomes easier, less expensive and faster.” The ordinance must be approved a second time in the coming weeks. San Bernardino County to Limit Solar and Wind Farms The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors banned the construction of large solar and wind farms on more than one million acres of private land – a move that many see in direct opposition to the state’s aggressive renewable energy requirements. Last year, state lawmakers passed a bill requiring utility companies to get 60 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2030, and 100 percent from climate-friendly sources by 2045. However, large solar and wind farms remain unpopular at the local level. In San Bernardino County, residents have long pressured county officials to prevent renewable energy projects from industrializing their rural communities. In communities like Daggett, Joshua Tree, and Lucerne Valley, residents claim that existing solar projects destroy desert ecosystems, fuel larger dust storms, and create eyesores on scenic desert landscapes. The county's policy prohibits utility-oriented energy projects within the boundaries of unincorporated community plans, and in rural living zones. The county designated several smaller areas where renewable energy projects could be approved, and already-approved solar projects would still be allowed to proceed through the permitting process. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Report: Significant Gap between Housing Goals and Development Capacity Weeks after Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to construct 3.5 million homes by 2025, the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies published a report showing that the state lacks the planned capacity to meet the governor’s target. the Lewis Center's assessment of planned capacity in jurisdictional Housing Element General Plans reveals a wide gap between this goal and construction projections. The report finds that California’s current planned capacity is only 2.8 million new housing units. Furthermore, current planned capacity skews toward low-population rural regions, where demand for housing trends lower. That means that the most in-demand regions are failing to plan for sufficient housing. Finally, the report finds that historically, only a small fraction of planned capacity actually gets constructed. In other words, even planned low-demand units are likely to remain unbuilt. In his February State of the State address, Newsom announced a $750 million incentive package so cities and counties could update housing plans for more zoning – and doubled down on his goal to increase housing in the state sevenfold.  (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Conflict Arises over Proposed Mini-City near Sacramento International Airport Sacramento County approved plans for a massive new housing community in North Natomas near the Sacramento International Airport. The proposed community could potentially house 25,000 residents, and early concepts envision an urban center with five-story buildings and commercial and retail space. However, the site is outside of the county’s existing urban development boundary, and county officials would have to amend the county’s growth plan by extending the boundary west toward the river. Environmentalists object to this extension, saying that it undermines exists habitat conservation agreements and compromises an already flood-prone area. Furthermore, area residents expressed concerns about the project’s impact on noise and traffic from local interstates and highways. As part of the planning process, the county board also agreed that the development group will pay the county $2 million to compensate staff for the planning process – which some residents consider a conflict of interest. Development spokesperson Bob Thomas told the Sacramento Bee that he understands the many hurdles to overcome before receiving a formal approval to build. “This is the first step in a marathon,” he said. SANDAG Releases Details of Revised Spending Plan  Shortly after announcing plans to scrap all existing transportation plans, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) presented a detailed assessment of the reasons the TransNet sales tax has fallen so far short of expected revenue. Voters passed TransNet in 2004 to fund local transportation projects, but it has fallen $9.8 billion short of expectations. In its assessment, SANDAG cited the increasing trend toward internet sales, which have not been subject to the same taxation as storefronts. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that internet purchases are subject to state and local taxes – which will increase future tax revenue. Officials also cite changes in expected population. Initial regional projections estimated 4.4 million residents by mid-century, and current estimates are a more modest 4 million. SANDAG also blames housing: residents spend more of their income on fixed costs like rent and mortgages, and high housing turnover means that they invest less in goods for their homes. Finally, they cite purchasing trends: people buy fewer consumer goods, opting more for services, events, and travel. For many, this assessment is a welcome moment of transparency from SANDAG. In 2017, SANDAG head Gary Gallegos resigned after concealing an internal debate about future money collected from sales tax. Quick Hits & Updates Facebook and the private investment firm Plenary Group are teaming up with a public transit agency to plan a southern connection to connect the East Bay and the Peninsula. Early plans for the bold project, which is estimated to cost around $2 billion, explore the possibility of using the defunct freight corridor of the Dumbarton bridge to connect the Union City BART station and Redwood City Caltrain station. Inglewood City Council adopted an emergency ordinance to temporarily limit rent increases and halt evictions. The measure, which will prevent landlords from raising rent by more than five percent and evicting tenants for any reason other than criminal activity during a 45-day period, is a stop-gap as the city searches for a permanent solution to rapidly rising rents during the construction of a $2.6 billion football stadium and entertainment complex. Several nonprofit homeless advocacy groups sued five Orange County cities and the county for failing to house the homeless. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of three homeless individuals, is the latest in a series of legal battles between advocacy groups and local officials. But officials face pressure from residents: Last year, demonstrations in Irvine prevented the Orange County Board of Supervisors from opening a temporary shelter, and residents of Huntington Beach and Laguna Niel have mounted similar oppositions. The Glendale City Council approved a right-to-lease ordinance that requires landlords to offer existing tenants an additional one-year lease on their apartments rather than a month-to-month agreement. It also requires landlords to pay for relocation costs if they plan to raise the rent by more than 7 percent. This ordinance attempts to mitigate the effects of rent increases for the two-thirds of households in Glendale that are rent-based. However, it disappoints those who hoped for rent control in the region. Architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group released a revised version of the Oakland Athletics ’ proposed stadium at the Howard Terminal site, three weeks after releasing its initial plans for a public-facing, mixed-use “ballpark district” centered around a stadium. The updated plan reconfigures the stadium’s surrounding towers into a more open, “stadium seating” arrangement. The team, which is still purchasing the site from Alameda County, aims to begin construction in 2021 and open the park by 2024. Tia Boatman-Patterson , of Sacramento, has been appointed Senior Advisor on Housing in the Office of Governor Newsom. She will continue to serve as Executive Director of the California Housing Finance Agency, where she has served since 2014.  The City of San Diego launched a new online feedback tool to solicit residents’ suggestions for future housing and commercial projects. The tool comes in response to a city audit finding that San Diego’s 42 neighborhood planning groups lack transparency and fail to attract a cross-section of residents. The tool will first launch in Clairmont. The Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation  Program utilizes Cap-and-Trade proceeds to protect agricultural lands on the outskirts of cities from development. SALC easement applicants interested in submitting an application are required to submit a pre-proposal by  April 17. The final application deadline for all both easement and planning grant applicants is September 13. The San Francisco Transportation Authority board approved a $500,000 study of the effects of congestion pricing downtown. The study will gather data on who drives downtown during rush hour and why. With this move, San Francisco is joining major cities like L.A. and New York in a growing interest in charging drivers in high-traffic areas during rush hour. San Bernardino International Airport and Hillwood Enterprises commenced plans to develop a $200 million air cargo logistics center on a 101-acre lot. The Eastgate Air Cargo Logistics Center will house up to 16 aircraft, and is expected to provide nearly 4,000 jobs and generate millions of dollars in revenue within five years. The city of San Diego and scooter company Bird are facing a lawsuit from a disabled man who suffered injuries after a scooter collision on the Pacific Beach boardwalk. The man, who uses an electric wheelchair, blames Bird for not limiting the speed of its scooters with tools like geofencing and speedometers, and blames the city for not regulating scooter speed with requirements for such tools.

The San Diego Association of Governments will discontinue its TransNet transportation project and draft a new long-term transportation plan from scratch. TransNet, which promised highway and transit projects like the Mid-Coast Trolley Extension, suffered significant delays, ballooning costs, and falling revenue projections since voters approved it in 2004. As recently as a year ago, SANDAG board members insisted that they could deliver all promised projects in TransNet. However, in the recent board meeting where it officially terminated the project, SANDAG announced a $22.1 million gap between revenue and cost expectations for the TransNet project. SANDAG’s new executive director, Hasan Ikhrata, asserted that no current plan would meet the state’s aggressive greenhouse gas goals. However, failing to update their plan means non-compliance with state and federal update requirements, and may jeopardize access to millions in government funds. Supporters of the move welcome Ikhrata’s candidness in the face of a failing project. Steve Vaus, mayor of Poway and SANDAG’s board chair, told the Voice of San Diego, “The good news is that the public is getting an unvarnished truth, and I think that signals a new day at SANDAG.”  Lawsuit Seeks to Undo San Francisco’s South of Market Plan In the latest of lawsuits targeting new land use policies in San Francisco, the Yerba Buena Neighborhood Consortium is challenging the rezoning of San Francisco’s Central South of Market area. Last month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors ended seven years of debate with a rezoning plan in SoMa that would allow for 9,000 more housing units and enough office space for 30,000 workers. The suit claims that the plan’s environmental study didn’t account for the effect of neighborhood changes on public services like police, fire, and recreation. Additionally, the lawsuit argues that the study didn’t analyze the “grave earthquake dangers” of the area, much of which is built on fill. Additional lawsuits may still be filed from groups like the South of Market Community Action Network and Central SoMa Neighbors, which oppose taller denser structures and claim the plan will lead to higher rents and further gentrification. Developer One Vassar LLC also plans to sue, arguing that the plan should require more height and density. Still, even if projects are all approved, Proposition M, which caps yearly new office space approvals, will prevent them from winning entitlements at once. Report Finds Housing Production Shortfalls Statewide A report from Beacon Economics revealed significant disparities between many cities’ housing goals and actual housing production. The report found that, roughly halfway through the current Regional Housing Needs Allocation cycle, only 25.9 percent of proposed units have been created across all income levels statewide. The report also found that many cities fall dramatically short of low-income housing targets. For example, the report estimates that at current rates, cities including Santa Clara, Irvine, and Burbank wouldn't achieve their low-income housing targets until after the year 3000. Furthermore, the report exposes flaws in the current process for determining how much housing a local jurisdiction should create. The report claims, “By relying on past trends in household formation, the current housing needs assessment fails to capture the extent of housing demand in the state.” For instance, all nine jurisdictions that earned the "A-plus rating” for their housing targets had a target that averaged only 0.7 new units per 100 persons. By contrast, cities that earned an F had much more aggressive targets: an average of 3.3 units per 100 persons. Authors of the report warn that based on these findings, even if cities do meet current goals, it won't close the housing gap statewide.   L.A. Metro to Consider Congestion Pricing, Tax on Rideshare Los Angeles Metro ’s board of directors approved a 12-24 month feasibility study of a congestion pricing policy in the area, and will include an investigation of equity issues created by the policy. Additionally, a separate board motion decoupled congestion pricing and ride-hailing revenues from 2028 Olympics project acceleration, instead prioritizing “low-risk” revenue sources, like state and federal money. Metro is also considering studying a tax on Uber and Lyft rides in Los Angeles county as a strategy to manage congestion and fund transportation projects before the 2028 Olympic Games. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority claims that the ride-hailing tech companies don’t pay their fair share to maintain public streets despite their contributions to local congestion. Army Corps Estimates $725 Billion in Damage to Los Angeles from Mega-Flood A catastrophic flood could cause $725 billion of damage across the Los Angeles Basin, warns an analysis published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The analysis responds to the U.S. Geological Survey’s predictions that the region’s risk for a rare mega-storm, or ArkStorm, has increased. The corps, which presented its findings to L.A. County residents, predicts that potential effects from extreme runoff from the San Gabriel Mountains would overwhelm the 60-year-old Whittier Narrows Dam. Corps officials warn that should the dam fail, flooding could extend from Pico Rivera to Long Beach, affecting as many as 1 million people with water as deep as 20 feet. Additionally, a recent study by UC Irvine researchers argued that the risk of dam failure is likely to increase in a warming climate. Citing the risk of significant loss of life and economic impacts, the corps classified the Whittier Dam project as their highest national priority. To prevent such catastrophe, the corps is seeking up to $600 million in federal funding to upgrade the three-mile-long dam, which would require congressional approval.  Quick Hits & Updates  The members of the Strategic Growth Council elected Kate Gordon as its new chair and public member Michael Flat as its vice-chair. Gardon is the newly appointed director of the Office of Planning & Research. She succeeds Ken Alex, the former OPR head, as SGC chair. (See prior C&PDR coverage .) San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is facing criticism for failing to disclose a downtown condominium owned by his wife, resulting in a potential conflict of interest. Liccardo participated in key votes on a controversial Google development under a mile from the condominium. Under California law, public officials must disclose their income, financial interests, properties, and investments, including assets belonging to their spouses. The mayor claims that his failure to disclose the property was an unintentional mistake. San Francisco Mayor London Breed formed a council of city representatives to prepare for the opening of the Golden State Warriors’ new Chase Center arena in Mission Bay. The council convenes more than a dozen departments like the Municipal Transportation Agency, the Fire Department, Public Works, and the Department of Building Inspection. They are collaborating to issue permits, complete inspections, and prepare for an influx in transportation in the area. Los Angeles County officials are seeking to take ownership from the federal government of 40 miles of flood-control channels along the Los Angeles River . This move responds to the Army Corps of Engineers’ concerns that sections of the river have not been maintained due to dwindling federal funds. County officials claim that they can expedite maintenance and water conservation improvements. The City of Long Beach is inviting the Los Angeles Angels to develop a new ballpark on a waterfront site. The Angels opted out of its lease at Angel Stadium in Anaheim last October, and the lease is up after the 2020 season. The city of Long Beach has not determined whether a ballpark would be feasible for the site, or whether taxpayers would contribute to the construction costs, which are currently estimated between $700 million and $1 billion. The U.S. Geological Survey issued a report showing that nearly 200,000 people live, work, or pass through California’s volcanic hazard zones on a daily basis. The report estimates that an eruption has a 16 percent probability in the next 30 years, and would have major statewide impacts by disrupting major electoral transmissions lines, hydro and geothermal power production, and natural gas transportation pipelines. Furthermore, the report shows that California’s drinking water supplies would face severe consequences from a potential eruption. The California High-Speed Rail Authority is preparing a response to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s threat to cancel $929 million in federal grant money for its planned Los Angeles-Bay Area line. The Authority faces a March 5 deadline to respond to the threat, and, despite the federal government’s threat, claims that it remains committed to the rail project.  Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) announced a plans for a $115 million facility expansion. The expansion, dubbed FATforward, will focus on expanding parking and the international terminal. This comes in response to a recent Master Plan Update, which confirmed a 45 percent growth in airport traffic in the past decade. The project, slated to begin in early 2021 and open by the fall of 2022, is expected to generate 1,220 jobs and $182 million in economic activity. Housing and Community Development has posted the final 2018 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Notice of Funding Availability FAQs online. The CDBG NOFA FAQ's were comprised of general questions submitted to the CDBG NOFA Inbox and 2018 CDBG application workshops. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo announced that he is in talks with Elon Musk’s Boring Company about plans for an underground link between the city’s airport and its main transit hub, Diridon Station. The city has long searched for alternative options to a costly traditional rail link, and foresees growing traffic with the advent of Google’s expansive new campus plans near Diridon Station in the coming years. A San Francisco property owner is suing San Francisco in both state and federal court over a ruling that he must build an exact replica of a famed home that formerly occupied the site. The Department of Building Inspection ruled in December that owner Ross Johnston illegally demolished the historic 1935 home of modernist Richard Neutra, and the City Planning Commission unanimously turned down his application to build a 4,000-foot home in its place.  Joint Venture Silicon Valley's annual economic survey shows an increase in traffic, real estate development, and salaries in the south San Francisco Bay and Peninsula areas. Notably, the survey found that commute times have increased by more than 20 percent over the past ten years. Additionally, median home increased by $330,000 to $1.2 million. More positively, the median household income reached an all-time high, growing by 5 percent last year to $118,400 annually. According to an analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle, a recent slowdown in new market-rate residential property in San Francisco has affected funding for the city’s affordable housing. The Chronicle found that the amount of fees that market-rate housing and office developers pay toward the city’s affordable housing fund fell 70 percent since the 2015-2016 fiscal year. This slowdown may affect the viability of projects still in the design and development phase this year. Disability activists sued the city of San Diego and several ride-sharing scooter companies, claiming that the city’s failure to regulate illegal scooter use on sidewalks discriminates against disabled citizens. The lawsuit argues that those who ride or abandon scooters in San Diego block disable citizens’ access to the public right-of-way. This lawsuit emerged just as the San Diego City Council began debating regulations for motorized scooters throughout the city. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Navy for withholding information about radioactive substances on San Francisco’s Treasure Island . The D.C. environmental watchdog group claims that the U.S. Navy has delayed disclosing public information about past cleanups on the island – particularly by Tetra Tech EC, which faced fraud accusations from its cleanup at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The American Planning Association and the American Institution of Certified Planners named Joel Albizo as their new CEO. Albizo succeeds James M. Drinan, JD, who retired last fall after five years as CEO. Previously, Albizo acted as CEO of the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards, a regulatory body that establishes licensure standards for landscape architecture practice.

It’s constitutional to limit residents to four roosters on a property without a permit, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled. Monterey County requires a “rooster keeping operation permit” for any property owner who wants to maintain more than four roosters on a single property. Among other things, the county requires that the permit applicant not to have been convicted of criminal cockfighting or animal cruelty. Other requirements include maintaining clean and orderly pens for the roosters. More information about the rooster ordinance can be found here . Two property owners, Heriberto Perez and Miguel Angel Reyes Robles, challenged the ordinance as unconstitutional and on appeal limited themselves to the argument that the ordinance was unconstitutional on its face. They lost every argument they put forth. Cockfighting and cruelty to roosters were in the news last year when an animal rights group posted video supposedly outing an unpermitted cockfighting operation in the unincorporated community of Royal Oaks near Elkhorn Slough. The same rooster ordinance was at issue in that case. However, the property owners in that case were different than the property owners in the Royal Oaks case. The Sixth District make short work of the rooster case, requiring only nine pages to knock down all the constitutional arguments. Among the arguments that the court shot down were the following: A Fifth Amendment taking argument, which requires the finding of a regulatory taking. However, in this case the court could not act because the Perez and Robles limited themselves to a facial challenge and did not include arguments about an as-applied challenge. There is also .. evidence regarding whether either plaintiff is eligible for a rooster keeping permit, has been granted or denied one, or has even applied for one,” the court wrote. “The extent to which the ordinance affects plaintiffs depends on whether they have a rooster keeping permit. Without evidence on that point, we are further unable to determine whether a regulatory taking has occurred.” A violation of the interstate commerce clause because the plaintiffs argued that getting down to four roosters would require them to sell additional roosters out of state. But, the court said, the ordinance “does not force all rooster owners to “immediately divest” themselves of all but four roosters; it merely requires a permit to keep more than four roosters on a single property. An equal protection based on the fact that minors, though not adults, can maintain more than four roosters under the ordinance, either for educational purposes of for a Future Farmers of America or 4-H project. While conceding that minors are treated differently than adults, the court concluded that the exceptions for minors served a legitimate governmental purpose – teaching minors how to maintain many roosters in a safe manner. The Case: Perez v. County of Monterey , No. H044364 (February 14, 2019) The Lawyers: For property owners: Lynne Marie Patterson, (714) 848-3606 For Monterey County: Michael J. Whilden, Deputy County Counsel, (831) 755-5045

Several more housing bills were introduced last week in response to the Bay Area’s CASA Compact, including several more bills that would expedite approval of housing projects at the local level.

CP&DR Vol. 34 No. 2 February 2019

The fact that a three-unit development in the Berkeley hills is in an earthquake zone doesn’t disqualify the project from an exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled. The case involved a parcel of land on Shasta Road in Berkeley, deep in the city’s hillside neighborhood near Tilden Regional Park. The landowners sought use permits from the city to build three units on three steeply sloped contiguous parcels. A geotechnical report concluded that part of the sites was in the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone along the Hayward Fault and part of the site was in an “earthquake-induced landslide area” as mapped by the California Geologic Survey. However, the city found the project subject to the CEQA exemption applying to new construction of small structures. After the city approved the project, a group of 24 neighbors sued to stop construction – challenging, among other things, the CEQA exemption. On appeal, the First District noted that because the neighbors did not dispute that the project met the requirements for the exemption, they bore the burden of proof that the project was subject to an exception to the exemption. In particular, the neighbors argued that the project was subject to the “location” exception – “a project that is ordinarily insignificant in its impact on the environment may in a particularly sensitive environment be significant.” The court rejected this argument, saying that an area that holds a risk of earthquake or landslide is not an environmental resource. “The plain meaning of ‘environmental resource ’ in the location exception does not encompass possible earthquake or landslide zones,” wrote Acting Presiding Justice Sandra Margulies for a unanimous three-judge panel. “A ‘resource’ is a ‘natural source of wealth or revenue,’ or a ‘natural feature or phenomenon that enhances the quality of human life.’ (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dict. (11th ed. 2014) p. 1061.) Earthquakes and landslides are geologic events—and while they are indeed hazardous, they are not ‘resources’.” The neighbors also argued that one section of the CEQA guidelines (Section 21159.21, subdicision (h)(4) and (5), works in their favor because it sets forth exceptions to the statutory exemption for housing projects located in seismic and landslide hazard areas. But the court knocked that down: “To the contrary, however, the fact that the Legislature provided a specific exception for housing projects located in seismic and landslide areas but did not do the same for projects in Class 3, suggests it did not intend Class 3 projects to be subject to the same requirements.” In a cause of action unrelated to CEQA, the neighbors also argued that the project should be subject to Berkeley’s so-called “mini-dorm” ordinance, which requires a special permit for housing projects with more than four bedrooms. However, the court concluded that this ordinance applied only to additions, not new construction – and, in any event, the additional use permit process would be redundant. The Case: Berkeley Hills Watershed Coalition v. City of Berkeley , No. A153942 (January 30, 2019) The Lawyers: For Berkeley Hills Watershed Coalition: Thomas N. Lippe, lippelaw@sonic.net For City of Berkeley: Farimah F. Brown, City Attorney, attorney@cityofberkeley.info

The Opportunity Zone program is probably the most important new federal program to address urban revitalization in decades. It’s a program that holds great potential to help Houston’s underserved neighborhoods – and also holds great risk in accelerating gentrification in neighborhoods in California that are teetering on the edge. The Opportunity Zone idea is basically an attempt to lure investors who are sitting on unrealized capital gains to invest in underserved, mostly urban neighborhoods. If you invest in these neighborhoods, you can defer capital or reduce gains, and if you wait long enough you don’t have to pay any capital gains at all. The idea is that, because investors are trying to avoid paying taxes on capital gains, there are a lot of investors sitting on the sidelines with capital to invest. Opportunity Zones hold the potential to lure those investors into underserved areas. Already, many investment funds have been created to take advantage of Opportunity Zones. To qualify, investors must meet certain criteria – still being worked out by the federal government – that include investing in businesses that do most of their business and generate most of their sales in opportunity zones. In California, the state has designated 879 opportunity zones in underserved areas all over the state. But unlike most other federal revitalization programs, Opportunity Zones come with no government funding sources and no government qualification criteria. Other tax credit programs – such as, for example, Low Income Housing Tax Credits – come with an upper limit on the amount of tax credits, meaning that states must allocate those tax credits to certain investments. Opportunity zones hold no such restrictions. There’s no limit on the amount of investment – or the amount of capital gains deferred and forgiven. And there’s almost no way for a city to track Opportunity Zone investment. No government agency other than the Internal Revenue Service need be informed that an investment is made.

Since 2012, the number of Dollar General stores in California has increased from zero to 215, as the discount retail chain has moved into urban areas and small towns alike. While in many cases Dollar General stores have blended uneventfully into their respective landscapes, on commercial strips and in urban communities, some Californians are treating Dollar General’s expansion like Sherman’s March to the Sea. It’s a trend that already swept the South, where the brand is ubiquitous and the market saturated. In recent years, the Tennessee-based company has expanded nationwide to over 15,000 stores, with roughly 900 stores added in 2018. By some measure, there are now more Dollar General locations than there are McDonald’s or Starbucks stores. The chain has expanded in part because its typical store covers only 9,100 interior feet — compared to upwards of 100,000 square feet for a Walmart – meaning that it can move into almost any building or storefront. “I see them popping up all over the county,” said Lakeport Mayor Tim Barnes, who personally opposed the development of a Dollar General in Lakeport. “From what I understand they like to pop up in small communities in depressed markets.” On a per-capita basis, the chain is still grossly under-represented in California. Stakeholders in some towns have tried to keep it that way.