One of my favorite ruminations on the subject of self-sufficiency comes from Vincent van Gogh, in a letter to Theo : “If one hasn't a horse, one is one's own horse.” While van Gogh could have painted pretty much any fantasy, equine or otherwise, that came into his singular mind, urban planners face more tangible challenges. And yet, as 18 of our great cities fret and stammer over their recent third-place-cum-last-place showing in the Amazon beauty contest, cities would be wise to heed van Gogh’s advice. Plenty of us knew that Jeff Bezos’s version of The Bachelor was a ruse at best. Whether he did it to learn cities’ secrets, generate priceless amounts of free press, or just cackle in the glow of his own power, intercity competitions for supposed economic development prizes, be they stadiums, corporations, or other developments, rarely go well. The literature has long been clear on that. CP&DR ’s own Morris Newman knew that the HQ2 search was, literally, a joke . In short, cities should quit wasting money on corporate welfare and, if they’re going to proactively pursue economic development programs (itself a measure of dubious value), they should stick to homegrown assets. The pursuit of Amazon in particular, though, was as ironic as it was perverse. Let’s remember what Amazon is. It’s not a factory, employing thousands of workers. It’s not a major league sports team, stoking civic pride. It’s not some promising little tech startup that might one day hit it big. It’s a retailer. It happens to be one of the world’s biggest retailers, and it happens to have put many other retailers out of business. Amazon is hardly the first juggernaut to swallow up Main Street and send mom and pop into early retirement. Woolworth’s, A&P, Sears, and – most enormously – Walmart have collectively been at it for over a century. Amazon, though, could be the endgame. Its market power increases exponentially when you factor in not just its inventory and revenue but also its data. The more Amazon sells, the more it knows. The more it knows, the more it sells. And, of course, its market is everywhere and its inventory is everything. The point here is that, taken to its extreme, Amazon could put every other retailer out of business. If it creates even a fraction of that carnage, be it at the mall or on the street, cities will suffer mightily – more, that is, than they already have. Retail may be just one part of a city’s economic mix but it’s a crucial part of the built environment. Along with restaurants, stores are the most prominent private-sector inhabitants of the public realm. Pleasant, walkable, equitable cities are pleasant, equitable, and walkable only when there are things to walk to. Shopping can take place online, but nothing – not all the Zoomba studios, pet groomers, and coffee shops in the world – can compensate if Amazon keeps pushing traditional retail towards the endangered species list. My point is this: cities’ pursuit of HQ2 (or HQ 0.5, as it turned out) was, to use the most apposite and disgusting analogy I can think of, like making a bed for the termite queen so her minions can eat not just your house but also everyone else’s houses. Cities don’t need Amazon as an employer, and they certainly don’t need Amazon as a retailer. Now that cities can stop tarting themselves up for Amazon, they, led by their planners and community development people, can start doing what cities are supposed to do. They should build up their own economies and support their own people – and not let themselves get exploited by companies that are infinitely richer and smarter than they are. Imagine if a city supported its own homegrown retail: local chains, mom-and-pops, even franchises. Imagine if all of this added up to, say, even a fractional reduction in Amazon’s $178 billion in annual sales and an equivalent boost to local economies. That would mean not just several thousand jobs (and their salaries) for one city but rather billions of dollars staying in every city. By contrast, the most generous (i.e. delusional) of Amazon’s also-rans – Montgomery County, Maryland – offered an estimated  $8.5 billion to lure Amazon. The winners are giving away a mere $2.4 billion .  Of course, a pro-city, anti-Amazon crusade would require a lot of hard work and a lot of creativity – kind of like what those folks in Seattle are doing. But this isn’t computer science – cities have plenty of strategies to support local retail if they choose to use them. Well-planned new places support retail. Character-rich old places support retail. Smart development, especially mixed use, can support retail. Surely certain financial programs can support retail. Certain tax programs can support retail. Incentives for and/or regulation of commercial properties (such as vacancy taxes) can support retail. Streamlining of regulations can definitely support retail. Public relations, such as “buy local” campaigns, can get more aggressive. Hell, they should get militant. I don’t have all the answers, but if Jeff Bezos can figure out how to make $275 million per day , surely someone can help Nancy’s Hobbies n’ Things and Bob’s World of Hats to stay ahead of the rent. The great thing about the contest I’m proposing is that there’s not just one winner. Everyone wins. This is basically what Jane Jacobs advised in The Economy of Cities , and it’s what economists from François Quesnay to John Meynard Keynes to everyone with an ounce of common sense have in mind with the multiplier effect. The only loser is Jeff Bezos. And he can afford it. What happened with the Amazon contest was not the beautiful, imaginative transformation of a blank canvas into an economic fantasia that Amazon promised and that cities naively imagined. It was as gruesome and about as useful as the amputation of an ear. But maybe the pain cities are feeling for being rejected by Amazon will inspire them to finally saddle up.

Two recently released documents — an audit by the State Auditor and an environmental report produced by the High Speed Rail Authority — both project significant cost overruns for the statewide rail project. The audit  found that although the authority has secured and identified funding of over $28 billion to complete initial segments that funding will not be enough to connect those segments, or finish the rest of the system, which may cost over $77 billion. The audit notes that the initial segments have gone over-budget and that everything from land costs to poor contract management to the exhaustion of many previously available cost-cutting measures implies that future work is destined to go over-budget. The audit also notes that HSR intends share infrastructure with other agencies; this will cut some costs but may hinder the system’s performance. New estimates in environmental reports presented to the High Speed Rail Authority’s board found the cost of constructing theSouthern California section of the bullet train could jump by as much as $11billion over estimates released earlier this year. However, rail authority officials caution that their new numbers assume a more expansive design than is likely to be built.  The new numbers cover the cost of building the three segments from Palmdale to Anaheim, which include the difficulty passages through the San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles, and the crowded rail corridor to Anaheim. The Palmdale-to-Burbank section could hit $20.33 billion, and increase from the $14.87 billion in estimates prepared for the 2018 business plan. Los Angeles Light Rail Extension Cut  The Gold Line Construction Authority board voted 5-0 to build only half the Glendora-to-Montclair extension east of downtown Los Angeles, saying runaway construction costs could prevent building out to Montclair. The unanimous vote authorized the staff recommendation that the 12.3-mile extension be built in two phases due to costs rising 38 percent. The Authority had broken ground on utility replacement work and was about to award a design-build contract when all four bidders said their costs would be way above the agency’s estimated price tag. In order not to halt the entire project, the Authority would build the first eight miles and new stations in Glendora, San Dimas, andLa Verne two years earlier than planned, by 2024. The increased  construction costs come from tariffs on imported steel, tariffs on 10 percent of $200 billion of Chinese imports “many of which are used in construction”, immigration policies, and future tariffs scheduled to increase to 25 percent on January 1. L.A. Metro Considers Plan to Fund Projects in 710 Freeway ‘Gap' In 2017, Metro board rejected the $6 billion 710 Freeway North tunnel project but approved a motion that directed staff to work with the 710 corridor cities to carve up the $780 million left in the project budget. Last week, the Metro staff recommended  approved disbursement of those funds to Pasadena, South Pasadena, Alhambra, La Cañada Flintridge, and the LA neighborhood of El Sereno. The projects should “promote smart and functional land use, reduce automobile dependency, encourage multi-modal trips, improve traffic operations,and maximize the use of the latest available technologies to enhance  performance of the existing transportation system”, as well as prioritize funding for multi-modal and safety enhancement projects. Many of the projects supported by cities focused on cars including street widening, intersection capacity expansion, freeway ramp reconfiguration, signal synchronization, and parking structures. Other projects included complete streets, BRT, shuttles, bikeways,bike-share, and student transit passes. The projects recommended by staff include 13 projects to widen and increase car capacity on roads, six projects to increase car capacity in intersections, 13 signal synchronization/upgrade projects, and one parking project. None of the non-vehicle projects were moved forward. The full board vote will take place Dec. 6.  Report Analyzes Out-Migration from Bay Area  BuildZoom and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley published a brief that documents the tendencies of those leaving the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue different destinations depending on their income. For instance, high-income people leaving the Bay Area head to large metro areas around the county while low-income movers head to more affordable places within the state. Now, the two groups released a new brief that evaluates the effects on the Los Angeles region. The study found in the LA region, the discrepancy between in-and out-migrant earning was less pronounced than in the Bay Area. Roughly a third of the households leaving the LA region stay in the state, and the destination vary by income. Those moving to San Diego and Sacramento appear to draw a similar number from each income category while those moving to the Bay Area are primarily in the highest income category. Quick Hits & Updates  The Sacramento Kings said they are filing an application with the City of Sacramento to rezone the 183-acre largely unused Sleep Train Arena site for a variety of potential uses including a zoo. The application does not offer specific details but includes zoning for the possibility of up to 1.2 million square-feet of commercial and retail, as well as office and up to 2,000 housing units. The team is hoping to conduct a year long environmental review process and have the land ready for development next year. The National League of Cities announced its appointment of League of California Cities Executive Director Carolyn Coleman to the Task Force on Housing. The national task force addresses “how communities can better respond to the growing challenge of housing availability, affordability, investment, and quality”. The task force includes 18 local leaders and elected officials from throughout the country. Libby Schaaf, mayor of the City of Oakland, is the only other California representative. The Prop. HHH citizens oversight committee is challenging Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and city staff to find innovative ways to complete 1,000 units in the next 24 months. The citizens committee oversees the city’s $1.2billion bond program. The group approved an 11-point plan calling for more relaxed rules and other incentives to fast-track the 1,000 units as well as declaring a state of emergency and setting up a “red team” to keep the pilot program on track. Officials with Orange County’s Transportation Corridor Agencies (which oversees the toll roads in the county) committed $5 million to further evaluate options for the extension of the 241 toll road or other projects to improve traffic in south county. Lime and Spin, two shared bicycle and scooter companies, announced a new data-sharing agreement with LA Department of Transportation. According to the announcement Mobility Data Specification is ““a data standard and set of vocabulary to help cities enforce, evaluate, and manage mobility providers who operate in the public right of way.” The companies and LADOT will use San Francisco-based Remix to manage the data that is shared through the agreement. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The American Planning Association Foundation announced its 2018 Grantees for the Community Planning Assistance Teams that helps support programs that help economically challenged and disaster-devastated communities. Of the seven grant recipients, Santa Rosa was the lone California recipient. The award went to the Burbank Housing Development Corporation for a California Chapter wildfire recovery CPAT “to redevelop a low-income seniors’ community through multifamily housing.” During the fires last year, 116 of the 160 homes at Journey’s End Mobile Home Park were destroyed. BART will present its latest plans to build a second Transbay Tube connecting San Francisco to the East Bay, and perhaps start 24-hour service. If everything goes according to plan, BART could begin construction in 10 years. In the 15-page presentation, BART officials project more people will want to cross the bay by 2040 than can be accommodated by the existing system. Los Angeles Metro released new documents for the proposed light rail between Artesia and Downtown LA. The West Santa Ana Branch would cost an estimated $6.6 billion, would run 18 miles, and end in either Union Station or the Downtown Financial District. Current plans call for the corridor to be completed in two phases between 2022 and 2041, although the project has been identified as one of the 28 projects to be completed by Metro before 2028. A staff report released last week recommends a refined project definition which would cut two alignment options from consideration, remove several proposed stations, and add new grade separations at key points along the corridor.

U.S. District Judge William Shubb threw out SB 50, a state law giving the State Lands Commission first right of refusal of the sale of federal lands. Judge Shubb ruled SB 50 as unconstitutional because it “trespasses on the federal government’s ability to convey land to whomever it wants.” The ruling means that the federal government may sell lands to private buyers regardless of the state's interests. This is considered a victory for the Trump administration who was preparing to auction off several pieces of land around the state. “The court’s ruling is a firm rejection of California’s assertion that, by legislation, it could dictate how and when the federal government sells federal land,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a prepared statement, as quoted in the Sacramento Bee. “This (law) was a stunning assertion of constitutional power by California, and it was properly and promptly dismissed by the district judge.” Fresno Releases Final Station District Plan The City of Fresno released its final Station District Master Plan for the square, 14-block area surrounding the future downtown high-speed rail station. City officials believe the station would serve as a catalyst for the continuing revitalization of downtown area. The station is expected to open in 2027, meaning major changes in the area now include reopening some downtown streets that are currently closed to traffic and beginning construction on new underpasses for city streets to carry traffic under the high-speed rail tracks. The plan also includes new Fulton Street plaza and gateway into the station district, converting surface parking lots into mixed-use retail/ commercial buildings, and reconfiguring roads. “Having a high-speed rail station in Fresno does not alone create economic transformation,” said Mayor Lee Brand as quoted in the Fresno Bee. “The Fresno Station District is a blueprint to create a regional hub for economic and environmental innovation within the San Joaquin Valley. $395 Million Available for Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Round 4 The Strategic Growth Council  announced the  Round 4 Notice of Funding Availability  of approximately $395 million for Round 4 of the Affordable Housing Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program! The application is available  here . The  Round 4 AHSC Final Guidelines  were approved at our Council Meeting on Monday, October 29. A  redlined version of the Guidelines  showing the differences between Round 3 and Round 4 is also available on our website. Program staff will be holding Application Workshops in six cities, starting today in Sacramento, and applicants will have the opportunity to meet with staff about their potential projects. Technical Assistance (TA) is also available for AHSC applicants. Parties interested in receiving TA for a potential AHSC project, may complete an  informational form  by Nov. 21, which will help SGC Staff determine overall TA need. San Francisco Designates 24 Acres for Affordable Housing  San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance that would allow 24 underused parcels of land in the South of Market area to be converted into affordable-housing projects. The majority of the parcels are zoned light industrial use and used as surface parking lots. While not all the lots may be suitable for housing, the Planning Department said the zone change could lead to 600 or more 100-percent affordable units. Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman introduced legislation for a new conservatorship pilot program under SB 1045. The plan is being developed with the Department of Public Health, the Department of Human Services, the City Attorney’s office, and other agencies. The program would help San Franciscans that suffer from severe untreated substance-abuse disorder or mental illnesses. Quick Hits & Updates  The Strategic Growth Council announced the public comment period on the  Draft 2018-19 Guidelines  for the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC). We will be accepting verbal and written comments until 5:00 pm Monday, Dec. 3.  SGC will also be holding Guidelines Workshops in Northern and Southern California on November 20 and 29. The workshops will cover significant changes made to the Guidelines, including changes to the risk options, planning grant requirements, easement associated costs allowances, jobs reporting, and incentives for projects located within priority populations.  HCD has announced the availability of almost $30 million in federal Community Development Block Grants . The Notice of Funding Availability applies to non-entitlement cities with a population under 50,000. Grant applications are due Feb. 5. HCD will be holding workshops to review application requirements. Environmental justice advocates Environmental Health Coalition released a report that found the City of San Diego has spent little funding on implementing its 2015 Climate Action Plan and has failed to track how much of the funding has gone to disadvantaged communities. The report said that more than half of the $129 million allocated this year for climate change went to programs that likely would have happened regardless of the Climate Action Plan. These programs include the city’s water recycling program, Pure Water, which may help reduce greenhouse gases but does not represent new commitments under the climate plan. The electric scooter company Bird has filed a lawsuit against the City of Beverly Hills in an effort to overturn the city’s ban on motorized scooters which led to the impound of more than 1,000 of the company’s vehicles in July. This is the company’s first attempt in using the legal system to overturn a city’s scooter ban. This lawsuit could set the stage for future confrontations as the vehicles become more popular. (See previous CP&DR coverage .) The San Diego City Council unanimously approved the new growth blueprint for the city’s Old Town neighborhood. The Community Plan Update aims to triple the area’s population without damaging its character or historic importance. The 176-page document strikes the right balance between preservation of the Old Town State Historic Park, Presidio Park, and other cultural amenities and helping solve the city’s severe shortage of affordable housing. The plan increases the number of housing units from 474 to 1,405, eliminates some surface parking, and adds new plazas and open spaces. San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim is proposing to rescind a requirement that developers create a minimum amount of parking when they build new housing or commercial property. The Planning Commission voted to approve the “Better Streets” reform package which includes the proposal to eliminate parking minimums and eliminate the ability to make “curb cuts” along transit corridors and bike lanes. Negotiations are underway with US officials on an inspection site in Campo for a project to revive a 70-mile defunct rail line to connect the San Diego-Tijuana region to El Centro. This project would reduce border congestion and take thousands of trucks off local roads. The company, Baja Rail, has begun analyzing how to repair or rebuild dozens of damaged tunnels and bridges along the route as well as studying how to relocate endangered species in the desert. The City of Modesto was awarded approximately $3.9 million from California’s Active Transportation Program (ATP) to make Paradise Road, one of the most dangerous streets in town, a little safer. The project includes a road diet to calm traffic speeds and new bike lanes. Paradise Road currently does not include bicycle lanes and has two gaps along its sidewalk. Los Angeles Metro released the final EIR for Union Station subway project. The project aims to improve turnaround times for Red and Purple line subway trains at Union Station, and create more space in the subway car rail yard.

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

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

CP&DR Vol. 33 No. 10 October 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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