The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released a statewide survey, called Californians and the Environment , centering on the governor’s race and key environmental issues. A majority of likely voters, 56 percent, say the candidates’ environmental positions are very important in determining their votes. The survey found 62 percent of Californians say global warming is extremely or very important to them personally, while an ABC News/Stanford/ Resources for the Future poll found 48 percent of American adults feel the same. Mark Baldassare, PPIC president and CEO, summed up the report, “Many Californians are concerned about the personal impact of global warming in the wake of a prolonged drought and in the face of fears that extreme weather may result in more severe wildfires.” The survey also found US Senator Dianne Feinstein leads state senator Kevin de Leon 46 percent to 24 percent among likely voters, with 9 percent undecided. The survey also found 58 percent of likely voters would vote yes on the $8.9 billion water bond. Almost 70 percent of adults oppose more drilling for oil off the coast.  Los Angeles Considers Routes for North-South Light Rail Extension  Los Angeles Metro released five alternative alignments for extending the Crenshaw/LAX light rail line north of the Expo Line. The 8.5- mile $2 billion line is currently under construction. As of last week, the project is 82 percent complete. The Line was expected to be opened October 2019, but a $8 million change order was recently approved to “stop the bleeding” on schedule slippage. The five alternatives would continue north on Crenshaw Boulevard corridor. Four branch west onto San Vicente Boulevard, connecting with Metro Red Line at Hollywood/Highland while the other alternative branches east along Olympic Boulevard and then north to connect to the Red and Purple Lines at Wilshire/Vermont. The proposed Crenshaw Northern Extension alternatives range from $3 billion to $4.7 billion in cost. Brisbane Voters to Decide Fate of Massive Undeveloped Parcel The Brisbane City Council voted last week to put a ballot measure before voters in November to amend the city’s general plan and allow the construction of thousands of new homes on the vacant 684-acre Baylands. The current general plan prohibits housing on the former rail yard and garbage dump. However, developer Universal Paragon Corporation (UPC) owns the site and has campaigned for more than a decade to create a mixed-use development with up to 2,200 new homes and 7 million square-feet of commercial space. The site still needs to be cleaned up, which could take three years, and groundbreaking won’t occur for at least a decade. In 2016, San Francisco threatened to annex the land if Brisbane did not consider housing developments. State lawmakers have also warned of the likelihood that they would pass legislation deferring to the developer’s vision for the site. Sacramento Goes Big on Electric Vehicles  Sacramento has launched a $44 million "Green City” program, funded by Electrify America, which seeks to turn the city into the capital of electric cars. The initiative would upgrade the city’s electric vehicle infrastructure, adding hundreds of cars, charging stations, and buses. The goal is to see if building a support network for more sustainable transit can be replicated in other cities. The program begins this summer with car-sharing services Envoy and Gig which will add hundreds of electric cars to the streets. New zero-emission electric bus lines are being added to the regular service as well as 10 charging stations with super-fast 350kW charging. Planners Advance New Vision for Old Town San Diego  San Diego city officials are proposing a community plan update for the Old Town San Diego neighborhood. The plan would increase housing and commercial projects, but preserve the historic core of parks and tourist attractions. The plan would densify housing near the edges of Old Town near a transit center and along Pacific Highway, Interstate 5 and Interstate 8. The proposal would also widen sidewalks and transform a city-owned parking lot into a public place. The population of the 274-acre community would increase from 830 to 2,400 under the plan and triple the number of housing units from 474 to 1,405. The proposal has been in the planning stages for five year and is being praised by community leaders, historic preservationists, and the development industry for striking the appropriate balance. After the Planning Commission hearing, the community plan update is expected to be presented later this year to the City Council for approval. Quick Hits & Updates The Strategic Growth Council released its 2018 Annual Report , which provides an in-depth look into the progress the council made through our programs and initiatives this year.  Redondo Beach  withdrew applications for a proposed waterfront redevelopment before the California Coastal Commission. The developer of the proposed $400 million project, CenterCal Properties, withdrew its portion of the joint applications before the commission earlier this month. Mayor Bill Brand, a fierce opponent of the project, said “The CenterCal waterfront project is dead. It’s been a long road, years of working with them and years of fighting them. Unfortunately, they did not work with the community. It's a shame because it was a great opportunity.” Voters had limited the scope of the project in a ballot measure last year.  San Diego MTS’s executive committee voted to recommend the full board hire a contractor to start working on a potential 2020 ballot measure to raise sales taxes for transit improvements. The measure would draw from MTS’s improvement plan and include projects in SANDAG’s regional plan through 2050. The City of Pasadena will terminate its agreement with Metro over the struggling Metro Bike Share program. The revenue from the program has been so low that the program cost’s now threaten the City’s total transit operating budget. The average monthly cost for the program over the past ten months have been about $98,000 per month. Ridership flatlined after a brief period of success in September 2017. The City of Los Angeles intends to hire a consultant who can help address traffic gridlock, shortage of hotel rooms, and stubborn homelessness near tourism sites. The move is intended to address  problems that might prevent the city from reaching its goal of welcoming 50 million tourists a year by 2020. The US Army Corps of Engineers will fully fund the $177 million South Bay Shoreline Project . The project is an effort to build four miles of new levees and restore 3,000 acres of wetlands near San Jose. The project was one of the first to receive local support from Measure AA, the $12 parcel tax measure approved by voters in 2016 to fund multi-benefit wetland restoration and flood protection projects. Construction is slated to begin next summer and the new levee is expected to be completed in 3-5 years. Hard Rock Cafe International announced it will partner with the Enterprise Rancheria  tribe to build a mega-resort in Yuba County in greater Sacramento. Preliminary site work is under way, but neither Hard Rock nor the Enterprise tribe would discuss details about the resort. However, credit-rating agencies have reviewed the project’s financial documents say the resort will cost about $440 million and is expected to open in October 2019. The just-formed Delta Conveyance Finance Authority , led by the regional water agencies backing the tunnels project, are expected to start the application process for a $1.6 billion federal water infrastructure loan administered by the US EPA. The controversial $17 billion Delta tunnels project is still facing critical permits and legal challenges, and some farming groups have not committed to paying for part of the project. Earlier this year, Metropolitan’s board approved a $10.8 billion investment in California WaterFix. The San Diego City Council voted, 6-3, to outlaw vacation rentals in secondary homes, limiting STRs to primary residences only. The effect of the action will be curtailing investor activity in the short-term rental market while also barring residents and out-of-towners from hosting short-term stays in multiple properties other than where they reside. While the council was expected to weigh a special exemption for Mission Beach vacation rentals that have already paid required transient occupancy taxes, the council majority was not willing to along with that. Roughly 44 percent of the housing stock in Mission Beach is estimated to be short-term rentals. Attorneys for two families who bought homes in the San Francisco’s Bayview district development in 2015 and 2016 have filed lawsuits against both the developer, FivePoint, and property owner Lennar. The two families claim FivePoint and Lennar failed to disclose to prospective residents the extent of contamination of the property. They also claim the developer did not inform home buyers about allegations that Tetra Tech had faked soil samples. A draft of the City of Stockton’s General Plan update, Envision Stockton 2040 , was released and will be open for public review until August 10. A public hearing by the Stockton Planning Commission on the Update and associated EIR will be held August 2. A new study from WalletHub ranked the 100 largest cities in the US on 29 metrics to determine how driver-friendly each city is. The study looked at cost of ownership and maintenance; traffic and infrastructure; safety; and access to vehicles and maintenance. San Francisco was ranked the second worst city (99), Oakland was third worst (98), and Los Angeles was ninth worst (94). Oakland also had the highest rate of car theft. According to a new report from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and consulting firm McKinsey, the Bay Area’s annual growth rate of 4.3 percent over the past three years was nearly double that of the US as a whole. The region would have a GDP of $748 billion, behind only 18 countries. Overall employment in the region grew 26 percent since the end of the recession with more than 750,000 workers in tech jobs since July 2017. The Riverside City Council voted 4-3 to ban marijuana dispensaries, commercial marijuana cultivation and outdoor growing within the city. The permanent ban will go into effect August 24, about two weeks before the city’s temporary moratorium with similar prohibitions expires. The vote will still allow people to use marijuana and grow up to six plants indoors. The Frontier Group’s report “Highway Boondoggles 4: Big Projects. Bigger Price Tags. Limited Benefits" report highlights nine proposed highway extension projects across the country that are slated to cost $30 billion. The report’s one California project is the US Highway 101 Expansion in San Mateo, which will widen the freeway bringing more cars into an already congested area and directly conflicting with the state’s global warming goals. The project is expected to cost $534 million. The City of Inglewood wants to open its own elevated transit system to move people between The Forum, the adjacent NFL stadium opening in 2020, and a potential Clippers arena. The 1.8 mile automatic people mover would start in downtown Inglewood near Metro’s Crenshaw/ LAX light-rail line. A round-trip could take just 13 minutes and is estimated to cost more than $600 million to build and an additional $18-$20 million annually to operate. The  San Diego County Board Supervisors approved new developments that would add hundreds of new homes in Harmony Grove in North County. While many argued at the hearing for more housing, some are concerned about the increased risk for fire. Erik Bruvold, CEO of the San Diego North Economic Development Council said the county is short 53,000 housing units, and North County is short 20,000 units. Supervisors are fast-tracking approval of nearly 4,000 homes this week, all of them in areas where the county’s General Plan has formerly limited development. Groundbreaking for the Orange County Streetcar through Santa Ana and Garden Grove has been pushed to the fall and cost estimates have increased by more than $100 million. The project is now estimated to cost $407.76 million, up from a nearly $300 million estimate made in 2017. The project is expected to connect Metrolink stations and some of the county’s busiest bus routes with residential and employment hubs such as downtown Santa Ana and the Civic Center. The tracks will be along existing roads on the streetcars 4.15 mile route. The streetcar will have electric vehicles and travel in lanes with car traffic. Pacific Grove residents filed lawsuits against the city on the new ordinance that limits the number of short-term rentals allowed within its borders saying it violates the California Coastal Act. The two couples filed the complaint claiming the city did not get approval from the Coastal Commission before it was adopted. In February, the city council passed the ordinance 4-1 which put in place a lottery system that decreased the number of rentals from 290 to 250 so that only 15 percent of housing per block is dedicated to such rentals. Preservationists are hoping to secure city monument status for three historic Los Angles Times building by submitting applications to the Cultural Heritage Commission. Official recognition of the buildings as historic-cultural monuments would put a temporary stay on demolition and substantial alterations. Omni Group, which owns the buildings, is considering redevelopment of the site as a high-rise residential and retail complex.  Nine teams are competing to redevelop the historic Fort Winfield Scott campus in the Presidio . The companies include the World Economic Forum, OpenAI, and co-working space operator WeWork. The mostly vacant 22-building property spans 30 acres and is overseen by the Presidio Trust. The group will hold a public hearing on the nine competing bids on July 25 and pick a developer sometime next year. A new grand jury report “Subsidizing a Lifestyle” found Napa County is granting millions of dollars in tax breaks to preserve wine country farmland that already appears safe from being paved over. The watchdog group said the Williamson Act tax breaks designed to preserve farms are concentrated in the hands of the wealthy and corporation that buy Napa County vineyard land. Conservation groups and transportation agencies reached a multi-million dollar settlement to protect wildlife habitat and reduce pollution problems along two long-congested Southern California freeways: Mid County Parkway and SR 60 in western Riverside County. The agreement dedicates $17 million to protect wildlife habitat, install air filtration decides in homes and schools, construct solar energy panels at commuter rail stations and fund park renovations in affected communities. The settlement also increases incentives for public transit and carpooling, provides increased pedestrian and cycling access, increases safety measures for motorists and protects key wildlife corridors. LA County Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis are proposing to cap rent increases at three percent. If the board approves the proposal the rent cap would apply for six months but could be extended by the board. The California Apartment Association is mobilizing members to attend the public meetings and contact county supervisors to convey that a rent moratorium is not the solution to the county’s affordable housing problem. The deadline passed for proponents of California initiative to pull their measures off the state’s November ballot, but it hasn’t stopped the California Assn. of Realtors from hoping it can still strike a deal with lawmakers. Prop 5 would allow homeowners older than 55 to take a portion of their Prop 13 property tax benefits with them if they move within the state. The organization is now interested in having state legislators put forward an alternative measures instead, which would face less opposition. The Orange County Water District board voted, 6-2, to approve non-binding contract terms with Poseidon, which has spent 20 years on the proposed  Poseidon  desalination plant in Huntington Beach. The plan for the $1 billion plant and water distribution infrastructure would increase the average residential customer receiving the water by an estimated $3 to $6, however it would ensure the area has water during droughts. The company must still receive permits from the Regional Water Quality Control Board, which is scheduled to consider the application in December, and the California coastal Commission, which is expected to take up the issue next year.

CP&DR Vol. 33 No. 7 July 2018

The Second District Court of Appeal has ruled that the “unusual circumstances” rule laid out in the Berkeley Hillside case – which limits the use of exemptions under the California Environmental Quality Act – does not apply to a proposed lease extension for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Rather, the court affirmed a lower court ruling saying that the State Lands Commission properly used the “existing facilities” categorical exemption under CEQA. Located near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, Diablo Canyon is operated by Pacific Gas & Electric under two leases with the State Lands Commission that were set to expire in 2018 and 2019. PG&E sought lease extensions to 2025, when it plans to shut down the plant. The commission approved the lease extensions but also invoked the CEQA exemption and therefore did not conduct any environmental analysis on the lease extension. Environmentalists sued, claiming among other things that the existing facilities exemption was not meant to apply to nuclear power plants but, rather, only to transmission lines because of language that called “providing” electricity. The Second District shot this argument down. “The word ‘provide,’ as plainly understood, plainly encompasses the generation of power in addition to its mere transmission.” More significantly, the court rejected the environmentalists’ argument that the lease extension constituted an “unusual circumstance” under Berkeley Hillside , thus requiring more analysis to justify the exemption – among them, the fact that the plant is a nuclear plant, the size of the plant, and its proximity to marine life. In Berkeley Hillside , the California Supreme Court created a two-step test to determine whether and when a CEQA exemption can be overridden by unusual circumstances. The size and location arguments could be important in future situations, as these are likely to be reasons cited to invoke the “unusual circumstances” in the future. On the size question, the court concluded that the environmentalists failed to show how the plant’s size, which will not change under the lease extension, will create any adverse change. As to the location, the court said that while there may be impact on marine life, these impacts are current impacts and would not be altered by the lease extension. The Case: World Business Academy v. California State Lands Commission , No. B284300 (June 13, 2018). The Lawyers: For World Business Academy: Christina A. Humphrey, Humphrey & Rist, christina@humphreyrist.com For State Lands Commission: Deputy Attorneys General Deborah Smith, Deborah.Smith@doj.ca.gov , and Christina Morkner Brown, Christina.Morkner@doj.ca.gov For State Lands Commission: William White, Shute Mihaly & Weinberger, white@smwlaw.com For Pacific Gas & Eletric: Damon P. Mamalakis, Armbruster, Goldsmith & Delvac, damon@agd-landuse.com

Sometime this fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up a case that court decide the future of the Endangered Species Act – or, at least, the future of the “critical habitat” provisions that have played such a huge role in shaping California’s land-use patterns over the last generation. could be the first big test of Brett Kavanaugh – if he is seated as Justice Anthony Kennedy’s successor – in the environmental and land use arena. At first glance, it would appear that Kavanaugh would likely favor the landowner in this case, especially given his D.C. Circuit ruling in a similar case from Otay Mesa in San Diego back in 2011. But the question isn’t that clear-cut. Is Kavanaugh a pro-business judge who’s anti-environment? Or does he see himself instead as a strict guardian against regulatory overreach. It may not make much difference in the end. But if Kavanaugh really is focused on holding the regulatory agencies’ feet to the fire, maybe he’s not an automatic anti-environment vote in all cases. With the possible exception of the definition of wetlands – which the Trump Administration is trying to change – no environmental is more influential in shaping California’s land-use patterns that critical habitat designation under the Endangered Species Act. For all intents and purposes, developers can build on critical habitat – because they can’t disturb the habitat itself. Oftentimes, developers and government agencies choose instead to create a habitat conservation plan, which lays out areas that can be developed and areas that cannot. Virtually every developing area on the suburban fringe in the whole state – from Yolo County down to Riverside and San Diego – has been profoundly affected by either the fact or the threat of critical habitat designations. And could profoundly alter how that process works, depending on how it’s decided. involves several thousand acres in Louisiana that was designated by the Fish & Wildlife Service as critical habitat for the dusty gopher frog. The frog itself wasn’t found on the Louisiana property – but, rather, only on nearby property in Mississippi. But the Fish & Wildlife Service determined that survival of the species required not only the property where the frog was found, but habitat where the frog thrive but was not found, because isolated ponds such as those found on the Louisiana property were This finding was the basis for the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in favor of the Fish & Wildlife Service in the case. The Fifth Circuit concluded that “all of the experts agreed that designating occupied land alone would not be sufficient to conserve the dusky gopher frog” and isolated ponds in geographically discrete locations were necessary for the species’ survival. In , Kavanaugh’s ruling overturned a decision by the Fish & Wildlife Service to declare 143 acres of land in the Otay Mesa section of San Diego as critical habitat for the fairy shrimpx But in that case, the Fish & Wildlife Service didn’t base its critical habitat ruling on the notion that unoccupied territory was necessary for survival of the species. Rather, the Service argued that the fairy shrimp present – even though it had been found only once in eight attempts to find it, and then four years after it was listed. So, in that case, Kavanaugh’s ruling represents the kind of regulatory “gotcha” that he’s known for. Maybe if the Service had determined that the Otay Mesa property was vital to the species even if the land was unoccupied, he would have ruled the other way. But they didn’t, and he didn’t. Or maybe not, and that’s the big question about Kavanaugh. Like many regulatory rulings involving endangered species, wetlands, and other environmental issues that can affect land-use patterns in California, the Fifth’s Circuit’s ruling in depends largely on the court’s interpretation of ., 467 U.S. 837, 843 (1984). In this environmental challenge to the Reagan-era Environmental Protection Agency’s interpretation of the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, if congressional direction is not clear in a statute, then the court must give deference to the regulatory agency interpreting the statute. (The EPA administrator at the time was Anne Gorsuch, mother of the Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.) This ruling gives judges a lot of wiggle room in overseeing regulatory agencies. If they decide a law does not provide a regulatory agency with direct guidance, they can invoke the rule. If they decide the law is clear, they can say the rule doesn’t apply. In , the Fifth Circuit decided that the rule applies. In the Endangered Species Act, the court ruled, Congress did not provide a specific definition of habitat that is “essential” to the conservation of the species but, rather, left that decision up to the Secretary of the Interior. And so the Fish & Wildlife Service had the discretion to decide whether unoccupied territory was essential to the preservation of the frog. But here’s the thing: Other than the highly publicized issues about presidential power, nothing in Kavanaugh’s record has drawn more attention so far than his criticism of the rule. In a 2016 book review in the , Kavanaugh called “an atextual invention of the courts” that is “nothing more than a judicially orchestrated shift of power from Congress to the Executive Branch.” He said that whichever party is in power will use seek to use aggressively to pursue its agenda. In the law review – as on several other occasions – he has said it is difficult to know when to apply the rule and when not to. So the question for California land use is how will Kavanaugh approach the question in the case. If he decides that shouldn’t apply – and he’s the deciding vote on the court – then the Fish & Wildlife Service will be boxed in on critical habitat much more than it is now and landowners will have much less motivation to engage in HCPs. But is that what Kavanaugh would really do? Opinions are all over the place. Some say he wants to overturn – and maybe is the case he would want to use to do it. Others say he just wants to box it in. Still others , however, say that because he finds difficult to apply, he’ll actually avoid applying it whenever he can – and that is the most likely scenario in the case. The Trump Administration is likely to seek major changes in endangered species and wetlands laws. But even without legislation, will interpret those laws very differently than the Obama Administration. (The Administration’s attempts to repeal Obama’s “WOTUS” rule is a good example.) The Supreme Court will inevitably call, as Chief Justice John Roberts puts it, “balls and strikes” on these interpretations. If Kavanaugh is confirmed, the size of his strike zone on is likely to have a significant impact on California’s future land use patterns, especially in the Inland Empire and the Central Valley.

Rep. Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) is sponsoring a bill, the California Off-Road Recreation and Conservation Act , that would reserve roughly 300,000 acres of Southern California desert for off-road vehicle use. The bill has been approved by the US House of Representatives and is now being considered in the Senate. Almost 90 percent of Cook’s district is federal land, and the goal of the proposal is to balance conservation concerns with off-roaders’ desire to roam. Cook introduced a similar bill in 2015 which would have allowed new mining claims, expanded off-roading areas, and made Mojave Trails National Monument a less-restrictive special management area. The California Wilderness Coalition supports the bill, but the Sierra Club says too much land is set aside for off-roading. UC Davis Plans for Increase of 5,000 Students The University of California, Davis released its new Long Range Development Plan and accompanying EIR for approval before the latest meeting of the UC Regents. The new plan would include capacity for an additional 2 million square-feet of academic and administrative space and up to 9,050 beds of new on-campus housing. The plan forecasts 18,868 students by 2030, a 5,000 student increase, and 2,000 employees over the next ten years. UC Davis also asked the regents to approve construction of a new student housing at West Village that would include 3,265 new beds for incoming transfer students and continuing undergrads. Groundbreaking for the West Village expansion is targeted for late 2018 with over 1,400 beds ready by fall 2020 and the rest available fall 2021. The LRDP outlines housing, academic space, and enrollment projects for the next decade. San Mateo County to Vote on $2.4 Billion Transportation Measure The San Mateo County Transit (SAMTrans) Board of Directors approved placing a measure on the November ballot that would invest approximately $2.4 billion from a new half-cent sales tax in a plan designed to relieve traffic congestion in the county. The San Mateo County Congestion Relief Plan includes five investment categories, eleven core principles, and an independent oversight process to ensure that revenues are invested in accordance with the Plan. The three main priorities are reducing highway congestion, reducing congestion on local roads, and increasing and improving public transit options. Klamath River Dam Removal Seeks Federal Approval The corporation created to remove four Klamath River dams has filed its “Definite Plan for the Lower Klamath Project” with the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC). The 2,300 page document provides analysis and detail on project design, deconstruction, reservoir restoration, and other post-deconstruction activities related to the proposed removal of the four dams. The FERC will now review the plans to confirm the corporation has the technical, legal, and fiscal capacities to become the licensee of the dams. The dam removal project is expected to improve water quality, revive fisheries, create local jobs, and boost tourism and recreation. Beverly Hills Launches Another Protest against Subway Extension In another chapter of a long-running conflict between stakeholders in Beverly Hills and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the group “Friends of Beverly Hills High School” is calling Trump and US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to withhold federal funds in order to force Metro to reroute its Purple Line subway extension into Century City under Beverly Hills High School. The group refers to the subway as the “Purple Menace” for its alleged potential to damage the school. The matter had been settled years ago when a federal court ruled that construction could proceed. Starting early July, an online petition on change.org asked President Trump to prevent Metro from running the subway under BHHS. The petition gathered 122 signatures after being posted for nearly a week. Meanwhile, the Beverly Hills  School Board voted unanimously to approve a contract with Geo Instruments to monitor subway construction under the campus of Beverly Hills High School. The contract includes perimeter dust, vibration and sound monitoring. The data will be stored and accessed by the district’s legal team, presumably to serve as the basis of any complaints or protests that might be filed. (See prior CP&DR commentary .) State Reaches 40 Million; Faces Declining Birth Rates California’s population will finally surpass 40 million this summer. However, the state’s birth rate has fallen to its lowest rate ever, there are greater rates of out-migration than in-migration, and international immigration remains low. According to the Orange County Register, the state’s policies surrounding underinvestment in schools, infrastructure, and housing discourages family creation and adds to the high cost of living. This had led to a rapidly aging Californian population as many of the younger population are leaving the state. Quick Hits & Updates  The California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a proposal to divide California into three cannot be placed on the ballot. The state Supreme Court wrote that “significant questions have bene raised regarding the proposition’s validity” and “the potential harm in permitting the measure to remain on the ballot outweighs the potential harm in delaying the proposition to a future election.” However, the court asked sponsor Tim Draper to respond with any reasons why he believes the lawsuit is wrong, leaving open the possibility that the “Three Californias” might make it onto a future ballot.  A new report from RentCafe found that the number of families with children who own homes in San Francisco metro area has dropped dramatically, while an increasing number are renting. Researchers found a ten percent decrease in homeowner families, meaning 31,000 fewer households with children within the metro area. There was a 33 percent jump in a decade in families renting. Between 2013 and 2018, median prices of a single-family home soared 80 percent while rents increased by 39 percent. San Clemente city officials are suing the Transportation Corridor Agencies, alleging that it is in violation of the California Public Records Act because it has not turned over information regarding money spent on lobbyists and public relations in its outreach over expanding toll roads throughout the county. In the lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court, city officials believe the information they requested will show the toll road builders have spent more money on lobbyists than on building new toll roads. City officials estimate in two decades, TCA has spent upwards of $20 million for these services to avoid consolidation of the OCTA. A Santa Cruz neighborhood group Opal Cliffs Recreation District says rather than negotiating with Coastal Commission officials it does not need renewed permission to charge $100 annual fee to access a county park known as Privates Beach. The district argues it already has the right, established by state and county permits, to sell gate keys and use proceeds to keep the beach clean and safe. The California Coastal Commission has stepped in and voided the entire gate operation, declaring that access to the beach is a fundamental right guaranteed to everyone. The commission demanded the group start the permit process from scratch, however the district leaders fought back and withdrew from the process entirely. The City of Berkeley Zoning Board has turned down an infill housing project near the Ashby BART station in order to preserve an existing gas station. The project would have had no residential car parking, but 48 bicycle parking spots and six commercial spaces for the planned ground-floor café. The South Shattuck Plan specifically called for a pedestrian-scale mixed infill development on undeveloped lots but the city did not follow its adopted plans. Warner Bros has proposed a tramway that would transport visitors to and from the Hollywood Sign , starting from a parking structure next to its Burbank lot. The Hollywood Skyway would cost an estimated $100 million and would take visitors on a 6-minute ride to a new visitors center near the sign, with pathways to a viewing area. The purpose would be to give visitors a way to see the letters without driving and hiking through residential neighborhoods. After a three-year investigation, investigators with US HUD found the City of Port Hueneme had mismanaged millions, in some cases charging for the same thing more than one and overcharging the housing authority for work done by city employees. Under a settlement recently finalized between the two groups, Port Hueneme will ultimately pay $230,000 to HUD.

If Manuel Pastor had read my post-election blog extolling California’s liberal values and cosmopolitan ethic, he probably would have been bemused to no end. Not because he would have disagreed with me, but because he would have been thinking about a long, frustrating history that my piece ignored. As a member of late Generation X, I’m not quite old enough to remember that California also has been a Red state.  For those of us who have forgotten — or never knew — Pastor makes this history abundantly clear in his new book State of Resistance . Starting in the 1950s, State of Resistance offers an accessible, lively account of California’s dramatic, and rapid, transformation from conservative, Republican, white-dominated promised land to liberal, Democratic, multiethnic redoubt. For planners, State of Resistance may prove indispensable for understanding the larger political trends in which they are working.  While the current “resistance” centers mainly on national issues like immigration, civil rights, and the general air of depravity ascribed to the Trump administration, Pastor sprinkles in important references to land use. As a professor of sociology at USC, longtime champion of environmental justice, and member of the Strategic Growth Council (see CP&DR interview ), Pastor is well attuned to the politics of land use and urbanism.   Among several conservative milestones that Pastor discusses, one of the earliest, and perhaps most enduring, is the bane of many planners’ existence: Proposition 13.  Pastor adds a chilling layer to the common narrative that describes Prop. 13 as an older generation’s attempt to stick it to younger generations. Pastor reminds us that California’s new suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s "were highly segregated even as they were being rewarded with new schools, new roads, and even federal and state largess.” As the original suburbanites aged in place, they would have seen minority young adults moving in the their neighborhoods and minority children enrolling in local schools in 1978. Prop. 13 was thus the attempt (largely successful) of an older white generation to stick it to younger generations of color.  In light of this demographic shift, Pastor writes, "the spoils that have been acquired from a system designed to privilege white Americans and their hard-won homes would be preserved for exactly that demographic.” For the next two decades, Californians voted for governors like George Deukemejian and Pete Wilson — both moderate Republicans, but Republicans nonetheless. More distressingly, they supported propositions such as 1996’s Prop. 209 (anti-affirmative action), 1998’s Prop. 227 (English language), the  “three strikes” sentencing laws, and, most infamously, 1994’s Prop. 187, which denied social services to undocumented immigrants. Pastor walks us through this era, culminating in the Republican-led recall election of 2003 and the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Indeed, while today the election of a Republican governor is nearly unthinkable (even in the face of nearly undistinguishable Democrats, to put it charitably), California had a run of 28 years in which a Democrat did not serve for even a full term. Pastor approvingly describes the confluence of demographic changes and ideological maturation that, beginning with Jerry Brown’s return in 2011, state’s reawakening.  Interestingly, Pastor finds the beginning of California’s leftward shift in land use. He describes a softening of the politics of the state’s business community, particularly among younger tech companies, than replaced blue-blooded establishments. Pastor writes that business supported social services and civic amenities because of "the idea that they were key to the quality of life that could attract and secure the loyalties of the high skilled workers.” He continues, "with many high-tech workers valuing the diversity and excitement of the city...there were market as well as planning forces pushing along a new metropolitan configuration.”  Meanwhile, the environmental movement, buoyed by concern for climate change, began to undo some of the spatial damage done by Prop. 13’s indirect encouragement of greenfield development. "Environmentalists who had long been concerned about the loss of green space caused by sprawl took advantage of the opening to suggest a more compact style of development might be more economically efficient as well as more sustainable...with what would become known as 'smart growth,’” Pastor writes. To these points, Pastor praises business coalitions, especially in the Bay Area, that pursued progressive land use policies for the common good and their own self-interest.  For Pastor, California completed its transition to a predominantly liberal state with the 2014 passage of Prop. 55, a broad revenue measure opposed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Not shy about his own political tendencies, Pastor writes, “good won over evil by a nearly two-thirds majority.” Even so, Pastor would like to vanquish one more vestige of conservative California: “The fat, juicy target – one of would also symbolize finally putting to rest the right-wing, anti-government tax revolt that shredded California's finances and future – is the overturning of Proposition 13.”  That hasn’t happened yet. But the resistance is playing out in land use nonetheless.  Whereas many planners may fancy land use as apolitical — or at least non-ideological – Pastor notes the causal and mutually reinforcing relationship between land use and political inclination: "The new built environment–-more city, less suburb, more transit, less auto–-has shifted power and dynamism away from the right wing base in the suburbs and far-flung rural areas of the state.”  Pastor acknowledges the urgency of the housing crisis and its relationship with — for better or worse — California’s new politics. Given the tensions over development, truer words were never written than these: "The housing dilemma is a perfect illustration of what is fundamentally at stake: California has abandoned an old model of suburban sprawl that was environmentally unsustainable but it has not yet developed a new model that is economically sustainable”  Even so, Pastor could have gone much deeper into the debates over housing. As I have  written , California’s success as a “state of resistance” depends in part on its ability to house all of the progressives who live and would like to live in the state. Indeed, many progressives have fought against increased development on legitimate but, I would argue, short-sighted grounds. Pastor does not discuss these charged debates directly. He does, though, offer pragmatic advice that Californians from all arcs of the political spectrum can take to heart: "The state has embraced a new and more compact form of development, but reducing the displacement caused by gentrification will require an expansion of land trusts, rules against eviction, requirements and developers build or contribute to affordable housing, and a vibrant housing movement to make all this happen.”  While Pastor is a scholar who cites his sources carefully, he makes no secret of his own political inclinations. He approves of these recent developments and he is no fan of Donald Trump, to put it mildly. He even includes a faint shout-out to Ronald Regan, who was "was more often ideological intoned in practice, a fact frequently forgotten by his sycophants." Pastor is a lively, and sometimes witty writer, and he seems well aware that he needs to inject rhetorical flair into a topic that could, for all of its importance, be deadly dull in the wrong hands.   While I admit to my own historical blind spots, pre-1990s, Pastor has them too. There’s no denying the drama of the time frame that he discusses. He reminds Calfornians of a past that many of us have probably forgotten, either because of youth or simply our zeal for the present-day. But, in doing so, Pastor glosses over much of the earlier history of the state’s progressiveness.  California was, of course, the home of the Free Speech Movement, the hippies and Summer of Love, the farm workers’ movement, the environmental movement, Governor Moonbeam, and so many other progressive movements. While those topics warrant a book of their own, it’s odd that Pastor does not at least allude to them and situate them in the state’s long-term political evolution. They surely would not have weakened his argument. They just would have illustrated that every political paradigm shift is as much cyclical as it is revolutionary -- and that today's dominant ideology often started as yesterday's fringe movement.  Let us hope that today’s resistors will develop long memories — thanks in part to accounts like State of Resistance — and make sure that the ugly side of California does not rise again.  State of Resistance: What California’s Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Mean for America’s Future Manuel Pastor Basic Books 288 Pages $26.99

Oh darn you, California Supreme Court, darn you, darn you! You have disqualified from the November ballot Tim Draper’s proposal to chop California into three new little state-lets. In doing so, you wicked, wicked justices, you have taken away from us a chief source of amusement for the coming fall political season. The hungry children of political satirists are pressing their noses to the front window, wondering if Daddy found anything funny to write about today. This year, Tim Draper, a Silicon Valley billionaire and Bitcoin investor, returned for a second stab at California, following his ill-received 2016 proposal to cut California into six parts for the purpose of … I forget. Doesn’t matter: Billionaires always have the best ideas because money = success = happiness. We should be grateful for the wisdom they share with us, even on subjects about which they are largely uninformed. Draper's proposal to chop up California three ways this year obtained enough signatures to appear on the November ballot before running into that archaic, non-VC-funded, non-innovative institution known as the California Supreme Court. Ruling on Wednesday, the court struck down Draper's ballot measure on the grounds that it promised do to more harm than good. No fun! The entertainment value would be worth the epic cost of carving the Golden State into Vermonts and Idahoes (Draper, who spent $1.2 million promoting the measure, amusingly referred to the unanimous decision as "corruption," as if every single justice was being paid off by the One California Movement, which of course does not exist, being unnecessary.) “Assuredly, the indefatigable Mr. Draper will be back with further proposals along similar lines. (Alas! Would that Kevin Starr were still with us, to write “Butchering the Dream,” the authorized biography of Tim Draper.) Safe in the expectation that the imaginative billionaire and his fellow Golden State Miniaturists will always be with us, let’s us examine his proposal. Draper follows the best traditions of Silicon Valley: he has found a solution for a problem that does not exist. Was it a problem for you not to be able to adjust your air conditioner with the sound of your voice alone? Did your arms and legs atrophy from binge-watching Game of Thrones ? With the mere sound of your snarl, Alexa can turn your porch lights on- plink! - as if by magic. It makes you wish you had more imaginary problems, so you can buy more cool stuff. His billions aside, I think Mr. Draper missed his true calling, which is to be a butcher. He wants to take a keen knife to this state with its mountains, deserts, wineries, app factories and 1,000 miles of coast line. To understand the Draper idea properly, refer to Figure 1, the familiar chart on how a cow is dismantled for your dinner. FIGURE ONE FIGURE TWO In a similar spirit, the map of Draperland would have divided the state into three pieces: “NorCal” gets the chuck, brisket and loin, while “SoCal” would end up with sirloin, tenderloin and round. A third entity, the wee state of Cal, gets the short ribs, plate and flank. When you look at ThreeCAs that way, it makes perfect sense. Otherwise, not so much. What is the advantage of what Mr. Draper calls ThreeCAs? (That’s one word, for marketing reasons.) “ThreeCAs will give Californians better education, better infrastructure and lower taxes,” he said in a statement when launching the campaign last year, with absolutely no evidence for any of those assertions. “Three new state governments will be able to start fresh, to innovate and better serve their people.” Please notice the trope that innovation = better service to people. Yes, governance is always best starting out as a tabula rasa . That leads to innovation, which is a good thing, isn’t it? Except when innovation leads to bad things, such as the State of Alabama trying to formulate its own recipe for lethal injections. But if any state could benefit from innovation, it is California. After all, who can manage such a place, which has been a state since 1849? That’s a very long time, during which one generation of state lawmakers after another has undoubtedly been driven to near madness with the sheer bigness and too-much-ness of it all. Our endless housing controversies could benefit from Silicon Valley innovation, even if the tech world has shown little interest in urban issues so far. (One exception is the wildly popular game “Angry San Franciscans” in which city residents try to protect their bus stops from being used by busfuls of wicked green techies en route to Cupertino.) The ThreeCA concept, for example, could be used to create an array of Urban LifestylePreferences™. Each state can offer a different type of urban growth, and existing residents can migrate to whichever CA they find most congenial. One state, for example. could take the No-Growth path, in which getting a building permit for a house on the shore or the foothills would take so long that either the proposed building site would be immersed by rising sea levels or consumed by wildfire, or both. To solve housing needs in the Zero-Growth state, population increases are outlawed. Parents can be discouraged from illegal births by taking infants from their parents and sending the babes to orphanages in Nevada and Wyoming. (The children themselves might not be thrilled to grow up in these out-of-the-way places. On the other hand, each child will be able to afford a one-bedroom apartment when she grows up (assuming, of course, that she has two jobs). If you don’t want to live in Zero Growth, a second new state could encourage laissez-faire development and unbridled urban sprawl. In this builder-friendly state, freedom’s just another word for never being more than a mile from McDonald’s, three blocks from Starbucks or half a block from a Subway sandwich shop. If officials could rid the state of some outdated zoning laws, you’ll be able to open a Subway franchise in your own living room. If Builder Friendly sounds too busy for you, yet another state could be “Smart-Growth Only.” This regime requires every new apartment building to be architecturally awesome, equipped a roof-top garden and no parking whatsoever . (Automobiles will be suspended from big helium balloons and hidden in the shade of redwood trees.) One drawback: The only person who could afford to live here, however, would be Mr. Draper. As the saying here goes, “If you ask about home prices, you must be the dog-walker.” Actually, none of these ideas has test-marketed very well. Time for more research! Excuse us for a second… "Siri, how would you solve this housing crisis?" ( Creepy Siri voice : “Ask Elon Musk to invent a flying apartment building that can make stops at Pleasanton and Livermore….” So much for the merger of city planning and Silicon Valley. While no expert in California government, in the land of blind billionaires, I am a king. Let me put this as gently as possible: Creating three new separate state governments would not be more efficient than one functioning system. True, it’s a very big state with a long list of issues. This fact does not, in itself, make multiple governments a better idea. Edmund Burke, the 18th Century English politician who was critical of both the American and French revolutions, still had some interesting observations. One of those was that long-standing institutions, such as government, form slowly over time, incorporating experience along the way. If government has problems, replacing it with Like-Whatever-CA might not be an improvement. Indeed, the cure might be worse than the disease. Mr. Draper, if you want to help California, educate yourself about transportation, low-cost housing and better outcomes for the homeless. But please, sir, heed the court and put the butcher knife away: This cow is not for carving.

Statewide greenhouse gas pollution fell below 1990 levels for the first time since emissions peaked in 2004, the California Air Resources Board reported . Emissions are down 13 percent from the peak. At the same time, the economy has grown 26 percent, thus dropping the state’s “carbon intensity." The reduction is equivalent to taking roughly 12 million cars off the road or saving 6 billion gallons of gasoline a year. The 2016 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory showed California emitted 429 million metric tons of climate pollutants in 2016. The report also highlights per capita emissions are among the lowest in the country and approximately half as much as the national average. Electricity generation contributed the largest share of the drop, with an 18 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The transportation sector saw a 2 percent increase in emissions in 2016 but cars and trucks used a record amount of biofuels. Under AB 32 passed in 2006, California must reduce its emissions to 1990 levels (431 million metric tons) by 2020. (See accompanying CP&DR coverage .) Disadvantaged Communities Suffer from Cap-and-Trade, Study Says A study published in PLOS Medicine studied the social disparities in California’s cap-and-trade program  to regulate carbon emissions. Researchers found that 52 percent of companies regulated by the program saw an increase in annual average GHG emissions – and those companies are largely situated in disadvantaged communities. The study looked at the first three years of the program, which first launched in 2013. While the program is succeeding in lowering overall emissions statewide, the study found that specific industries actually produced more emissions since the program was launched. Particularly cement plants increased emissions 75 percent, followed by electricity generators, and the oil and gas industry. SCAG Releases Draft Federal Transportation Improvement Program SCAG's Executive/Administration Committee approved release of two updated transportation plans for a 30-day public review and comment period, which will run from July 10 through Aug. 8. In partnership with state and local agencies, SCAG has developed its  Draft 2019 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) , which includes a comprehensive list of transportation investment priorities in the SCAG region. It emphasizes transportation system operations and maintenance, and reflects how the region is making progress on the transportation policies and goals of the 2016-2040 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (2016 RTP/SCS). SCAG staff concurrently developed a  Draft Amendment #3 to the 2016–2040 RTP/SCS  to reflect additions and changes the 2019 FTIP makes to some long-range transportation projects. UCLA Studies Use of Federal Housing Assistance Programs in Los Angeles County UCLA’s Lewis Center studied the five major federal housing assistance programs: housing choice vouchers, low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC), project- based Section 8 housing, traditional public rental housing, and Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID). MID is an accidental tax loophole that is extremely regressive and primarily assists households earning more than $100,000. The researchers found that nearly one million households in Los Angeles County benefit from the MID, which is five times more than the combination of the four other programs targeted at low-income households. The report finds that the MID disproportionately benefits higher-income coastal areas and hillside zip codes, while the low-income housing assistance programs are concentrated in the central urban zip codes of the county as well as outlying northern areas of Palmdale and Lancaster. The correlation between median household income and the number of mortgage interest returns by zip code is positive and strong, 0.4, indicating that many more households benefit in higher income parts of the city. Renovation of Lindbergh Field Terminal Takes Crucial Step The draft environmental report for the $3 billion project to replace San Diego Lindbergh Field’s more than 50-year-old Terminal 1 has been released. The plan would increase the airpot’s gates from 18 to 30 and accommodate 28 million annual passengers, compared to the current level of 22 million. The completion of the report triggers a 45-day public comment period, before the San Diego International Airport can proceed with actual construction expected to start in 2020. In addition to increasing gates, the project would be adding a 7,500 space parking structure, a dual-level roadway in front of the terminal and a new airport entry road. Two Stadium Initiatives Can Appear on November San Diego Ballot San Diego Superior Court judge Randa Trapp gave the OK for the dueling stadium initiatives to appear on the November citywide ballot. In her final order, Judge Randa Trapp said the city did not convince the court there was enough reason to take the SDSU West proposal off the ballot. Judge Timothy Taylor also said the city did not provide a strong enough argument for removing the initiative from the ballot. Specifically, Taylor determined the SoccerCity proposal is legislative- and not judicial- in nature, meaning that the court cannot weigh in on the merits of the measure until after the election. OPR Hosts AHSC Workshops At our June 28 Countil meeting, the SGC awarded more than $257 million to 19 new Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) projects around the state! By integrating affordable homes and sustainable transportation, the AHSC program makes it easier for Californians to drive less by making sure housing, jobs, and key destinations are accessible by walking, biking, and transit. Now that Round 3 awards have been made, SGC invites stakeholders to participate in Lessons Learned Workshops to reflect on this round of the AHSC Program this July 17-19 in Fresno, Los Angeles and Oakland. During the workshops, AHSC Program staff will facilitate roundtable discus­sions on a variety of aspects of the program, including the guidelines and application process, with the aim of gathering input to improve the program in future rounds. For those who cannot attend, or prefer to submit comments in writing, SGC will also accept written com­ments until August 14. Comments may be sent to  ahsc@sgc.ca.gov . (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Quick Hits & Updates The  Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation  program is now accepting applications for both Agricultural Conservation Easement grants and Strategy and Outcome grants. The final application deadline is Wednesday, August 1. The Planning and Conservation League has filed a lawsuit to block Prop 9, the proposal to split California into three states. The challenge asserts that the proposal is too sweeping in its nature to have bene placed on the ballot under the same provisions used to enact traditional laws. However, if Prop 3 is approved, the proposal would have to be approved by Congress. (See CP&DR commentary.) The California Transportation Commission  recently released its Cycle 4 Call for Projects for the 2019  Active Transportation Program  grant, which was created to encourage increased use of active modes of transportation. Grant applications of up to $5 million will be accepted until July 31. In the meantime, be sure to check out their  flash training  resource for application assistance. In partnership with the  Urban Sustainability Directors Network , the  Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN) is announced the opening of Round 13 of the Partners for Places matching grant program, which improves U.S. and Canadian communities by building partnerships between local government sustainability leaders and place-based foundations. TFN is accepting proposals until July 31. The San Diego City Council's Smart Growth and Land Use Committee unanimously approved shrinking the minimum size for a live-work space from 750 square-feet to 500 square-feet. These “live-work” spaces are meant to ease the city’s housing crisis and encourage more people like dentists, accountants, and comic store owners to live in the same places they work. The new amendments also increased the portion of live-work space that can be residential from 33 percent to 49 percent. In March, City Council expanded the commercial and retail zones where live-work spaces are allowed. The City of Sacramento issued 5,500 housing-unit building permits between 2015 and 2017, only 98 were for apartments or houses that people with salaries in the minimum wage range or a little higher could afford. That leaves the city less than 10 percent of the way toward its 2021 housing target for low- and very-low income households, according to goals set by Sacramento Area Council of Governments. A new study released from UC Santa Barbara found coastal Southern California has experienced a significant decline in cloud cover since the 1970s. The increase in density of our urban areas leads to more reflection of the sun’s heat and the dissipation of the morning fog and low clouds. The study found with less cloud cover in the summer, plants lost a higher percentage of their moisture to the atmosphere, making them more likely to burn if exposed to fire. The University of Minnesota researchers released “ Access Across America: Transit 2017 ” which highlights 36 of the 49 largest metros and shows increases in job accessibility by transit. While rankings of the top ten metro areas for job accessibility by transit only changed slightly from the previous year, new data comparing changes within each of the 49 largest US metros over one year helped researchers identify the places with greatest increases. San Francisco ranks second for job accessibility by transit and improved by nearly nine percent. San Jose was ninth on the list of metropolitan area with greatest job accessibility by transit. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named its 11 “ Most Endangered Historic Places " for 2018. The Walkout Schools of Los Angeles were the only California placs to be on the list. Five historic campuses played a key role in the 1968 East Los Angeles Chicano Student Walkouts which helped catalyze the national Chicano Civil Rights Movement. The Los Angeles Unified School District is considering demolition of several buildings on the campuses. Cross-country highway Route 66, which terminated in California, was also on the list as the trust seeks to designate it as a National Historic Trail. The City of Morro Bay is proposing to build a water reclamation facility pipeline through an area that may contain sacred tribal sites or burial grounds according to the chairman of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council Fred Collins. Collins made his opposition clear in a response to the project’s EIR and reiterated his stance in a phone interview. The project evaluated an alternative route along the Embarcadero but found it would “have a greater impact on the kaleidoscope of issues the (environmental impact report) has taken under consideration”, such as traffic and noise concerns, according to city manager Scott Collins. Chinese developer Shenzhen New World filed plans with the City of Los Angeles to redevelop the 13-story LA Grand Hotel into a 77-story tower. The proposed project would be the tallest building west of the Mississippi at nearly 1,108 feet above the ground. LA based Dimarzio | Kato architecture designed the redevelopment which would include 599 hotel rooms, 224 apartments, 28,705 square-feet of commercial space, 36,674 square-feet of hotel amenities- including a bar on the top two floors. The Save the Redwoods League purchased 730-acre forest north of Cazadero which has the oldest and widest redwood tree in Sonoma County. The giant tree is 1,640 years old and 19 feet in diameter. The group plans to open the property as a park in three years.

Bill Higgins, executive director of the California Association of Councils of Government, likens the greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets set by the California Air Resources Board to a description of battle plans attributed to Dwight Eisenhower: in battle, they are useless, but they are indispensable before the battle has begun.

A coalition of advocacy groups has filed a quixotic, aggressively worded lawsuit against the California Air Resources Board’s 2017 AB 32 Scoping Plan, claiming in part that its encouragement of VMT reductions and other strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will unduly restrict development of new housing and victimized poor and minority residents of California. The suit, if successful, could require dramatic revision of the Scoping Plan and, by extension, revision of regional greenhouse gas emissions targets, adopted in February (see accompanying CP&DR story ).

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission released a map that shows how long it would take various cities around the Bay Area to meet their 2040 housing goals if they continued building at the annualized rate they hit from 2010 to 2017. The housing goals are set by ABAG and are based on the projected distribution of growth around the region. By 2040, the population in the Bay Area is expected to rise to 9.6 million and employment to 4.7 million. San Francisco would be 23 years behind schedule, San Jose 26 years, and Oakland 255 years to reach their 2040 goals at the current rate of building. However, some cities inland such as Gilroy, Brentwood, Dublin, and Fairfield are ahead of schedule with housing production scheduled to be completed before 2040. Los Angeles Approves Major TOD Plan on Westside The Los Angeles City Council adopted plans to allow taller residential and commercial buildings near five Expo Line stations on the Westside. The zoning plan represents a compromise between housing advocates and neighborhood groups who disagreed over the amount of growth that should occur along the major roads. The city will allow taller office towers, apartment buildings and developments along Olympic Boulevard, Venice Boulevard, and other main streets between Culver City and Centinela Avenue. The proposal could add 14,300 jobs, 6,000 new apartments and condos, and more pedestrian-friendly blocks along major corridors in the city. It is the first comprehensive up-zoning plan to be adopted in the city since the onset of the housing crisis in the late 2000s.  Report Describes Jobs-Housing Imbalance in San Mateo Co. TransForm, a nonprofit supporing transit and smart growth, and the Housing Leadership Council released a report , “Moving San Mateo County Forward: Housing and Transit at a Crossroads.” The report rejects the idea that increases in housing developments led to more, not less, congestion as workers move farther away to find affordable housing. In San Mateo County, jobs have increased at a higher rate than housing leading to more commuters spending more and more time in traffic. San Mateo County only met about half of its RHNA target between 2007 and 2014. Congestion has made commutes 80 percent longer since 2010 according to a 2017 study by the MTC. The report comes as county leaders consider a proposal to add a half-cent to the sales tax to raise transportation funds. The plan, must be approved by the county transit board and elected leaders before it goes to voters in November. Planners estimate it would raise $80 million annually. The report was funded by the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, the Hewlett Foundation and several regional community foundations. Fair Market Rent in California Requires Average Income of $67,000 The National Low Income Housing Coalition released its 2018 “ Out of Reach ” report which showed residents in California have the third-highest housing wages and need to make almost $33 per hour to be able to afford a 2-bedroom rental home. A minimum of 119 hours of work are needed every week at the minimum wage to be able to afford a 2-bedroom rental home. In California, the Fair Market Rent for two-bedroom apartments is $1,699. In order to pay no more than 30 percent of income on housing, a household must make an annual salary of $67,976. The San Francisco area was ranked the most expensive area, with San Jose second, Oakland third, Santa Cruz fourth, and Santa Maria-Santa Barbara fifth. Los Angeles Pushes for Light Rail in San Fernando Valley Los Angeles Metro’s staff issued a recommendation to select light rail as the locally preferred alternative for the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor . The proposed line would run 9.2 miles along Van Nuys Boulevard and the San Fernando railroad right-of-way, terminating at the Sylmar Metrolink Station in the north and the Orange Line busway in the south. The plans call for 14 stations with an end-to-end travel time of 31 minutes. The $1.3-billion line would be funded by the state’s SB-1 program, Measure M, and Measure R. It would be the first rail line to wholly serve the San Fernando Valley. The Metro Board of Directors will meet June 28 to discuss and potentially vote. Quick Hits & Updates CMG Landscape Architecture is working on the redesign of San Francisco Civic Center Plaza . The group announced its three alternative design concepts: “Public Platform” emphasizes gathering spots of varying sizes and includes grassy oval slopes. “Culture Connector” is an inclusive commons that prioritizes Ecology, Wellness and Variety with a sculpture garden and eight retail kiosks. The “Civic Sanctuary” concept is a re-imagination of the historic intentions of the plaza with an orderly layout of spaces and restoration of the fountain at U.N. Plaza. The California Supreme Court refused to reinstate a San Francisco ordinance that requires landlords who evict their tenants to go out of the rental business to wait 10 years before rebuilding or renovating of the formerly rented units. The state appeals court rule the ordinance, enacted in December 2013, penalized property owners for exercising their rights under the state’s Ellis Act. The state’s high court denied review of the city’s appeal by a 5-1 vote, making the appellate ruling final. Randall Winston  announced he will step down as executive director of the Strategic Growth Council mid July to return to UC Berkeley for law school. The Council has nominated Dr. Louise Bedsworth, the current Deputy Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, as the new executive director. The developer of Vallco Mall  in Cupertino, less than a mile from Apple’s spaceship campus, won a key approval from the city. The Vallco Town Center project includes proposed 2,402 residential units, 400,000 square feet of retail space and 1.81 million square feet of office, qualifies for streamlined approval under SB35. The 2017 law shortens approval time to 180 days for projects that include affordable housing and meet other requirements including using union labor for construction. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The Orange County Transportation Authority transit committee unanimously approved staff’s recommendation to end the Central Harbor Boulevard corridor study and instead support incremental improvements to current bus service. The move comes after two of the four cities: Anaheim and Fullerton city councils opposed the streetcar option and any project that would take away a general-use lane for transit. The three options were streetcar with its own lane, streetcar in mixed traffic, and bus rapid transit with a designated lane. According to a grand jury report recently released, Placer County is making significant strides in providing affordable housing, but more needs to be done. In 2017, Placer County Community Development Resource Agency released a business plan that made affordable housing a priority. The grand jury highlighted on problem was the in-lieu fee that developers can pay the county as an alternative to building affordable housing units. The county then uses those funds to pay for another entity to build the required units. Supporters of ballot initiatives calling for rent control in Pasadena, Long Beach, and Inglewood did not garner enough valid signatures to qualify for the November election. Advocates in Long Beach and Pasadena missed deadlines to turn in petition signatures for the ballot. Activists in Inglewood did turn in enough signatures, but more than half were found to be invalid according to the city council. The ballot proposition that would repeal  the new Senate Bill 1 gas tax and vehicle fees will be on the November ballot. Polls show most California voters want to kill the new tax. Gov. Brown blasted the initiative to kill the tax and gave a preview of his campaign strategy. California voters can expect two housing-related bond measures on their November ballots after the state legislature advanced a proposal to fund homeless aid. State lawmakers voted unanimously to ask residents to approve a $2 billion bond measure to house people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Lawmakers approved the money in 2016, but it has been tied up in court because of a lawsuit that argues that money comes from a source voters approved to fund mental health services, not housing. The FEMA recovery maps for Montecito and Carpinteria Valley were dramatically expanded to include floodplains in both communities. The new maps were approved by the county Board of Supervisors with a 5-0 vote. Officials in Montecito say the owners of 184 out of 321 properties with one or more damaged structures have contacted Planning and Development for assistance with rebuilding. Santa Clara Valley Water District is moving forward with plans to purchase key property to build the largest reservoir constructed in the Bay Area in the past 20 years. The water district’s board is scheduled to vote on an agreement to purchase 274 acres near Pachecho Pass for the project. The water district would agree to pay the Pacheco Pass Water District $200,000 for the land under a 15-year option. The district would then construct a new $969 million reservoir on, or slightly upstream from, the existing reservoir in the rugged ranch lands near Casa de Fruta. A new study released by the USGS found that in Southern California, cliffs could recede by more than 130 feet by the year 2100 if sea levels keep rising. The erosion would be severe along major roads in Palos Verdes Peninsula and Malibu, where blocks of homes, parks and public facilities could be lost to the sea under these projections. The Los Angeles City Council voted to designate  CBS Television City a historic-cultural monument. Television City played a huge role in television history as the “first large-scale, all-new facility in the nation designed to meet the mass-production of television programming.” The 25-acre complex is an example of the International Style by architecture firm Pereira and Luckman. Now that Television City is a landmark, and planned major changes to its exterior would have to go through the city’s historic resources office. Housing advocates see the midcity site as a prime opportunity for the city to permit a significant number of units; they fear the designation could complicate or slow those efforts.  Research from UCLA’s Institute for Transportation Studies shows Lyft has provided more equitable access in Los Angeles County than taxi drivers in the past. The study found no neighborhood in the region has been left unpenetrated by Lyft. The company’s drivers serve 99.8 percent of the population of LA County, which suggests that communities are not being systematically excluded. A recent agreement to keep the coastline of Hollister Ranch , north of Santa Barbara, largely in accessible to the public garnered 600 comments, most of them negative. The Coastal Commission will host an informational hearing on July 13. The Los Angeles City Council approved a hotly contested plan to overhaul a South LA shopping center by tripling its size and adding hundreds of new units. Activists fear it will push people out of black neighborhoods but supporters argue Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza needs to become a destination where people can live, work and play. The City of San Diego took first steps towards cracking down on dockless bikes by holding a brainstorming session focused on finding problems to cluttered sidewalks, abandoned bikes and dangerous riding. The leading option includes imposing new regulations on dockless bike companies and charging fees to cover enhanced enforcement and creation of bike lanes and paths. Last month, City Council rejected an emergency ordinance that would have banned electric scooters on boardwalks in Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla. The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to press forward with a plan to set up emergency shelters for homeless people across the city. The lawmakers decided to start assessing possible sites in Koreatown, Venice, Hollywood, Harvard Heights, and the Westside. Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled the “bridge housing” plan earlier this year which allocates at least $20 million to put a temporary shelter in every council district. However, one Koreatown resident says, “We’re not opposing it just to oppose it. They didn’t give us a choice, and time to consider.” They say Councilmembers appeared to have come to the decision in the most undemocratic way.  The cities of Anaheim, Huntington Beach, and Santa Ana have proposed new homeless shelter sites to help solve the area’s growing homeless crisis at a hearing before US District Judge David O. Carter. Santa Ana has two locations under considering for “low barrier or no barrier” shelters where any person with any background could be accepted. Anaheim officials are reviewing three sites, two of which would house up to 125 beds and a third belongs to a private property owner who has offered to convert his space for 200 beds by years end.

CP&DR Vol. 33 No. 6 June 2018