If Proposition 13 is the “third rail” of California politics, the perennial proposal to break it up into a “split roll” must be the second-and-a-half rail. It’s politically dangerous, but not necessarily fatal.

In the 1980s, two San Diego retail developments helped draw shoppers downtown and cement the city's reputation for innovative planning. Those popular developments were Horton Plaza, an outdoor downtown shopping mall, and Seaport Village, a touristy restaurant and shopping destination built on San Diego Bay on waterfront land once used for shipping. But San Diego is being swept by the same retail trends as the rest of the U.S., and now both projects are being redeveloped. Horton Plaza's owners recently announced plans to convert the lagging shopping center into offices suitable for tech, while Seaport Village is slated to be transformed into a series of high-rise towers, with new retail, tech and tourist-related buildings set amidst parkland. It will also include San Diego’s answer to Seattle’s Space Needle, anchoring the continent's southwestern corner. It is a $1.5 billion project, to be built on 70 acres around the current site. More than 30 acres are expected to be parks and open space. While the decline of malls and department stores sealed Horton Plaza's fate, the current 14-acre Seaport Village is still prosperous. Its two-story buildings are a draw for tourists and locals, a San Diego version of San Francisco's Pier 39. Seaport's Village current tenant mix is made up of small businesses that aren't typically found in malls -- a kite store, a magic shop, a store selling magnets, and one selling tiles. "Seaport Village is entirely based on impulse purchases," said Chris Glenn, who owns four stores there. "You're not going there to buy a suit." Glenn said supporters of the village say "it's quaint," or "it's perfect and shouldn't be touched." But other San Diegans, he said, "say it's a run-down tourist trap that should be torn down."

It’s been 40 years since the voters of California passed Proposition 13 – so long that hardly anybody who hasn’t reach retirement age remembers what life was like before the property-tax cap became the law of the state. It’s tempting simply to accept Prop. 13 as a typically oddball quirk in California governance – but it’s also important to remember the way in which it has distorted how California is run and financed and what some of the long-time effects have been.

Supporters of a proposed initiative to expand the use of rent control have collected enough signatures for the November ballot. The initiative would repeal a state law that prevents local government from passing most new rent control laws. Supports, who submitted 407,760 signatures, say its success was a reflection of a widespread affordable housing problem. The campaign is expected to be one of the highest profile and most expensive in the state this year. Opponents such as the California Apartment Association, which represents landlords, has estimated it will spend upwards of $60 million. Fifteen cities across the state have some form of rent control such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.  LA Mayor Eric Garcetti endorsed the effort saying it’s unfair that rent control doesn't cover tenants in newer buildings, while Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes it and argues a Costa-Hawkins repeal is too aggressive. Residents Sue to Block Clippers’ Arena in Inglewood A group of residents, Uplift Inglewood Coalition, filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Inglewood to try and halt plans for a new Los Angeles Clippers arena on public land. The lawsuit seeks to make the land available for affordable housing for working class residents facing escalating housing costs. Under the terms of the California Surplus Land Act, cities planning to sell or give away public land must first seek out proposals for affordable housing construction on the site. Uplift Ingelwood says the city skipped this crucial step last year. However, City of Inglewood Mayor James Butts says the land was never viable for residential development because it lies in the LAX flight path and has been deemed “incompatible for housing”. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said he plans to honor the team’s lease to play at Staples Center through the 2024 season. The Madison Square Garden Co., which spent millions upgrading the Forum into a premier concert venue has already sued in an attempt to stop the project. Two weeks ago, Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove introduced a bill that could fast track the Clippers’ arena by limiting challenges to the development under CEQA. PPIC Report Marks 40th Anniversary of Prop. 13 The Public Policy Institute of California commemorated the 40th anniversary of the enactment of Proposition 13 with a report assessing the measure’s legacy. PPIC found 57 percent of Californians still support Prop. 13 and thinks its turned out to be a mostly good thing for the state. Approximately 71 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats hold this view. Homeowners are more likely to feel Prop. 13 turned out to be a benefit (65 percent) versus only 50 percent of renters. In regards to the supermajority requirement, 48 percent of likely voters say the two-thirds voter requirements for raising special taxes has had a good effect on local government services while 19 percent of likely voters say it has had no effect. However, 56 percent of likely voters oppose lowering the two-thirds vote requirement for local special taxes to a 55 percent majority.  A possible 2020 initiative would tax commercial properties according to their current market value but would not change the limit on residential property taxes creating a “split roll” tax system. Likely voters are unsure with 46 percent in favor and 43 percent opposed. The PPIC survey did find 61 percent of adults would vote yes on a potential ballot measure that would tax commercial properties according to their current market value and direct some of the new tax revenue to state funding for K-12 public schools. Democrats favor this proposal with 70 percent and Republicans support 32 percent. The highest level of support among likely voters was in the San Francisco Bay Area with 65 percent of likely voters in support. Marin County Faces State’s Greatest Flooding Risk According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, Marin County has the highest number of households in California vulnerable to coastal flooding . The communities at greatest risk in the county are San Rafael, Corte Madera, and Larkspur. In the worst-case scenario, possible 4,377 Marin homes are at risk of being inundated with chronic flooding by 2045. California has approximately 20,472 at-risk coastal households. San Mateo County has approximately 4,100 homes and $30 million in property tax revenue within the next three decades that are at risk. Orange County came third with 3,700 homes and $44 million in property tax revenue in danger. Marin County is one of the eight California jurisdictions who have filed civil lawsuits against fossil fuel companies. Quick Hits & Updates  Riverside County Superior Court Judge Sharon J. Water’s tossed out the World Logistics Center environmental report saying it did not properly evaluate the possible effects on Moreno Valley. The judge’s orders also bars the city from issuing and permits or land use entitlements that would pave the way for construction to begin on the warehouse complex that would blanket 10 percent of the 51 square-mile city. However, the city and developer Highland Fairview say the project remains on track and the ruling does not spell long delays for the project. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Los Angeles County is considering a plan to build a transportation boarding school that would offer a vocational and college-preparatory curriculum, tightly tailored to train students for jobs in the transportation industry. Officials are looking at a 4.2-acre lot in South Los Angeles that has sat vacant for 25 years. Although the proposal is in its infancy, some residents say the neighborhood needs more sit-down restaurants, grocery stores, and retail spaces- not a boarding school. The school would open as soon as the fall of 2020 with operating subsidy of $10 million from LA County. Metro is struggling to fill some jobs and has approximately 40 percent of its employees eligible for retirement today. The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers sent a proposal to redefine “Waters of the United States ” to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. The Trump administration is rewriting an Obama administration water pollution rule in a more industry-friendly way. The Water of the United States rule, defines which bodies of water are subject to federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. The Obama rule, written in 2015, clarified that small waterways such as ponds and headwaters can be protected. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The US Navy agreed to retest the San Francisco Hunters Point Shipyard site where hundreds of new townhomes have been built. The Navy also picked companies to retest a 40-acre parcel where more development is approved. Independent contractor Battelle will oversee the retesting of the 40-acre site, Parcel G, and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. will perform survey work under a proposal from the Navy. Soil resampling contractors have not been selected. Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil ruled that it is not illegal for supporters of the citizen’s initiative to redevelop San Diego’s Mission Valley stadium site with the SDSU West plan to use the university’s name to garner support. Judge Wohlfeil said that referring to San Diego State University does not imply the university is spearheading the SDSU West measure or has endorsed it. The lawsuit was filed in April by supporters of SoccerCity, who are behind the rival initiative. In an emailed statement SoccerCity officials said they plan to appeal the judge’s ruling. SDSU has not taken an official position on either measure. According to analysis from the US Geological Service 39 high-rises in San Francisco are at risk of collapse in a major earthquake . The list includes the former Bank of America building, the headquarters of PG&E, three hotels, and the Salesforce West tower. The major issue is the welding technique, which was outlawed by the city in 1994 after the Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles. The building technique welded columns and beams together to increase speed and reduce costs, but makes the buildings more flexible and at risk during an earthquake. The  West Hollywood City Council voted to ban electric shared scooters (and bicycles) in the city and rejected a proposal by staff to launch a pilot program to test ways to regulate the vehicles. The pilot program would have allowed a maximum of three companies to each locate up to 50 scooters within West Hollywood for six months. The companies would have been required to share ridership data with the city, put restrictions on hours of operation and location of scooters. The City of Sacramento released architectural drawings from Populous for a renovated Sacramento Convention Center . The renderings show plenty of glass with a plaza-like walkway on the south side, and trees and gathering spots connecting the center to a renovated Community Center Theater. The City Council was expected to approve the project’s EIR along with designs for the convention center and theater, but staff plans to return to the council later this year with a final financing plan. Construction is scheduled to begin in December or January and would reopen late 2020. Monterey County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to approve a settlement with a number of oil industry interests who challenge Measure Z . This is in response to a Superior Court judge’s ruling striking down most of voter-approved Measure Z, which sought to establish some of the nation’s toughest restrictions on oil and gas operations. This leaves Protect Monterey County and its legal representation with the Center for Biological Diversity alone challenging the judge’s ruling on the initiative. Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will consider a draft of the Vision Santa Cruz County plan based on high-level vision, mission, and value statements from thousands of County residents and hundreds of county employees through community forums, mixers, and online surveys. The six focus areas of the document are comprehensive health and safety; reliable transportation; dynamic, attainable housing; sustainable environment; and county operational excellence. The plan will guide the county through 2024. The Oceanside City Council unanimously approved the inclusion of a Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) initiative on the November ballot. Volunteers supporting the citizen’s initiative collected more than 13,000 signatures to qualify for the general election. The initiative would require a public vote on any zoning changes for the city’s agricultural, parkland, or open space. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation updated its Urban Mobility in a Digital Age Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) that seeks to integrate autonomous vehicles and “the ongoing explosion of technology”. The update to the plan would reposition LA as an active partner in the development and deployment of electric, shared, and autonomous mobility options, including dockless bike sharing and air taxis. DOT has selected Ellis & Associates to help execute the new strategy.

The Strategic Growth Council will consider the awarding of $257.5 million in cap-and-trade funding this week for the 2016- 17 Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program  to 19 projects supporting greenhouse gas emissions reductions and related co-benefits as recommended by SGC staff.

According to 2018 Bay Area Council poll , 69 percent of voters want traffic signals upgraded with technology that makes them responsive to actual traffic conditions. This technology has been tested in San Jose, Palo Alto, Santa Rosa, and Hayward but has not been put into widespread use. The poll also found out that from 2015 to 2018 the number of people who have never used a ride-hailing application before dropped from 68 percent to 39 percent. Nearly 75 percent of people say these services are an important part of the Bay Area’s transportation system and 56 percent say they make it easier to get around. Voters are less sure about self-driving cars with only 46 percent being willing to relinquish control of the steering wheel, compared to 52 percent in 2017. Over 30 percent of voters say self-driving cars will be the majority on the roads within the next decade, but 45 percent say self-driving cars won’t rule the roads for 11 to 50 years. The poll found 55 percent of Bay Area residents would pay a bit more to drive an all-electric vehicle and 40 percent say they wouldn’t use an all-electric car because of the distance traveled on a single charge. Nearly 52 percent of voters agree with a ban on all fossil-fueled powered cars in California by 2040. United Way Report Details Challenges for Low-Income Californians United Way of California released a report , “Struggling to Stay Afloat: The Real Cost Measure in California 2018” which shows the financial challenges for working families in the state. The Real Cost Measure factors in the costs of housing, food, healthcare, childcare, transportation, and other factors that are not included in the poverty measure. The main focus of the Real Cost Measure are household budgets. Some of the key findings are that more than one-third of California households do not earn sufficient income to meet basic needs. Of the estimated 3.3 million households in the State that fall below the Real Cost Measure, 90 percent have at least one working adult. Nearly 40 percent of California households pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing. While households of all ethnicities struggle, the rate is higher for Latino and African Americans. Over 70 percent of all single mothers fall below the Real Cost Measure. The report also found that as educational attainment increases, the rate of struggling falls with 71 percent of householders without a high school diploma falling below the Real Cost Measure and only 15 percent of those with at least a bachelor’s degree. Nearly 1 in 3 seniors struggle to meet basic needs according to the Elder Index, a measure by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Santa Monica Approves Pilot Program for Scooters The Santa Monica City Council approved a 16-month pilot program that will allow electric scooter and electric bike rental companies to continue operating in the city. The pilot will begin Sept. 17 which will help the city craft longer-term regulations. Under the pilot program, electric-scooter and electric-bike companies will have to apply for a permit and pay an annual fee of $20,000 and per-device fee of $130. Companies will also have to share real-time data with the city, ensure that scooters are evenly distributed throughout the city, establish a 24-hour hotline to field complaints, and make sure that improperly parked scooters are promptly moved. The City of Santa Monica will also impose a “dynamic” cap on the number of scooters each company is allowed to deploy, and a company that can demonstrate that each of its scooters is being used at least three times a day may have its cap increased. Settlement Provides Limited Access to Hollister Ranch A settlement has been signed between the California State Coastal Conservancy and Coastal Commission and the  Hollister Ranch  Owners Association that grants the public a roughly three-quarter mile stretch of beach that is only accessible by ocean “via surfboard, paddleboard, kayak or soft-bottom boat.” The rest of the coastal area will only be accessible to wealthy property owners or visitors with guides. The wealthy landowners in Hollister Ranch, west of Santa Barbara, have fought for decades to keep their beach almost entirely to themselves. Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Colleen Sterne granted preliminary approval to the deal but requested the terms of the settlement be published in a local newspaper to allow the public to get involved. Facebook to Partner with San Mateo County on Trans-Bay Bridge Facebook has entered into negotiations with San Mateo County Transit District to improve the Dumbarton corridor by renovating a defunct rail bridge. The negotiating agreement was approved by the transit district’s board, allowing Facebook and a public infrastructure investor, Plenary Group USA, to begin working on a place to improve the bridge built in 1910 that parallels the existing, congested bridge for cars and trucks. SamTrans says the rail line improvements from the Peninsula to Newark, including fixing the old bridge, would cost slightly less than $1 billion. A rail line across the water would help Facebook recruit employees who live on the other side of the Bay but are intimidated by the current traffic on the Dumbarton road bridge. The project could also include bicycle and pedestrian facilities, as well as “enhanced bus service”. Santa Cruz to Revamp Approach to Housing The  Santa Cruz City Council will review a new “housing blueprint” designed to navigate the city’s housing crisis using a wide-ranging series of proposals, divided into eight interest areas. The report looks at zoning updates, continued community buy-in, granny unit and parking rules, new sources of housing revenue, and more. One major proposal of the report would come into play if the proposed rent control ballot measure fails and is significantly less restrictive. Other proposals that would need future individual votes include: research imposing taxes and fees on outside investors who are not residents of the city; preparing a 2019 ballot measure to increase the city hotel and vacation rental tax rate to fund affordable housing construction and projects to end homelessness; reviewing city provision to allow housing developers to pay into city fund rather than build affordable units on their site; and develop a new zoning district related to the recently adopted Ocean Street Area Plan with higher densities. L.A. Metro Considers Long-Awaited Sepulveda Pass Transit Options Los Angeles County Metro unveiled six initial concepts for a rail line through the congested Sepulveda Pass. Two of the concepts include underground heavy rail lines, which would link the Expo, and Purple Lines in West LA with the orange Line in San Fernando Valley. Concept three and four involve light rail transit but the similar routes to the first two concepts. Concept five envisions a monorail or rubber-tire trains along the 405 Freeway for alignments between 11 and 14 miles. The sixth concept would be a purple line extension to Metro’s Orange Line. The Sepulveda Transit Corridor is set to receive $9.8 billion in local funding through sales tax measures R and M. Quick Hits & Updates  The SANDAG Board voted to approve, the 52 percent of voting board members in favor, the state’s housing need determination after a press conference organized by land use and transportation think tank Circulate San Diego. The vote to accept the housing determination, instead of negotiating a lower number, is a bold demonstration of the region’s leadership towards addressing the housing crisis. On May 11, the board requested a lower determination but now has accepted the actual determination of 171,000 new homes needed for San Diegans. San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan that would allow some vacant or blighted properties in Chula Vista to get a tax break in exchange for growing fruits and vegetables. The City of Chula Vista would be covered by an Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone (UAIZ) that allows owners of more than 170 qualifying blighted parcels to submit plans to turn their properties into community gardens or other agricultural uses. In exchange, the owners pay a lower property tax rate. The aim of the program is to increase green spaces, build community, educate the public about fresh food production and increase access to fruits and vegetables in areas that lack fresh produce. Parcels must be at least 0.1 acres and no more than three acres, and no residential uses are allowed on the site. Los Angeles City Council approved , 15-0, a plan to spend voter-approved tax revenue to build housing with social services for homeless residents and endorsed state legislation that would funnel $2 billion to cities to immediately house the homeless. The councilmembers approved using $239 million to finance construction of 24 projects that would create 1,517 units of housing for homeless residents, 1,242 of which come with social services and health services attached to them. The funds are generated from Prop HHH. UCLA Anderson Forecast released an analysis that found high housing costs are a significant factor behind the state’s homelessness crisis. The study found higher median rent and home prices are strongly correlated with more people living on the streets or in shelters. Last year, Zillow released a study that showed a five percent rent hike in LA County would result in 2,000 additional people to lose their homes. A proposal by financier Tim Draper to split California into three states qualified for the November ballot. If majority of voters agree, it would begin the long and contentious process of creating three separate states. “Northern California” would be the northern portion of the state up to Monterey County, “California” would include the coastal counties from Monterey to Los Angeles, and “Southern California” contains primarily central and southern California. If the radical plan succeeds, this would be the first division of an existing US state since the creation of West Virginia in 1863. Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Kelly Neel ruled that she needs more time to determine whether Caltrans satisfied a 2014 court order that required the agency to revise its environmental review of a controversial highway widening project under CEQA. Caltrans seeks to widen and upgrade 1.1 miles of Highway 101 through Richardson Grover State Park to allow industry standard-sized trucks to be able to pass through. The project began in 2007 but has been repeatedly challenged in state and Federal court by environmental groups and local residents. Caltrans has repeatedly found in its environmental reviews under CEQA and NEPA that the project would have no significant environmental impact to redwood trees and their root systems. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $425 million bond measure to shore up the Embarcadero seawall that city leaders say is vital to securing three miles of shoreline from the threat of earthquakes and sea level rise. A second vote by the board is required before the measure becomes official. The entire project would cost as much as $5 billion and city officials hope that state and federal money would augment the bond funding. Airbnb has announced a new partnership with civil rights organization NAACP to recruit more black Angelenos to rent out their homes on the short-term rental platform. The NAACP would receive a portion of revenue from the hosts they recruit. However, critics say this won’t address the core issues of discrimination. Horton Plaza, the once-groundbreaking 900,000 square foot shopping center in San Diego, may turn into a modern office campus. Future owner Stockdale Capital Partners has plans to reshape the dated Westfield Mall into a unique office space for the nation’s most renowned tech firms. The Office of Planning and Research invites stakeholders to provide feedback on the proposed 2018-2019 Draft Program Guidelines for the Transformative Climate Communities pro­gram, which will be released shortly.  LA Metro is conducting a feasibility study for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project . An online survey for the project has close to 5,000 respondents, one of the largest response rates on any Metro survey. The project includes a 10-mile train connecting Westwood with Sherman Oaks over the Sepulveda Pass. The project is expected to cost between $17 billion and $38 billion in a 2012 analysis.

The Environmental Council of Sacramento and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court challenging a county decision to allow the City of Elk Grove to expand onto 1,156 acres of farmland west of Highway 99. City officials are hoping to bring jobs to the south county and say the city residents commute elsewhere for work. Environmentalists say they have plenty of other land available. The Sacramento LAFCo voted earlier this year to make the area south of Kammerer Road part of the city’s “sphere of influence”. The environmental groups contend the commission relied on faulty information about Elk Grove’s already available land for development inside current city limits. A Dozen Scooter Companies Seek Approval in San Francisco Lyft and Uber joined the list of a dozen firms bidding to run motorized scooter rental programs in the City of San Francisco. The ride-hailing companies are interested in the 12-month test program for five companies to put 1,250-scooter cap within city limits for at least six months. Lyft and Uber would rent out scooters under the recently purchased electronic bike company called Jump, are the biggest names to enter the permit competition. Other companies include Spin, LimeBike, Bird, newcomer Razor, Scoot, Chinese firm Ofo, Waybots (primarily in Washington D.C), and CycleHop (operates in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Phoenix, and Cleveland). Who gets the permits won’t be determined until late June, according to MTA. (See prior CP&DR commentary .) Study Analyzes Housing Options for Alameda County The Bay Area Council Economic Institute released a study showing 20 different strategies that can help improve (or worsen) housing affordability in Alameda County. The housing crisis has led to a housing shortage and almost 40 percent of county household to be considered cost burdened. The study looked at adding thousands of housing units in transit-rich areas such as the planned 4,000 housing units in Fremont near the Warm Spring BART station could improve affordability for 2,821 households. Other great strategies are reducing parking requirements in Oakland by 10 percent and maximizing the number of ADUs in Berkeley. Policies that could make housing affordability worse is expanding rent control, which largely discourages investment in new housing construction, and short-term rentals which provides houses to tourists rather than long-term, local tenants. Tejon Ranch Development Takes Step towards Approval A public hearing of the LA County Regional Planning Commission was held over the Centennial development on the Tejon Ranch , and the commission agreed to take up the issue July 11. The proposed 12,000-acre community would include nearly 20,000 homes and 10 million square-feet of commercial, retail, and “institutional/civic” space for public facilities like schools, parks, a sheriff’s station, and an urgent care clinic. Nearly half of the project site would be open space. Environmental advocates and some residents oppose the project saying it would ruin the habitats of protected specifies and contribute to sprawl that increases car dependence, worsens air quality, and generates more greenhouse gas emissions. However, some residents spoke up and said they put their children on a bus at 5:30 in the morning to get them to far away schools, and that the local deputy gets off work at 6:00pm and after they are on their own. Tejon Ranch was established 175 years ago through a land grant and includes grasslands, oak woodlands, and desert and is home to California condors, San Joaquin kit foxes, and bald eagles.If they recommend approval of the developer’s plan, the project would go to LA County Board of Supervisors for final consideration. Rent Control Battles Heat Up in Sacramento Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has expressed opposition to a rent control ballot measure being pushed by union groups and is instead drafting an ordinance with protections for renters he plans to bring to the City Council this summer. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have been circulating petitions that would qualify the measure for the November ballot. It would cap annual rent increases on older apartments at five percent, force landlords to provide thousands of dollars in financial assistance to tenants evicted for certain reasons, and create a nine-member elected housing board that would set maximum rent increases each year. Steinberg is meeting with labor and business representatives to draft an ordinance that avoids a rent control ballot measure.  Quick Hits & Updates  Gabriel Metcalf, President and CEO of SPUR, is leaving to accept a position as the CEO of the Committee for Sydney (Australia). Metcalf has worked at SPUR for 20 years, starting when the organization had a staff of four through the growth of the 40-person organization with multiple offices throughout the Bay Area. SPUR Executive Board has appointed a search committee to find a new CEO and Metcalf will be working over the next six months to transition responsibilities and set up the organization for its next phase. The California Apartment Association is tentatively supporting annual rent hikes to the cost of inflation plus five percent alongside property tax breaks for apartment owners who convert residences to low-income rentals. The two ideas were proposed by UC Berkeley researchers. Tenant groups put forth an initiative that would repeal Costa-Hawkins and the Apartment Assn. previously estimated her group would spend $60 million to defeat the measure. Two lawsuits have been filed by Sierra Watch over Placer County’s approval of the Squaw Valley’s planned 25-year village redevelopment project. The environmental group says the county fell well short of fully analyzing the impacts related to fire safety, traffic and resulting environmental effects on the Lake Tahoe Basin. New research from USC found evening commutes in Los Angeles take a lot longer than morning drives. The group studied 18 of the city’s busiest freeways over a full year and found morning commutes were faster almost 80 percent of the time in 2017. Crosstown is an ongoing research project that mines data on key quality of life indicators in LA such as traffic, crime, and air quality. One of the reasons traffic is better in the mornings is because people are going directly to work or school, whereas in the evenings people run errands or go to dinner.  According to a survey released by the City of Cupertino , 71 percent of voters would support imposing a controversial employee tax on Apple and other businesses to help pay for needed transit and housing improvements. The Cupertino City Council is considering placing such a question on the November ballot. Voter approval is required to restructure the city’s business license tax model. San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell and Supervisor Aaron Peskin co-sponsored an ordinance that would allow office space converted to residential use to be reallocated as commercial space available to be developed- about 1.3 million square feet. The law would go before the Board of Supervisors, but does not need to be approved by voters. The proposed ordinance would help the problem posed by Prop. M, a 1986 cap on conversions of older office buildings into residential condos. Prop M limited the amount of office development the city can approve to 950,000 square feet per year. San Diego City Council and Port commissioners are set to  approve  a settlement on June 12 that would allow the Convention Center to receive a $32 million payoff if the initiative to expand the Convention Center wins in November. The partners, Ray Carpenter and Art Engel, would receive an immediate payment of $5 million and up to $3.2 million to compensate them for their efforts to get a hotel approved on the land. If the Yes! For a Better San Diego is successful, it would increase the hotel-room tax and fund an expansion of the Convention Center, at which point Carpenter and Engel would receive $25 million in exchange for the lease to the land.

I think I was the only reader in the country unmoved by Evicted , Matthew Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning inquiry into the dark heart of America’s eviction crisis. I say unmoved not because I didn’t care or because Desmond’s work – a detailed, intimate ethnography of eviction in Milwaukee – wasn’t impressive. It was, and I do. I was unmoved by Desmond’s account of the horrors and injustices of eviction because I have never assumed that eviction was anything but horrible and unjust.

Gov. Jerry Brown released his revised fiscal year 2018-19 budget proposa l for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Known as the May Revise, the proposal includes $137.6 billion in General Fund spending and a total spending amount of $199.3 billion. The report addressed the annual need of 180,000 housing units to keep pace with population growth, but did not include any new funding specifically for affordable housing. Instead, it highlighted the possible future funding if voters approve the $4 billion Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018. The May Revise made clear that Gov. Brown sees homelessness as a local government responsibility and proposed $359 million in one-time spending and $64 million in on-going allocations for homelessness. Eight different programs were mentioned with increases in funding including a Homelessness Emergency Aid block grant of $250 million, CalWORKS Housing Support Program increase of $24.2 million, and Home Safe Pilot Program with a one-time $15 million funding. The May Revise includes $2.8 billion in new SB1 revenues for state and local transportation funding in FY 2018-19.  A variety of local and state programs will receive funding such as $1.2 billion for local streets and roads, $330 for the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, and $1.2 billion for maintenance of the state highway system. The May Revise includes $630 million in general funds for office building projects in Sacramento. Other projects include $100 million each for the judicial branch, department of state hospitals, California State University, University of California systems, and levee repairs through DWR. California’s Community Colleges will receive $143.5 million and $174 million for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The May Revise specified additional funding for wildfire response and recovery that was not mentioned in the January budget. Federal Court Upholds Berkeley’s Civic Center Historic Zone A federal judge rejected arguments by the federal government and sided with the City of Berkeley when it created a historic overlay for the Civic Center in 2014, thereby making it difficult for the government to sell the post office and eight other buildings. USPS announced it was placing the main post office, a historic structure built in 1914, up for sale. In 2014 USPS agreed to sell the building for $9 million to Hudson McDonald, a developer, that, according to the judge, “intended to turn most of the post office to commercial use as, for example, a Target store.” Later that year, the City Council passed the Civic Center District Overlay which restricted the use of nine buildings clustered around Civic Center Park. USPS filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming that it had singled it out, thereby violating the supremacy clause of the Constitution. USPS also claimed that the creation of the overlay made the post office building impossible to sell. SGC Coordinates Active Transportation Assistance for Five California Communities In partnership with Caltrans and the California State Transportation Agency, the SGC has contracted with the Local Government Commission, California Walks, California Bicycle Coalition, and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy to provide technical assistance to five under-resourced communities across the state. The selected communities include the cities of Colton, Richmond and Willits, as well as San Joaquin and Riverside counties. The goal of this work is to assist these communities in scoping bicycle and pedestrian projects, cultivating partnerships, and applying to various funding sources, including the  Active Transportation program  and other  California Climate Investments  programs. The SGC's Executive Director Randall Winston explained in a statement, "This technical assistance is an exciting opportunity to provide tailored support to these five communities in a way that could have long lasting impacts on the health and well-being of their residents.” Reports: Housing Prices Spur Out-Migration The Pew Trusts released a report on demographic data that shows cities in Texas and Arizona have gained more population than New York City or Los Angeles for the first time in a decade. San Antonio grew by 24,200 people between 2016 and 2017 with Phoenix in second with 24,000. Los Angeles grew with 18,643 people. Another report from realtor.com  found that larger share of residents are leaving Santa Clara County than any other county in California. San Mateo County was second and Los Angeles County third in the state. The median home price in Santa Clara County is $1.28 million and many residents are moving to Alameda, Sacramento, San Joaquin or Place counties were homes are less than half the cost of a home in Santa Clara County. The report found Santa Clara County residents are leaving California for Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Idaho. Lawsuit to Drain Hetch Hetchy Continues A Berkeley environmental group is continuing its long-running battle of draining Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. Restore Hetch Hetchy argues the reservoir built in 1923 violates California’s constitution, which requires water to be diverted in a “reasonable” way, and that other places to store Hetch Hetchy’s water exist. The group lost in court two years ago and will pursue its appeal in the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno. San Francisco voters in 2012 rejected the idea of draining the reservoir which is the main water supply for more then 2.6 million Bay Area residents and provides clean, greenhouse gas free hydroelectric power. Quick Hits & Updates Kaiser Permanente plan to invest $200 million in the coming years in programs to grow affordable housing and mitigate homelessness in Bay Area cities and locations where the health system operates. While the exact projects the “impact-investing” dollars will go have not been determined, it will be focused on preserving and expanding affordable housing. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said she asked Kaiser CEO Bernard Tyson to join the new Mayors and CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment group which made the announcement from Washington where it is lobbying Congress for more federal funding for homelessness. Construction began on the former Alameda  Naval Air Station for the first major market-rate multifamily development in four decades. However, some officials expressed concern as Tetra Tech EC Inc, the US Navy contractor that was accused of falsifying data at Hunters Point, was also the contractor at the Alameda base. Developers for the $1 billion project said they had no involvement with Tetra Tech and received safety confirmations from the Navy, state agencies, and their own environmental consultants. City officials said their contractors verified the Navy data as well. San Francisco will begin its process of issuing permits to motorized scooter rental companies meaning scooters could vanish from the streets for most of June. The city required the three companies renting scooters to stop operations on city sidewalks June 4 and not resume rentals until permits are issued. The three companies, Spin, LimeBikes, and Bird said they would comply while they work on the applications. Scooters left on City streets after June 4 will be fined $100 a day. (See prior CP&DR commentary .) San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen  introduced legislation that orders five departments – Planning, Building Inspection, Public Works, Fire and the mayor’s Office on Disability- to put affordable housing projects at the front of the line. In each of the departments, a specific manager will be appointed to oversee affordable projects. Ronen has watched as seven affordable developments in her district, totaling 733 units, have been stalled for more than a year after approvals. Los Angeles city officials have begun discussing how to regulate electric scooters and short-term bicycle rentals. The transportation department has proposed a one-year test program that would limit each company to no more than 2,500 vehicles within city limits, and would impose strict rules for parking and data sharing. The Los Angeles proposal would require scooters and bikes to be parked in the outer edge of the sidewalk and be locked to something. LA Metro officials chose two possible routes through downtown for a light-rail line to Artesia. Metro’s directors unanimously backed two routes that would run underground through downtown and terminate in the Civic Center, the Financial District or at Union Station. The 20-mile line has secured $4 billion in funding, including $1.4 billion from measure M. The estimated completion date is 2041 but Metro hopes a private-sector company could pay for a portion of the project to start service by the 2028 Olympics. According to a new USC Dornsife/LA Times poll, 54 percent of those surveyed said they supported a measure that would ease property tax protections established by Prop 13 . Under the proposed 2020 initiative, local governments and schools could tax larger commercial and industrial properties based on their market values rather than the values based on when the properties were purchased. This could result in as much as $10 billion annually in new revenue. LA City Council approved , unanimously, a plan for the development of a 1,153-room hotel complex across from the Convention Center by New York City-based Lightstone Group. The plan includes more than $103 million in public assistance during the project’s first decade as well as generous signage plan that allows the project to have digital signs. The City Council agreed to sell Lightstone a city-owned parking lot at Figueroa and Pico for $9.6 million. The vote comes a week after AEG announced its plans to build an 850-room hotel next to the Convention Center. AEG is also seeking taxpayer assistance for its project. Beverly Hills real estate developer Arman Gabaee was arrested on a felony charge of bribing an LA County employee in exchange for a government lease worth $45 million. Gabaee provided the employee about $1,000 a month over a half year in exchange for leases, nonpublic information and other benefits. Gabaee also made an offer to purchase a $1.1 million home in Santa Rosa for the employee in exchange for signing off on a 10-year lease for the county’s Department of Public Social Services at a Gabaee property in Hawthorne. Los Angeles County transportation officials have identified five properties, including parking lots in San Fernando Valley and a former bus yard in Venice Beach, that could be used to provide services or temporary housing for the county’s growing homeless population. The properties are owned by Metro and are either vacant or underused. A similar effort is underway in the City of LA where a $20 million initiative to build temporary homeless shelters on city-owned parking lots is underway. Tech company Arx Pax is proposing a project in San Jose’s Alviso neighborhood that would use the “ floating village ” concept to protect the development from floods and earthquakes. The Self-Adjusting Floating Environment (SAFE) would deploy a group of pontoons beneath the buildings that “can protect people, property and communities from natural disasters” according to Greg Henderson, CEO and co-founder of the company. Henderson says the SAFE foundation allows development to occur at the fraction of the cost and makes site feasible that otherwise would not be fit for development. San Juan Capistrano City Councilmembers said they could support the latest proposal to preserve the last piece of privately owned farmland in the city. The two previous proposals for the 35-acre property were blocked by the council over fears of traffic and over-development. The project includes 180 houses, a half-acre park, a public trail, and $2 million towards community facilities. The property owner field a lawsuit after the second proposed plan of 240-units was blocked complaining that the current zoning for agricultural uses left them no viable future for the property. The lawsuit was put on hold pending the outcome of the current development request. According to consultant CannonDesign’s report, one-quarter of Santa Rosa’ s city-owned buildings need so much work that they should either be sold or demolished instead of spending millions to update them. The report found 29 “troubled buildings” including City Hall complex, the police station, and the Bennett Valley Senior Center. City Council must now decide to follow the analysis of the city’s 114 buildings and structures from the consultant or override them to appease community groups that use the various buildings. Over the next five years, the city faces $32 million in direct maintenance costs on the buildings and the number climbs to $48 million in ten years. A USC Dornsife/ LA Times poll found that 48 percent of respondents expressed at least some support for high-speed rail while 43 percent opposed. However, when asked if the state should stop working on the project in light of the high costs almost half the respondents said yes, while only 31 percent want to continue work.  Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved up to $4.9 billion to design, build, operate and maintain an elevated train that would bring passengers in and out of Los Angeles International Airport's central terminal area and carry them to a car rental facility, ground transportation hub, and a station on the Metro Crenshaw Line. The project would break ground this year and service is expected to begin in March 2023.

CP&DR Vol. 33 No. 5 May 2018

Like that other venerable piece of economic regulation the minimum wage, rent control has been around forever but there still isn’t a consensus as to whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. It’s either a vital affordable housing tool that protects vulnerable populations or a regulatory boondoggle that stifles the market’s ability to create affordable housing. Or it’s both.

If you’re trying to fight a project nearby on environmental grounds, don’t do the analysis yourself. Hire an expert.