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

A Malibu-based special district – the Broad Beach Geologic Hazard Abatement District – illegally contracted away its police power when it entered into settlement agreement promising that sand truck would not be driven through the City of Moorpark, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. The case is a good example of the ripple effect of environmental impact issues. The Broad Beach district is required by state law to replenish the sand along the 46-acre beach – initially 300,000 cubic yards of sand, with possible further replenishments over a 20-year period. But the sand will be mined in Ventura County, in between Fillmore and Moorpark. Moorpark claimed hauling the sand through its city would create a negative environmental impact, so Broad Beach and Moorpark entered into a settlement agreement specifying prohibited routes. Broad Beach and Moorpark were then sued by both the County of Ventura and the City of Fillmore, who claimed their roads would then be used for the sand trucks. Ventura County and Moorpark sued on a number of grounds. They challenged the idea that the sand-hauling project was exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act and also argued that Moorpark was engaged in illegal extra-territorial regulation. The Second District struck both of these arguments down. The court found that the sand-hauling project is an environmental improvement under CEQA, meaning it is subject to a statutory exemption. The court also concluded that Moorpark had not engaged in extra-territorial regulation, but had merely entered into a contract. The court did, however, find that the Broad Beach district had contracted away its police power with the settlement agreement. Citing a 60-year-old case , the court concluded that determination of hauling routes is a police power held by the Broad Beach district that cannot be contracted away. By entering into the settlement agreement, the court ruled, the Broad Beach district had eliminated the possibility of changing the haul routes based on changed future conditions – a basic tenet of the police power. Broad Beach made a variety of arguments claiming that the district actually did retain the power to change the haul routes in the future, especially if emergency conditions existed. But the court rejected all the arguments. “For example,” the court wrote, “BBGHAD cannot invoke the exception if traffic congestion increases along the designated haul routes or if there is a dramatic slowdown or partial road closure. BBGHAD cannot invoke the exception if increased costs or logistical issues at the quarries or project site require the use of a different route. And BBGHAD cannot invoke the exception should its board of directors or outside authorities decide that the additional pollution generated from the mandated use of a more circuitous route is unacceptable. In short, the settlement agreement, as written, does not allow for modifications to respond to changes in circumstances that may arise during the project’s lifespan.” The Case: County of Ventura v. City of Moorpark, B282466 (June 12, 2018) The Lawyers: For Ventura County: Jeffrey Barnes, Assistant County Counsel, jeffrey.barnes@ventura.org For City of Fillmore: June Ailin, Aleshire & Wynder, jailin@awattorneys.com For City of Moorpark: T. Peter Pierce, Richards, Watson & Gershon, ppierce@rwglaw.com For Broad Beach Geologic Hazard Abatement District, John M. Bowman, Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside, JBowman@elkinskalt.com

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.