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After 25 years of negotiations, lawsuits, acrimony, and revisited proposals, environmental groups agreed to conditions under which the Newhall Ranch mega-development of 58,000 residents in Santa Clarita Valley will proceed. Covering roughly 12,000 acres, it is expected to be the last major greenfield development to be approved in Los Angeles County. Under the deal, developer FivePoint Holdings agreed to provide about $25 million for conservation efforts aimed at protecting a number of endangered species along the Santa Clara River and a separate agreement with a nonprofit Native American organization to provide a parcel and an undisclosed amount for construction of a multimillion-dollar cultural center. In exchange, the environmental and native American groups will drop lawsuits against the company and will not oppose development of new homes, golf courses, schools, recreation centers and 13 million square feet of commercial space. A first phrase of Newhall Ranch was approved in July.  Google Gets into Dispute over Proposed Office Complex in Mountain View In a new twist on the housing pressures faced by Silicon Valley, Google is reportedly demanding more office space for its new “Charleston East” campus in Mountain View in exchange for constructing nearly 10,000 units in North Bayshore. The Mountain View City Council gave preliminary approval on the construction of 9,850 homes, but at a council meeting last week Google warned it would not allow the housing unless the city approved another 800,000 square feet of office space in addition to the 3.6 million in the draft North Bayshore plan. The city is concerned the new office space would further increase the gap between jobs and housing in the city. Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga says an additional 2,700 housing units on top of the nearly 10,000 would be required to fix the imbalance. Google, in a letter to the city, says the development requires significant investment and the demolition of existing office space and therefore the net new office development is required. The North Bayshore plan calls for three neighborhoods on 154 acres. Nearly 40 percent of the housing will be “micro-unit/studios”, 30 percent 1-bedroom units, 20 percent 2-bedroom units, and 10 percent 3-bedroom units. Mountain View’s City Council will vote in November on the final plan. (See prior CP&DR coverage of Google.) Los Angeles Takes Major Step to Promote Transit-Oriented Development Los Angeles Department of City Planning  released its official Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) guidelines. The new program was created through November’s Measure JJJ, a ballot measure that affects density bonuses citywide, and will incentivize the production of affordable housing by addressing all housing developments within a one-half mile of major transit stops. The TOC Affordable Housing Incentive areas are designed  in tiers based on the type of transit and distance of the stop (Tier 1-4). The incentives vary depending on the density, amount and distance of the transit stop, open space, lot coverage, yards, and many more. These guidelines provide eligibility standards, incentives, and other necessary components of the program. Pursuant to Measure JJJ, the guidelines have been drafted and implemented by the Planning Department and did not require a vote of the city council. TOCs will be designated around the city’s several-dozen transit stops.  San Jose May Resort to Ballot Measure for Senior Housing Project Two San Jose city councilmembers are pushing a ballot measure that would allow 910 new senior homes on empty land in east San Jose that is set aside for industry and jobs. While some city officials support the new affordable housing project, Mayor San Liccardo argues the proposal “upends San Jose’s careful planning process while enriching wealthy developers and failing to provide housing for those who need it most.” The proposed Evergreen Senior Homes would call for 20 percent of the new homes to be “affordable” for those earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income ($128,500 a year for family of four) but there is no guarantee those homes would be built in the first nine phases. The proposed project would prioritize affordable housing for veterans as well as include some open space. The Evergreen Senior Homes Initiative would change the city’s general plan as well as include a specific Evergreen area plan that limits housing to allow the zoned “industrial” to become “residential”. UCLA Crunches Numbers on Housing Affordability vs. Production According to the new UCLA Anderson Forecast  it could take 20 percent more housing production to achieve a 10 percent reduction in prices. Such a reduction in prices would bring down housing to roughly 2014 levels throughout the state. However, an increase of 20 percent took Los Angeles and San Francisco 30 years to accomplish. Gov. Jerry Brown’s housing department says the state needs to build 180,000 units a year to keep up with housing demand, but falls 80,000 units short. Catching up to demand would cost an additional $26 billion. In Gov. Brown’s recent budget summary he states half of all California households are spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing and nearly one-third are spending more than 50 percent. The author of the UCLA Anderson Forecast, the recent signing of 15 housing bills in Sacramento will not do much to alleviate the high cost of living in the state. Quick Hits & Updates According to a report from Attom Data Solutions, an Irvine-based real estate research firm, San Jose and Los Angeles are two of the top three cities in the nation most at risk of losing housing from natural disasters. If only earthquakes are considered, LA is most at risk with San Jose, Bakersfield, and Seattle. The group also found homes in high risk areas have grown twice as fast as those in the bottom 20 percent. The Ventura City Council approved 200 residential units last year in East Ventura but needed Ventura LAFCo approval to turn the county land over to the city. Two weeks ago LAFCo voted, 6-1, to approve the change. The city will be responsible for providing water, sewer, and emergency services to the future residents. One of the remaining issues was the city’s ability to assure the commissioners there was sufficient water to meet the project’s current and long-term demand. The Strategic Growth Council is hosting a series of consultations for prospective applications to the Transformative Climate Communities Program. Consultations will be available for proposals from Los Angeles Oct. 9 and 10 and from other eligible TCC cities Oct. 11 and 12. To schedule an appointment, email  tcc@sgc.ca.gov . (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Los Angeles Metro has earmarked $9 million for a Metro Affordable Transportation Connected Housing Program aimed at incentivizing more affordable housing near its transit stations. The public-private partnership will loan money to developers to build more affordable housing within a half-mile of transit lines. Executive officer of the program, Jenna Hornstock, said the loans will help preserve affordable units and help build roughly 1,800 new units. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy M. Frawley criticized the title and summary for a proposed initiative that would repeal recent gas tax increases in California. Frawley wrote in his ruling, "The Attorney General’s title and summary… must be changed to avoid misleading the voters and creating prejudice against the measure.” The title and summary will be placed on petitions to be circulated by those trying to qualify the measure for the November 2018 ballot.  According to an official at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority the Raiders “might likely” play at the stadium through the 2020 season until the team’s Las Vegas stadium is built.The current contract will run through the 2018 season, and there is a likelihood that two-year extension will be sought. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a $1.25 million contract with a private company to oversee the eviction and relocation of hundreds of Treasure Island households to make way for the thousands of homes and businesses that will be constructed in the next four years. There are currently 675 households on the island, including 250 residents who will receive economic support for the moving expenses. Those living on Treasure Island before 2011 can receive a cash payment or a choice of a Transition Housing Unit or down payment toward the purchase of a new unit. Those moving in after the City approved new island development in 2011, can get “advisory services” for relocating.  Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors gave  conditional approval to the $1-billion Frank Gehry-designed residential and hotel complex planned in downtown LA. The supervisors’ approval is conditional because the Grand Avenue Joint Powers Authority wants more details on a number of issues, including the parking plan which reduced the number of parking stall from 1,350 to 800. The City and County of Los Angeles are providing tax breaks and other subsidies valued at nearly $200 million. The Anaheim Convention Center recently opened an  addition  of 200,000 square feet to join a handful of U.S. cities that have at least 1 million square feet of exhibit space. McCormick Place in Chicago is the nation’s largest with 2.6 million feet of exhibit space, but Anaheim is now 11thin the country. The convention and meeting industry generates more than $280 billion in spending per year and employs more than 1.8 million workers. In San Francisco, the Moscone Center is getting an additional 305,000 square feet bringing the facility to more than 1 million square feet.

CP&DR Vol. 32 No. 9 September 2017

A week or so ago, in less time than it takes to pop open a can of Pringles, the Internet fawned over and then recoiled against retail startup Bodega. Promising to do for potato chips what Uber did for transportation, Bodega intends to place what are essentially glorified vending machines all over, well, everywhere. The machines’ inventories will be customized according to location (train station; sorority; gym; tech startup office) so that inhabitants of our new, perfected cyber-world can acquire necessities without having to confront ugly realities of space and distance.  For those among us who are truly that antisocial, agoraphobic, or overworked, I can’t imagine why this system is preferable to home delivery, but whatever. Bodega is making a go of it, crossing off yet another industry on the disruption hit list.  How fast do things happen when you’re not constrained by things like public outreach, CEQA, city council meetings, and construction schedules? Very. On literally the same day that Bodega the company launched — that would be two days ago, Sept. 13 — Fast Company ran a comprehensive profile of the company, replete with praise and skepticism. By that afternoon, Eater ran an entire article , and then a follow-up , about the backlash against Bodega, calling it “Twitter’s least-favorite startup” and quoting Tweets making fun of its logo (a cat), questioning the ethnic sensitivity of its name, and saying that it should be called “Gentrification Box.” Ouch.  Now that the world knows what Bodega is, residents of California can be forgiven for wondering what a bodega is.  As anyone from an East Coast city knows, a bodega is a corner store. It’s the type of place that sells milk, chips, and ramen in single-serving cups. They are also the types of places where, depending on their selection of malt liquor, you can get panhandled or shaken down. They have neither the placemaking power of a local bar nor the culinary selection of a supermarket. But they’re nice parts of the urban fabric and often provide economic substance for individual entrepreneurs. And, since they’re generally located in dense neighborhoods, no one ever drives to a bodega.  Fast Company notes that Bodega could present fatal competition for its namesakes:  The major downside to this concept–should it take off–is that it would put a lot of mom-and-pop stores out of business. In fact, replacing that beloved institution seems explicit in the very name of McDonald’s venture, a Spanish term synonymous with the tiny stores that dot urban landscapes and are commonly run by people originally from Latin America or Asia. Some might bristle at the idea of a Silicon Valley executive appropriating the term “bodega” for a project that could well put lots of immigrants out of work. While this prediction may be exaggerated, what it implies is that cities don’t need fewer bodegas. In fact, they need more of them — especially in California.  Bodegas are essentially illegal in most neighborhoods in California. In California, separation of uses is next to godliness. Our residential neighborhoods, urban and suburban alike, can span dozens of square miles and require drives of many miles to get a quart of milk. And, yet, if anyone were to propose the addition of a corner store in these homogenous neighborhoods — to, you know, cut down on those drives and maybe give neighbors a place to run into each other — orthopedists would be overwhelmed for all the pearl-clutching. And don’t get me started on parking requirements.  A bodega could easily prosper on my nearest corner, and on hundreds of others like it. I’m in the heart of a west Los Angeles neighborhood packed with mid-rise apartment buildings as far as the eye can see. There’s no earthly reason why one of those buildings can’t have a retail space on the ground floor. I can only imagine the number of car trips that would be eliminated if my neighbors and I could walk to a bodega rather than drive to the supermarket. And, I can only imagine what it would be like be to have a place to bump into neighbors that doesn’t include rear-ending them in rush-hour traffic. My point here is, the question of whether or not this silly startup will “disrupt” the corner store industry is beside the point. Zoning regulations and our stunted notions of what constitutes a “proper” neighborhood have already prevented more bodegas from opening than will ever be run out of business by the likes of Bodega. It’s telling that Eater jumped so quickly to criticize Bodega and to publicize those mean tweets. Eater is a restaurant blog. Its entire existence depends on people going out into the world and doing things — in their case, consuming food, alongside other people who are also consuming food. So they get rightfully jumpy when yet another cyber-something comes along that would compel people to stay at home and watch The Bachelor. (Restaurants themselves aren’t doing so well these days.) Of course, Eater’s mission should be every planner’s mission: to promote and celebrate physical places where poeple can enjoy each other. I hope the current generation of planners will grab a can of Pringles — or whatever else they need to fuel up — and figure out ways to give bodegas a fighting chance.

Among the foggy peaks of Mt. Tam, the vineyards of Sonoma County, the spires of the Golden Gate, and the gracious communities that make up the northern fringe of the Bay Area runs a parking lot known as Highway 101. It’s not a pretty sight.

The following awards were presented at this week’s conference of the American Planning Association, California Chapter, in Sacramento.  Awards of Excellence  Opportunity and Empowerment Award  Safe Long Beach Comprehensive Plan Award: Large Jurisdiction San Diego Forward: The Regional Plan Comprehensive Plan Award: Small Jurisdiction Duarte Town Center Specific Plan Innovation in Green Community Planning Award City of Palm Springs Sustainability Master Plan Economic Planning and Development Award Small Business Support Program, City of Los Angeles (Wilmington) Transportation Planning Award City of Long Beach - CX3 Pedestrian Plan Best Practices Award Mission Creek Sea Level Rise Adaptation Study , City and County of San Francisco / SPUR Grassroots Initiative Award City of Orange Home Grown Farmers & Artisans Market Public Outreach Award Los Angeles Countywide Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment Planning Advocate Award Vicki Granowitz, San Diego Emerging Planning and Design Firm Award City Fabrick , Long Beach Advancing Diversity and Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff Award Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust Academic Award Midtown Ventura Wellness District Urban Design Concept Plan Communications Initiative Award Vital Signs – Taking the Pulse of the Bay Area , Bay Area MTC Hard-Won Victories Award Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan Planning Pioneer Award Margarita Piel McCoy , FAICP (In Memoriam) Awards of Merit Comprehensive Plan Award: Large Jurisdiction West Adams-Baldwin Hills-Leimert Community Plan and Implementing Ordinances (Los Angeles) Comprehensive Plan Award: Small Jurisdiction City of Palm Desert General Plan Update 2016 Implementation Award: Small Jurisdiction City of West Hollywood Inclusionary Housing Program Innovation in Green Community Planning Award Energy and Climate Action Plan , County of Santa Barbara Economic Planning and Development Award The Pruneyard Master Use Permit, City of Campbell Transportation Planning Award Multi-Use Trails and Bikeways Master Plan Update, City of Temecula Best Practices Award Streamline Riverside , City of Riverside Grassroots Initiative Award StreetAir , San Francisco Public Outreach Award Designing an Addition to Single Family Residence Urban Design Award 2020 Campus Development , University of California, Merced Planning Advocate Award Jeanette Dinwiddie-Moore, FAICP Emerging Planning and Design Firm Award Estolano LeSar Perez Advisors , Los Angeles & San Diego Advancing Diversity and Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff Award Department of Regional Planning Spanish Planning Committee, County of Los Angeles Academic Award East Santa Clara Street Urban Village Planning: Community Assessment Report , City of San Jose Communications Initiative Award Communications and Community Engagement Strategic Plan , City of West Hollywood Hard-Won Victories Award Portside Ventura Harbor Mixed Use Project

The City of Huntington Beach Planning Commission preliminarily  approved the General Plan update through 2040 and certified the associated EIR Sept. 18. At the last minute, though, the City Council delayed a vote on the plan itself in part to consider the impacts of pending state legislation. The new plan forecasts very little growth for the city, accommodating 85,403 residential units through 2040 — down from a projection of over 86,000 units in the city’s 1996 general plan. The update includes new zoning for “research and technology,” intended to spur economic development and accommodate new types of industrial and commercial uses. The holdup is due in part to Senate Bill 35, which requires cities to streamline certain housing approvals; Council Member Erik Peterson wants city staff to consider how SB 35 might interact with the draft plan.  Delta Water Tunnels Face New Challenges The WaterFix tunnel project recently won key approval from regulators, but the $17 billion project has multiple agencies that have expressed concern about the high costs. It is difficult to estimate the cost each agency will pay if the total number of agencies is unknown explains Robert Shaver, general manager of Alameda County Water District. Santa Clara Valley Water District as well as districts in Central Valley and Southern California have said they will make a decision next month. Westlands Water District’s board rejected participation, 7-1, last week. Westlands provides irrigation water to 1,000 square miles of San Joaquin Valley farms and would be a major funder of the project. Westlands’ rejection could therefore empire the project. While there is no set deadline for agencies to make their decisions, officials are hoping to begin building tunnels next year.  California-Based Environmental Groups Sue Feds over Border Wall The Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Defense Fund sued the federal government in an attempt to block construction of a border wall with Mexico. The environmental groups allege that President Trump may overstep his authority by waiving environmental reviews and laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The suit claims that the wall would irreparably harm habitats of species including bighorn sheep, jaguars, and ocelots. A similar lawsuit was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity but the three organizations say they each have hundreds of thousands of members. The government recently awarded eight contracts to build prototypes of the wall with construction beginning this fall. In August, the administration waived environmental reviews on a 15-mile stretch of border in San Diego. ULI Issues Report on Housing Advocacy The Urban Land Institute released a report “ Yes in My Backyard ” on how cities and states can help find common ground in expanding housing choices and opportunities through local land use policies and incentives. Local zoning and land use regulations have slowed affordable housing development and states have not been using their authority and resources to help cities plan. The report suggests five ways states can help cities and counties promote housing development: ensure localities are assessing future housing needs, provide incentives to local communities for zoning for new housing, reduce regulatory requirements that increase costs and slow development, authorize cities to invest own resources for pro-housing land uses, and enable communities to overcome unreasonable neighborhood opposition. Lyft Makes Foray into Planning With L.A. Street Proposal Lyft with the help of Perkins+Will and transportation consultants Nelson/Nygaard have reenvisioned some streets in L.A. for the future. The designs include trees, protected bike lanes, loading zone for ridesharing vehicles, three narrowed lanes for vehicles and lanes for autonomous buses. The concept for Wilshire Boulevard features widened sidewalks, landscaping and benches to create a more comfortable and welcoming space. The team believes this could allow the road to transport four times as many people with twice as many road users, such as motorists and cyclists. Lyft is also partnering with SCAG on its 100 Hours Campaign to reduce congestion. Both Lyft and Uber have endorsed congestion pricing in cities, but no U.S. city has embraced the model yet. Quick Hits & Updates The Strategic Growth Council and the Department of Housing and Community Development for Round 3 AHSC Application Workshops . The program will include the AHSC 2016-2017 Program Guidelines, Scoring Criteria, and Greenhouse Gas Quantification Methodology. The workshops will be held in October in Sacramento, Fresno, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego. The proposed 2018 statewide initiative to extend Prop. 13’s property tax breaks from older to younger homeowners would ultimate cost local governments and the state billions of dollars a year, according to an analysis by the Legislative Analyst’s Office. The LAO found cities and counties would receive less money because the measure would reduce the amount in property taxes that occur with new home purchases. The San Francisco school board voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with the Office of Housing and Development to construct up to 150 units on a former school site in the Outer Sunset neighborhood. The city would contribute about $44 million. The units would be for teachers and aides who have increasing difficulty finding housing on their median $70,000 salaries. The process would take up to two years, including finding a developer, designing, working with neighbors and going through environmental impact studies. Construction would take an estimated 18 months meaning the units could be ready by 2022. San Diego County Supervisors unanimously approved to put $25 million into a trust fund to help create more affordable homes. The trust was first proposed in early June, and would be administered by the county’s Health and Human Services Department and include projects that house homeless or at risk of homelessness, veterans, people with disabilities, seniors, transitional age youth, and families. The fund proposal must return to the board in October for final consideration. The City of Costa Mesa City Council and Planning Commission decided its small-lot ordinance and urban plans and overlay districts needed some changes. The small-lot ordinance eases standards for proposed developments of 15 or fewer detached homes in areas zones for multifamily units and the urban plans and overlay districts outline development standards in certain portions of the city. Many residents are requesting a repeal or moratorium. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Board of Directors is considering a new program to keep private transit vehicles out of Muni bus lanes and crosswalks, and from replicating existing transit routes. Chariot, the only major private transit company operating in the city, is expecting to pay $240,000. Enforcing the new regulations will cost the agency $250,000. While Chariot is the only player in the market now, city officials are interested in developing a framework now. The Office of Planning and Research has launched a new website:  opr.ca.gov . The front page includes easy buttons for CEQA, General Plan Guidelines, CEQA Clearinghouse, Adaption Clearinghouse, Just the Facts and Environmental Goals. The new design is intended to be more user friendly and organized.  Richmond Mayor Tom Butt is proposing dismantling the city’s Housing Authority saying the diminishing funds from the federal government makes the continued operations difficult. The Richmond Housing Authority runs six public housing projects and administers Section 8 vouchers for low-income residents. Butt said dissolving the agency would not eliminate existing public housing but would relieve the city from financial responsibility over the subsidized homes. The homes would be transferred to Contra Costa County Housing Authority, HUD, or a nonprofit or private developer. The State Council, China’s Cabinet, announced that it will limit domestic companies’ investments abroad in property, sports, entertainment and other fields. President Xi Jinping is encouraging companies to invest in the “Belt and Road” initiative, which includes ports, highways, railways, and power plant, to link China with other parts of Asia and eastern Europe. Chinese companies have invested heavily in real estate development in California, particularly in downtown Los Angeles. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Next 10 and Beacon Economics released the ninth annual California Green Innovation Index and found that California’s climate policies have allowed for significant economic growth with GDP growing almost $5,000 per person between 2006 and 2015. However, the rate of GHG emissions declining is slowing due in part because of a large spike in transportation emissions. Commute times have increased and public transportation trips have decreased 4.8 percent between 2014 and 2015. Transportation accounts for almost forty percent of total emissions. To reach climate goals emission targets will become stricter and require greater reductions. The City of Los Angeles Planning Commission voted unanimously to back a proposed regulation that would limit marijuana retailers to most commercial and industrial zones, barring them from opening within 800 feet of school, parks, libraries, alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs, and other pot shops. The draft rules also specify where manufacturers, distributors and greenhouses can operate in the city. The marijuana companies are required to get both a state license and city approval to operate in LA. The California State Association of Counties released its 2017 Challenge Award Recipients. CSAC received 288 entries and 16 programs were selected to receive Challenge Awards and another 33 programs received Merit Awards. In Housing, Land Use, and Infrastructure Nevada County-Over-the-Counter Plan Review Program, Sonoma County- Creating More Housing with 100% Rental density Bonus and Los Angeles County- Spanish Planning Program received Challenge Awards. In the Merit Award category, Los Angeles County- Buyer-Beware: Property Buying Education Program and San Bernardino County- Code Enforcement Illegal Dumping Program received awards. The Cultural Landscape Foundation announced its two 2017 Stewardship Excellence Award Recipients. While one was in Portland, Ore., the other was The Sea Ranch Association in Marin County. The Sea Ranch Association was established by developers, along with a Design Committee, to guide physical improvements in the area. The group has a Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions giving the revolutionary idea real teeth. The California High Speed Rail Authority  approved roughly $50 million in contract amendments to deal with unanticipated construction and environmental review costs. However, some board members said the repeated budget overruns are damaging the project’s public image and more oversight of how budgets are set and spent is required. San Francisco and Oakland are suing five oil companies to pay for costs of protecting the Bay Area from rising sea levels and other effects of global warming. According to one of the lawsuits, San Francisco’s seawell is projected to cost $5 billion. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission released a report saying traffic congestion in the Bay Area has increased 80 percent since 2010. In 2016, the average driver spent roughly 3.5 minutes per commute traveling less than 35 mph, a new record, and 9 percent increase from 2015. The report ranks the worst freeways and segments throughout the Bay Area.

Many of today’s Silicon Valley behemoths famously, and perhaps apocryphally, originated decades ago in humble garages in what used to be the sleepy bedroom communities of the San Francisco Peninsula and South Bay. But for at least one major company, the future may not involve cars, much less garages.  With a reported 11,000 employees currently based at its global headquarters, known as “The Googolplex,” in suburban Mountain View, Google Inc. has announced plans to move a significant portion of its offices and workforce to a decidedly more urban location: downtown San Jose. For the past decade or so, tech companies have either occupied relatively cramped offices in San Francisco or expansive office parks in Silicon Valley. While Google is not the first company to look to San Jose, such an ambitious move may signal a new era in the urbanization of the tech industry.  Google plans to build a campus, presumably in phases, on parcels totaling roughly 126 acres just west of downtown San Jose. The campus of 6 million to 8 million square feet will house up to 20,000 employees. Crucially, the campus will be in easy reach of Diridon Station, which currently is the terminus of Caltrain commuter rail, with an extension of Bay Area Rapid Transit scheduled to open in 2026. The station is also intended to serve California High-Speed Rail.  In June, the City Council voted, 10-1, to negotiate exclusively with Google for the purchase of 16 city-owned parcels. Potential prices have not been disclosed, but city officials say that the entities are negotiating “in good faith.” Google has also acquired nearby privately owned parcels, for a reported $135 million.  Google officials declined to comment for this story, aside from a statement from a spokesperson reading, "We’re excited to have the support of the San Jose city council as we evaluate our options at Diridon Station." City officials in San Jose are welcoming Google wholeheartedly, with the hopes that the development will spur the urbanization of a downtown that, while not destitute, has never enjoyed the vibrancy of San Francisco or Oakland.  “San Jose has been really trying to revitalize downtown, almost since Valley Fair Mall opened in 1956,” said San Jose planner Michael Brilliot, who oversees the Diridon Station Area Plan. In fact, Google’s plans represent a victory for San Jose after the city experienced what had seemed like a defeat at the hands of Oakland. For several years, the Oakland A’s negotiated to move to San Jose and build a stadium on the site being eyed by Google. The A’s bid failed in October 2015 when the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the A’s challenge to Major League Baseball’s rejection of their bid to move away from Oakland. Located in a former redevelopment project area, the property is controlled by the successor agency to the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.  Lacking the power of a redevelopment agency, the city had expected the development of the property to take place slowly, if at all. Indeed, few developers or companies have the funds and inclination to develop the entire area. What the city had hoped to do was provide clear development guidelines, via the Diridon Station Area Plan, to ensure that the area was developed properly.  “We weren’t going to piecemeal it and let it be developed parcel by parcel,” said Scott Knies, executive director of the Downtown San Jose Business Association. “It’s too important of a space and there’s too much potential and promise.” Google could make that process even easier, and more predictable.  “If someone had told me that Google was going to come in and built 8 million feet and accommodate up to 20,000 Googlers, that would have made me think the ballpark is OK to let go,” said Knies. In many respects, Google will use the location far more efficiently than the A’s ever could have. What could be transformative for San Jose may also be transformative for the tech industry. Having both created and suffered from the high real estate prices and land shortages of the Peninsula, Google is now sees itself as a city-bulider.  “This is not just the office product of the future for Google,” said Knies. “It’s really the example for what a transportation hub and an urban center can be.” The location signals a commitment to the use of public transit, walking, and bicycling, and possibly to residential development that would enable Googlers to live in an attractive urban neighborhood blocks from their offices. This would be in stark contrast with the torturous commutes that many Google employees currently make from San Francisco and points beyond, often on much-maligned “Google buses” that, according to some, symbolize the gentrification of San Francisco and the fraught relationship between tech firms and long-term stakeholders.  “It’s a new way of thinking about the workplace, departing from the old concept of more suburban campus development,” said San Jose Senior Planner Jenny Nusbaum. “We are very excited at the prospect of any developer who’s supportive of that vision.” While San Jose benefits directly from Google’s arrival in the form of civic pride, tax revenue, and elimination of blight, the entire region stands to benefit from the move and, especially, from 20,000 more efficient daily commutes.  Google’s move to San Jose promises to exert an outsized influence on the city. Though San Jose has over 1 million residents, making it the third-largest city in California and far larger than its Bay Area sister cities, it has one of the lowest ratios of jobs to residents of any major city in the country. “It’s one of the few large cities that exports more workers out of its city limits than imports, mostly driving north along the Peninsula,” said Knies. “When San Jose is expected to be the bedroom community for Silicon Valley, there needs to some balancing of the ledgers." This imbalance has led to some nasty disputes among regional cities. Recently, San Jose filed suit against Santa Clara over the CityPlace mega-development (see prior CP&DR coverage ). San Jose alleges that Santa Clara needs to provide housing to complement the project, lest workers are compelled to live in San Jose, increasing housing pressures and adding to cross-jurisdictional traffic.  "Communities are saying they've got too much job growth,” said Brilliot. "We’re saying, bring it on. This is where the urban future of Silicon Valley is."  The city hopes that Google can create a healthier balance between jobs and housing and create far shorter commutes for those Google employees who already live in San Jose or who will move to San Jose once the company arrives. San Jose currently suffers from the same housing crisis that plagues the entire Bay Area, but it has a far larger overall supply of housing than do cities like Menlo Park, Mountain View, and other tech cities. Workers who commute to Google from the north - the proverbial “Google bus” employees” — will have abundant rail options.  "The good thing about this proposal is it helps in what is currently a reverse commute for transit, with Caltrain and soon BART both having more capacity in the southbound direction,” said Stuart Cohen, executive director of transit advocacy group TransForm. "Getting more evenly distributed ridership should increase farebox recovery for both BART and Caltrain.”  As intense as the development will be, it comes at just the right time. San Jose has recently adopted vehicle miles traveled metrics for its transportation analyses, anticipating Senate Bill 743 (see prior CP&DR coverage ), which is particularly friendly to infill development and mindful of its potential environmental benefits.  “We also see it as being an area that could be the poster child for VMT reduction,” said Nusbaum. By some accounts, transit options were the catalyst for Google’s move. Regional voters approved a series of transportation funding measures, in 2000, 2008, and 2016, to extend BART. That task became easier with the dedication of federal funds that will support the electrification of the Caltrain line, making it less polluting, quicker, and more efficient. That funding had been in jeopardy earlier in the year, when Transportation Sec. Elaine Chao announced that the federal government was going to review the funds, but they were reinstated in May.  “This is exactly what we want to see from all those years of transportation and transit investments,”said Chris O’Connor, senior director for transportation at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. “Until some of these companies saw the guarantees that these investments were going to come, they couldn’t make those investments." The move also comes amid sustained promotional efforts on the part not only of the city but also on of regional organizations like the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. SVLG has gotten increasingly involved with land use and transportation has its member companies have contended with the costs and constraints of doing business in — and attracting workers too — built-out Peninsula cities.  “It’s very much an acute concern of our member companies that there is a drastic shortfall in the housing supply and that it’s so difficult for them to retain their human capital,” said O’Connor. “The only way you can do that in an area that’s already built out the way we are, you need to do very dense infill development.” (Even as Google looks to San Jose, O’Connor praised the company for promoting nearly 10,000 units of housing near its Mountain View campus.) The details of that density have yet to be worked out, though. In fact, while Google’s public announcement suggests that the plans will come to fruition — the company has a reputation for getting things done — currently the project is in only the earliest stages. The company has an exclusive agreement to negotiate with the city to acquire the land, essentially giving it right of first refusal, but not much more.  “There is no application on file by Google for development or land uses,” said Nusbaum. “If it’s going to happen, it’s likely to be several years away.” Even once that application is filed, Google, the city, and various stakeholders will likely go through extensive negotiations over the form, look, and mix of uses on the new campus. In some ways, that will be the true test of whether the tech industry is ready to embrace urbanism — or whether it’s going to build the same old office park design in a new location.  The poster child for the latter concern is Apple’s new campus in Cupertino, which looks like a spaceship and has about the same amount of transit connectivity as it would if it were actually in orbit. Despite its inclusion of green elements — such as solar panels — the ring-shaped campus has been derided for its provision of 12,000 parking spaces and suburban orientation. (See prior CP&DR commentary .) "It’s a neat design and they spent hours arguing over doorhandles, but it’s a futuristic vision from 1956,” said Brilliot. "It’s not that innovative from our point of view. Why is that there? Why isn’t that here?" San Jose planners insist that Google has different urban sensibilities. And they expect that stakeholders will ensure that Google builds a campus that enhances the city rather than retreats from it.  “For quite some time now, the city's been clear about how it wants to grow and develop over the long term,” said Rosalyn Hughey, interim director of the San Jose Department of Planning, Building, and Code Enforcemen. “We’ve been very deliberate….very public process, with a task force and multiple community meetings.” “What we understand Google tends to value and envision….seems to be very in line with the vision we have for Diridon,” said Nusbaum. Even so, a massive, single-company development can come with drawbacks. In fact, without careful planning, Google might not end up with an “urban” campus even if it is in the middle of the city.  "The downside is it'll be one company with a lot of control. If it's not done right, it'll feel like one giant campus,” said Brillot. "Traditionally, urban development is more organic, more fine-grained, which adds to the character and funkiness of it." Of course, the city’s vision, or Google’s vision for that matter, does not necessarily have anything to do with what the final result will look like. The city’s planners expect to go through a long negotiation over the development’s form, aesthetics, and uses. And community benefits will surely come into play. Given Google’s wealth and heft, it can singlehandedly transform the area — but it also may become the object of every hope, dream, and demand of local stakeholders.  “The challenge here is, before you know what the deal is and what the project is, is that there are community groups asking for too much,” said Knies. O’Connor, of the SVLG, said the city should seek appropriate concessions from Google, but it should not to too far.  “Any city should do is strike a balance between understanding the benefits that these companies are going to bring as far as prosperity to the region,” said O’Connor. One element that the city and community groups are likely to demand is that of housing, particularly affordable housing. The Diridon Station Area Plan currently allows for up to 3,000 units.  “There's really this tremendous opportunity to have this city within a city of the future and to do that in a way that addresses income inequality” said Knies. “Those arguments are not going to go away. We’re going to be hearing them every step of the process. But there’s enough room there to incorporate a lot.” Contacts & Resources  Diridon Station Area Plan Michael Brilliot, Division Manager, City of San Jose Planning Building & Code Enforcement, Michael.Brilliot@sanjoseca.gov Stuart Cohen, Executive Director, TransForm, stuart@transformca.org Scott Knies, Executive Director, Downtown San Jose Business Association, sknies@sjdowntown.com Jenny Nusbaum, Senior Planner, City of San Jose, Jenny.Nusbaum@sanjoseca.gov Chris O’Connor, Senior Director for Transportation, Silicon Valley Leadership Group Note: Scott Knies's final quote was corrected since this article's original posting.

After over a decade of false starts, the Oakland A’s have selected a spot near Laney College as their preferred location for a 35,000-seat, privately financed ballpark to replace the Coliseum. The team is hoping to play their first game at the $500 million stadium in 2023. First, the team must negotiate and buy or lease the land from the Peralta Community College District, which owns the land. The site is off the 880 freeway, nine-minute walk from a BART station, and is on the edge of downtown Oakland. To appease the Peralta districts’ Board of Trustees the A’s are proposing housing and commercial space on an 8-acre Laney parking lot as well as a garage to boost the college’s parking capacity. How Central Valley Cities Can Prepare for High-Speed Rail Nonprofit land-use think tank SPUR released a report “ Harnessing High-Speed Rail ” about the need for Central Valley cities to capitalize on the great infrastructure investment of the state. Instead of becoming cheap housing for the wealth populated coastal neighbors, these cities must reverse years of high unemployment and disinvestment and become incubators for new companies looking for cheaper rents. Bakersfield has plans on how to reorient development if the HSR Authority chooses the city’s preferred alignment. Fresno has secured $70 million in state funds to encourage denser development downtown that includes more walking, biking, and public transportation. California’s Poverty Rate Tied to Housing Costs The U.S. Census Bureau released poverty rates and California has the nation’s number 1 spot, with 20.4 percent of residents facing economic hardship when living costs such as housing, taxes, and medical costs are included. The California Budget and Policy Center blames high rents for keeping such a large percent of the population in poverty. For instance a minimum wage worker would only be able to budget $546 a month for housing, but CBPC found that nearly two-thirds of Californians pay more than $1,500 for a two-bedroom. The U.S. Census Bureau Official Poverty Rate, excludes cost-of-living, puts California in 16th place with 14.5 percent of the population living in poverty. Bay Area Resiliency Contest Picks Ten Finalists Ten teams of multi-disciplinary experts have been selected for the Bay Area Resilient by Design project, a contest funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, which sponsors the 100 Resilient Cities program (see prior CP&DR coverage). The selected teams have a year to come up with solutions against the rising seas and other potentially catastrophic risks associated with the changing climate. The remaining teams were selected from 51 that applied to be part of the program. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and others, teams will spend the next few weeks touring several flooding hotspots throughout the bay. Each team will receive up to $250,000 to come up with a local adaption strategy for a designated area in the bay. Lawsuit Holds Up Spending of Transportation Funds in Santa Clara Co. A Saratoga resident's recent lawsuit is holding up money from a half-cent sales tax 72 percent of voters approved for transportation projects. The lawsuit claims Measure B’s language was unclear and misleading and that the BART extension will require a majority of the funding, an estimated $6 billion over 30 years. The original lawsuit was dismissed by a judge earlier this year but she appealed and now the money is held in escrow until the issue is resolved. Officials are worried some projects may be delayed 12 to 18 months. The woman suing the project worked as a planner for the City of San Jose and Santa Clara County for 20 years before teaching environmental planning at San Jose State. The VTA says the revenue from the tax would benefit nine areas, and although the BART extension will receive the biggest chunk, $1.5 billion, it is only a quarter of the estimated earnings. Anaheim Declares Emergency over Homelessness The Anaheim City Council voted unanimously to declare a public health and safety emergency because of the nearly 400 hundred of homeless people living along the Santa Ana River. The declaration of emergency would increase enforcement of laws and health and safety codes and create greater effort to get homeless people into shelters and eventually permanent housing. One such plan is the expansion of a county shelter and supporting county efforts in opening a second emergency shelter. However, some worry the proposal focuses too heavily on law enforcement and would disregard homeless people’s civil rights. Quick Hits & Updates The California Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal regarding Malibu’s appeal to restate a voter initiative governing chain stores in the coastal city. In November 2014, 60 percent of Malibu residents voted in favor of Measure R that would lead to a more aggressive response from city officials against the proliferation of chain stores. In 2015 Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ruled the measure unconstitutional. The city will now look at more comprehensive planning including creating a formula retail ordinance and Civic Center design standards. The historic Angels Flight funicular in downtown Los Angeles has resumed operation for the first time since 2013. The twin cars, Olivet and Sinai, glide up and down Bunker Hill adjacent to the 153-step stairway. The San Leandro City Council unanimously approved an agreement to settle a 2015 lawsuit filed by the Coalition for the San Leandro Shoreline against the city with Cal-Coast Development named as a benefiting entity in the lawsuit. The settlement requires the city to extend its lease agreement with the Marina Inn for another five years and the hotel must comply with the city’s living wage ordinance within the next 18 months. The living wage is $14.30 an hour with health benefits or $15.80 if no benefits are provided by the employer. In the lawsuit from 2015, the coalition alleged the city wrongly certified an EIR on Cal-Coast Development’s plans at the marina. After an eight-month trial, a jury acquitted two San Bernardino County officials and a Rancho Cucamonga developer in which prosecutors accused them of scheming to secure a $102-million payout from a land dispute in 2011. The three were charged with bribery and conflict of interest, when in 2006 county supervisors voted 3-2 to settle with Colonies over the objection of county legal staff. Gov. Brown announced three new appointments. Lisa Bates was appointed deputy director of the Division of Financial Assistance at the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Ryan Seeley has been appointed general counsel at the CA HCD where he has been assistant chief counsel since 2016 and served as attorney prior to that position. Zachary Olmsted was appointed deputy director of housing policy development at HCD replacing Bates. September 15 was the deadline for San Francisco property owners to bring their apartment buildings up to current seismic safety standards. City officials estimate roughly one-third of “tier three” buildings-that is wood-frame structures between five and 15 units- have not submitted permit applications. The City has approximately 3,849 buildings in this category and 1,160 owners have not filed for permits and will be served a poster-sized “Earthquake Warning” placard. One contractor says he has four crews doing soft-story retrofits around the city and can barely keep up with demand. NASA announced plans to build up to 1,930 rental housing units on the 45-acre Moffett Field with 10 percent set aside as affordable. NASA will begin looking for a private development partner and that individuals working or going to school on Ames-owned property would get priority on the new units. Sacramento Area Council of Governments will hire a public relations firm to begin a “Transportation Ballot Initiative Stakeholder Listening Tour” less than a year after Sacramento County voter narrowly rejected a transportation tax. The transit funds from a tax would likely be used to expand bus service and replace outdate rail cars. SACOG and SacRT might team up together for a joint ballot measure instead of competing with one another. However, if either group (or both) tries for the 2018 ballot they would be competing with the City of Sacramento which will likely ask voters to extend Measure U sales tax for basic city services, including police. The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) are teaming up with APA California on a daylong workshop designed to provide guidance and promote best practices and lessons learned from state and local implementation. The session will be held during the APA conference on Monday, Sept. 25 from 9:45am to 4:45pm and will be free, however registration is required Los Angeles Metro has released a draft EIR for the proposed East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor- along with four other projects funded by Measure M. The 9.2 mile high-capacity route will connect the Metro Orange Line in Van Nuys to the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station. The project is expected to begin construction in 2021 and open between 2027-2029.  Valley Transportation Authority announced that the Milpitas and Berryessa BART stations will open June 2018. Earlier this year, officials said they were ahead of schedule and planning to open before the start of the new year. Test trains will begin running in the fall. Milpitas station is expected to have 20,000 new passengers and Berryessa 25,000 by 2030.   Los Angeles City Council approved , 5-0, a new linkage fee on construction of single-family homes, offices, apartments and other development with funds going to the construction of affordable housing. The fee ranges from $1 to $15 a square foot depending on the type of project and location. James Tong, an East Bay developer, was arraigned in federal court after being accuses of engaging in fraud to make illegal campaign contributions to Rep. Eric Swalwell. Tong used other people to make campaign contributions in his behalf with his money, allowing him to exceed campaign contribution limits.  The Department of Justice does not suspect Swalwell of wrongdoing or his campaign. Last year, Tong was convicted of violating the Endangered Species Act after he and his development company, Wildlife management, admitted to polluting a pond that had the threatened California tiger salamander and forging documents to hide their actions. The nonprofit Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza raised $160,000 to hold a design competition to makeover San Francisco’s Harvey Milk Plaza. The group has selected three teams from 33 submissions. The plaza is estimated to cost $10 million, which would need to be raised privately.

CP&DR’s August 30, 2017 issue reported on the California Supreme Court decision two days earlier that seemed to upend a major provision of Proposition 13 and its companion laws. Exuberant as it is, that analysis is misguided.

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments launched Civic Lab, an initiative that takes local teams through workshops with local and national transportation and technology experts to spark innovative solutions to regional and local transportation challenges, as well as pilot testing technology-based solutions. At the program’s launch, 130 city and county elected officials and staff, nonprofits, startup innovators, and service providers came together to learn about disruptions in transportation and smart mobility through technology. Civic Lab is accepting applications until Sept. 15 and teams must be led by a public agency. “Civic Lab gives us the opportunity to solve transportation issues through testing and piloting projects in rural, suburban, and urban communities. With innovative thinking and pilot testing, there might come some failure, but with failure, we grow and learn. Civic Lab is the place for local governments to explore the possibilities of smart mobility and new technologies,” said aid Brian Veerkamp, El Dorado County Supervisor and SACOG Board Chair, in a statement. San Jose Considers Aftermath of Coyote Creek Flood The City of San Jose and emergency management consultant Witt O’Brien’s released a report on why the city failed to notify 14,000 residents about the flood threat in February of this year. The report gives the city an “A” for response but “F” for foresight. After Coyote Creek flooded in 1997 the city was advised to install a universal alter system to notify residents, but that never happened. The warnings that did go out were on social media sites, but low-income neighborhood of Rock Springs whose residents speak primarily Spanish and Vietnamese did not see these messages. One reason for the lack of response was the emergency management director position was vacant and had been for months. However since March the city has hired Ray Riordan as the emergency management director, implemented a three-tired warning system, and deployed an L-RAD (long-range acoustic device) that can notify people farther away. Los Angeles Releases Fair Housing Plan The City of Los Angeles released an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) Draft Plan that identifies issues, develops strategies to reduce existing barriers, and outlines recommendations to promote fair housing choice and foster inclusive communities throughout the city. The draft AFH includes HUD and local data and input from hundreds of people. The city is looking for public review until Sept. 29 and a public hearing will be held Sept. 14. The public hearing will also be available on webcast but registration is required prior to the event. A final AFH Plan will be developed based on input gathered from the public comment period and the final document will be presented to City Council and the HACLA Board of Commissioners in early October. Brown Releases Cap-And-Trade Spending Plan Gov. Jerry Brown released a $1.5 billion expenditure plan to allocate the 40 percent of cap-and-trade auction monies that are discretionary. Like in previous expenditure plans, 60 percent of the revenue from auction sales go to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and the remaining 40 percent are appropriated by the legislature on an annual basis. Cities and other local governments can apply for GGRF-funded programs. Gov. Brown has proposed $350 million for CARB and other local air districts implementing the new air monitoring and quality program established by AB617; roughly $550 million will go to low-carbon transportation.  Quick Hits & Updates The City of Long Beach Planning Commission asked staff to conduct additional outreach on the new Long Beach 2040 General Plan Land Use and Urban Design Elements. The policy document plans to create places residents, businesses, and visitors have been looking for in the city: 21st century approach to achieving big city opportunities without losing benefits of compact neighborhoods. Some of the goals of the document are to reduce the number of residents (76 percent) who currently commute out of Long Beach for work and to encourage larger open spaces. BART's Livermore Extension Project has released its Draft EIR. Public review period has been extended to Oct. 16 and included two public hearings in late August. BART is preparing the CEQA documents and BART Board of Directors will consider the Final EIR and the alternatives evaluated. Developer Urban Commons has released the latest renderings of the 65-acre Queen Mary Island entertainment complex with stores, restaurants, sports venues, and entertainment facilities. The $250 million project is expected to drive nightlife in that part of Long Beach and fund repairs for the 81-year old cruise liner. The ship needs around $289 million in repairs over the next several years. A new study from Apartment List, a rental site, shows that 77 percent of Los Angeles renters plan on relocating to a different city. The researchers found many young people move to Los Angeles with plans to stay for a short period after college or graduate school, with plans to move when ready to settle down. In LA, 49 percent of renters listed affordability as their main reason for moving with 20 percent saying better job opportunities and one percent weather. A surprising finding of the study is that renters are no longer interested in moving to San Francisco because of the high cost of living. Los Angeles City Council’s Arts, Entertainment, Parks and River Committee is considering an agreement between the city and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that would allow for preliminary studies and pre-construction work on the 11-mile LA River. Under the agreement, the city’s engineering department could begin designing a 500-foot terrace along the western bank of the river from North Main Street to East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in downtown LA. The Army Corps is asking for the design agreements to be signed by Oct. 1, and then engineering and design work would begin immediately but take about 4.5 years depending on funding. California’s cap-and-trade program results are the “strongest result we’ve seen” according to Chris Busch of Energy Innovation research firm. Busch attributes the strong sales to lawmakers extending the program, but also says the state has more credits available than companies need and that companies will quickly buy allowances because they are expecting much higher prices in the future. This could create less incentive for businesses to cut GHG emissions in the future. The state will receive about $640 million from August’s auction for clean energy programs and the high-speed rail project. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors released their $22 billion, 20-year capital plan. The plan includes a $2.5 billion underground light-rail tunnel, $90 million for streetcar expansion, and solar panels on bus yards. Other highlights include decreasing investment in the taxi industry from $90 million in 2015 to $60 million, upgrading 23 red light cameras and adding 10 more, new light-rail cars, enhancing disability access to trains, and 3D scans of maintenance facilities and trackways. The plan is not a budget, but instead a wish list as a first step in laying out the agency’s needs. JMM Research conducted a statewide survey  (pdf) of likely voters on behalf of the Advocates for Affordable Housing to gauge voter support for an affordable housing bond that could be placed on the November 2018 ballot by initiative. This memo outlines some key findings from the research. Voters strongly support the concept of a statewide affordable housing bond in an amount between $6 billion and $9 billion. Approval levels are at or near the 60 percent threshold, with less than 35 percent opposed. The City of Hermosa Beach City Council unanimously approved PLAN Hermosa, a General Plan update and Local Coastal Plan. PLAN Hermosa began in July 2013 and involved more than 30 City Council and commission meetings, workshops, walking tours, and other community engagements. Uber announced plans to sell the former Sears building in downtown Oakland it bought two years ago for $123.5 million. The company originally planned to place up to 3,000 employees in the building but earlier this year said it would only move a few hundred employees. Uber plans to consolidate most of its local employees in the new headquarters building in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood. The ride-hailing company stressed its commitment to Oakland and has donated $70,000 to help ensure every graduate of Oakland Unified School District can attend college and has given nearly $30,000 in free rides to a variety of Oakland organizations through its Community Credits Program. (See prior CP&DR coverage of downtown Oakland.) The City of Fresno City Council approved , 7-0, a 115-acre development project in low-income southwest Fresno. The plans include 55 acres of residential development, 22 acres major retail and commercial development, 9.6-acre park, 2.4 acres for community-oriented retail and offices, and 27 acres reserved for a future satellite campus for the State Center Community College District. Southwest Fresno has between 40 and 60 percent of residents living in poverty. The developer, Sylvesta Hall, grew up in Southwest Fresno. Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a settlement with Kern County over its practice of dumping treated human waste on Kern County farmland. The legal battle has spanned more than a decade and the settlement will be to “avoid further litigation or controversy”. Kern County will continue to study the impact the dumping has on air, water and soil. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The Hawthorne City Council voted , 4-1, to allow Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to construct its first test tunnel for electric vehicles. The tunnel will be dug beyond the SpaceX property line extending beneath city streets. The company is monitoring the impact of tunneling and will stop work if the surface ground begins to subside. The tunnel will be 44 feet underground and the work will be done with a tunnel-boring machine. Hyperloop One is in final testing phases of the first fully-built commercial Hyperloop system. The City of San Clemente sued to overturn the 2016 settlement agreement between the city and the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) over its Foothill-South and Tesoro Extension projects that include toll roads. This lawsuit means TCA has to go back to the drawing board for its toll road extension. The proposed road has roused controversy over the years for its possible impacts on San Onofre State Beach. Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a measure that would provide tax breaks to property owners who make their land available for farming and gardening. The ordinance is a framework for the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone program approved by the state legislation in 2014. According to Councilmember Curren Price, the measure will put LA’s many vacant lots to better use and provide residents with healthy food options. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Related Companies has filed for building permits for Bunker Hill’s Grand Avenue Project in downtown LA. First proposed in the mid-2000s, the project is designed by Frank Gehry and has two towers. There is a 2018 groundbreaking date but the project was originally expected to begin construction in 2007 and therefore many are skeptical. Construction is expected to be completed by 2022. San Diego city officials are creating instruction manuals with sample floor plans and other details to help accelerate the construction of granny flats. The manuals are based off similar efforts in Seattle and San Francisco to help homeowners decide whether to build a granny flat in their yard or above their garage, provide cost estimates, and suggest how to find tenants. San Francisco Planning Commission unanimously approved a 28-acre mixed-use development project at Pier 70 east of Dogpatch. The project includes 2,150 new homes and millions of square feet of commercial space, but there are still two visions of the plan. The Maximum Residential Scenario has 2,150 residential units while the Maximum Commercial Scenario only has 1,100 units. If given final approval the project would take 11 years to complete, but the first phase would include 900 new homes. The Board of Supervisors will consider the proposal next. The San Jose City Council approved , 9-2, a pilot program to build up to three tiny home villages for the homeless. Locations are still up to discussion. At the council meeting residents complained that putting the villages next to them would increase crime and reduce property values. As one resident says, “this experiment doesn't belong in anyone’s backyard until the city has run a pilot to ensure this is a manageable, economic and effective solution that is positive and safe.” The council eliminated limitations on keeping the tiny homes away from houses, schools, and parks for now. The homes must be near transit and utilities and at least 0.50 acres or inside a 10,000 square-foot building. Each village will house up to 25 people, but with an estimated 4,000 homeless residents the city needs to find an innovative solution. SPUR released a report “Room for More” about Silicon Valley’s housing challenges. As rents and home prices increase, the region’s economic growth, diversity and climate are threatened. SPUR recommends San Jose use planning and zoning tools to build 120,000 new units over the next 30 years and find new resources to support affordable housing development. The report has 20 steps that the biggest city in the Bay Area can take to address the housing shortage.

An audit by the San Francisco Controller’s Office reveals that the San Francisco Housing Authority has serious problems managing its funds. Based on nearly two years’ worth of financial documents, the audit found that the authority has frequently failed to reconcile its funds on a monthly basis and has kept records with numerous inaccuracies. It also found that the authority failed to properly keep track of funds from different sources, and it found frequent absenteeism among staff. The audit makes numerous recommendations, including higher salaries for key positions and the adoption of some electronic accounting systems. Any recommendations must be implemented by the authority itself.  Commuter Rail Line Opens in Marin, Sonoma After nearly a decade of planning, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) trains began rail service between Sonoma County and San Rafael Aug. 25. The current service begins at Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa and ends in downtown San Rafael with eight stops in-between. Eventually the line will be extended to reach Cloverdale and Larkspur. One-way fares range from $3.50 to $11.50 with 34 trains running each weekday and 10 on weekends. Nine years ago, voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax to build SMART. The $500 million line is intended to provide an alternative to traffic-clogged Route 101. There has not been commuter rail service in the North Bay for nearly 60 years. Coalition of Environmental Groups, Governments Sue over Delta Tunnels Several dozen environmental groups, local governments, and others are suing the state over the proposed Delta water tunnels project. The legal deadline for lawsuits was in mid-August. One of the groups argues that the $17 billion tunnels project would take valuable Delta land out of production and create other problems for the county. All of the lawsuits say the tunnels represent a violation of the state’s strict environmental law. Experts on CEQA say the lawsuits won’t force Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration to get rid of the project, instead the courts will require developers to redo some of their EIRs which will delay but not outright cancel the project. Even with the CEQA lawsuits, the project is still facing a vote by south-of-Delta water agencies that will have to pay for the project. Westlands Water District, which serves farmers in Fresno and Kings counties, has already indicated the project might be too expensive. Report Calls for Regional Housing Strategy in Bay Area The Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California released a report  (pdf) “On Track Together: Housing And Transportation”. NPH conducted indicating that voters believe affordable housing should be a top priority for local, state, and regional policymakers. Their report highlights opportunities and the urgency for building a regional strategy for housing and transportation solutions in the Bay Area. In the Bay Area their have been trends favoring office and commercial development over homes, inadequate densities and zoning, out-of-control “local control” and aggressive use of CEQA to block projects, and a general significant decline in affordable housing investment from state and federal sources. The solutions will include "three P’s” of housing production, preservation, and (tenant) protections. Los Angeles Completes Massive School Construction Program The $160- million Maywood Center for Enriched Studies in the LA Unified School District opened in southeast LA County was the final construction project in the modernization of 131 LAUSD campuses. The country’s largest new school construction project cost $10 billion and took 20 years. In 2000, 77,000 students attended classes on calendars staggered throughout the year and 12,000 were involuntary bused from their local schools. Every student is now able to attend a neighborhood school, and the schools are no longer overcrowded with enrollment shrinking. There is still $5 billion left over in construction funding, which is not enough to renovate older campuses or maintain the new schools. However, school opening were seen as a major achievement by district officials throughout the school district. Analysis Shows Only 14 of 58 California Counties Are Affordable Mapping company Esri released a set of affordable-housing maps showing all but 14 of the state’s 58 counties have been hit by the housing crisis. The maps highlight housing affordability nationally, as well as California’s high home prices and comparatively low household incomes. In Alameda County, data shows some zip codes command 51.8 percent of the region’s average income for monthly mortgage payments. Marin County reaches 75 percent and Los Angeles County sometimes more than 100 percent of a resident’s monthly income. Since the 2008 recession, income levels have not kept pace with the recovery of the housing market. In California, this has led governments to intervene with emergency rent control policies and housing legislation. Quick Hits & Updates  A group of Playa del Rey and Manhattan Beach residents sued the City of Los Angeles saying the transportation officials broke state law by removing traffic lanes without conducting an environmental review. The lawsuit seeks to restore all travel lanes that were removed over the summer and require a thorough environmental review. These backlashes over “road diets” are common, and will continue as L.A. has bold plans to eliminate traffic fatalities and shift people away from cars to other modes of transportation. A panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled , 3-0, that billionaire Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, must unlock the gate to Martins Beach Road while the legal fight continues. While the ruling does not settle the litigation over public entry to the beach, it does require the landowner to stop blocking the only road to the beach. A new report by Redfin analyzed 75 housing markets across the U.S. and found that the San Francisco Bay Area (including San Jose and Oakland) tops the list for having the most online searchers considering moving away from the metro area where they live. New York is second on the list, followed by Los Angeles and Washington D.C. This report adds to the growing evidence indicating that many Bay Area residents have had enough. The Bay Area Council released a poll earlier this year showing 40 percent of the region’s residents said they want to move away in the next few years. Redfin reports that San Francisco house hunters mostly look to Sacramento and Seattle. The League to Save Lake Tahoe introduced bicycle-sharing system LimeBike to South Lake Tahoe this summer. According to the group, ridership at Tahoe is similar to programs in much larger cities like Seattle. While there are some locals that use the bikes to commute to and from work as their primary source of transportation, there is heavy use in visitor areas. The bikes are embedded with GPS tracking and therefore don’t have to be returned to a docking station like most bike-share programs. An app on a smartphone can help locate users on the nearest free bicycle. The pilot program will run through October. Los Angeles Metro has released a new EIR for the overhaul of downtown’s Union Station, which will add a pedestrian-friendly forecourt and esplanade along Alameda Street, to better integrate the station with the surrounding community. The space for the new plaza will come from removing 60 short-term parking spaces. Construction is expected to take seven months and begin in 2020. Other plans for the historic station include run-through tracks, gastropub, and potentially an above-ground concourse.  According to a new study led by University of New Hampshire statistician Chris Glynn and Zillow, San Diego County may have 50 percent more homeless people than previously thought. The group factored the relationship of housing costs to homelessness. The usual point-in-time count includes a head count of homeless people in shelters one January night and counting outside shortly before dawn. The biggest difference, according to Zillow, is the difference between those living unsheltered. This means the funding received from the federal government for housing programs is much lower than needed. To start the academic year, the University of Southern California opened  its $700 million USC Village, a 2,700-bed mixed-use residential and retail complex just north of its main campus in South Los Angeles. This test of public-private partnership is an attempt to remake a historically underserved neighborhood. The 15-acre addition is part of the university’s effort to increase student housing and the amount of academic space. The project also includes 15 restaurants, a pharmacy, Trader Joe’s grocery store, and a Target. USC also committed to build a $16 million fire station on university land, pledged $20 million to Los Angeles’ Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and promised 30 percent of workers employed would be from the local area. San Gabriel City Council adopted a historic preservation ordinance, updating the original 1965 ordinance. One of the most significant updates is the creation of Historic Preservation Commission comprised of experts in the field. The ordinance also creates a historic context statement and citywide surveys of historical resources. San Gabriel currently has a “B” grade on the Preservation Report Card created by the LA Conservancy. The Santa Barbara City Council approved , 5-2, an ordinance to cap the number of Average Unit-Size Density units at 125 per year, require units with three or more bedrooms to provide two parking spaces, ban AUD units from being converted to vacation rentals, and exclude mobile-home parks from the program’s zoning map. Critics of the program say it is not providing the affordable workforce housing it was meant to.

CP&DR Vol. 32 No. 8 August 2017