A study from UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation found that bureaucratic impediments constitute the main reason San Francisco is the world’s second-most expensive city in which to build a home. According to the study, “the most significant and pointless factor driving up construction costs was the length of time it takes for a project to get through the city permitting and development processes.” Other reasons construction costs are so high is labor is more expensive, low-density zoning increases competition for scare land, and the approval process takes forever. The study found planning permit fees in San Francisco are about $5,000 per home while the national average is $500 to $2000. In most of the country, construction permitting is “by-right” meaning if a project meets local zoning and code regulations the developer gets to build, in San Francisco there is a discretionary individualized review process. Respondents to the Terner study unanimously state the most effective thing the city could do to reduce construction costs was to streamline the permitting process and reduce the fees. Reducing the red tape around housing would help ease the housing affordability crisis and racial segregation, income inequality, and displacement of low- and middle-income families. $6 Billion Expansion of 710 Freeway Proposed Los Angeles Metro released a staff report supporting the $6 billion project to widen the 710 freeway from the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach to downtown. Each year, tens of thousands of truck drivers make the 19-mile drive leading to congestion and pollution. The project would add a lane in each direction as well as changes to 24 major streets that cross the 710, and new interchanges with the 91, 5, and 405 freeways. Transportation and environmental activists say the alternative would not do enough to reduce emissions and would displace people in some of Southern California’s poorest and most polluted areas. Berkeley Looks to Cryptocurrency to Fund Housing Facing a shortage of federal funding for affordable housing, the City of Berkeley is exploring funding for affordable housing measures through cryptocurrency. The city is looking into an “initial coin offering” that would exchange a new cryptocurrency backed by municipal bonds for cash that would go toward affordable housing measures. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin refers it as an “initial community offering.” The city is partnering with UC Berkeley’s Blockchain Lab and municipal finance startup Neighborly. The hope is that backing the coin with tax-exempt municipal bonds would stabilize its value. “It’s not a speculation tool,” Berkeley Council Member Ben Bartlett told CityLab . “It’s like a non-profit, special purpose vehicle, meant to fund social good.” Coastal Commission Weighs in on Trump Drilling Proposal The California Coastal Commission signed off on to a letter urging the Trump administration to back away from some of the nation’s most pristine coastlines. The idea of offshore drilling in California is “economically infeasible, legally questionable, and politically a nonstarter” according to the LA Times. In the letter, the commission writes “we were outrages to learn that BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) had recklessly threatened the health of California’s coastal environment… by proposing to expand drilling off the coast”. The California State Lands Commission, which has jurisdiction up to three miles offshore, also sent a letter this week condemning the plans saying they would not approve the construction of new pipelines. On Thursday, the Trump administration is holding its only public meeting in Sacramento about its drilling expansion plans. Alignments for L.A. Light Rail Line Considered The Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors’ Planning and Programming Committee is considering a new alignment for the proposed West Santa Ana Branch light rail line (WSAB) in its approach to Downtown Los Angeles. The 2015 Technical Refinement Study showed potential alignments for the approximately 20-mile light rail along Alameda Street and Santa Fe Avenue, all of which would have terminated at Union Station. According to the staff report, Metro seems to have settled on a shared right-of-way with the existing Blue Line but has six alternatives it is considering. Only three of the proposed alignments would include Union Station as the terminus. Other alternatives include to the Financial District, Fourth and San Pedro Streets in the Industrial District, and an Arts District route. The WSAB has an estimated budget between $3.5 and $4 billion, with partial funding from Measure R and M. The project includes a Phase 1 between Artesia and Green Line opening in 2032, and Phase 2 into Downtown by 2041.  California Cities Score on Bloomberg ‘What Works Cities’ List Bloomberg Philanthropies released  its "What Works Cities" list. These cities use data and evidence to improve services, inform local decision-making, and engage residents.Los Angeles was the gold certified winner of 2017 with the award of “best at using data”. Silver certified cities in California include San Diego and San Francisco. All have publicly committed to enhance their use of data and evidence to improve services, inform local decision making and engage residents. By adopting the WWC Standard, they are a part of a national network of local governments committed to using data to improve performance and results that make their residents’ lives better.  Ten Projects Named for Bay Area Resilience Challenge The Resilient by Design/Bay Area Challenge announced  locations for the resilience design projects to be pursued by 10 international design teams over the next half year. During the design phase, local residents, public officials, engineers, architects, and other experts will come together to create resilient solutions that address the impacts of climate change. The sites are located all around the Bay Area: Oakland, North Richmond, South San Francisco, South Bay, San Rafael, Alameda Creek Watershed, among others. The challenge is cosponsored and hosted by MTC but is a multi-stakeholder collaboration. The 10 design teams were selected from 51 teams made up of over 350 local and global experts. Quick Hits & Updates The Santa Ana City Council is considering becoming the first city in Orange County to implement rent control. The city’s housing division manager Judson Brown said city and census data show a 10 percent increase in median rent from 2010 to 2016 with median household income falling 1.5 percent in the same period. A report from USC Lusk Center for Real Estate found that apartments in the Anaheim-Orange-Santa Ana market area had the lowest vacancy rates in the county last year. A study from the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) found that an earthquake similar to the 1906 one that shook San Francisco Bay Area would lead to nearly 69,000 homes collapsing and more than 200,000 people being displaced. The report is intended to raise awareness around the devastation major earthquakes could cause and looks at 16 different scenarios along the many faults in the region using a hazard tool from FEMA. The hope is that cities will enact mandatory retrofit ordinances to reduce the amount of housing loss we would see. Palo Alto City Council unanimously approved a Housing Work Plan that includes more than a dozen policies aimed at spurring residential construction. The programs include changing the zoning code to provide more incentives for residential development, requiring housing projects to provide below-market-rate units, and relaxing density requirements for housing projects downtown. The goal of the plan is to produce about 300 units per year. According to a report released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the county needs more than 22,000 new supportive housing units and 11,000 short-term rental vouchers to functionally end homelessness. The January 2017 count found LA County has an estimated 58,000 homeless people. Officials plan to use the gap report and homeless count to strategize on the best way to spend money from Measure H, the voter-approved 1/4 –cent sales tax that is expected to generate $355 million annually for ten years. Long Beach has crafted a plan to complete eight critical infrastructure projects that are key to hosting a successful Olympics. Long Beach is expected to host seven events, including men’s and women’s water polo, sailing, handball, triathlon, open water swimming, and BMX biking. Long Beach City Council directed the city manager to prepare a plan, needs assessment, and timeline for the 8 by 28 initiative. City staff will now come back with a report on where the city stands on the projects, what needs to be done, and how to close the funding gaps. According to an LA Times analysis, 640 brick buildings in more than a dozen Inland Empire cities have been marked as dangerous but remain unretrofitted despite decades of warnings. In Redlands as many as 74 buildings would not withstand a major earthquake. The more affluent coastal cities have retrofitted thousands of buildings. San Francisco officials have filed a lawsuit against the state saying the law signed last year by Gov. Jerry Brown allowing ride-hailing companies to have a single business license to drive anywhere in the state is depriving the city of fees that could offset maintenance and traffic costs created by the services. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said “Uber and Lyft need to play by the same rules as every other business in San Francisco.” While Uber did not respond, Lyft said the streamlined business licenses allows for predictable costs and reasonable privacy protections. The City of Los Angeles has  identified  119 public lots that it is hoping to transform from asphalt to multistory apartment buildings to house chronically homeless people. Plans are already underway to develop housing on large public lots in Venice and Hollywood, while officials review the rest to determine which could support housing. Los Angeles City Council is considering two measures aimed at clearing obstacles to getting more people into housing and combatting the homelessness crisis. One measure would allow permanent supportive housing projects to avoid a review process while the second would slash parking requirements and allow homeless housing projects with up to 120 units (and 200 units in downtown) to avoid environmental review. Critics of the proposed measures fear they will concentrate homeless housing into specific neighborhoods. OCTA released its Orange County Transit Master Plan, which will set the agenda for transit investment for the next twenty years. OC Transit Vision presents multiple strategies for bolstering the system, such as upgrading bus technology, and adding new programs like on-demand service. However most of the investments are seen in making the current system faster, more reliable, and increase ridership. The cost to implement the entire plan is estimated to be $2.6 billion. A coalition of tenant advocates in Long Beach are collecting signatures to put citywide rent control on the November ballot. The proposed ballot measure would cap yearly rent hikes for most apartments built before 1995 at five percent or lower and establish a citywide Rental Housing Board, which would be funded through fees charged to landlords. The group has until end of July to gather 27,462 signatures. San Diego City Council and Mayor Kevin Faulconer have proposed temporarily relaxing a rule requiring developers to build groundfloor retail space in new projects and instead convert into live spaces. The goal would be to expand the city’s live-work rules to quickly create more housing- especially for artists, artisans, website developers and other San Diegans who want to live where they work. The Bay Area has just hit its highest level of residents out-migration in more than a decade. Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s study shows the out-migration says workers are moving to Sacramento, Austin, and Portland for a variety of factors but primarily, the high cost of housing. According to Redfin, the cities with the highest in-flows are Phoenix, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Nashville. The Department of Water Resources commissioned Professor David Sunding from UC Berkeley to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed Water Fix Delta tunnels project. His report concluded that benefits outweigh the costs to ratepayers in every scenario he analyzed under a one-tunnel approach. Last year key San Joaquin Valley agricultural districts announced they couldn’t afford the project, Brown’s administration announced that officials were moving forward on a phased-in approach to the tunnels, starting with building a single pipe under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in coming years. According to a citywide voter survey in San Francisco, nearly three-quarters of voters would support a bond measure of up to $500 million to improve the city’s disintegrating seawall. The measure is heading to the ballot in November. According to the port of San Francisco, the existing seawall rests on unstable bay mud and is vulnerable to lateral spreading and settlement in a major earthquake, which could destroy or seriously damage utilities, light rail, and buildings along the Embarcadero. Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors moved forward with a plan to establish rent control at mobile home parks in unincorporated areas within the county. The approved motion gives county departments six months to amend the county code and cap annual rent increases. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is accusing Uber of “thumbing its nose at the law”. Herrera seeks company data going back to 2013 for an investigation into whether Uber and Lyft have been obeying state and local laws, which only Lyft has cooperated on. The main issues at question is whether the companies offer incentives encouraging drivers to commute long distances before starting shifts of up to 16 hours, whether double parking is causing traffic troubles, accessibility to people with disabilities, pollution from increase in vehicles, bad road behavior, and algorithms that disfavor certain neighborhoods. According to California EPA data, areas of Bankers Hill, Barrio Logan, and downtown San Diego have  some of the highest concentrations of diesel emissions in San Diego County. The measurements are part of CalEnviroScreen, an interactive tool that analyzes more than a dozen sources of pollution with socioeconomic and public health conditions to identify environmentally-disadvantaged communities and prioritize funding for grants and other programs.

At the signing ceremony for last year’s housing package, sponsors and co-sponsors all spoke briefly, in alphabetical order. As Sen. Scott Wiener tells it, he was going to use his remarks to emphasize that the 15-bill package — which emerged from a torrent of 130 introduced bills — was just a start. By the time Wiener’s turn came up, nearly every one of his colleagues had said much the same thing — to his delight.

For at least the past year, well-meaning public officials, developers, and activists have bemoaned the housing crisis every which way. The moaning is rightful and well intentioned given the severity of our crisis. But surprises are scarce in these discussions. It’s like the proverbial journalistic nonstory “Dog Bites Man” over and over again. Last week at the UCLA Ziman / Fannie Mae  Affordable Housing Symposium , the man bit back.  Despite the citywide and statewide housing shortage, downtown Los Angeles has added units and buildings at a torrid pace. So much so that Kevin Ratner, president of developer Forest City West, revealed that his latest project, Axis DTLA , is struggling to find renters. Ratner sounded surprised at his own data: whereas new developments have attracted, according to him, an average of 20 new residents per month en route to nearly full occupancy, Axis is getting only about eight per month. Many applicants, he said, are under-qualified, with felony records and lousy credit scores. At the same time, he admitted to a possible flaw in his business model: there just aren’t enough wealthy renters to go around.  Hm.  Naturally, Ratner is distressed. But he’s also bullish. He has another development opening soon and just announced yet another. Meanwhile, competing developments are forging ahead.  Ratner’s situation is an early test of whether there’s such thing as a free market in rental real estate — and whether constraints on the market will cause it to implode before developers like Forest City can make a real dent in the city’s housing shortage.  A few months ago, the vacancy rate among newly opened downtown developments was measured at 12 percent  as thousands of new units, mostly in high rise buildings of over 10 stories, have come on-line. This is an astronomical number in the context of recent Los Angeles real estate history. Remember, L.A. is reportedly the most rent-burdened and one of the most supply-constrained cities in the country. Even at 12 percent, rents have “ stabilized ” at at average if around $2500 per month. Metro-wide, the rental vacancy rate is less than 3 percent .  Many opponents of so-called luxury market-rate development have seized on the 12 percent figure as proof of a conspiracy to inflate rental rates in L.A. They claim that developers like Forest City are artificially inflating prices such that units go wanting (or get turned into short-term rentals). Of course, this analysis is nonsense in the short term. Every building is 100 percent vacant the moment is opens, so making a fuss about a 12 percent vacancy rate is like saying a roast is undercooked after being in the oven for two minutes.  In the longer term, one of two things will happen: Ratner will be patient and eventually find the well qualified renters he’s looking for, or he’ll lower his prices.  Critics of luxury housing aren’t holding their breath — according to them, the fix is already in. But many in the burgeoning YIMBY and “market urbanism” movements are arguing that the vacancy rate, and possibly lowering of prices, represents the proper functioning of the market and the triumph of intensive, dense development, just as we learn in Economics 101.  Lest we get too excited about a beautiful equilibrium, we still have to worry about Ratner. The trouble is, a rental rate that would lead to (nearly) full occupancy might not lead to a full return on investment for Forest City. That’s because, regardless of how bad the housing crisis is, it must still contend with immutable costs such as construction costs, entitlement costs, and, of course, the cost of land. All of this leads to relatively thin margins in the first place -- which, as Ratner noted, makes publicly traded real estate developers pretty unattractive to investors who demand handsome quarterly profits. In other words, a big developer can try to be “greedy,” but he may have to settle for single-digit returns.  Of course, this could be the plight of just one developer in one submarket. But there’s no reason not to believe that similar scenarios, with similar combinations of costs, economic pressures, and regulatory burdens, are playing out in plenty of other California cities.  So, now we’re faced with a paradox: California needs housing, and it needs dense housing. And unless Jerry Brown is going to surprise us with $30 billion he’s been hiding in Colusa’s doggie bed when he leaves office, we’re going to need the private sector to develop most of it. So, I’m not sure whether to cheer for higher vacancy rates and (possibly) lower prices or boo at the notion of a slowdown in infill development.  Or, to put it another way, I’m not sure whether we’re at halftime in California’s housing crisis — or the two-minute warning.

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke indicated that the agency will allow mining on 1.3 million acres of formerly protected California desert following Pres. Trump’s decision to dramatically reduce the size of national monuments. Under the Obama administration, these environmentally sensitive lands were placed on the National Conservation Lands list thus banning new mining activity. However, the new administration found that after reviewing mineral exploration levels and mining data in the desert, the agency concluded that mining operations, subject to existing environmental regulations, “do not pose a significant threat to the protection of cultural, biological, and scientific values.” In California, these areas include the low desert lands bordering Joshua Tree National Park, high desert areas north of Pioneertown in San Bernardino County, lands adjacent to Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, and huge areas of eastern Imperial County. Starting March 9, mining companies prospecting for rare-earth metals, gold, sand and other minerals can stake claim to those areas. Nationally, there are about 36 million acres in the National Conservation Lands program, designed to “offer the American people exceptional opportunities for hunting, solitude, wildlife viewing, fishing, history exploration, scientific research, and a wide range of traditional uses.” LAO Calculates Impact of Split-Roll Prop. 13 New analysis by the Legislative Analyst’s Office finds that a new ballot initiative aimed at how commercial properties are taxed under Prop. 13 could raise $6 to $10 billion more each year for schools and other programs and services. The initiative would change the constitution so that commercial and industrial properties- land not intended for housing development- would be taxed based on their current market value. This idea is called a “split roll” since it would not affect protections for residential properties. Additionally, commercial properties valued below $2 million would be exempt. Another Prop.13 related ballot initiative would expand protections for homeowners over 55, allowing them to take their tax base with them anywhere in the state as often as they move. Los Angeles County Considers TOD Strategy As Los Angeles Metro is planning for new rail lines across Los Angeles County, supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis have introduced a motion which calls for the county to “align planning efforts across both regional plans and infrastructure plans to best position the County to implement transit-oriented development” surrounding new rail stations. This action is prompted by language in Measure M, which requires any jurisdiction located within half-mile of a new transit stop to pay three percent of total project costs. This requirement can be satisfied by investment in active transportation and other first-last mile projects that are included in the project costs. Metro’s expansion plans could result in as many as ten new stations in unincorporated communities whose land use policies are determined at the county level. The county has imposed “Transit Orented Development” specific plans along the Blue and Green Lines, including West Athens, Willowbrook, and Florence communities. Fresno Plan Would Double Park Space Fresno City Council unanimously adopted a new Parks Master Plan that will serve as a guide to more than double park space, primarily in underserved neighborhoods. The city has 1,023 acres of parks, about half of what the plan suggests is needed to adequately serve the current population of more than half a million people. The plan finds that “Fresno’s park and open space system is dominated by parks in poor condition that suffer from lack of investment, lack of adequate maintenance, and public safety concerns due to inappropriate activities.” Half of the city’s current parks are considered to be in fair condition, while almost one-third are in poor condition. This means the city as at least $110 to $112 million of deferred maintenance according to the interim Assistant City Manager Bruce Rudd. The Parks Master Plan identified a potential 2018 state bond as a possible source for repairs and improvements to existing parks; reliance on volunteers, foundations, private donations to help raise money; partnerships between the city and other agencies; corporate sponsorships; selling naming rights; increases to sales, property or hotel taxes; advertising sales; crowdfunding; user fees; permit fees for commercial sue of parks; and concession agreements. Four California Cities Recruited for Study of Downtowns The International Downtown Association (IDA) released a study, “The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities” which examined the value of downtown areas for citizens. The study analyzed more than 100 data points from 13 pilot cities, within five key principles: economy, inclusion, vibrancy, identity, and resilience. Four of the cities were located in California: Lancaster, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Santa Monica. In the study, the average downtown area was only three percent of the city’s total area but generated 13 percent of income tax revenue, 14 percent of sales tax revenue, 45 percent of hotel tax revenue, and accounted for 40 percent of the city’s total office space and nearly one-third of total jobs. The IDA’s data analysis found that every dollar invested in a downtown district has the potential to produce a greater return on investment than less economically-productive areas. Cities Submit SB 1 Project Lists More than 99 percent of the 482 cities in California submitted their Senate Bill 1 project lists to the California Transportation Commission. This action establishes eligibility to receive SB 1 funds for FY 2017-2018. The transportation funding will begin to flow to cities this month. In FY 2018-19, approximately $600 million will go directly to cities for road maintenance and rehabilitation projects to help improve street and road conditions. May 1 will be the deadline for FY 2018-19 project lists and October 1 for expenditure reports. Quick Hits & Updates According a recent Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll , 46 percent of respondents agree with the plan to split tax rolls under Prop. 13 while 43 percent are opposed. Most political observers argue a ballot measure should top 60 percent before opposition campaigns cut down the margin before an election. More than 99 percent of the 482 cities in California submitted  SB 1 project lists to the California Transportation Commission. This action establishes eligibility to receive SB 1 funds for FY 2017-2018. The transportation funding will begin to flow to cities this month. In FY 2018-19, approximately $600 million will go directly to cities for road maintenance and rehabilitation projects to help improve street and road conditions. May 1 will be the deadline for FY 2018-19 project lists and October 1 for expenditure reports. Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) has managed to meet or exceed ridership and revenue projects in is first six months of operation. It will start on the Larkspur extension, which will bring the train’s riders to within a short walk to the Golden Gate Ferry to San Francisco. The SMART’s trains currently make 17 round trips between San Rafael and Santa Rosa on weekdays and five each way on weekends and holidays. SMART has carried more than 310,000 passengers since its start six months ago and collected an average of $76,000 in fares each week, $8,000 more than predicted. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The City of Cupertino and lead-planning consultant, Opticos Design, are holding community meetings on the future of Vallco shopping mall- an almost entirely derelict 1970s-era shopping center. Development company Sand Hill would like to put forward a new project with millions of square feet of office space and hundreds of new homes. In 2016, Cupertino voters rejected on ballot measure that would have allowed the developers to construct their plans but also rejected the competing measure that would have thrown out the plan entirely.  Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a new partnership with Occidental College to accelerate LA’s pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations to end poverty, protect the planet, and broaden prosperity. Occidental College will provide brainpower, research, and data collection that will help keep the city on target for reaching the goals. Fresno City Council approved , 7-0, plans for a controversial 110-acre industrial park in South Fresno despite concerns by social justice advocates about the potential effects it could have on traffic and air quality in the area.City Attorney Doug Sloan said the property has been zoned for industrial uses for more than 30 years and the city can rely on the EIR that was done for the General Plan adopted in 2014 that included analysis for the project site. The project is expected to bring jobs to an area that has a high poverty rate. Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows officials have been in talks with Caltrans, CHP, and Placer County about creating a third traffic lane on Highway 89 between I-80 in Truckee and the Squaw turnoff for a BRT lane. This would help Squaw, which saw its 5,000 parking spots filled on busy days. However, a preliminary analysis found the existing highway shoulder is not wide enough the entire way from Truckee to allow continuous usage. Sierra Watch plan to publish a report this week saying these expansion plans would bring more traffic and environmental degradation to the Tahoe area, including pollution that would further reduce the lake’s famous water clarity. A team of scientists hired by Cadiz Inc. concluded that a proposed water transfer project in the San Bernardino County desert would not harm one of the largest wildlife water sources in the Mojave Desert- Bonanza Springs. The study found the aquifer in the Fenner Valley, where Cadiz plans to mine groundwater, and the aquifer that supports Bonanza Springs are independent. Environmental groups are skeptical about the Cadiz-sponsored findings. California Water Officials have approved $34.4 million in grants to eight desalination projects across the state including one in the City of Antioch, six brackish desalination plants, and a proposal for research at USC. Other projects that received funding are Doheny Ocean Desalination Plant in Dana Point, North Pleasant Valley Desalter Project, and a brackish water project in Camarillo. The funding comes from Prop. 1.  Analysis by the lodging analytics firm STR, found San Diego suffered a much bigger financial impact on its hotels than St. Louis did after the cities’ football teams defected to Los Angeles. San Diego saw room revenues fall nearly 16 percent last year whereas St. Louis showed a 0.2 percent increase after the Rams left in 2016. While STR researcher Raquel Ortiz acknowledged there are multiple factors that influence hotel performance, she believes the Chargers’ departure was clearly one of them. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is  considering  redevelopment of the Moscone Convention Center parking garage into a 320-foot tower with at least 650 hotel rooms and 100 affordable housing units. San Francisco saw citywide hotel occupancy rates around 85 percent last July, well above the national average of 66 percent. Having a mega hotel next to the convention center is desperately needed according to San Francisco Travel. Santa Monica officials are suing the company Bird, which operates deckles electric scooters in the city. While demand is high, with more than 30,000 users in the first four months, the city says it must make sure the sidewalks and streets are safe spaces for all people. While the company has a business license for the office, it doesn't apply to scooters being parked, used, and rented all over the city streets. Deputy City Manager Anuj Gupta says many young unlicensed teenagers are operating the motorized scooters. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued an order to the cities of Anaheim, Orange, Costa Mesa, and Orange County into court and plans to ask them to show that local anti-camping ordinances aren’t being used to criminalize homelessness among the hundreds of people being evicted from encampments along the Santa Ana River. Sheriff’s deputies and county workers began clearing the county’s largest encampment Jan. 22, and efforts have continued to ramp up since then. Homeless advocates and attorneys assert that there isn’t enough affordable housing or shelters for the estimated 500 to 1,000 homeless people being displaced. A report by INRIX analytics found Los Angeles region topped the list of metro areas with the worst traffic congestion for the sixth year in a row. Drivers in and around Los Angeles spent 102 hours battling traffic traffic congestion during peak hours in 2017. New York City motorists spent 91 hours and were third on the list, Moscow was second.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development released a list of cities and counties that are subject to streamlined housing development through Senate Bill 35, adopted last year as part of the legislature's 15-bill housing package, because they fail to make sufficient progress toward meeting their housing need. For a proposed development to qualify for expedited development approval in a jurisdiction that is subject to SB 35 the project must be located on an infill site, follow residential and mixed use zoning law, and dedicated at least 10 percent of housing units for lower-income residents if the jurisdiction has not made sufficient progress toward their above-moderate income housing need, or at least 50 percent of housing units for lower-income residents if the city or county has not make sufficient progress toward their very-low and low-income housing need. Most of Santa Clara County and Orange County, San Francisco, Oakland, parts of Marin County, and San Diego are included in the greater than 50 percent affordability. Sacramento, West Sacramento, and most of Los Angeles County are included in the greater than 10 percent affordability. SGC Approves $140 Million in Grants The Strategic Growth Council (SGC) unanimously approved $140 million in competitive grants to assist community-led initiatives to combat climate change in the state’s most disadvantaged communities through the Transformative Climate Communities program. The City of Fresno received $70 million for the development of affordable homes near the high-speed rail station; a new Community College campus; electric vehicle, vanpool, and bike sharing programs; and urban greening projects in the most historically disadvantaged communities within the city. Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles was awarded $35 million to fund the construction of affordable homes as part of the Jordan Downs redevelopment, numerous new green spaces, and plans to improve home energy efficiency and renewable energy use. The City of Ontario will receive $35 million to focus on its historic downtown core revitalization project. The funds will go towards improving public transportation, bike lanes and sidewalks, building affordable homes, promoting energy efficiency, enhancing food security, and providing new green spaces to improve health and quality of life. These three cities will invest in 44 unique climate projects, reducing an estimated 117,412 metric tons of GHG emissions. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) S. Calif. Transit Ridership Drops amid Boom in Car-Buying  A report released by the Southern California Association of Governments and the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies found a dramatic increase in private automobile ownership in Southern California is the main cause of an overall decline in transit ridership. The study found that the six-county SCAG region added 2.1 million household vehicles between the years 2000 and 2015, a car increase that nearly quadruples the rate of the preceding decade. The number of vehicles added nearly matches the growth in population during those years. Between 2000 and 2015, private vehicle ownership dramatically increased among households in the SCAG region, from 1.7 to 2.4 vehicles per household. The study also considered factors including transit service quality, fuel prices, neighborhood change and the rise of ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, but found that the region’s higher number of cars was the root of transit ridership’s downward trend. Vehicle ownership was also shown to have risen among demographic groups that have traditionally been the highest users of transit, including low-income and foreign-born immigrants. The report suggests that discretionary riders remain an untapped source of transit riders.  SANDAG Infrastructure Plan Faces $20 Billion Shortfall A study commissioned by the San Diego Association of Governments projects a $20 billion decline in sales tax revenue collected for roads, highways, and public transit over the next forty years as more San Diegans shop online and spend their income on housing and health care costs. Transnet, the half-cent sales tax for transportation, is expected to bring in $19.2 billion over the next four decades down from the estimated $39 billion. The report also found that earlier forecasts significantly overestimated population and income growth. SANDAG has completed 33 percent of the 48 major capital projects with another 28 percent in progress. The agency starts an overhaul of its long-range spending plan and these revelations likely mean that officials have to make some difficult decisions about prioritizing available funds and potentially nixing some projects that were promised to taxpayers. 38 State Agencies to Collaborate on Resilience The state’s Natural Resources Agency released the “ Safeguarding California Plan: 2018 Update ,” which lays out a roadmap for the state agencies' plans to protect communities, infrastructure, services, and the natural environment from climate change impacts.The plan includes 69 recommendations across 11 sectors and more than 1,000 ongoing actions and next steps developed by scientific and policy experts across 38 state agencies. Some projects and actions planned include Caltrans assessing transportation vulnerability, the Electric Program Investment Charge in Los Angeles region studying grid vulnerability, and building drought resilience in Tulare County. Applications Accepted for Urban Greening Grants California Natural Resources Agency opened its solicitation period for the Urban Greening Grant Program .Eligible urban greening projects will reduce GHG emissions and provide multiple additional benefits, including, but not limited to, a decrease in air and water pollution or a reduction in the consumption of natural resources and energy. Eligible projects will result in the conversion of an existing built environment into green space that uses natural and green infrastructure approaches to create sustainable and vibrant communities. Monies will be reserved for disadvantaged communities. The application is due April 11, 2018. Eight workshops will be held across the state with formal presentations and breakout sessions to help and guide those preparing grant applications. The workshops will be held Feb. 14 in Sacramento, Feb. 15 in Lynwood, Feb. 22 in Indio, 27 in Oakland. Visalia will be March 2, Redding Mar. 5, San Diego Mar. 8 and Ontario Mar. 12. Quick Hits & Updates The U.S. Navy is preparing to reexamine potentially toxic soils and buildings at San Francisco’s former Hunters Point Shipyard after finding a pattern of fraudulent manipulation or falsification of data collected by Tetra Tech, a contractor hired to clean up the Superfund site. This time-consuming and costly step will slow the redevelopment of the second phase of the property by at least a year. The 450-acre site is being redeveloped with more than 12,000 housing units and millions of square feet of retail, offices, and research and development facilities. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The League of California Cities has listed the 2018 statewide ballot measures with language for each measure on their website. The measures include housing bond SB 3, a parks and water bond SB 5, and transportation protection ACA 5. Toolkits for cities, measure language, and description of the ballot measures is available. The Strategic Growth Council approved the Research Investment Pla n for a new program that will focus on developing outcome-based strategies for addressing climate change. The program will receive $11 million in new research funding for programs that show a benefit to disadvantaged communities. The Natural Resources Agency issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on updated state guidelines for implementing CEQA, including new regulations that would streamline review of projects that improve air quality and public health. Public comments on the proposal are due by March 15 and public hearing will be held in Sacramento on March 15 and Los Angeles March 14. The Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors unanimously approved a plan to finish public transit through Sepulveda pass, a train from Union Station to Artesia, and the Gold Line extension to Whittier or El Monte by 2028. The plan follows L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Twenty-eight by ‘28” initiative, which includes a big list of goals that will guide Metro’s construction spending and the agency’s search for more funds over the next decade in anticipation of the 2028 summer Olympic games. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration for rolling back a fracking rule that he says is designed to protect public health and the environment. The lawsuit says the administration broke the law by not following required procedures including getting public comment. Becerra says his office as filed 25 lawsuits against the Trump administration. Two bike rental companies, LimeBike and Ofo, were denied permission to operate in San Francisco by the cities Municipal Transportation Agency. The dockless bike rental companies say the denial was for “an unnecessarily opaque” permit process that has been unfair, anti-competitive, and works against the interest of city residents. The issue will be discussed by the Board of Supervisors during a hearing on the dockless bike permit process. City of Sacramento officials intend to purchase river frontage land from private residents to construct a trail along the Sacramento River. It seems unlikely the nine residents will sell their property voluntarily. The city expects to invoke eminent domain. However, Councilmember Rick Jennings noted that the homeowners who purchased their homes adjacent to the river knew about the Sacramento River parkway play that was adopted by city council in 1975. A $1.9 billion widening of 16-miles of the I-405 freeway in Orange County is about to begin and will be completed in 2023. The plan includes a new lane and a new express toll lane in both directions. The project will also include widening and replacing nearly 20 bridges and renovating various freeway ramps. City of San Diego is facing a $1.57 billion five-year infrastructure funding gap, growing $310 million from last year. This gap jeopardizes the city’s ability to fix sidewalks, build bike lanes, and keep parks in good shape over the next five years. The city’s long-term infrastructure backlog has been estimated at roughly $5 billion.  Beverly Hills Unified School District filed a new lawsuit against the Federal Transit Administration and Metro over the Purple Line Subway alignment. The school district is seeking an injunction to ensure the two agencies “conduct a proper environmental analysis, evaluate the serious health effects the Project and associated construction next to campus will have on the students, and prohibit the FTA from obligating federal funds to the project until the agencies have fully complied with federal law.” (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Metrolink has  completed  a one-mile track extension to connect Santa Fe Depot with the San Bernardino Transit Center. Eastern San Bernardino Valley commuters can connect with the city’s sbX rapid transit line, Metrolink, and Omnitrans buses. The $123 million project bridged the one-mile gap between the two facilities. The next extension will be the future commuter rail to Redlands which should be completed in 2020. The legislature’s Joint Audit Committee approved the first formal state audit of the high-speed rail project. The decision comes after the rail authority announced the cost of building the first 119 miles of track in the Central Valley has increased by 77 percent over the original estimate of $6 billion. Some of San Diego’s hotels raised close to $300,000 last year in preparation for launching an initiative that would hike the hotel tax to underwrite a convention center expansion, homeless services, and road repairs. However, just $72,000 of the contributions have been spent, with the bulk going for legal and political consultants, as well as polling. The campaign contribution report released by a coalition of tourism, business and labor interests called “Yes! For a Better San Diego”. More money will have to be raised to finance the signature-gathering effort, which will require collecting more than 100,000 signatures of eligible voters. City of Fountain Valley City Council unanimously approved the Fountain Valley Crossings Specific Plan which includes the redevelopment of 162 acres of mostly industrial area into a “main street” style hub for residents to shop and dine. The project includes the development of 491 homes, retail, office space, and industrial uses.

In a new case regarding the “urban decay” provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act, the Fifth District Court of Appeal has piggybacked on the earlier Joshua Tree ruling by conjecture and unsubstantiated expert testimony is not enough to meet CEQA’s “sufficient evidence” standard.

A condominium association in Azusa has standing to file an inverse condemnation claim against the L.A. Metro Gold Line Construction Authority, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.

MTC’s Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) approved a resolution to place a $4.45 billion package of transportation projects known as Regional Measure 3 (RM3) on the June 5 ballot. If approved, these projects would be financed by a $1 increase in tolls on the seven state-owned toll bridges. The major projects in the RM3 expenditure plan include expansion of BART’s railcar fleet, extension to Milpitas and East San Jose, further extension to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara, extending Caltrain to downtown San Francisco, expanding transbay bus services, constructing freeway connectors throughout the Bay, widening certain corridors, expanding San Francisco’s Muni metro railcars and Ferry fleet. RM3 would also provide $50 million for planning and preliminary engineering of a second rail tube connecting he East Bay and San Francisco, $150 million grant to improve bicycle and pedestrian access to regional transit hubs, and to close gaps in the San Francisco Bay Trail.  Legislators Seek Audit of High-Speed Rail Sen. Jim Beall (San Jose), chair of the state Senate transportation committee, and Assemblymember Jim Patterson (Fresno) submitted a letter asking for a comprehensive review of the California High-Speed Rail program. This letter marks the first time that a leading Democrat has supported an audit of the program since the state auditor looked at the project in 2012. The request comes a week after the rail authority disclosed its main consultant, WSP, was forecasting the cost of building the first 119 miles of rail line in the Central Valley would jump up to $10.6 billion from the original $6 billion estimate. Construction is currently running about seven years behind schedule. In the letter, Beall and Patterson ask for an examination of contract costs, change orders, economic effect to communities, the use of small businesses and environmental outcomes that result from the project’s “green construction practices.” While Patterson, former mayor of Fresno, has been a critic of the project, Beall cited many benefits of HSR but wants the state to look for efficiencies and saving to speed up construction and cut costs. Steinberg Calls for Development Fund for Sacramento In his first State of the City address last week Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg  proposed a multibillion-dollar fund that would pay for local infrastructure, affordable housing, arts and culture amenities, as well as incentives to attract new industries to the city. He said the money could come from a new sales tax or selling off some of the 4.5 million square feet of vacant land the city owns. The city has a one-half percent sales tax that funds core city services that will expire next year, and city officials are expected to ask voters to renew the tax on the November ballot. However, Steinberg’s remarks indicate the city may ask voters to increase the sales tax to 1 percent and make it permanent to fund his plans. Steinberg said he will hold four public workshops over the next 45 days to discuss the idea and plans to provide specific plans by the beginning of summer. Vernal Pool Conservation Plan Approved in San Diego San Diego City Council approved , 7-2, a habitat conservation plan that comes after 12 years of negotiations over development of vernal pool habitats. The plan strikes a deal between environmentalists and developers over biologically-rich vernal pools and clarifies how developers can build on land with such pools. Vernal pools only exist for a few weeks or months each year, almost always in the spring, and are most prevalent in Mira Mesa, Kearny Mesa, and Otay Mesa. Supporters of the deal say the rulebook strikes the right balance between protecting the environment and allowing developers to confidently move forward with projects. Opponents of the plan feel that more should be done to protecting the remaining three percent of the county’s vernal pools, 97 percent have been destroyed by farmers and developers. Small Growers Fear Industrial-Scale Marijuana Cultivation California Growers Association, a group of marijuana growers in the state, filed a lawsuit in Sacramento to block state rules that they fear could lead vast farms to drive smaller cultivators out of business. The group argues the current state regulations would allow businesses to acquire an unlimited number of certain growing licenses, creating large operations that would have a devastating effect on smaller businesses. The lawsuit says those rules conflict with state law that intended the new cannabis market to be built around small-and medium-sized growers. CARB Holds SB 375 Workshops, Jan. 30 - Feb. 13 The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is holding workshops on SB 375 Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection program and proposed updates to regional passenger vehicle GHG emissions reduction targets for California’s Metropolitan Planning Organizations. The workshops will have CARB staff presenting revisions to the October 2017 Staff Report, sharing feedback received at the December 2017 Board Meeting, presenting initial concepts for updates to the technology methodology for SCS evaluation, and guidance on quantification of strategies. The workshops will be held January 30 in Fresno, February 5 in Los Angeles, February 6 in Sacramento, and February 13 in San Diego. The Sacramento workshop will also be webcast live. Caltrans Offers $40 Million in Planning Grants Caltrans released its 2018-2019 Grant Application Guides and call-for-applications for the traditional State and federal funding, as well as grant funding from SB1, the Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017. A total of $40.8 million is available for transportation planning projects statewide, with $29.5 million for Sustainable Communities Grants, $4.3 million for Strategic Partnerships Grants, and $7 million for Adaptation Planning Grants. Grant applications are due February 23, 2018 and announcements will be made in May. More information on applications, timelines, and much more information can be found on the website. Quick Hits & Updates Oakland City Council passed the Uniform Relocation Ordinance , which creates a schedule of relocation payments that will increase every year based on the Consumer Price Index fluctuations. The first schedule would require landlords to pay $9,875 to those evicted from three or more bedroom units, $8,000 to renters evicted from two-bedroom units, and $6,500 to people evicted from studio or one-bedroom units. Additionally, households with low-income, elderly or disabled people, or those with minor children would be entitled to an additional $2,500 per unit. Gail Goldberg, executive director of the Urban Land Institute’s Los Angeles chapter, announced her retirement effective at the end of January. Goldberg served in this position for six years. She previously was planning director in Los Angeles and, before that, San Diego. A plan to cap the Santa Monica Freeway to link the city’s downtown and Civic Center with a park atop a deck is finally poised to move forward. The Gateway Master Plan is set to head into the process early this year according to a report from the City Department of Planning and Community Development. The plan is included in the department’s list of recommended priorities. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it is giving San Francisco $9 million more than it did last year to help boost housing for homeless people. In all, San Francisco won $41.5 million in homelessness grants, more than any other California county except Los Angeles, which won $109.4 million. Alameda County was awarded $35 million and Santa Clara County $22 million. Rental site ApartmentList released its results from its latest renter confidence survey. San Francisco received an F grade in affordability but a B+ grade overall. San Jose respondents also gave their city an F in affordability and Oakland a D. However, while 45,000 responses came in nationwide only 148 for San Francisco, 105 for San Jose, and 60 for Oakland. As Curbed points out, the survey only includes residents of these cities, those forced to relocate because of the housing crisis since 2016 were not part of the survey. Los Angeles City Councilmembers are calling for a Climate Emergency Mobilization department which would radically reduce GHG emissions. According to Mayor Eric Garcetti’s sustainability plan, LA reduced its emissions 20 percent between 1990 and 2013 and is aiming for a 45 percent cut by 2025. Gov. Jerry Brown made two key appointments to the High-Speed Rail Authority: Washington DOT engineer Joseph Hedges to the chief operating officer position and DMV veteran Pamela Mizukami as chief deputy director. Both positions have been vacant for months. Palo Alto City Council sent comments on Stanford University’s proposed expansion to Santa Clara County, which has final say over the project. Palo Alto says the University should include some affordable housing and funding for transit improvements. The comments on the draft environmental review of the expansion are due February 2. The university’s 2018 general use permit, if approved by the county, would allow it to continue developing its property through 2035. However, former San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio has gathered the 585,407 signatures needed to qualify an initiative to repeal the gas tax for the November ballot. If the measure passes, it would roll back SB 1’s hike on fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees, as well as require a public vote for any such increases in the future. SB 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act, is projected to raise roughly $5.4 billion a year for highways to roads to bridges to public transit to sidewalks. According to Kevin Guy, Director of the San Francisco Office of Short-Term Rental Administration and Enforcement, Airbnb and rival home-stay sites have lost thousands of hosts as a deadline for the companies to kick off unregistered hosts approaches. In 2015, San Francisco strengthened registration requirements and rental limitations. The STR companies sued the city, but a settlement was reached in May that required the sites to register all hosts in phases starting in September. The city said 2,168 hosts had met its requirements to offer temporary rentals, representing a small fraction of the 8,453 Airbnb listings the city observed in August. Sacramento City Officials will eliminate one of the three lanes on J Street in Midtown to make space for a separated bike lane and to slow traffic to make pedestrians and cyclists feel safer. The “road diet” represents the most dramatic step in the city’s effort to make midtown more pedestrian and bike-friendly. The parking lane will be moved out toward the street, and will act as a buffer between cyclists and moving traffic. This project is part of a larger $1million street repavement project on J Street, funded in part from the state’s 2017 gas tax increase. LimeBike has launched its dockless bike sharing program in Burlingame California and CSU Northridge. In Burlingame, the system will include 200 GPS –enabled smart bikes throughout the city for $1 with 5 free rides to all city residents through the end of February. LimeBike has placed 400 bikes on CSU Northridge’s campus for a rate of $0.50/half an hour and 10 free ridges through January.

The California Attorney General’s office is not bound by the general rule that a plaintiff in a California Environmental Quality Act case must exhaust administrative remedies before pursuing litigation, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled.

In a potentially significant ruling, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled that the 2011 law ending redevelopment can unconstitutionally impair contractual arrangements that did not involve a local redevelopment agency if the funds were scheduled to come from the agency and the state denied release of the funds after the redevelopment agency was shut down.

From the homebuilding boom of the 1980s, the recession of the early 1990s, the recovery of the 2000s, and the embrace of smart growth from the late 2000s onward, one development proposal has withstood it all: Newhall Ranch. Located in northern Los Angeles County, Newhall Ranch envisions 21,500 units on 12,000 acres, making it potentially the last major greenfield master-planned community in the Los Angeles area. By many accounts, it is arguably the most heavily analyzed, litigated, and protested project in county history. Last July, after withstanding protests, lawsuits, redesigns, changing fashions and fluctuating economies, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors finally voted, 4-0, to certify the environmental impact report for the project’s first two of the project’s five phases. The certification consisted a "re-approval” following a 2015 certification that was upended when opponents sued, claiming a faulty greenhouse gas analysis in its EIR and improper approvals by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and took the case to the California Supreme Court. (That case set a precedent requiring detailed, contextualized analysis of greenhouse gas emissions in EIRs and, by extension, climate action plans. EIRs cannot simply refer to statewide greenhouse gas goals but rather must explain how it relates to those goals. See prior CP&DR coverage .) The project cleared its final major hurdle in September when developer FivePoint entered into an agreement with four opponents — the Center for Biological Diversity, the Wishtoyo Foundation/Ventura Coastkeeper, the California Native Plant Society and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. These groups agreed to drop further lawsuits in exchange for certain concessions, including a $25 million fund to protect endangered species and the Santa Clara River, which runs through the Newhall Ranch property; it is Southern California’s only free-flowing river. “It certainly isn’t perfect but it’s been thoroughly evaluated,” said Mitch Glaser, assistant administrator for Current Planning at the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Department. “We feel pretty confident that we’ve addressed all of the concerns and mitigated all the impacts as much as they can be.”

CP&DR Vol. 33 No. 1 January 2018