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Planners who tend to keep their heads down politically might have missed the firestorm that erupted a few weeks ago over a column about the “YIMBY” movement on the left-wing site Truthout . The grassroots, pro-development movement got savaged in a quasi-article by Toshio Meronek and Andrew Szeto originally entitled "YIMBYs: The 'Alt-Right' Darlings of the Real Estate Industry.”  The headline was eventually changed to omit “alt-right” to seem less inflammatory, if still inaccurate. When “alt-right” gets thrown around in land-use circles, you know something is up.  For the uninitiated, the “Y” stands for “yes,” and the “yes” refers to development — mainly to housing. By filing comments, testifying at hearings, and otherwise inserting themselves into public discourse, YIMBYs try to provide a counterweight to anti-development forces. They generally support market-rate and affordable housing developments alike.  The unofficial leader of the YIMBY movement – and prime target of Meronek and Szeto – is Oakland-based Sonja Trauss, who founded the San Francisco Bay Area Renters Federation, delightfully abbreviated SF-BARF . They accuse her of being the powerful leader of "an army with soldiers around the world, from Boulder to Bratislava, while dominating the dialogue on how to deal with the very real problem of housing inequality.” I think any planner would be surprised to find that pro-development activists are “dominating” much of anything.  In reality, Trauss considers SF-BARF an open-source grassroots organization, replete with a wiki website that irreverently uses Comic Sans font. ULI it is not. Trauss provides information and does her own rabble-rousing, but any concerned citizen can take up the cause at any time.  Trauss describes herself as an anarchist, with no love for political ideologies. Short of burning the whole place down, she has contented herself with supporting The Man (real estate developers) so as to stick it to The (other) Man (homeowners associations and other anti-development forces). It’s a compromise, to be sure. But even anarchists need someplace to live.  Meronek and Szeto have decided that Trauss and her colleagues are “pro-gentrification,” in league with “greedy” real estate developers. They equate support for market-rate housing with support for “luxury” housing. They also equate it with not just tolerance for but, it seems, approval of displacement. YIMBYism, they claim, is "rooted in the same classist, racist ideologies it supposedly seeks to disrupt,” in line with redlining, slum clearance, urban renewal, and other explicitly discriminatory practices of decades past.  What Meronek and Szeto don’t seem to understand that there’s a difference between intention and consequences. As a factual matter their accusations are nonsense for all sorts of reasons. SF-BARF has routinely lobbied for projects with affordable units, with just as much enthusiasm as it has for projects with all market-rate units. Trauss famously “ sued the suburbs ” — or rather a suburb, Lafayette — for alleged violation of the Housing Accountability Act. The SFBARF mission statement reads, in part, “without an increase in overall yearly production of housing in the Bay Area, we will continue to suffer from displacement, crowding and exploitation from landlords.” See, they don't like displacement, or exploitation.  Meronek and Szeto can't quite believe that anyone would want more housing, so they accuse Trauss of being in the pocket of just about everyone. This includes Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO of Yelp, and, presumably, an uncaring fan of “luxury” housing. Never mind the fact that no capitalist — other than a real estate developer — would ever want his or her employees to live in expensive housing. Meronek and Szeto write of collaboration: "When asked about her organization's alliance with SPUR and realtors, she responds that the groups have 'a shared goal ... so we work together.’” And they accuse Trauss of “aligning” with tech billionaire (and Trump supporter) Peter Thiel simply for having breakfast with him – at his invitation. Come on. They had breakfast . It’s not like they shared a room at Davos. Even after their story roused a slew of thoughtful, and frustrated, online chatter, Meronek and Szeto doubled down on many of their claims in an opinion piece in the San Francisco Examiner . They write that YIMBYs have co-opted social justice movements against gentrification toward a capitalist, pro-gentrification agenda. YIMBYism’s long standing affiliation with right-wing free-market, or neoclassical/neoliberal, economics is precisely what our article illuminated....their politics are rooted in racist and anti-poor conservative neoliberal ideologies. Allrightee then.  Notwithstanding the fact that it's pretty hard for a three-year-old movement to be "long standing," tirades like this make it almost impossible to assign much credibility to the radical left. That’s a shame. Many progressive mainstream planners and, I reckon, the majority of YIMBYs share 90 percent of the values of people like Meronek and Szeto. They might have different priorities and favor different tactics, but I think we’re all on the same team.  (That team is scoring points. Last year, San Francisco voted for all sorts of funding for affordable housing, and the city is developing complementary ordinances.) And yet, like children who’ve been so badly bullied that they won’t let anyone be their friend, Meronek and Szeto make no attempt to persuade and instead seem like they’re spouting off only for personal satisfaction. They support social justice and yet call fellow progressives “alt-right.” If that’s not otherization – which is, rightly, one of progressives’ major bugbears -- I don’t know what is.  Enough, already.  I get it. I get resentment. I get fear. I get the fraught history surrounding the urban poor. But I don’t get the vitriol, and I don’t respect the dishonesty. I submit that honesty and compromise remain admirable values and effective political tools — especially on the local level where policymakers, community members, and activists are literally rubbing elbows with each other.  Does YIMBYism have problems? Sure. No movement is perfect. But slander and willful misrepresentations are bigger problems. They create bitterness and fragmentation when there ought to be unity, cooperation, and respectful disagreement. They may treat mainstream housing advocates like enemies, but, fortunately, we don't have to treat them in kind. My best advice for YIMBYs and anyone else interested in building prosperous, inclusive cities is to embrace their causes – of social justice and affordable housing – more enthusiastically than ever. The equitable city depends on protections from displacement, social justice, and affordable (subsidized) housing just as much as it depends on market-rate development, place-making, and urban amenities. YIMBYs can wage those battles whether the far left likes it or not.  As for the planners quietly slaving over applications and zoning code rewrites: this debate is coming your way whether you like it or not. There’s never been a better time to get fired up about housing, equity, density, and all the other fundamental challenges that make good planning — and good mediation — so important. I can’t fathom who benefits from getting worked up over the 10 percent of disagreement rather than excited about the 90 percent of common ground.  That’s not alt-right. That’s just right . This piece has been updated to clarify the nature of SF-BARF's lawsuit against the City of Lafayette.

Everybody agrees that something needs to be done to goose California housing production, and this has been a year that the California Legislature has been awash in bills. In fact, the legislature this year considered one housing-related bill for every 13,800 units that need to be built in the state by 2025 to alleviate the state’s housing crisis.

For 30 years now, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to create a firm standard for takings of property via regulation. Land use situations are all different – they often involve quirky facts about land ownership and some type of diminution of value via regulation, but it’s really hard to generalize. And you never know what kind of weird situation will pop up next time around. All you know is that it’s likely to be something that never occurred to you. Which drives conservatives crazy.

In Walkscore's 2017 City and Neighborhood Ranking , a ranking of the most walkable and bikeable neighborhoods and cities in the US, Canada and Australia, San Francisco came out No. 2 with a score of 86. The top neighborhoods were Chinatown, Downtown-Union Square, and Lower Nob Hill. San Francisco also received the No. 2 slot for bike friendly cities with a score of 75 and transit friendly cities with a score of 80. There were 17 California cities evaluated and some cities like Los Angeles (67.4), Long Beach (69.9), Oakland (72) and Santa Ana (66.1) ranked relatively well. Long Beach and Oakland made 9th and 10th most walkable cities respectively. Sacramento ranked No. 8 nationwide in bikeability. Suburban California cities such as San Bernardino, Irvine, Fremont, Chula Vista, Stockton, Riverside and Bakersfield scored in the 30s and 40s, ranking them near the bottom. Newhall Ranch Wins Key Environmental Approval The California Department of Fish and Wildlife certified Newhall Ranch’s environmental impact report after reviewing modifications made to mitigate concerns raised by the California Supreme Court surrounding a rare fish and GHGs. The new changes from the 2015 document include offsetting 100 percent of GHG emissions the 58,000-resident development will generate by dictating all houses, commercial buildings and public facilities have solar panels and that 21,000 homes have electric vehicle charging stations with subsidies offered to purchase electric vehicles. The Newhall Ranch developers will build bridges and bank stabilization infrastructure to avoid water contact during construction to protect the rare unarmored threespine stickleback fish that lives in the Santa Clara River. The developer, FivePoint Holdings, is expecting to begin construction as early as next year. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) California Pushes Back against Threats to National Monuments California Attorney General Xavier Becerra argued President Trump has no legal authority to revoke or modify national monuments created by previous administrations. State Atty. Gen. Becerra wrote an 11-page letter to the Interior Department stating he would take “any and all legal actions necessary” to preserve six California monuments that the Trump Administration may attempt to revoke or shrink. Trump signed an executive order in April directing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review all national monuments that were created since 1996 and are larger than 100,000 acres, or were expanded without adequate public outreach. The six monuments on the list are the San Gabriel Mountains monument, Mojave Trails and Sand to Snow monuments, Giant Sequoia monument, Carrizo Plain monument, and Berryessa Snow Mountain. Monument designations prohibits oil and gas development and limits logging and grazing. San Diego SoccerCity Proposal Goes to Nov. 2018 Ballot A proposal to redevelop San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium into a into a $4 billion soccer stadium, commercial, retail, and parkland destination has encountered multiple complications of late. San Diego City Council members voted unanimously to send the SoccerCity proposal to voters in November 2018, instead of holding special elections this November or adopting the proposal without a public vote. Supporters of the proposal say delaying the vote sharply reduces the city’s chances of getting on of four new franchises that the MLS is planning to award. This delay means San Diego State University must regroup and decide where to build a new Aztec football stadium. The University has already terminated discussions to share and help fund the SoccerCity stadium, and therefore has no location to play past 2018. The discussion is primarily whether SDSU comes up with their own plan for Qualcomm, since it’s all up in the air until the public vote in 2018, or do they evaluate serious alternatives. Meanwhile, AusTex Oil Limited, an associated venture of SoccerCity backer FS Investors, is accused of breaching an agreement with shareholders. FS Investor principals Mike Stone and Nick Stone have minority stake in the company but are not named in the lawsuit.  Caltrans to Develop Grant Guide to SB 1 Planning Grants The Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Transportation Planning is on a fast track to develop a grant guide and launch the new Senate Bill 1, The Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017, planning grant funds: Transportation Planning Grants ($25 million annually) provide grants to encourage local and regional planning that further state goals, including, but not limited to, the goals and best practices cited in the regional transportation plan guidelines adopted by the California Transportation Commission. Climate Change Adaptation Planning Grants ($20 million over three years) provide grants to local and regional agencies for climate change adaptation planning. Caltrans will be hosting two workshops to gather public and stakeholder input that will inform the draft grant guide development. It is envisioned that these planning grants will provide much needed funding to support regional sustainable communities strategies and ultimately achieve the State’s greenhouse gas reductions targets of 40 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 2050, respectively. the workshops take place June 26 in Los Angeles and June 27 in Sacramento.  Santa Rosa Voters Buck Rent Control Trend In a special election this month voters rejected , on a 52.5 percent no vote, a measure to overturn the city’s rent control ordinance. The Santa Rosa City Council had passed, 4-2, a rent control ordinance in August. The California Apartment Association threatened collected enough signatures to force the council to rescind the ordinance or put it to a referendum. Measure C which would have implemented that ordinance, which would have included rent control and eviction protections, but a vigorous campaign by the Apartment Association resulted in its defeat. Santa Rosa is the fifth largest city in the Bay Area and has had median rent rise 2.8 percent over last year and 49.2 percent over the last six years. Though Santa Rosa is not in the heart of the Bay Area’s booming tech economy, supporters of rent control are concerned about speculation and housing pressures that have rippled through the Bay Area. (See prior CP&DR coverage .)  QUICK HITS & UPDATES LA Metro approved  funding a long-planned $1.4 billion extension of the Gold Line light rail line in the San Gabriel Valley 11.5 miles east to Claremont via Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Pomona. The stops would all be in LA County, which is covered by Measure M, a countywide sales tax measure. There are plans for one more stop to Montclair, but since that is in San Bernardino County it would require separate funding. The City of Los Angeles and its engineering team are working with seven design firms to reenvision  sections of the Los Angeles River through downtown Los Angeles. The participants include Gruen Associates, WSP, CH2M, Chee Salette, Mia Lehrer + Associates, AECOM, and Tetra Tech. The teams have released preliminary conceptual images, which include river banks with open spaces, play areas, public art, new connections and development. There has not been word if any of these proposals will be built, as the designs are budget-heavy. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The U.S. Department of Transportation released maps measuring transportation-related noise and found living near the landing and takeoff zones around Los Angeles International Airport are particularly bad. The study shows more than 97 percent of the U.S. population “has the potential to be exposed to noise from aviation and Interstate highways at levels below 50 decibels or roughly comparable to the noise level of a humming refrigerator”. Less than one-tenth of a percent of the population could potentially experience noise levels of 80 decibels or more, roughly equivalent to a garbage disposal noise. Google is planning to build 300 modular housing units on its Bay View Campus at NASA’s Moffett Field for temporary employee accommodations. The Bay View project has been delayed for years but consists of three large office buildings about 600,000 square feet. The project to build modular units will cost between $25-30 million and be built by Factory OS of Vallejo. The cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles have both approved programs to create urban farms, community gardens, and educational green spaces through their Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone (UAIZ) Programs. The programs incentivize property owners to use their land for agricultural uses for a minimum of five years while receiving a tax deduction. Economic analysis conducted by the Council Economic Institute found that a new Oakland A’s stadium, whether it’s built downtown or next to the Coliseum, would bring an estimated $3.05 billion in benefits over 10 years and create about 2,000 construction jobs. The estimation is not based on a specific location, only on what the facility would generate. The A’s are expected to make a stadium announcement this year, and construction will begin within the next few years and take two years to complete. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The City of Downey is developing plans for a transit-oriented development around its light rail commuter station off Garfield Avenue and Gardendale Street. Kimley-Horn and Associates will be conducting the study and putting together a specific plan for the area. The study will take about two years and will be funded through a $425,000 grant from Metro. San Francisco arts officials are committed to developing Treasure Island as a major cultural destination and are releasing their “Arts Master Plan” this week to the public. The goal is to create an area similar to Governors Island in New York with contemporary artists and their followers. The Treasure Island plan includes spending nearly $50 million on artwork over a 20-year period and three large-scale sculptures. San Diego Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a series of steps to address homelessness and the lack of affordable housing. The plan includes the creation of a $25 million affordable housing investment pool, transferring $500,000 from a neighborhood reinvestment account to the county Health and Human Services Agency to underwrite predevelopment and planning activities for affordable housing, and identifying 11 county-owned properties for residential construction. The City of San Jose City Council approved , 10-1, an agreement to negotiate exclusively with Google to sell 16 city-owned parcels for a transit-centered Google Village. The plan includes between 6-8 million square feet of office ad other spaces in the Diridon Station area. The transit village would generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for the city and add up to 20,000 jobs. The City of Santa Ana City Council approved financial assistance to four affordable housing projects, three on a 6-1 vote, and one on a 5-1 vote. The Santa Ana Arts Collective, 57-unit artist-focuses, received an additional $2.9 million and they had previously received more than $4.6 million from the city and state. AMCAL Multi-Housing’s First Street Apartments project, 69-units for low-income working class families, was awarded $8.5 million. Tiny Tim Plaza project, 51-units for low-income and at-risk homeless families, was awarded up to $11.7 million. Aqua Housing, 58-units of permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals, was awarded 31 more project-based vouchers.

The Wilshire Grand, a new feat of engineering in Los Angeles, features a 178-foot mast and a ‘sail’ to go with it. This would be fine — impressive, even — if the Wilshire Grand was a schooner, sloop, or clipper ready to push off from San Pedro and ply the high seas. But the Wilshire Grand is very much landlocked, 15 miles from the nearest ocean, anchored to bedrock by 73 floors. It’s a skyscraper. Shiny and new, and, for the moment, “officially” the tallest west of the Mississippi. The Wilshire Grand received its share of fanfare at its grand opening on Friday, as well it should. It’s a major addition to downtown Los Angeles’ stock. Architecturally, it’s handsome enough and it is a landmark by any measure. In a city that remains famously horizontal, it’s fun to get excited about something vertical. But let’s get real: the Wilshire Grand does not deserve to be called the tallest building in Los Angeles. For people who can’t count, measure, and compare on their own, there’s something called the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat , which “officially” measures and ranks skyscrapers. Says its website self-referentially, "The CTBUH also developed the international standards for measuring tall building height and is recognized as the arbiter for bestowing such designations as 'The World’s Tallest Building.’ Who these people are and, more importantly, why they get to define “tallest” is beyond me. Interestingly, and most importantly for this discussion, CTBUH includes masts, spires, and other semi-decorative elements in its calculation of a building’s height. That’s why, for instance, the Petronas Towers (88 floors) overtook the Sears Tower (108). And it’s why One World Trade Center, at a relatively puny 94 stories, even breaks into the top 10. Its spire brings it up to 1776 feet. That patriotically symbolic number that surpasses the Guangzhou CTF Finance Center and willfully disrsegards the way architects measure buildings -- in meters. (The New York Times helpfully  noted  some while back that WTC's 541 meters commemorates the year Totila became king of the Ostrogoths.) I’m not an engineer or an architect, but I know the difference between a spire and a story. Any layperson can appreciate that the true height of a building depends on its highest operable floor. If I’m feeling charitable, I’d throw in service floors or accessible rooftop. What I’m not willing to concede is that the 73-story Wilshire Grand, whose roof tops out at 934 feet, is "taller" than the 73-story, 1,018-foot US Bank Building — which has a flat roof and no protuberance to distort its height. (However, it has the county's highest open-air bar , which is a record I can get behind .) Whereas the Wilshire Grand merely makes a mockery of CTBUH standards, the Salesforce Tower , at 61 stories and 1,070 feet, is already ruining San Francisco. While it doesn’t resort to gimmicks to proclaim its height, its massive dome looms distractingly over what is — as skylines go — one of the most beautiful in the world. Granted, the Transamerica Building and its spire were always destined to be surpassed, the Salesforce Tower, looking for all the world like an aluminum-clad baguette, suggests that maybe there’s some wisdom to San Francisco’s infamous, and mildly ridiculous, shadow ordinance. But, honestly, who cares? While architecture buffs, like myself, can argue how many angels can dance on the head of a spire, we really have to ask whether our cities are better off for these mega-structures. As I wrote recently in Common Edge Collaborative , gleaming skylines often belie banal or even inhumane conditions at street level. So many skylines, be they as impressive as Dubai or as banal as Fresno, come down to earth in entirely unimpressive ways. They rise above empty sidewalks, expansive parking lots, overly wide boulevards, and nothing resembling local culture or style. Places like New York, Hong Kong, and San Francisco are the exceptions. Downtown Los Angeles…. it falls somewhere in between. Buildings like the Wilshire Grand and Salesforce Tower superficially proclaim their cities’ ambitions and testify to their healthy economies. They do one thing planners like, which is to reinforce the primacy of downtowns and take advantage of transit networks. Salesforce sits atop the new Transbay Terminal, and Wilshire Grand is across the street from Los Angeles’ second most important transit stop. And yet, they are lacking. Plenty of urbanists, including Jean Gehl  James Kunstler have decried highrises. Leon Krier famously considers them "vertical cul-de-sacs," entrapping their occupants in a dead-end structure and sapping life from their surroundings. And, like cul-du-sacs and their suburban neighborhoods, high-rises are, in many ways, cakewalks for planners. It’s easier to approve one big thing than it is to tend to the countless complex minutiae that make streets, cities, and neighborhoods truly great. And yet, that’s where real planning heroism lies. God is in the details, not in the clouds. I’d love for cities — not just Los Angeles, which really isn’t half-bad, but also the Dubais, Shanghais, Shenzhens, and other global cities that are really fixated on height — to pay more attention to their streetscapes and neighborhoods than to their skylines and create places that truly serve and ennoble their residents. Many of the best places are diminutive and detailed, not tall and sleek, no matter what the CTBUH says. It’s all well and good for Los Angeles to ride the winds of euphoria. But if planners in L.A., and other cities, don’t turn their attention closer to sea level, we’re all going to be sunk. Photo credit: Fredchang931124 via Wikimedia Commons .

The California Air Resources Board  released its Draft Staff Report on the Proposed Update to the Senate Bill 375 Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Targets and the Draft Environmental Analysis prepared for the Proposed Targets Update. CARB’s proposed targets would result in an additional reduction of GHG emissions of over 10 million metric tons of CO2 per year in 2035 compared to the current targets. For the 2020 Target, the four big MPOs are divided in their achievement of the adopted goal. MTC/ABAG has a goal of 10 percent reduction but is currently only at 7 percent. SACOG is meeting its 7 percent reduction goal. SANDAG has a goal of 15 percent reduction but in 2010 only had a 7 percent reduction. SCAG has is meeting its 8 percent goal. CARB is looking for comments on the Draft Staff Report and Draft EA until July 28, 2017. TCC Draft Scoping Guidelines Available for Comment The third revision of the Draft Scoping Guidelines for the Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Program is being made available for public comment. Written comments are due to SGC by 5 p.m. on June 27, 2017. This new draft does not represent the full proposed guidelines for the Program. In February, the SGC convened a Stakeholder Summit on the TCC Program in Sacramento to launch the public process for receiving input on the second revision of the Draft Scoping Guidelines. Written public comments were submitted to the SGC by March 13. Revisions have been made to provide greater clarity on the SGC’s vision for the program and to reflect public comments that were received. This June 2017 release presents a revised draft program framework that includes updated eligibility requirements, redefined strategies and other requirements applicants must meet for implementation and planning grants. Updates have been made to the proposed application process, and sections have been added to reflect scoring criteria, grant administration, and technical assistance and support. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Google Eyes Massive Mixed-Use Development in Downtown San Jose Google is in talks with the City of San Jose about developing a 245-acre tech campus downtown near the Diridon rail station and SAP Center on city-owned land. The city council will vote today on whether to extend exclusive negotiating rights to the tech giant. The new campus would accommodate up to 20,000 jobs and transform the area into a transit-oriented tech village. The proposed village would build more than 6 million square feet of office and research space. The city currently has about 10 million square feet of offices, so an additional 6 million would be a huge addition. Many local businesses in the area are worried about being displaced by the project. Two groups of property investors have been purchasing properties surrounding Diridon Station and have currently spent a combined $124 million. The city has been long discussed more intensive development around the station, in part because it will serve as a hub for California High Speed Rail. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a statement, “Based on our conversations with Google, we share a collective vision for the future of this space, a vision of urban design that will invite the public into the station.” BART Releases Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines Bay Area Rapid Transit recently released its Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines, which would create greater clarification for BART’s expectations about development around its heavy rail stations. This guidelines, developed pursuant to a policy adopted by BART in June 2016 and performance targets adopted in December, are expected to assist partner cities developing transit-supportive station area plans, developers interested in building on BART properties, community-members wanting to understand how they can get involved, and others wondering about future intentions for properties. The goals include complete communities, sustainable communities strategy, increased ridership, value creation and value capture, transportation choice, and development of up to 7,000 affordable housing units by 2040. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Drop While Economy Grows The California Air Resources Board released a report showing that the state has achieved significant GHG emissions reductions while also posting its strongest economic growth since 2005. At this rate, the state is on track to achieve its 2020 emission reduction goals. The 2015 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory found emissions fell by 1.5 million metric tons in 2015 compared with 2014, which is the equivalent of removing 300,000 vehicles from the road for a year. Additionally, in the last seven years, California has created 2.3 million new jobs, cut its unemployment rate in half, eliminated a $27 billion budget deficit and has seen its credit raising rise to the highest level in more than a decade. The diverging numbers are encouraging, as economic growth typically correlates with greater GHG emissions and suggested that policies like AB 32 and SB 375 may be having their desired effect. CARB is now developing a 2030 Scoping Plan to guide GHG reductions beyond 2020. Groups Form Coalition to Address Housing in San Diego In response to San Diego’s housing crisis, affordable housing advocates, community-based organizations, labor unions and environmentalists have formed the Build Better San Diego coalition. This housing coalition is focused on the struggle of rising housing costs, tenant displacement, substandard quality stock, longer commutes, poverty-wage jobs, and flat family incomes. The group argues that the “housing affordability” is a mantra that some use to take advantage of the situation to build dense, unaffordable homes without regard for community impacts. Throughout the state there are coalitions and measures based to address the housing crisis. The San Diego group has eight guiding principles that seek to address jobs, housing, natural resource protection, solve homelessness, commutes, displacement and tenant protections. Sacamento Streetcar Gets Boost on Eve of Vote by Businesses The Sacramento Regional Transit bus and rail agency board recently agreed to put $25 million towards the Sacramento streetcar effort in advance of a planned vote by local businesses on whether to tax themselves to support the line. The money would be part of a $100 million pot of local and state funds that would hopefully be matched by a $100 million federal grant to cover the $200 million project. The money SacRT pledged comes from the agency’s hare of the high speed rail bond fund. While this financial assistance was critical in keeping the project alive, it does not assure the project will happen. In the next weeks, 300 major downtown businesses will vote on whether to tax themselves at least $50 million over the next 25 years to pay for some of the streetcar’s operating costs. Los Angeles Revives Hollywood Community Plan City of Los Angeles Planning Department released a draft of the updated Hollywood Community Plan and accompanying environmental impact report, nearly four years after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge threw out a prior version of the plan. The revised plan calls for high-density development near the major transit corridors and Red Line subway stations. A major change from the previous draft is an increased focus on historic preservation and protections of single-family neighborhoods. The previous plan was overturned primarily because of faulty growth forecasts. In this plan Hollywood’s residential population is expected to grow from 206,000 to 226,000 by 2040 and employment from 101,000 to 119,000. The previous plan had been adopted by the city but ran into CEQA lawsuits filed by local activists.  QUICK HITS & UPDATES AHSC program staff across the Strategic Growth Council, Department of Housing and Community Development, and Air Resources Board released the 2016-2017 Final Draft AHSC Program Guidelines, which incorporate feedback obtained through public comments and workshops held in April 2017 on the initial draft guidelines. AHSC 16-17 Guidelines Final Draft  will be considered for adoption at the July 17 2017 Strategic Growth Council meeting. The release of a 2016-2017 AHSC NOFA and application are expected to occur October 2 2017.  A new report from AT Kearney lists San Francisco and Los Angeles numbers 1 and 25, respectively, on its recent list of 25 cities to “keep an eye on in the coming years.” Los Angeles continues to be a center for business and technology, and is home to several tech giants; however, it fell four spots from the 2016-2017 rankings. San Francisco has consistently been at the top of the list because of its strength in innovation.  Scientists have found that the effects of rising sea levels on coastal flooding may be even worse than previously thought. Researchers say a 10- to 20-centimeter sea-level rise, which is expected by 2050, will double the frequency of serious flooding events in many parts of the globe, including the California coastline. Estimates of ocean’s effect on coastal erosion, environment and human communities have taken into account storm surge and tidal fluctuations, but frequently left out waves. In California, much of the flooding is dominated by wave-driven events, which is why El Niño with its extremely large waves has such extreme effects on coastal erosion. The City of Los Angeles unveiled draft rules for proposed regulations on how and where marijuana businesses can operate within city limits. They would be limited to commercial and industrial zone, barred from opening within 800 feet of one another, as well as within 800 feet of schools, public libraries, parks, and drug and alcohol treatment facilities. All in all, the city’s proposed rules “allow for a fairly free and open market… to have a real economic engine here in Southern California,” said Matt Stang chief revenue officer for the cannabis media and event company High Times. The Inglewood City Council will vote on an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Los Angeles Clipper to build an arena for the team. The agreement will run for 36 months with the option of a six-month extension for the team to complete environmental reviews. The city will receive a nonrefundable deposit of $1.5 million. The Rams and Chargers $2.6 billion stadium is currently being constructed across from the proposed’ arena. The Seal Beach Planning Commission voted to send a recommendation to the City Council to adopt a “reduced intensity” version of Southeast Area Specific Plan (SEASP). Of the almost 1,500 acres, about 86 percent would see significant changes to current land use and allowable building heights. Environmental advocates and nearby residents are unhappy with SEASP saying it does not represent community wishes. The original 1977 planning document capped development and population density to maintain a coastal village feel and protect the wetlands. Los Angeles County released a draft transit oriented specific plan, Connect Southwest L.A., that would include 1,000 residential units and 1.7 million square feet of commercial around Metro’s Vermont/Athens Station near downtown Los Angeles. The plan also includes infrastructure upgrades. The City of Long Beach has released its Midtown Specific Plan for 369-acres along Long Beach Boulevard corridor. The plan includes walkability measure, improved mobility options for bicycles and transit riders, and new development and housing opportunities along the corridor. The California Association of Environmental Planners (AEP) awarded the plan’s vision and contributions with an Outstanding Planning Document award. This is awarded to a document that best accommodates projected population growth to protect California’s environmental resources, minimize greenhouse gas emissions, and provide urban recreation and natural open space.  The City of Huntington Beach Planning Commission will review a draft of the general plan update, which will guide the city through 2040. The city’s general plan hasn’t been comprehensively updated since 1996. The update will be reviewed multiple times by the commission and council over the next several months. Planning consulting firm Michael Baker International is assisting the city with the update. The Del Mar Alliance for the Preservation of Beach Access and Village is suing the city for its ban on short-term rental housing saying it violates CEQA and the Coastal Act. The group alleges the ban is a “project” because it has significant adverse impacts, however the city did not perform any environmental reviews of its potential impacts. Additionally, the LCP does not include the ban. The Coastal Commission sent Del Mar and other coastal cities a letter saying, “the regulation of short-term/vacation rentals represents a change in the intensity of use and of access to the shoreline, and thus constitutes development to which the Coastal Act and LCPs must apply.” Santa Barbara County Supervisors voted , 3-2, to ban short-term rentals in residentially zoned areas and small agricultural parcels, but allowed them on larger agricultural properties and areas zoned for commercial and mixed use. This ban means 92 percent of the county’s permitted STRs are illegal starting in September of next year. San Diego City Council rejected , 5-4, a proposed special election in November for a hotel tax increase to expand the convention center and boost money for homeless programs and street repair. The five councilmembers opposed to special elections are all Democrats, and Mayor Faulconer, a Republican, has lobbied aggressively for a special election for the convention center and SoccerCity. According to a report released by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, ride-hailing cars drive over half a million miles every day on San Francisco streets. Lyft and Uber cars make more than 170,000 trips within the city every weekday, which is 6.5 percent of total weekday vehicle miles in the city. Weekday peak times, 6:30-7pm, see 5,700 Uber and Lyft cars. The report analyzed the impact these companies have on the city’s streets. The Third District Court of Appeal ruled against the City of Galt and upheld the lower court’s decision to block a cooperative agreement between the city and a redevelopment agency. In 2011, before the dissolution of redevelopment agencies, the City of Galt struck a $22 million deal with a redevelopment agency for multiple projects. Although the agreement went into effect before the Dissolution Law, the California Department of Finance held that the deal was unenforceable because it fell within the timeframe. The city then filed a lawsuit, but the trial court sided with DOF. Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a spending to divide the nearly $259 million projected in the first year of Measure H, a quarter-cent sales tax increase. The supervisors accepted virtually all the recommendations of a 50-member planning committee.  San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim asked Uber to tax itself voluntarily to help fund the city’s public transit system and improve its infrastructure. Kim singled out Uber as the source of congestion and the dangers for emergency vehicles. Kim’s idea loosely resembles a bill passed in Massachusetts that would charge ride-hailing companies 20 cents per ride. SoccerCity officials have announced that they are moving forward with their plan to redevelop Qualcomm Stadium. The San Diego City Council refused to support a special election but has agreed to hear the SoccerCity backers present their plan. The special election in the fall is crucial because the MLS is announcing expansion sites by the end of the year. If a city does not have a firm commitment to build a soccer stadium, it will not be considered for a team. The Peninsula Open Space Trust is planning to buy 1,000 acres of Coyote Valley for $80 million over the next decade. Most of the land in that area is currently zoned for tech campuses. The environmental group is hoping to create a space for wildlife to hunt and breed between the Diablo Range and the Santa Cruz Mountains. The group expects half the funds to come from individual donors, quarter from public sources such as Measure Q, and a quarter from private foundations.

Following President Trump's vow to pull out of the Paris climate accord, dozens of states and hundreds of cities across the country have vowed to fulfill the U.S. commitment without Washington. Fifty California cities — out of 292 nationwide -- have joined the effort known as # ClimateMayors , which is led by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. They include Alameda, Arcata, Berkeley, Chula Vista, Culver City, Cupertino, Davis, El Cerrito, Encinitas, Fremont, Hayward, Healdsburg, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Malibu, Menlo Park, Milbrae, Morro Bay, Mountain View, Napa, Oakland, Palo Alto, Petaluma, Rancho Cordova, Redwood City, Richmond, Sacramento, St. Helena, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Leandro, San Luis Obispo, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Monica, Santa Rosa, Stockton, Sunnyvale, Torrance, Watsonville, West Hollywood, West Sacramento, Windsor, and Woodland. The states and cities would need to meet 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. According to some estimates, federal withdrawal from the Paris Accords may have limited impact because 70 to 80 percent of the work on reducing emissions happens at the state and local level, regardless of federal policy. Bloomberg, has pledged to personally cover the $15 million the U.S. is reneging on for operations fund of the U.N. agency overseeing the Paris accord. These cities have agreed to intensify efforts to meet the current climate goals for the city, but also push to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, and work together to create a clean energy economy. In California, the most significant climate change policies related to land use relate to Senate Bill 375, which encourages compact, transit oriented development. Feds Join Lawsuit Alleging Los Angeles over Disabled Housing The U.S. is joining a whistle-blower lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles that alleges the city illegally brought in $933 million in federal funding over six years by falsely claiming it provided sufficient housing for people with disabilities. The law requires 5 percent of units in certain federally funded apartment projects to be accessible to people with mobility impairments and an additional 2 percent for those with vision and hearing impairments. The lawsuit was originally filed six years ago by nonprofit Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley and wheelchair user Mei Ling from North Hollywood. The case has been settled and the city promised to spend at least $200 million over a decade to address complaints that publicly funded housing did not include enough apartments accessible for those in wheelchairs or other disabilities. LA also agreed to pay $4.5 million to the nonprofits that sued the city, plus other fees. The federal government is coming into the case a year after the settlement was reached. LA City Attorney Mike Feuer promised to fight the lawsuit, calling it an “abuse of power that would deprive the city of crucial funds needed to address our housing crisis”. California Cities Receive EPA Grants for Brownfields The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded $56.8 million in grants nationwide to 172 recipients to assess and clean up brownfield sites, help local governments redevelop vacant and unused properties, transforming communities and local economics. Of all the funds being distributed by the EPA, $17.5 million will benefit small and rural communities with populations of less than 10,000. Northern California received $1.9 million in grants to five cities. City of Arcata received $300,000 grant for a former lumber mill and industrial sites throughout the city. Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District received $200,000 to remove contaminated debris piles associated with a former pup mill site in Samoa, CA. City of Grass Valley was awarded $598,312 for mine-scarred lands and former mill sites surrounding multiple cities in the Sierra Foothills. Plumas County Community Development Commission will receive a $200,000 grant to complete an assessment and develop a cleanup plan for a 28-acre former lumber mill site. The last city in Northern California to receive a grant will be the City of Yreka with $600,000 to support assessments and redevelopment planning for Yreka, Weed and Siskiyou County. In Central California, the City of Bakersfield will receive $300,000 to assess contaminated properties for cleanup and redevelopment in the city’s Economic Opportunity Areas. These areas include downtown Bakersfield, Bakersfield Airport, Highway 58/Mount Vernon, and four other corridors or sections of the city. Report Investigates Inequality Across California Fair Shake Commission on Income Inequality in California, a think tank founded by billionaire and environmental activist Tom Steyer, released a report outlining the root causes behind the state’s widening wage gap and solutions for closing it. The goal is that all Californians have a “ fair shake ” at opportunity because it is not only just, but essential to growth, prosperity, social stability and democracy. The report includes input from Democratic political operatives, academics, and labor leaders. The report maintains the state has the highest GDP in the nation and more “millionaires, billionaires and families living in poverty than any state in the nation.” The report also covers wage stagnation, loss of manufacturing and middle-class jobs, and low-wage work with high housing, education, transportation and childcare costs. According to the report, a growing number of people are part of the “gig economy” meaning contractual, part-time work without access to disability and unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation. Solutions included in the report are “establishing greater protections and workplace benefits for contract workers, strengthening enforcement measures against wage theft, and supporting greater access to education and vocational training, as well as increasing affordable housing and more opportunities to immigrants. However, as one Republican political consultant remarked: “the report didn't offer anything groundbreaking or particularly helpful. He’s someone trying to position himself for higher office.” Judge Rules in Favor of Spending GHG Funds on High Speed Rail A Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled that California regulators did not abuse their discretion when they decided to pay for the state’s HSR project with money from a GHG emissions program. The Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund, which opposes the bullet train, argued that the $64 billion project would create more pollution than it would eliminate for at least a decade. The group alleges the CARB underplayed the train’s harmful environmental effects and exaggerated its environmental benefits. The TRANSDEP group hasn't decided whether to appeal the decision. QUICK HITS & UPDATES Santa Rosa voters rejected , with 52.5 percent of voters opposed, the rent control law passed by the City Council last summer. These results show the residents want the city to take more steps to solving affordable housing and homelessness instead of placing restrictions on existing rental housing. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Los Angeles Metro’s Board of Directions passed a motion, unanimously, to eliminate a long-discussed tunnel through South Pasadena and Pasadena as a solution for closing the 6.2 mile gap between the end of the 710 Freeway in Alhambra and the 2 Freeway North in Pasadena. The motion recommends re-allocating the nearly $150 million for new mobility improvement projects in the area surrounding the tunnel project. California’s regional water districts are working with Gov. Jerry Brown to take on more responsibility for designing, building, and arranging financing for the $15.7 billion WaterFix tunnels . The joint-powers authority, JPA, would speed up the project and critics who oppose the tunnels say it could allow cutting of corners on issues of public safety and the environment.  The Palm Springs Neighbors for Neighborhoods has filed an initiative to put short-term rentals on the ballot. The group wants voters to decide whether STR's should be allowed in single-family residential neighborhoods in the city. The city just passed a new vacation rentals ordinance which limits how many times a year a home can be rented but the psn4n group is looking for an outright ban. According to a new appraisal , Qualcomm Stadium land is worth $110 million. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer must now decide if investors pay “fair market value” for the land, and if he goes ahead with this figure will the SoccerCity team still want the deal? San Diego City Council voted not to spend $5 million for a November election for the SoccerCity redevelopment and raising hotel taxes to expand the Convention Center and fund homelessness and infrastructure. However, this appraisal may change the Council’s Democratic majority’s minds. Caltrans last week agreed to accelerate its allocations of funds for approved Active Transportation Program (ATP) projects. This is possible because SB 1 included an annual increase of $100 million for the ATP, which is 80 percent more than the current funding levels. The ATP has been oversubscribed and underfunded, with only about a third of the projects applying being approved for funding. A week after Los Angeles officials announced a 57 percent rise in homeless veterans, the group Vets Advocacy announced that the Veterans Affairs is stalling on development of its sprawling West Los Angeles campus. The advocacy group is saying the VA has dragged out termination of commercial leases on the property and blocked the group’s oversight of negotiations with renters. Real Estate Research Council released a report saying homebuilding was down in the first three months across Southern California, but nowhere more than San Diego County. In the seven-county region, residential building permits were down 10 percent compared to same time last year but San Diego County was down 37 percent. The biggest drop in San Diego County, 50 percent, was in multi-family construction. Developers of San Luis Ranch in San Luis Obispo are proposing to build 580 homes to reduce commutes and provide affordable housing. The twist is: first dibs go to those already living or working in the city. The homes would range from 250 square feet efficiency apartments to a 2,200 square feet home with prices ranging from $350,000 to $600,000. The plan includes 40 acres for housing, 60 acres for organic farming and open space, 200,000 square feet commercial, 150,000 square feet of office and a 200-room hotel. This proposal heads to the City Council July 5. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera issued a subpoena demanding access to four years worth of data from Uber and Lyft. In the statement released the data was explained to “include miles and hours logged by drivers, incentives that encourage drivers to ‘commute’ from as far away as Fresno or Los Angeles, driver guidance and training, accessible vehicle information, and the services provided to residents of every San Francisco neighborhood.” This information is already available to the California Public Utitlities Commission, their state regulator, but now the two companies have 15 days to comply with San Francisco or face penalties.

The San Francisco Bay Area Renters Federation (SFBARF) is suing  the City of Berkeley City Council over allegations that the council has repeatedly violated California’s Housing Accountability Act (HAA). The HAA, from 1982, compels municipalities to “not reject or make infeasible” housing developments that help meet housing needs. SF-BARF, along with California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund (CaRLA), allege the city has violated HAA by rejecting a recently submitted application for a new three-unit development. The project was in compliance with “all applicable, objective general plan and zoning standards and criteria, including design review standards” and problems arose when neighbors were unhappy with the project and appealed. The City Council argues because the project required demolition permits to remove the existing residence, HAA did not apply. This is the second city that SF-BARF has sued to comply with HAA; the pervious case against the City of Lafayette, was settled in the city’s favor last month. Design Competition Seeks Responses to Sea Level Rise A newly announced design competition in the Bay Area, “Resilient by Design,” will select  10 interdisciplinary teams to tackle 10 sites around the bay, with at least one in each county, to mitigate the effects of sea-level rise. The Rockefeller Foundation pledged $4.6 million to fund the competition (the foundation also funds 100 Resilient Cities; see prior CP&DR coverage). Other sponsors include Metropolitan transportation Commission, City of San Francisco, and Santa Clara Valley Water District. The kickoff last week will couple a request for qualifications from design teams as well as an “open call” for Bay Area residents to suggest particular spots that might be worthy of in-depth attention. The 10 design teams will be selected this summer, and the fall will be spent gathering information and visiting the different sites, which will be finalized in December. Design solutions will be presented next May and each design team will receive $250,000 for its work. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Trump Budget Proposal Would Eliminate Much City-Related Funding According to analysis by the League of California Cities, President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget proposes  significant cuts to programs that generally serve cities, either directly or indirectly. The budget would eliminate Community Development Block Grants, HOME Investment Partnerships, Choice Neighborhoods, and Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Programs. Other changes include eliminating funding for Transportation Security Administration Law Enforcement Grants, Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program, and five components of existing FEMA Programs, while requiring a 25 percent local match on others. This is only a short list of the proposed eliminated and reduced programs. However, this is only an initial proposal and Congress must ratify the budget. Many Congressional members have expressed concerns for the major cuts proposed by the administration. The administration justifies the cuts on the “state and local governments are better positioned to address local community and economic development needs”. San Francisco Adopts Density Bonus Ordinance The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved , 10-1, a housing density law that has been in discussion for two years. The ordinance allows developers to build taller residential structures in exchange for 30 percent of units made affordable. The only dissenting vote, Supervisor Norman Yee, asked for a special exemption for the Ocean Avenue corridor in his district. The ordinance, known as Home-SF, will bring more housing units into an increasingly expensive market and is critical in keeping working and middle-class residents in the city. The supervisors also unanimously approved a settlement with short-term rental services such as Airbnb and HomeAway that ensures all local hosts are registered with the city. L.A. Airport Settles Lawsuit with Neighboring Communities The Los Angeles City Council agreed  to settle lawsuits brought by Culver City and Inglewood that alleged potential environmental impacts from modernization projects at Los Angeles International Airport. The two cities will participate in planning future development at LAX and implement transportation projects that will be paid for by Los Angeles World Airports, according to the agreement. The airport department will give Culver City $2.71 million and Inglewood $14.9 million to implement “intelligent” transportation systems, which should involve sophisticated information and communication technologies to move people safely and efficiently. Inglewood will receive an additional $10.6 million to develop a transportation demand management system to reduce travel demand or redistribute it over time or across the transportation system. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) SCAG Announces Winners of Annual Sustainability Awards The Southern California Association of Governments handed out its Sustainability Awards at its recent Regional Conference, which "recognize projects that best coordinate land use and transportation to improve the mobility, livability, prosperity and health of Southern California." Transportation Corridor Agencies, Foothill South Settlement Agreement received an award for Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability; UCLA BruinBikeSmart received an award for Active Transportation; the City of San Bernardino’s Waterman and Baseline Neighborhood Specific Plan received the “Against All Odds” award; the Collaborative Partnership went to the Imperial County Transportation Commission’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation Access Study for the California/ Baja California Land Ports of Entry. The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation won an award for Green Region; the City of Lynwood for Healthy and Safe Communities, and City of Long Beach for its Midtown Specific Plan. Quick Hits & Updates The City of Long Beach has released its Midtown Specific Plan for 369-acres along Long Beach Boulevard corridor. The plan includes walkability measure, improved mobility options for bicycles and transit riders, and new development and housing opportunities along the corridor. The California Association of Environmental Planners (AEP) awarded the plan’s vision and contributions with an Outstanding Planning Document award.  San Francisco Supervisor Sandra Fewer has requested a study on the possibility of a BART extension to the Richmond District. An MTC study revealed approximately 16,200 Richmond District residents commute downtown on a public transit lines designed to serve a maximum of 16,800. The State Historical Resources Commission earlier this month voted unanimously to recommend placing the Albion River Bridge on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the last timber trestle bridge on Pacific Coast Highway. Caltrans wants to replace the 150-foot tall bridge with a wider, more earthquake-safe bridge. However, some Mendocino Coast residents want the agency to repair and keep the quirky bridge. The Sacramento City Council approved a scaled-back renovation of the Sacramento Convention center, choosing to save money for a second, undetermined project intended to draw tourists and conventioners to the city. Mayor Darrell Steinberg told the Sacramento Bee, “It would be a missed opportunity to put all of our money in a single asset to increase tourism and hotel demand.” The original proposal was $170 million and would add more than 100,000 square feet to the convention center. The new plan that figure by $50 million. Los Angeles County Metro will open three new bike-share pilot projects this summer: 31 kiosks in Pasadena as of July 14, the Port of Los Angeles July 31, and Venice later in the summer. The pasadena program will include 370 bicycles for a two-year pilot program. Los Angeles County’s homeless population has increased 23 percent over last year to nearly 58,000 although 14,000 people are permanently off the streets through rent subsidies, new construction, outreach and support services. In City of Los Angeles, homelessness jumped over 34,000, which is up 20 percent from 2016. Santa Clara County Housing Authority has agreed to buy Buena Vista Mobile Home Park in Palo Alto for $40.4 million. The Housing Authority’s board must give final approval to the deal, but the agreement to save the city’s last real affordable housing has been worked out over the last four months.

The Federal Transit Administration abruptly reversed course last week to approve a $647 million grant to electrify Caltrain tracks. Several months ago, newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao abruptly said it would not disburse the funds to the Bay Area commuter railroad, even though they had already been promised under the Obama administration. The electrification project, which will cost a total of $2 billion, will mean faster and more reliable trains on a 51-mile stretch, offering more than 110,000 rides per idea instead of the current 60,000. Electrification is also a crucial step towards readying the Peninsula corridor for high speed rail. The first electric trains will be in service by 2021, and construction will begin in 60 to 90 days. The electrification will replace the current fleet of diesel trains. "We are very thankful to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and the Trump Administration for recognizing the value that Caltrain Electrification will create for the Bay Area and the nation by easing congestion in one of the country’s most economically productive regions and creating almost 10,000 American jobs in the process,” said Jim Hartnett, General Manager and CEO of Caltrain, in a statement . Los Angeles Metro Considers Overhaul of Bus System In response to falling bus ridership, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority has embarked on a study to “re-imagine” the agency’s bus network, which is the largest in California. The study, expected to take over a year, will analyze the system’s 170 lines and 15,000 bus stops. The current system has been in place for over 25 years without major changes. In that time, Metro has opened multiple rail lines, which have influenced rider behavior. Annual bus ridership on the system has fell 16 percent from 2013 to 2016, or 59 million trips. After months of preliminary research, Metro officials acknowledged the bus system is not working as well for riders as it once did. A recent survey of 2,000 former riders say the buses don't go where they want them to go or don’t come often enough or stop running too early. Of those surveyed, 79 percent now primarily drive alone. Metro's Conan Cheung told the Los angeles Times, “we’re misaligned with current travel demands.” Los Angeles County Short Half-Million Affordable Units A new report  (pdf) from California Housing Partnership Corporation contends that Los Angeles County has a need for 551,807 new units of affordable housing to satisfy demand from very low and extremely low-income earners. Lowest earnings are those making less than half the county’s median income of $64,300. The nonprofit argues the cuts in federal and state funding, including elimination of Community Redevelopment Agencies, have contributed to the shortfall. According to the report, median rent in LA has gone up by 32 percent since 2000 but household income has actually dropped about 3 percent. Recommendations from the nonprofit include providing more subsidies and incentives to encourage developers to build affordable units and adoption of proposed ordinance being considered that would charge developers a “linkage fees” that could be used to construct more affordable units. San Diego Debates Convention Center Vote San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is pushing for a November special election to vote on a hotel tax hike to finance the expansion of San Diego’s convention center. However, both City Council members and advocates questioned the logic of the ballot measure, which would allocate funding for addressing homelessness and repair crumbling streets, at a recent City Council hearing. Those questioning the special election are wondering whether it is wise to spend million of dollars on a special election and if enough funds are dedicated to the city’s growing homeless problem. Opponents to the measure say it favors the hotel industry at the expense of the homeless. The proposal would boost the hotel room tax by 1 to 3 percent, with nearly two-thirds of the $5 billion raised over 40 years going towards expanding the convention center. The remaining balance of tax revenues would be split between reducing homelessness and tackling street repairs. The council is expected to vote soon on whether to place the measure on the November ballot. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Infill Builders Recommend Parking Reforms in L.A.  A report published by the Council of Infill Builders found that parking policies, such as excessive parking requirements in new construction, lack of adequate pricing and enforcement of existing spaces, and poor management of parking assets inflates housing costs and limits mobility in Los Angeles. The report, “Wasted Spaces: Options to Reform Parking Policy in Los Angeles” recommends eliminating, reducing or right-sizing minimum parking requirements, charge optimal pricing for parking, and improving parking management rather than mandating new parking requirements such as shared parking and transportation demand options. (Disclosure: CP&DR Contributing Editor Josh Stephens participated in a scoping meeting for the report.) Trust for Public Land Ranks Park Access in 100 Largest Cities  The Trust for Public Land released its 2017 ParkScore rankings which analyze how the 100 largest U.S. cities are meeting the needs for parks. San Francisco was third place with a score of 80, Irvine was tied 7th with New York City with a score of 75, San Diego was 14th with a score of 69, and Sacramento was 21st with a score of 63.5. Fremont was 24th with a score of 62.5 tied with Long Beach, Oakland, San Jose, Virginia Beach, Lincoln, and Las Vegas. Anaheim was 63rd with a score of 45 tied with Glendale and Riverside. Fresno was at the bottom of the list as number 90 with a score of 33.5, Stockton was 75th with a score of 41 tied with Santa Ana, Los Angeles was 74th with a score of 41.5, and Bakersfield 71 with 43.5. Quick Hits & Updates The Strategic Growth Council has announced its schedule of technical workshops for the 2017-18 Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program: June 5, Gilroy; June 15, webinar; June 22, Ventura. The Los Angeles City Council approved $27.2 million for Vision Zero programs in 2017-2018. The programs include street and safety improvements, speed zone surveys and enforcements, street improvements, street lighting support and supplies, and vision zero corridor projects to name a few. The allocation is a nearly tenfold increase from 2016-2017, which was $3.4 million. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Gov. Jerry Brown said he will not accept a cap-and-trade program extension with anything les than a two-thirds vote. The program has been the subject of lawsuits related to Prop. 13, so he wants the higher threshold to protect the program from legal challenges. The comment from a Brown advisor came after some lawmakers were considering pushing forward with only a majority vote. City of Los Angeles’ Board of Public Works voted to fund a $1.5 million feasibility analysis for Agence Ter’s winning Pershing Square Renew design to revitalize the oldest open space in the heard of downtown. The contract will allow the Paris-based Agence Ter and their LA contractor, Gruen Associates, to conduct an analysis for the implementation of the team’s concept for the square. Agence Ter received the highest scores from the 1,355 member public who voted on the final four, and was the unanimous first choice of the Pershing Square Renew jury. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) The opening for the new Inglewood stadium for the Rams and Chargers has been pushed back a year because of record rainfall disrupting construction. Instead of opening for the 2019 NFL season, it will open by 2020. San Jose City Council adopted a memorandum in April stating their intention to consider an ordinance to ban income source discrimination, such as Section 8 vouchers, and requiring the city’s housing department to analyze the problem. Those with vouchers in San Jose are having difficulty finding a place to live because many homes are too expensive or landlords choose not to rent to voucher holders. Marin County planners have told supervisors it may take longer than anticipated to reach an agreement with the Coastal Commission on an update to the 35-year-old general plan. Commission staff has been working on the local coastal program for eight years. Updates to the program include rules mandating coastal properties prepare for sea-level rise and more lenient policies for farmers and ranchers looking to build intergenerational housing on their land. The current section being worked on is Hazards, with the deadline for the commission to act as Sept. 29. The Inland Valley Development Agency is looking into developing 500-acres north of San Bernardino International Airport and has hired a consultant to look into options for the site. The over-arching objectives for the plan are economic development, job creation and public amenities. Los Angeles City Council has agreed to settle lawsuits brought by Culver City and Inglewood alleging that potential environmental impacts of modernization projects at LAX were not properly evaluated. Under the terms of agreement the two cities will participate in planning future development at the country’s second-busiest airport. The airport is currently undergoing a $14-billion modernization of ground transportation improvements including a people mover in the central terminal area, transportation center, consolidated car rental facility and upgraded roads. San Jose is facing a delay on a $35 million project designed to provide 100-year flood protection to 2.2 miles of Upper Berryessa Creek, reducing risk to 680 properties and Santa Clara’s first BART station. Although paperwork and permits were in order, last month state water regulators rescinded their earlier approval and said that 15 acres of wetlands or 15,000 feet of creek somewhere else in South Bay had to be restored to offset the harm to the environment from the project. The Santa Clara Valley Water District and the Army Corps are appealing the order and threatening to sue because the project could go over budget and lead to its cancellation. The planned Purple Line subway extension to Westwood may  begin  construction in 2018, nine years ahead of its original schedule. The estimated $860 million in annual revenue from the Measure M, passed in November, will help cover the cost of finishing the extension. However, the project also depends on promised matching federal funds, which still need to be allocated and approved. The Fourth District Court of Appeals has sided with Huntington Beach in a preliminary ruling that reverses a 2015 Superior Court decision that ordered the city to change the zoning on land along Beach Boulevard and Edinger Avenue to allow low-income and high-density housing. The nonprofit Kennedy Commission, a housing advocacy group, originally sued the city in 2015 claiming it has shut down opportunities to build low-income housing when it cut the number of units from 4,500 to 2,100. San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott has raised concerns about the SoccerCity's initiative to build an MLS stadium on the site of Qualcomm Stadium, saying it doesn't guarantee a professional soccer stadium or a river park, and could burden taxpayers with hefty costs for environmental cleanup of the site. The 27-page analysis also raised questions about the contradictions and lack of clarity in parts of the 3,000-page initiative saying it could lead to costly litigation. Backers FS Investors say many of the issues raised by Elliott could be resolved in a lease the group would be required to negotiate with Mayor Faulconer if the initiative is approved. Laguna Beach is partnering with Uber for a pilot program that would provide supplement transportation needs for those 55 and older and the disabled who have relied on the city’s bus service that is being cut or reduced. Passengers will get free rides for the first two months of the six-month pilot program up to 15 miles outside city limits. The program is believed to be the first of its kind in the state.

The year 2017 was supposed to be the year of housing in Sacramento. Housing cost and supply have been widely documented has major issues. There’s little debate from either side of the aisle that it has to be tackled. More than a hundred bills were introduced promoting a wide range of ideas old and new.

Developers always say they want certainty, but one property owner in San Diego sure isn’t getting it. In the latest twist on a see-saw battle, the Fourth District Court of Appeal overturned a trial judge and concluded that the City of San Diego acted properly in denying the property owner a parcel map in order to subdivide a piece of property in Point Loma.

CP&DR Vol. 32 No. 5 May 2017