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Showing more than a little impatience, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled that the old housing redevelopment housing set-aside requirement didn’t create a “debt” just because the set-aside funds were delineated in a long-term redevelopment plan as required by law.

The American Planning Association announced its 2016 Great Places in America, including one honoree in California: downtown Santa Ana . These communities all include planning that has lead to stronger, healthier and more just communities. The organization announced five Great Neighborhoods, five Great Streets and five Great Public Spaces. Downtown Santa Ana received recognition as a Great Neighborhood. The award refers to the neighborhood bounded by Civic Center Drive Flower Street, First Street, and on the east by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The award cites downtown’s “organic” evolution over 147 years and its mix of uses and architectural styles and its embrace of Orange County’s creative community. It praises planning efforts such as a complete streets plan and notes that Santa Ana has the largest form-based code in the country. Sacramento Arena Opens with Hopes of Spurring Downtown Vibrancy The Golden 1 Center, the new $557 million Sacramento Kings arena, officially opened  this month after years of planning, negotiating, and efforts to keep the Kings in Sacramento. Located in the heart of downtown Sacramento at Fifth and L Street, the building was designed for a relatively small space, but needed to push Sacramento’s downtown into a new era architecturally and economically. The arena’s design draws from the Sierra Nevada mountains and Yosemite’s Half Dome for inspiration. The city gave $255 million in construction subsidies in the belief that the stadium would draw people to the city center to help rejuvenate Sacramento. The Downtown Plaza shopping mall, which had been in decline for years, formerly occupied the site. It, in turn, had come about through a 1960s urban renewal program that demolished an entire neighborhood. Anaheim Approves Redevelopment Initiatives The Anaheim City Council approved  a series of actions for commercial and residential developments along Beach Boulevard intended to rejuvenate the west side of the city. The council unanimously approved a $16.1 million sale of 25-acres to LA-based Zelman Development Company for a proposed “Main Street-style” outdoor shopping center. Additionally a 3.6-acre property was purchased for $13 million by the city’s Housing Authority to push out motels and encourage mixed-use development and affordable housing. These motels are hotspots for illicit activity and provide makeshift month-to-month housing for poor and homeless families. City officials are completing a draft of a Beach Boulevard Specific Plan, which has plans to revitalize the corridor and provide incentives such as fee waivers, flexible development standards and commercial rehabilitation loans. L.A. County Light Rail Extension Takes Eastward Step The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority board of directors approved  engineering plans for the 12.3-mile Gold Line extension from Glendora to Montclair. The 700-page document, which took two years to draft and cost $15 million, describes the alignment of the two new light-rail tracks, location and design of six future stations and parking facilities, 24 grade-separation bridges and 24 street crossings. A trip from Montclair to downtown Pasadena will take about 40 minutes, to Los Angeles approximately 75 minutes. The train will directly serve six cities: Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont and Montclair. These cities, along with LA Metro, now have 60 days to submit comments on the preliminary plans. Funding for the $1.2 billion project depends on voters approving Measure M, a half-cent sales tax increase on the Los Angeles County ballot. The line would be the first Los Angeles-Area light rail line to cross county borders, with the final station being in San Bernardino County. With Vote Looming, Interest Groups Weigh in on San Diego Stadium A new study  from the University of San Diego and the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council found that the Chargers’ proposed stadium and convention center annex would bring an economic boost and other benefits to San Diego and its residents. The team-funded study finds that the project would create 15,000 construction jobs and 6,400 permanent jobs. The three areas the project will have economic impacts are the construction, the Chargers’ operation, and additional conventions and meetings in the “convadium”. Meanwhile, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has endorsed  the Chargers stadium ballot measure after reaching an agreement with the team on various financial safeguards and other concessions. Even if the measure fails in November, the relationship between the city and the Chargers will allow for a new stadium solution to be found. Finally, San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos announced  that he will not consider a new Mission Valley stadium if voters reject the team’s ballot measure for a combined downtown stadium and convention center annex. Spanos said it would not make financial sense to build a standalone stadium that would host eight to ten events per year and need construction subsidies from the city’s general fund. Quick Hits & Updates The National Trust for Historic Preservation released a report of the 11 most endangered historic places  in the U.S., San Francisco Embarcadero made the list. The two major threats to this historic area are earthquakes and sea level rise. The Port of San Francisco is anticipating a rise in sea level of up to 66 inches by 2100 and major disruption to the $11 billion a year tourism industry in the city. The Anaheim City Council voted to postpone  a vote on the proposed $450 million development at Platinum Triangle, across from the Angel Stadium. The project has support from city leaders and nearby businesses, but the development would harm the team’s ability to build its own developments around the stadium.  The San Francisco Planning Commission voted unanimously to displace  the city’s only commercial farm and allow Golden Bridges School to build on the site. The private school owns the 30,700-square foot parcel but supporters of the farm say Little City Gardens provides herbs to acupuncturists, vegetables for Michelin-starred restaurants, and a peaceful sanctuary for many volunteers. The Long Beach City Council announced  the results of a feasibility study to analyze the potential impacts of adding an international terminal and federal customs facility to accommodate international flights at Long Beach Airport. The conclusion was the move would not violate the noise ordinance established, would generate 350 jobs, and cost between $13.1-$16.4 billion to build. President Obama signed  a new law that gives the Veterans Administration authority to negotiate and sign leases on the nearly 400-acre property in Westwood. The VA’s master plan for the campus calls for 1,200 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless vets. The Escondido Creek Conservancy has been purchasing  land to eventually create a greenbelt and improve creek conditions to support steelhead trout. In the past 25 years, the organization has preserved 1,800 acres. The final two parcels, totaling nearly 1000 acres, will cost nearly $11 million. After reaching purchase agreements with willing sellers, the organization raises funds through community groups, private donors and government grants. The Brisbane City Council decided to postpone  a vote on adding housing to a proposal to develop a 684-acre site know as Baylands. Brisbane residents would like to develop the land as a “community alternative” plan with commercial and industrial space, but not housing. The City of Santa Cruz has announced plans to establish  a bike sharing program. The city is planning on bringing in a third-party operator to manage the rental program. Santa Cruz’ General Plan and Climate Action Plan goals include “multimodal mobility” as well as increasing commute trips by bicycle from 9.7 to 12 percent by 2020.

The Strategic Growth Council staff is recommending awards of almost $300 million to 25 different projects around the state that promote greenhouse gas emissions reduction and affordable housing, and assist disadvantaged communities. The Council will meet next week to approve the list.

While Washington, D.C., is physically one of the nation’s more pleasant cities, very little by way of progressive urbanism has ever come out of it. Until now.

Expanding Printing Operation OK As CEQA Baseline

funds as part of a redevelopment dispute even though a previous ruling concluded that the state cannot.

The Coastal Act trumps both the Density Bonus Act and the Mello Act, which requires affordable housing in coastal areas. That’s the conclusion of the Second District Court of Appeal, which upheld the City of Los Angeles’s decision to deny a 15-unit housing project in Venice that would have replaced a three-unit building. The ruling reaffirms the power of the Coastal Act, whose primary purpose is to protect coastal resources. In this case, Los Angeles officials decided that the visual incompatibility of the new project, proposed by Kalnel Gardens LLC, with existing buildings violated the Coastal Act even though some buildings nearby were of similar scale. The court had an easy time with the Density Bonus Act, since that law expressly states that it does not supercede the Coastal Act. The court had a more difficult time with the Mello Act, which specifically applies within the coastal zone. In addition, the Coastal Act states that its provisions should not be used to allow local governments to obstruct the construction of affordable housing under other laws. However, the appellate court found, the Coastal Act also requires that the design of new developments protect scenic views and be “visually compatible with the character of the surrounding areas.” (Pub. Resources Code, § 30251.) That was the basis of the City’s decision to reject the Kalnel project, and on appeal Kalnel does not contend there was insufficient evidence to support that finding.” Kalnel proposed a project that included five single-family homes and five duplexes and received a density bonus because two units were reserved for very-low-income families. Under the density bonus law, Kalnel also got a height variance. City staff gave the project various approvals, including a coastal development permit, but neighbors appealed the project to the Planning Commission, claiming that height, density, setbacks, and other visual characteristics were out of step with the neighborhood. At a hearing before the West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission, neighbors claimed one- and two-story structures outnumbered larger structures such as the one proposed by a 9:1 ratio. However, Kalnel’s lawyer ultimately said the project was “all a case about affordable housing and density bonus.” Kalnel lost all the appeals, including the appeal to the Los Angeles City Council, and then filed a lawsuit. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant ruled that the city had violated the Housing Affordability Act and that the project conformed to density bonus rules. However, the court ruled that the three housing laws are subordinate to the coastal act and substantial evidence existed that coastal resources would be threatened by the project. Perhaps the most important issue was whether the Coastal Act trumps the density bonus law – a law that developers often use to increase the density of their project above local zoning limits in exchange for providing affordable housing. But this proved to be an easy issue for the court to resolve. Writing for the three-judge panel, Justice Laurence Rubin simply noted that the The Density Bonus Act (§ 65915) states: “Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or in any way alter or lessen the effect or application of the .” (§ 65915, subd. (m).)” The Mello Act proved more complicated, since the law is specifically designed to ensure that affordable housing is provided in the coastal zone. Whenever a new project is built in the coastal zone, the law requires the developer to provide either new or replacement affordable housing. The Coastal Act also specifies coastal considerations do not permit local governments to avoid other affordable housing requirements. “Standing alone, these two provisions might be construed as giving the Mello Act primacy over the Coastal Act,” wrote Justice Rubin. “However, the Coastal Act also requires that the design of new developments protect scenic views and be ‘visually compatible with the character of the surrounding areas.’ (Pub. Resources Code, § 30251.)” In further discussion about the conflict between coastal resources and affordable housing, Justice Rubin wrote: ‘Which interpretation is most protective of coastal resources? One that requires Mello Act housing even if it blocks coastal access, intrudes into environmentally sensitive areas, or is visually incompatible with existing uses, or one that requires application of the Mello Act’s affordable housing requirements within the coastal zone so long as those housing projects abide by the Coastal Act’s overall protective provisions? He concluded: “Remembering the Legislature’s statements that protecting coastal resources is a paramount concern because those resources are of vital and enduring interest, it seems clear that the latter interpretation must prevail.” The appellate court declined to consider the question of the Housing Affordability Act because of a technical error in the appeal made by Kalnel. The Case: Kalnel Gardens LLC v. City of Los Angeles , No. B264434 (September 29, 2016). The Lawyers: For Kalnel Gardens: Allen Abschez, Loeb & Loeb, aabshez@loeb . com For City of Los Angeles: Michael Bostrom, Deputy City Attorney, mailto:Michael.Bostrom@lacity.org

The Legislative Analysts Office has released a report  on the impacts of Proposition 13. The property tax raised $55 billion in 2014-2015 making it the second largest source of government revenue behind personal income tax. With the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, the property tax was capped at 1 percent annually (whereas before it was an average of 2.67 percent). The report seeks to answer a range of questions about Prop. 13, many of which are based on assumptions and received wisdom about the perceived fairness of the law. The LAO came to the following conclusions, among others: 1) Owners of properties that are similar but purchased at different times often pay vastly different amounts of property tax; 2) For homeowners at all income levels, tax relief from Prop.13 generally is proportionate to the market value of their homes; 3) Property turnover has slowed since voters approved Proposition 13; 4) Homeowners pay a slightly larger share of property taxes today than they did when Prop.13 passed; 5) There is little evidence that Prop. 13 significantly discourages creation of new businesses; 6) Local governments increasingly rely on other local taxes to make up for the revenue loses that resulted from Prop.13 and cities’ and counties’ tax revenue per person has declined since Prop.13; and 7) Proposition 13 created fiscal incentives for many communities to focus more on building retail stores, auto dealers, and hotels while focusing less on housing. Los Angeles May Put Up Roadblock to High Speed Rail Stakeholders in the northern portion of the City of Los Angeles are mounting increasingly intense opposition  against at least one of the preferred alternatives for the proposed bullet train route along the topographically problematic segment from Palmdale to Burbank. L.A. Councilmember Paul Krekorian has filed a motion to oppose the route and instead to continue to fund the L.A. River revitalization efforts to protect the environment and residential communities in the Valley. Residents from Lake View Terrace to Shadow Hills say the foothill route would destroy the environment, kill horse-related businesses and put an end to an equestrian way of life. The California High Speed Rail Authority has already agreed to take certain routes out of the discussion: such as the one that would cut the Northeast Valley in half. The L.A. Unified School District is also considering opposition to the aboveground route. Housing Shortage May Yet Impede Economic Growth, Reports Say A pair of reports  from UC Riverside’s Economic Forecast  and UCLA’s Anderson Forecast both contend that California’s housing crisis may have long-term impacts on the state’s economy. The reports find that the state cannot continue to grow as it has in the past without growing the workforce; but California does not have the homes needed to accommodate these new workers. One reason for this slump is the state’s full employment, meaning nearly everyone that wants a job has one. The UC Riverside report equates economic growth with population growth. It notes that the shortage of housing all but ensures that the state’s population cannot grow significantly, in part because housing coasts are too high to attract migrants from other states. Without more people to recruit into the job market, residential construction has been down 2 percent for houses and 11 percent for multifamily permits from last year. A major reason for the lack in migration is the high cost of living in the state. SGC Recommends Climate Funds for Los Angeles, Fresno The Strategic Growth Council has recommended  (pdf) that Transformative Climate Community Program funds, established by recently passed Assembly Bill 2722, be allocated in the cities of Los Angeles and Fresno, and a third location to be determined. Funds amount to up to $140 million, funded by the state’s greenhouse gas auction. A minimum of half of the funds shall be allocated in the City of Fresno. A minimum of one fourth of the funds shall be allocated in the City of Los Angeles. The third geographic location to receive priority will be determined in a separate, future, rulemaking. All program grants will be awarded pursuant to a competitive process. The Council will determine selection criteria for that process in a separate, future, rulemaking. SGC has identified the three initial locations because, it contends, the State must focus its initial investments on the communities that are most impacted by poverty and pollution where a substantial state investment can promote significant change. San Diego Considers Scenarios for Mission Bay Restoration Environmentalists from Rewild Mission Bay in San Diego have proposed  eight possible ways to restore the Mission Bay Park’s marshland and boost recreational appeal. Some scenarios include eliminating a golf course, pouring landfill into De Anza Cove or creating a habitat island. The city will release its own set of draft alternatives next month. The main efforts are to restore environmentally crucial marshland to boost water quality and restore habitats. That is why three of the eight scenarios propose filling the polluted De Anza Cove swimming and boating area. By next May the scenarios will be down to four based on cost estimates, feasibility, and how successfully they meet the goals. The city will not finalize plans for at least three years, and the final proposal will need Coastal Commission approval. SPUR Considers Impact of Sea Level Rise on Mission Bay San Francisco Planning and Urban Research has released  a study of San Francisco’s Mission Bay to assess the types of protection that will be required to withstand the impacts of sea level rise in the coming decades. The 80-page study has been called an “imaginative exercise” and consists of design concepts rather than formal recommendations. Other collaborators include the Bay Conservation and Development Commission. There are seven concepts, three focusing on Mission Creek, and four on the district’s southern shore; one major concept would turn Mission Creek into a lake. The goal of the project, which has been in the works since 2014, is to show ways to integrate flood protection into the urban area. Updates & Quick Hits The Oakland Planning Commission unanimously voted to move forward with implementing Senate Bill 743. The Bill replaces the out-dated LOS system of analysis and instead uses Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)s to look at transportation impacts under CEQA. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Developer SunCal has announced  plans for a massive mixed-use development by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron in Los Angeles’ Arts District. The 14.5-acre development would include two 58-story towers, 1.96 million square feet of residential space, shops, offices, hotels, charter school, and underground parking for 3,400 cars. The federal government has put a hold on transferring  San Francisco’s Hunters Point land to the city for redevelopment because of concerns over radiation. Tetra Tech has been hired with the cleanup, but has been accused of falsifying soil samples. S.F. Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Malia Cohen sent a letter to the EPA explaining that the city “will not accept the transfer of any land until regulators are satisfied that the land is clean and safe.” “Citizens for Ceres” must decide in less than 30 days whether they want to appeal  the approval of a Walmart Supercenter to the California State Supreme Court. The Fifth District Court of Appeals in Fresno ruled against an appeal after the Stanislaus County Superior Court rejected the legal challenge of the shopping center. The opposition group is challenging the adequacy of the environmental studies of impacts on the community. A group of investors has withdrawn  a $167 million offer to purchase the Oakland Coliseum land from the city and county. Their reason was that Mayor Libby Schaaf had announced to East Bay Times that she would not recommend the proposal to be forwarded to the City Council for consideration. Santa Barbara County Planning Commission approved  an updated winery ordinance that allows a 300-square-foot, appointment-only tasting room for smaller Tier A wineries. The vote eliminates a previous requirement that a new winery’s production be at least 20 percent from grapes grown on the property. Napa County Board of Supervisors unanimously opposed  a proposed Indian casino in Vallejo. The Lake County-based Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians earlier applied this year to the federal government to find out if the Vallejo site qualifies for gaming. The owner of the four dams on the Klamath River has filed  applications with federal regulators to remove the dams. The decommissioning and removal could cost at least $290 million, but that work would be paid by ratepayers of PacifiCorp and Proposition 1 monies. The plan is to remove four of the five dams on the river, with work beginning in the next four years. New proposed legislation  in San Diego would crack down on “mini-dorms” near San Diego State, shut down illegal medical marijuana dispensaries, prevent illegal grading of land and many other code violations. The legislation was approved by City Council’s Rules Committee and must now be considered by the full council in the next few months.

Everyone’s favorite factoid about the Golden Gate Bridge concerns its paint job. Crews are endlessly refreshing its orange coat, working from one end to the other throughout the year and then starting all over again. Such are the ravages of salt and fog. It’s a mundane story about the need for constant maintenance of an iconic piece of infrastructure. Another crucial — if less beloved — piece of California’s transportation infrastructure operates much the same way, albeit in a longer time frame. I have flown into and out of Los Angeles International Airport on average once per month for the better part of three decades. Just as the Golden Gate Bridge is always being painted, LAX is always under construction or renovation –in sometimes valiant, sometimes halfhearted , usually halting attempts to spruce up L.A.’s “nine terminals linked by a traffic jam.”  It’s one traffic jam that may finally end. Last week, Los Angeles World Airports released the environmental impact report  for what is the latest, and perhaps final, piece of major upgrades to LAX. The Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP) includes a consolidated rental car center, two intermodal facilities, and other aesthetic and mobility upgrades. In other words, LAX’s overhaul is about everything but aviation. Previous attempts to comprehensively upgrade and expand the airport have failed every which way for decades. But this one seems serious. It includes a new rail station and people-mover, to tap into and leverage Metro’s Crenshaw and Green lines, and it has a possible 2024 Olympics in mind.  As we ponder the wonders of a consolidated rental car lot, a people mover, and replacement of or massive renovations to those nine (newly renovated) terminals, it’s important to understand that the state of LAX centers on not just aviation, mobility, or even economic development. It is also very much an element of land use, planning, and urban growth.  Most obviously, LAX would not be a global hub were its urban region not itself a global powerhouse. Unlike at the Dubais and Atlantas of the world, many people don’t change planes. More people actually get on and off airplanes at LAX than at almost any other major world airport. Angelenos are blessed to be connected to the world in ways that folks in Chico, Fresno, San Diego — or any other American city short of Chicago, for that matter — can hardly imagine. (I’m drafting this blog on a nonstop flight from Shanghai’s Pudong Airport, whose terminals are massive enough to make LAX’s terminals look like Cessnas next to A380s.) The Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. estimates that this kind of connectivity is good for over economic impacts of over $120 billion per year.  While LAX is a global institution, it is also a hyperlocal one. The new plan has arisen largely because of a settlement between LAWA and its neighbors in Westchester this summer. They and the airport had been bickering and negotiating over heaven and earth for as long as anyone can remember. The last major settlement was in 2006. A community of people living in largely middle-class, single-family homes, Westchester residents are quintessential NIMBY’s, opposing an admittedly concerning land use. The settlement's most important provision is its cap of 79 million annual passengers — a mere 4 million above its current usage. This keeps LAX the seventh-busiest airport in the world for the moment. But it all but ensures that it will soon be eclipsed by the likes of Shanghai, Istanbul, and Hong Kong. And the cap mirrors larger debates about growth in Los Angeles, in which opponents of growth cannot believe that the city can accommodate more residents, no matter what strategies the city lays out and no matter how much new transit is built. "These old ‘NO LAX Expansion’ signs are now officially vintage,” wrote Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin on his Facebook page. "From now on, everyone is saying yes to modernization and improving our airport and passenger experience, and saying 'hell no' to expansion." Of course, LAX only has such testy neighbors because, at this point, it’s an old airport. The empty land surrounding Mines Field filled in decades ago. Meanwhile, Pudong is a good 25 miles from central Shanghai. It too will get consumed one day.  Ironically, a shiny new LAX will probably be more appealing to travelers. They’ll get a far better first impression of our city, and it’s likely that more than 79 million people will want to fly through LAX. When demand butts up against the cap, it will all but ensure higher fares. Maybe this tension will finally lead to the holy grail of Southern California transportation: regionalization. Westchester residents have always wanted more passengers to use the region’s smaller airports, particularly Ontario, which, unlike Burbank and Long Beach, can and wants to expand. At long last, the City of Ontario took control of l ong-suffering ONT , meaning that expansion may be in the offing.  What of the design for the “new” LAX? Like those of every other modern airport, they are inevitably flawed but also probably fine. Conceptual renderings show sleek, generic people-mover stations and similarly inoffensive designs for the other facilities. I happen to think that many of the new mega-airports, like Pudong, Beijing, Guangzhou, Dubai, and Bangkok are over-engineered and inappropriately massive. LAX will always be intimate by comparison. At least it feels like it was designed by humans and not, say, a self-aggrandizing totalitarian government.  Now that LAX’s future is certain and Ontario controls its own density, there’s only thing left to do: reopen Palmdale Airport and finish that little high-speed rail link we’ve always talked about.  Image courtesy of LAWA.

The Oakland City Council approved  dramatic reductions to its parking requirements last week, undoing regulations established in 1965. The move is meant to make it less expensive to develop housing, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve quality of life for residents. The city is hoping to achieve better walkability with the new parking regulations. For instance, in major transit hubs, the required parking is zero and instead a maximum cap is set. Additionally, cost of parking will be separate from rent, meaning residents who do not drive will no longer subsidize neighbors that do. The regulations provide incentives for landlords to developers to offer transit passes and subsidies for car-sharing services to residents. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Watchdog Group Sues Coastal Commissioners Five California Coastal Commissioners are being sued by Spotlight on Coastal Corruption for 590 alleged transparency rule violations in the last two years. Commissioners Erik Howell, Martha McClure, Wendy Mitchell, Mark Vargas and Steve Kinsey are accused of violating disclosure laws for ex-parte communications and could each face fines of millions of dollars. Ex-parte communications involve telephone calls, face-to-face meetings, emails or other written material related to a pending matter outside official public hearings. These interactions should be reported in writing within a week of the communication and include the date, time, type, location, list of everyone involved in the communication, and description of content. A bill prohibiting ex-parte communications by commissioners was defeated earlier this month. Lake Tahoe, Salton Sea to Receive Federal Funding The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved  a measure for $10 billion on water quality projects nationwide over the next decade. This includes $415 million for the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act. The first Act in 2000 provided $300 million in federal money for restoration projects on the lake. This new bill will include money for projects to improve water quality, reduce wildlfire threats, combat aquatic invasive species, and build new public transit systems featuring ecologically friendly roads. The Salton Sea would also receive funding  from the bill as would the Los Angeles River and Sacramento-area flood control. The measure must now go to the House to be voted on. Proposed Development May Run Afoul of Richmond General Plan Richmond residents filed  a lawsuit against a new 13.8-acre bayfront Terminal One development project at Terminal One. The project plan includes 334 condo and townhome units, restaurants, hiking trails and a 0.9-acre park. The five residents that filed the claim are members of the Brickyard Cove Alliance for Responsible Development (BCARD). They allege that the project’s EIR does not comply with CEQA because of traffic congestion, exposure to hazardous chemicals, blocked bay views and altered wind patterns for sailing community. The plaintiffs favor the site’s development, but are concerned with the height and subversion of Richmond’s General Plan 2030. Price Tag for Key L.A. River Parcel: $252 Million The Los Angeles City Council voted in May to allocate $40 million to purchase part of Taylor Yards, a crucial site site along the Los Angeles River to develop into a park space, wetland, and other amenities. City analysts have calculated  that it could cost more than $252 million to develop the 41-acre area into a park. $120 million of the expected costs are for environmental cleanup. UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation is preparing a new Los Angeles River Greenway Guide  and is using Marsh Park as a case study. This 3.9-acare park in the Elysian Valley has trees, green infrastructure, play and fitness equipment, a walking path, picnic tables, open-air pavilion, and a large industrial building that houses a company that takes modular shipping containers and turns them into units for the homeless. The guide includes 14 other case studies that include parks, pathways, access points and bridges along the river. The guide looks at challenges faced in each project and how the obstacles were overcome leading to successful riverside gateways. The 51-mile river has many successful projects on the northern part, but not the same amenities exist in the lower section of the river. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Listing of Spineflower Could Complicate L.A.-Area Developments The San Fernando Valley spineflower may become listed  as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The flower, once thought to be extinct, has two known populations located in the Santa Monica Mountains of Ventura County and on the proposed Newhall Ranch development site. However, Newhall Land and Farming has said it has taken steps to protect the plant. For instance, in the Spineflower Conservation Plan approved by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in 2010 227 acres of Newhall Land are permanently funded and protected for the flower. Updates & Quick Hits The California Coastal Commission accepted  Measure H as a Minor Amendment to the Dana Point Local Coastal Plan, which will now allow the measure to become part of the 2008 Town Center Plan. Supporters say the measure will help the residents with the battle against special interests and developer money. The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco rejected , 3-0, the city’s attempt to restrict tenant evictions under the state’s Ellis Act. The court said the ordinance would “discourage or penalize Ellis Act evictions” which creates a disincentive to evict. The Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved  $750 million in public funding to build a stadium in Las Vegas to lure the Oakland Raiders. The hotel tax in the Las Vegas area will be raised to pay for the 65,000-seat stadium, as well as partially financed by billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. The governor, legislature and three-quarters of NFL owners need to be won over to make the project a reality. Four affordable housing projects in San Francisco will receive  $310 million in city money to jump start development. The projects will create 529 housing units for seniors, families, and formerly homeless persons. Unite Here Local 11, a labor union representing hotel workers, filed  a complaint to investigate potential illegal use of foreign money in a heated Beverly Hills ballot measure. The ballot measure would allow union-friendly Beverly Hilton to bypass public review to build a 26-story high-rise. Opposing the measure is China’s Wanda Group, which plans to build a $1.2-billion hotel-condominium project adjacent to the 26-story high-rise.

A longtime anti-poverty lawyer and his wife have lost an appellate case against the City of West Hollywood in which they challenged the city’s imposition of inclusionary housing fees on their project. The ruling strengthens the power of local governments to enforfe inclusionary housing policies, partly by reinforcing an appellate court ruling from San Jose last year. Shelah and Jonathan Lehrer-Graiwer sued West Hollywood over a wide variety of fee-related issues on their 11-unit Croft Avenue housing project, including the inclusionary housing fees, which totaled more than $500,000. But the Second District Court of Appeal rejected a wide variety of arguments and said the city had acted properly under the Mitigation Fee Act (AB 1600) in setting out an overall schedule for inclusionary housing fees. Instead, the Second District ruled that the fees were appropriately based on the city’s overall lack of affordable housing. Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, Justice Victoria Chaney said that “the purpose of the in-lieu housing fee here is not to defray the cost of increased demand on public services resulting from Croft’s specific development project, but rather to combat the overall lack of affordable housing.” Relying on California Building Industry Assn. v. City of San Jose (2015) 61 Cal.4th 435 , she added: “This type of fee is not ‘for the purpose of mitigating the adverse impact of new development but rather to enhance the public welfare by promoting the use of available land for the development of housing that would be available to low- and moderate-income households.’” The Lehrer-Graiwers, operating as 616 Croft Ave. LLC, have sought for many years to demolish two single-family homes just south of Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood and replace them with an 11-unit project. (Jonathan Lehrer-Graiwer was for many years a lawyer with the Western Center on Law and Poverty and later worked on many social justice cases as a lawyer in private practice.) The Lehrer-Graiwers won city approval for the project in 2005 but because of the downturn in the economy did not seek to pull permits until 2011. At that time, the city demanded that they pay higher fees totaling $580,000, including $540,000 for the inclusionary housing fee. The Lehrer-Graiwers paid the fees under protest and sued They challenged the city’s fee ordinance both on its face and as applied to their project. The appellate court concluded that the facial challenge was time-barred because the ordinance was adopted 10 years before the lawsuit was filed. More importantly, the appellate court rejected the as-applied challenge as well. The Lehrer-Graiwers made a wide range of arguments, including the idea that the fees were really taxes under Proposition 218. The court rejected all these arguments. Most important, the appellate court concluded that the inclusionary housing fees did not need to be tied to the impact of the Lehrer-Graiwers’s project but, rather, could be part of an overall effort to tackle the affordable housing problem in West Hollywood. First, the court concluded that the burden of proof that the fees are reasonable lies with the city, not with the developers. The Lehrer-Graiwers had argued otherwise, citing Prop. 218. But citing San Jose , the court said: “The purpose of the in-lieu housing fee here is not to defray the cost of increased demand on public services resulting from Croft’s specific development project, but rather to combat the overall lack of affordable housing.” Among other things, the court ruled on Ehrlich v. City of Culver City (1996) 12 Cal.4th 854, which distinguished between fees charged on a project basis and fees charged as part of an overall city policy. Partly based on this reasoning – and again relying on San Jose – the court said the challenge should not have been based on the application of individual fees to an individual project. “Although the fee must be reasonable, the inquiry is not about the reasonableness of the individual calculation of fees related to Croft’s development’s impact on affordable housing,” the court wrote. “The inquiry is whether the fee schedule itself is reasonably related to the overall availability of affordable housing in West Hollywood.” The Case: 616 Croft Ave LLC v. City of West Hollywood , No. B266660 (September 23, 2016) The Lawyers: For 616 Croft Ave (the Lehrer-Graiwers): David Lanferman, Rutan & Tucker, dlanferman@rutan.com For City of West Hollywood: Michael Jenkins ( mjenkins@localgovlaw.com ) and Christi Hogin ( hogin@localgovlaw.com ), Jenkins & Hogan Never forget to clean your HTML code and double check your content before publishing an article!