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The State Supreme Court denied review October 22 in the major case of Citizens for a Sustainable Treasure Island v. City and County of San Francisco (Treasure Island Community Development) . As discussed in the CP&DR July 2014 issue , the ruling upheld the massive environmental impact report for a $1.5 billion development plan on Treasure Island, the man-made island at the middle of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. As legal precedent the case is important for its holding that an EIR's original status as program-level or project-level doesn't matter as much as whether, practically speaking, it provides enough information to support necessary decisions. No rent control end run via Costa-Hawkins in LA California's Second Appellate District blocked an attempted end-run around Los Angeles rent control in Burien v. Wiley. The ruling was by the Second District's Division Five, in an opinion by Justice Sandy Kriegler joined by Justices Paul Turner and Richard Mosk. In Kriegler's summary, the case concerned a rent-controlled apartment building on Sawtelle Boulevard that received its original certificate of occupancy in 1972. The landlord converted it to condominiums and obtained a fresh certificate of occupancy in 2009. He then sought to exempt the building from rent control under the Costa-Hawkins Act by claiming an exemption for units with certificates of occupancy issued after 1995. The tenant who objected, James Wiley, would have faced a rent increase from $1,401 to $3000 per month. The court found "the exemption can only apply to certificates of occupancy that precede residential use of the unit." The case is at http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B250182.PDF. In other legal news -- Alaine Patti-Jelsvik, an attorney with the Counsel Press filing service, posted a detailed commentary on the new California Rule of Court 8.701 , which implements SB 743, saying it "severely shortened and tightened... filing and service requirements and procedure for appellate relief in CEQA cases." The Point Reyes oyster war that you thought was already over had one more battle in early October. On October 6 the Marin Independent-Journal reported that Marin County officials asked the Coastal Commission to confirm the Drakes Bay Oyster business was shut down by federal courts without a consistency determination from the Commission. (Steve Kinsey, a Marin County Supervisor who is also chair of the Commission, criticized the Commission's role in the matter to the paper, while Amy Trainer of the Environmental Action Coalition told the paper there was no action requiring a consistency review, because the oyster beds' lease had simply expired.) But then, on the same day the I-J wrote that news, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported the oyster operation announced it had reached a settlement agreeing to shut down after all. The owners announced they would remove their oyster farm from federal wilderness property in Drakes Estero and would open a retail oyster business in nearby Tomales Bay. For prior coverage see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3547. The Supreme Court rejected a depublication request in the case of Citizens for a Green San Mateo v. San Mateo Community College District . The case was a June ruling by the First District Court of Appeal that said a community group raised its objection too late to be heard against the cutting of more than 200 mature trees on the College of San Mateo campus. For coverage see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3518 and a discussion of the timing issue by William Abbott on his firm's land use weblog .

LA's Metro agency approved a new 96th Street station on its Crenshaw rail line to serve the LAX airport more directly than the previously planned Century/Aviation station. LA Curbed calls the design "a very fancy stop with all the extras." See http://bit.ly/1rSKRNK. For a clearer view of the logistics see the agency's diagram at http://bit.ly/1lSMxWp. Cal Supremes to review Property Reserve case The California Supreme Court agreed to review the Property Reserve appellate ruling on whether the state must bring an eminent domain action to get access to private property for geological testing for a future project. See http://bit.ly/V6KCDR for the Nossaman firm's take on what's at stake in the appeal. On the prior decision, issued in March by the Third District Court of Appeal, see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3448. The current California Supreme Court docket is at http://bit.ly/1lNkZlN. (A prior California Supreme Court review on the same case was concluded in 2011.) Two review denials may disappoint conservatives The U.S. Supreme Court turned down California conservatives two ways in late June. It refused to take up an appeal of last year's Ninth Circuit ruling upholding the low-carbon fuel standard that operates alongside AB 32 in California's cap-and-trade program: see http://bit.ly/1nX5Vi2 for a news account of reactions to the denial of review, and http://bit.ly/1sTMQFy for the Stoel Rives firm's legal analysis. The high court also refused to hear an appeal by Kevin Lunny, owner of Drakes Bay Oyster Co., of an order to shut down his oyster beds on Point Reyes National Seashore property. See http://bit.ly/1z3eVLn. Ocean Beach Community Plan approval postponed A big San Diego City Council hearing set for June 30 on the Ocean Beach Community Plan was called off because the Coastal Commission offered 43 last-minute change proposals. The local OB Rag published the text of the Commission's six-page memo at http://obrag.org/?p=84919. The Coastal Commission proposals include several emphasizing effects of sea level rise on bluffs and beaches. More detail from the Times of San Diego is at http://bit.ly/1luPKHg. The community plan page is at http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/community/profiles/oceanbeach/. Wintersburg structures rated among most endangered The National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed the Wintersburg Village structures in Huntington Beach as among the 11 most endangered historic places in the U.S., raising its profile and hence possibly improving its chances of preservation. The site was an early center of Japanese American settlement in Orange County, and one of the few land parcels that Japanese owners managed to acquire before passage of the 1913 Alien Land Law. (See http://bit.ly/TyTNeP.) The six surviving Wintersburg structures include a Presbyterian mission church and the farmhouse established by the pioneering Furuta family. The Huntington Beach City Council has voted to allow demolition of the structures but the property's current owner, a waste company known as Rainbow Environmental Services, may yet arrive at a way to preserve them. See http://bit.ly/1qeqYRQ. JK Yamamoto has more detail in the Rafu Shimpo at http://bit.ly/1pSvELb. San Francisco Grand Jury's port report: worth a read San Francisco's grand jury issued three reports in late June: criticizing the Port of San Francisco for over-friendliness to private developers; expressing concern over the extent of preparation for rising sea levels; and criticizing ethical disclosure standards applied to public officials and candidates. See http://civilgrandjury.sfgov.org/report.html for all the reports. The Port of San Francisco report is worth a read for reasons other than criticism: it provides a useful summary of recent proposals and ongoing plans for San Francisco waterfront construction and mentions steps the city took toward use of infrastructure financing districts in the context of the now-abandoned Golden State Warriors development plan. (See http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3510.) In other news: The lawsuit by environmental groups against Plan Bay Area settled in late June in an agreement that includes emphasis on safer methods of moving truck and train cargoes through neighborhoods. The link-rich Planetizen writeup at http://www.planetizen.com/articles/node-69937 includes mentions of overlapping concerns between environmentalist and right/libertarian challengers to the plan. The annual "State of the Nation's Housing" report by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies says most of California has some of the highest housing cost burdens in the U.S. See http://bit.ly/1k9tjb1 for the Sacramento Bee 's California-centric take. The report itself is at http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/research/state_nations_housing. The Sacramento advocates who last week were seeking more social and housing benefits from the Kings arena project (see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3518) went ahead and filed their suit. See http://bit.ly/1pSBUCy for the Bee account. The complaint seeks to overturn the EIR as having insufficiently disclosed, analyzed and mitigated several kinds of impacts, including inconsistency with the city's housing element. It also asks the court to declare SB 743 unconstitutional because of special provisions it contains that purport to streamline review of the arena project. An extended post-Redevelopment dispute over the 700 block of K street in Sacramento settled in late June with an agreement between the city and the state, allowing a start on long-delayed rebuilding plans for the block. See http://bit.ly/1mElp9w. A new lawsuit against the high-speed rail project, this time by a San Rafael environmental group, TRANSDEF, alleged the project wouldn't provide net greenhouse gas reductions for a decade. For news reports see http://bit.ly/1pGoH41 and http://bit.ly/1lNaPSb. The LA Times reported the High Speed Rail Authority had decided strategically to start the timetable toward construction of the rail line's Burbank-Palmdale segment: http://lat.ms/TLxgvQ Moody's upgraded its rating of California general obligation bonds to Aa3 from A1: http://bit.ly/1x9iE8c The San Francisco Chronicle reported San Francisco was finding housing for some of its homeless families by renting places for them in other towns from Vallejo to Sacramento: http://bit.ly/1nYDbXD Mountain View may increase the compensation it requires landlords to pay low-income tenants in certian kinds of no-fault evictions: http://bit.ly/1iQx9et Ellen Hanak's team at the Public Policy Institute of California were suggesting a statewide water surcharge as a way to raise money for regional projects as an alternative to bonds: http://www.ppic.org/main/blog_detail.asp?i=1553 The city of Davis was hearing proposals from developers for environmentally conscious design of an "innovation center". Three proposals are from groups led respectively by Hines, Ramco Enterprises and Capitol Corridor Ventures: http://bit.ly/1lFliPm Mayor Eric Garcetti of LA set up a "Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles" nonprofit to fund projects beyond the support they receive from public budgets. Goals for the fund include work on the LA River: http://lat.ms/1m4EA0h Kern County adopted a regional transportation plan and sustainable communities strategy under SB 375. Planetizen has a summary and links to an extended commentary by NRDC consultant Ella Wise: http://www.planetizen.com/articles/node-70026 The Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) approved a sustainability strategy June 11 that predicted 20% population growth from 2010 through 2035: http://bit.ly/1o28hxo Details emerged on San Francisco's Schlage Lock development proposal, which calls for a stunning 1,700 units of housing on a long-neglected factory campus in the southeastern Visitacion Valley district. A city Office of Economic Analysis presentation said construction spending could reach $637 million. See http://bit.ly/1lMKHqC for the SF Business Times writeup. The presentation is at http://sfcontroller.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5460. The plan goes to the Board of Supervisors next week: http://bit.ly/1rUTyHp The League of California Cities included clippings in its daily briefs from a couple of disputes over economics and housing in Orange County: homeowners opposed a 70-unit proposed affordable housing development in Santa Ana: http://bit.ly/1nYANyP. Costa Mesa planners were recommending a separate new permitting process for motels to allow long-term stays: http://bit.ly/1jFeuNv

In recent land use news: Sacramento Bee political columnist Dan Walters is predicting fresh attempts in the new legislative session to limit no-fault evictions under the Ellis Act. Streetsblog LA reported the Metro Board of Directors instructed its CEO to report on transit-oriented development efforts that can prepare Los Angeles County to be a grantee under the new Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities cap-and-trade program. Following CalEPA's announcement of its "disadvantaged community" designations for cap-and-trade grantmaking (see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3616 ), hopeful news articles appeared in the Fresno Bee and the Stockton Record about funding possibilities for Central Valley regions where bad air quality and agricultural poverty combine to meet definitions of disadvantage under the CalEnviroScreen 2.0 standard. Meanwhile, however, the California Coalition for Rural Housing submitted a comment on the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program suggesting the program was all but exclusively oriented toward transit-oriented development at major transit hubs, and was "designed to fail" in smaller communities and places poorly served by transit. Video from the AHSC program's last main public workshop on October 28 is available now at http://sgc.ca.gov/ . New guidance documents issued based on the CalEPA decision include this Air Resources Board redraft on benefits to disadvantaged communities . The Silicon Valley Business Journal reported the Crossing/900 project on Middlefield Road in downtown Redwood City signed a major deal to provide a headquarters for the Box, Inc. company, purveyor of secure cloud storage services. The SF Chron reports that housing giant Lennar and another developer, Macerich, have contracted to build a shopping center on the site of the former Candlestick Park stadium, to form the center of a new dense development projected to include 6,000 housing units. News reports came through on a slew of Bay Area specific and general plan revisions:  Menlo Park voted a week before the election to limit medical office space under its downtown and El Camino Real specific plan. An office space limitation measure on the ballot, Measure M, lost by 61.6% to 38.4% . The city of Novato set a public hearing for Nov. 18 on revisions to its housing element. The housing element update page is at http://www.ci.novato.ca.us/Index.aspx?page=1410 . Solano County's Housing Element update was posted for comment in October . Proposed revisions include a new disability accommodation request process. Half Moon Bay has begun public meetings on a General Plan revision that will be the first since 1993; the Half Moon Bay Review reports the last revision attempt, in 2004, broke down in acrimony. The paper meanwhile reports a recent traffic study found high congestion levels on roads in the Coastside area of San Mateo County. The study is part of the Connect the Coastside transportation management plan process, focused on Highways 1 and 92, which intersect in Half Moon Bay. Cupertino's General Plan went to a hearing November 10 with emphasis on its housing element , which was released for comment in October. The Silicon Valley Business Journal 's Nate Donato Weinstein livetweeted the meeting, noting  62 people submitted cards for public comment and many speakers opposed the draft, especially the proposed allocations of residential and office construction. The City Council next takes up the matter December 2. Palo Alto's revision to its Comprehensive Plan (local equivalent to General Plan) is focusing on " retail preservation " amid some disagreement on what that exactly means. Martinez is discussing amendments to the General Plan and the Hidden Lakes Specific Area Plan. The Calaveras Enterprise is still nagging the Board of Supervisors to move along with revising its General Plan, which is currently projected to reach approval stage around April of 2016. San Diego began this week to install about 200 "smart" parking meters that accept credit cards and track space usage. The first such meters will be in the tourist-oriented Gaslamp Quarter. Fresno homeless-rights activist Mike Rhodes reported on Indybay that settlements have been reached between the City of Fresno and 36 homeless campers. The campers alleged they lost property in a city "cleanup" sweep, using bulldozers, that removed a large encampment of hand-built shelters. Counsel representing the campers included Central California Legal Services and Arnold & Porter. (Item via League of California Cities.) The Press Democrat reported Mendocino College rescinded an agreement to sell a 15-acre blufftop research station property to the Bureau of Land Management. Instead, it announced plans to sell only a conservation easement. The college cited plans to continue using buildings there for research while also preserving the property against development. BLM would have added it to the California Coastal National Monument. A couple of commentaries have appeared from law firms playing up the usefulness of SB 628 Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts. They're posted by Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard and by Holland & Knight . For CP&DR's own early profile of the bill � including reasons it may not work well for housing or in dense neighborhoods � see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3563 . The LA Times reported that, in a move one neighbor called "the road to development," The Los Angeles City Council voted to allow paving on Bulwer Road in Laurel Canyon. The stated purpose of paving the dirt road was to help a developer sell two houses that were completed five years ago after sitting unfinished for years before that. But it was disputed whether further construction might follow  California Lawyer 's November issue has reports on two land use matters: the future of California groundwater and AirBnB. If you missed the National Association of City Transportation Officials meeting in San Francisco, some of the presentations are available via links from the daily schedule . Sunnyvale neighbors have appealed a court ruling that disappointed their campaign to recover public access to a public building that the city sold, the Raynor Activity Center. The suit is brought partly uner CEQA, partly under the Public Park Preservation Act. The neighbors' most recent update describes the ruling. The appellate case is Save Sunnyvale Parks and Schools, Inc. v. City of Sunnyvale . Inyo County approved the Munro Valley Solar project in Olancha, despite objections to its visual impact and to effects on tribal cultural resources.  Grist magazine posted a colorful linkfest on extreme responses to the California water shortage, including a National Journal news feature on water theft. The LA Times reported, a tad optimistically , that a new dust mitigation approach "ends L.A.'s longtime feud with Owens Valley."

Organizers have confirmed that attorney Jennifer Hernandez of Holland & Knight and Prof. Ethan Elkind of UCLA will both take part in a panel discussion of SB 375 and SB 743 at the University of San Francisco law school November 4. A third panelist will be Michael Schwartz of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority. Hernandez and Elkind set out strongly worded, antagonistic positions in August on the proposal by California's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to implement SB 743 by shifting from the existing Level of Service (LOS) transportation impact metric under CEQA to a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) metric. The proposal has been championed by advocates for public transportation, bike/pedestrian access and "smart growth" but dreaded by some developers as a source of new uncertainties and obligations under CEQA law. (See http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3560 and http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3582.) Hernandez was the principal author of a fierce criticism published by her firm in August, captioned, " OPR Proposes to Increase CEQA's Costs, Complexity and Litigation Risks with SB 743 Implementation. " Elkind answered it with a critical essay captioned " Misleading Attacks on California's new Transportation Analysis Under CEQA ." A further OPR presentation was scheduled for November 3, so by November 4 the panelists may have further grist for their discussion. See http://www.opr.ca.gov/docs/SB743_Workshop_Notice.pdf. The presentation's webcast may be available later, as with OPR's previous presentation of the type, at http://opr.ca.gov/s_sb743.php. An RSVP form for the USF event is here . Oral argument in Berkeley Hillside set for December 2 The Supreme Court has announced it will hear oral arguments in Los Angeles December 2 in Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley (Logan). The case is one of the most significant in a large backlog of CEQA cases currently pending before the State Supreme Court. It concerns the application of a categorical CEQA infill exemption to a proposal for a very large private house, and more generally whether or when "unusual circumstances" can create exceptions to the exemption. A header in the respondents' brief argues: "Appellants have not shown that 'unusual circumstances' should be deleted from the Unusual Circumstances exception." And they argue that the exception is at risk of swallowing the rule. (And see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3314.) The petitioners, Berkeley Hillside Preservation, say they haven't sought to delete the 'unusual circumstances' language. They do argue that a fair argument for significant environmental impacts should still trigger an EIR. The full current list of pending major CEQA cases before the Supreme Court is as follows: - Berkeley Hillside , S201116, oral argument December 2 - Citizens for Environmental Responsibility v. 14th District Agricultural Association (Stars of Justice) , S218240, held awaiting the decision in Berkeley Hillside. - Center for Biological Diversity v Dept of Fish and Wildlife (the Newhall Ranch case), S217763, reply brief due November 26. - California Building Industry Association v. Bay Area Air Quality Management District , S213478 (the "CEQA In Reverse" case): Fully briefed. - City of San Diego v. Board of Trustees of CSU , S199557, fully briefed. - Friends of the College of San Mateo Gardens v. San Mateo County Community College District , S214061, fully briefed. - Sierra Club v. County of Fresno , S219783, opening brief due December 2. In other news -- -  The Calfornia Attorney General issued an opinion clarifying that members of oversight boards for local post-redevelopment successor agencies may not receive compensation or reimbursed expenses from the authority that appoints them. The rule applies to appointing authorities for other oversight boards as well. Amit Palta, of the firm of Best Best & Krieger, LLP, wrote up the opinion on JDSupra . The opinion is at http://oag.ca.gov/system/files/opinions/pdfs/12-902.pdf. - The State Supreme Court turned down a request for depublication of a major case affirming the EIR for a portion of the California High-Speed Rail project. For coverage of the Third District appellate ruling see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3540. - The Los Angeles County Supervisors approved a new "vision statement" for Marina Del Rey. - The city of Tulare adopted a general plan that shrank its Urban Development Boundary by six miles . - The LA Times reported on tensions over the possibility of broader federal tribal recognition policies that could lead to more tribal exercises of sovereignty in places with strictly regulated land use such as Napa. - In what the LA Times called "a new front in the battle over Malibu beach access," Coastal Commission staff sent enforcement warnings over allegations of harassment and high fees for public beach access at the privately run Paradise Cove.

The Coalition for Responsible Arena Development filed a notice of intent to bring a lawsuit against the proposed downtown arena in Sacramento. The group opposing the proposed development claims that the project violates CEQA and is a misuse of public funds. LA Mayor Approves University Village Project Near USC KTLA Mayor Villaraigosa signed off on a $1.1 billion redevelopment project for University Village near USC. The new development includes 350,000 sq. ft. of retail space and new housing and academic areas for students, making it the largest project in the history of South LA. The project's construction could start as early as this year, and will be developed in phases until its expected completion in 2030.  DOF Returns $11 Million To Placer County Modesto Bee After the end of redevelopment in California last year, the state Department of Finance has finally returned the $11 million it has been withholding from Placer County. The county intends to use the funds for highway improvement projects in north Lake Tahoe and Auburn. Central Valley Leaders Work Towards Settling Growth Wars Fresno Bee After the city offered to drop its lawsuit against Madera County's proposal for a 5,200 residential development last week, county officials have agreed to meet with the city to further discuss pending lawsuits and regional growth disputes. In the upcoming meetings, both city and county leaders hope to reach agreement on lawsuit settlements and how the region will grow- hopefully putting the growth wars to rest. Recent Study Shows DTLA Housing is Cheaper Without Parking Curbed LA A study from UCLA's Michael Manville found that housing in DTLA is more affordable if developers don't have to adhere to conventional parking requirements. The study focused on housing provided under the city's Adaptive Reuse Ordinance, which does not require additional parking spaces for additional units. The study found that many buildings offered rental rates that were "unbundled" from parking, providing lower housing options for people without cars- a trend that is not exclusive to DTLA.

2006 is shaping up as a turning point for the state’s enterprise zone program. Not only are 18 of 42 enterprise zones scheduled to expire later this year, but state lawmakers are considering a number of competing bills that would do everything from maintain the status quo to significantly reform the economic development program. This spring, Juan Arambula, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy, issued a report calling for increased enterprise zone program accountability, new criteria for designating zones and reforming the hiring tax credit. A few weeks later, the California Budget Project (CBP) issued a study that strongly questions the effectiveness of the enterprise zone program and calls for lawmakers to substantially reduce the program’s size. The report from Arambula (D-Fresno) was the result of hearings regarding the enterprise zone program and includes 45 recommendations. Among other things, Arambula recommended continuing enterprise zone designations through 2008 to give the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) — which took over the program in 2003 — time to complete a thorough review. Other recommendations call for more state oversight, an annual “cost per job created” report by HCD, and changing the hiring tax credit to reduce abuses. In a 14-page response, the California Association of Enterprise Zones (CAEZ) objected to most of Arambula’s recommendations. “The enterprise zone is meant to be a state and local partnership and the state has been absent in providing adequate oversight, marketing of the program nationally and internationally, and assistance/training to the local communities,” CAEZ responded. The report by the CBP, which frequently questions tax breaks, echoed some of Arambula’s recommendations but went much further. The CBP found that enterprise zone tax breaks cost the state $300 million in 2003. “However, numerous studies have failed to establish a link between EZ tax incentives and increased employment, firm growth, or economic development,” the CBP concluded. In the Legislature, economic development bills have moved slowly this year. Among the most far-reaching is SB 1268 (Cedillo), which would require cities, counties and redevelopment agencies to submit biannual reports on every economic development subsidy — including EZ tax credits — of at least $25,000. Arambula’s report and the CAEZ response are available on the CAEZ website, www.caez.org . The CBP report is available at www.cbp.org . Financial assurances intended to ensure that garbage dumps, hazardous waste facilities and surface mines do not degrade environmental and public health are often inadequate, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has concluded. In a new study, the LAO recommended overhauling the financial assurances system to reduce the state’s liability for cleaning up closed waste facilities and mines. “Our review finds that state agencies, when calculating the required dollar amount of financial assurances, frequently do not include all the costs necessary to prevent adverse impacts to the public and the environment,” the LAO reported. The LAO also found that some of the financial assurance mechanisms – especially corporate guarantees and self-insurance — are not very assured. The report cites a California Integrated Waste Management Board study that estimated the state faces a liability of $1.8 billion by mid-century for solid waste facilities. The state’s exposure for surface mines could be as much as $1.2 billion. Maintaining only one hazardous waste site — the BKK landfill in West Covina — is costing the state at least $5.5 million annually, according to the LAO. Coincidentally, the report came out only days after a state appellate court upheld a regulation giving the state Department of Conservation the final say on when local governments may release financial assurances for surface mine reclamation (see ). The LAO recommended: • Broadening the scope of costs covered by financial assurances; • Eliminating a corporate guarantee or corporate financial test as a means of providing financial assurance; • Consolidating all financial assurance functions into one unit at the California Environmental Protection Agency; • Charging a new fee on currently operating waste facilities and surface mines to provide a state fund for long-term maintenance and cleanup. The report, “Financial Assurances: Strengthening Public Safety of Waste Facilities and Surface Mines,” is available on the LAO’s website: www.lao.ca.gov . Affordable housing advocates have sued the City of Mission Viejo over the city’s approval of a 144-unit housing project. Two years ago, the city made clear it would not approve a proposed 168-unit apartment project for low- to moderate-income residents on the same 23-acre site, a stance that was popular with neighbors but not with HCD (see , August 2004). The recently approved project calls for 122 market-rate housing units and 22 affordable units. The Public Law Center, the Legal Aid Society and the California Housing Law Project sued, saying the city had not identified where it would provide its fair share of low- and moderate-income housing. The Carpinteria City Council has adopted in-lieu affordable housing fees that may set a record. The city on the Santa Barbara County coast has an inclusionary zoning ordinance that requires 12%of new housing units to be designated for moderate-income residents. Under the new fee structure, developers that do not provide the affordable units may pay an in-lieu fee of $493,500 per single-family house or $254,330 per condominium. The fee is based on the difference between median market rate prices and the amount that a median-income family can afford. No one has applied to pay the in-lieu fee since the city established it at more than $200,000 per unit in 2004.

A few highlights from this week's news: The First Appellate District cleared the way for a major redevelopment of the ParkMerced apartment complex in southwestern San Francisco. ParkMerced is a rare dense high-rise structure in the western half of the city. See http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A137753.PDF for the opinion. See http://bit.ly/1qpnusx and http://bit.ly/1w8ikcI for coverage of the project plans now unblocked. The California Supreme Court denied requests for both review and depublication on the 218 Properties case on conversion of mobile home parks from rental to owner-occupied status. The online docket is at http://bit.ly/1qpu2am and CP&DR's prior coverage at https://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3497. The Huntington Beach City Council took a measure off the ballot that would have invited voters to approve mobile home rent control after the landlord of two key mobile home parks moved toward negotiating five-year leases with his tenants. See the Huntington Beach Independent (noted via the League of CA Cities) at http://bit.ly/1uVVELl. The High-Speed Rail project has had mixed fortunes this month: The State Public Works Board approved a string of 158 properties to acquire in Fresno and Kings Counties ( Fresno Bee at http://bit.ly/1tgY8Sk;  Stoel Rives blog at http://bit.ly/1uVNLWl). The High-Speed Rail Auhority itself met to discuss use of its $250 million in cap-and-trade funds from the upcoming fiscal year's budget. (See http://bit.ly/1rXvMcW). On the other hand, the LA Times ' Ralph Vartabedian wrote that construction on the project has been slowed for lack of authority over land. (See http://lat.ms/1n9fCdC.) And Planetizen has a roundup at http://www.planetizen.com/articles/node-70784 of reports on the appeal by opponents of the recent High-Speed Rail bonds approval decision. (See http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3546.) The LA Times reported a group of landlords and tenants are working together to legalize unpermitted rental units in Los Angeles: http://lat.ms/1uVQejA (Noted via @VamonosLA) Per the Second Appellate District, when a city-owned tree falls on private property, it can constitute a "public improvement" for inverse condemnation purposes. See http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B254800.PDF and http://www.natlawreview.com/article/california-if-tree-falls-city-it-serving-public-purpose. San Francisco's Planning Commission approved the Moscone Center expansion: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2014/08/15/moscone_growth_spurt.php PG&E pleaded not guilty to federal charges connected with the 2010 San Bruno gas explosion that kiled eight people. The SF Chron 's Bob Egelko reported city officials were campaigning for prosecutors "to seek an independent monitor of the company's conduct, saying state regulators are too cozy with the giant utility," See http://bit.ly/YyNefA. Jennifer Hernandez of Holland & Knight and David Pettit of the NRDC, both CEQA specialists, argued Tesla CEQA exemptions in an August 13 call-in show appearance with business reporter Marc Lifsher on KPCC's "Airtalk" at http://bit.ly/Xib9Q7. AP reported the Ivanpah solar array has become a giant bird zapper: http://bit.ly/1pZVPkg

The Los Angeles City Council has approved initial plans to create a new Economic Development Department (EDD) . City officials hope that the new department, which will work alongside a nonprofit economic development corporation, can serve to replace the now defunct Community Redevelopment Agency. According to a report released by the city's Chief Administrative Officer last week, the creation of the EDD will require consolidation and reorganization of existing city departments, namely of the Community Development Department. As CP&DR previously reported , the consolidation has been in the works for some time and redevelopment wind-down funds may be used. LA Downtown News SF Supervisors Disagree on CEQA Reforms San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco County Supervisor Scott Wiener proposal to streamline the city's review process under the California Environmental Quality Act is moving forward. Proponents argue that the proposed legislation will make the environmental appeals process more legible for everyone, not just land use attorneys. Counter to Wiener's proposed legislation, Supervisor Jane Kim is preparing to release her own CEQA legislation proposal that would better support project appellants.  President Obama's New Budget Gives $130 Million Towards Two LA Metro Projects The Source For the first time, two of Metro's big projects, the Regional Connector and the Purple Line Extension, could receive federal funding. President Obama's proposed 2014  budget, released last week, includes the allocation of $65 million towards each of these two projects. Further, the proposed budget contains a bond program that will subsidize 28% of the bond's interest for major transit projects. Preliminary Data Suggests "Congestion Pricing" in LA Only Half Works LA Times Last fall, L.A. County made its first attempt at "congestion pricing" by opening toll lanes on the 110 Freeway with the hope of reducing congestion during peak traffic times. However, recent data shows that the new toll lanes have caused traffic to speed up only in toll lanes while slowing down traffic in regular lanes. HSR: Governor Seeks Investment From China and Obama's New Budget Washington Examiner, DC Streetsblog There has been a lot of news this week on funding for California's High Speed Rail. Governor Brown was in China trying to land investors to help fund the state's "green" projects, including the HSR. President Obama shows his support for the HSR in the 2014 transportation budget by proposing $40 billion over the next five years in passenger rail programs.

In land use news this week: The State Supreme Court denied review of San Francisco Tomorrow v. City and County of San Francisco (ParkMerced Investors Properties) , Case No. S221844. William Abbott of Abbott & Kindermann recently posted an analysis of this case, which approved a major rebuilding and expansion of the ParkMerced highrise complex in southwestern San Francisco. See also http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3555 . The Strategic Growth Council announced it will move back its meeting on formal adoption of guidelines for the new Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities cap-and-trade grant program. Originally scheduled for December 11, the meeting was moved back to January 20, 2015. Some commenters had sought more review of the proposed guidelines, in part because precise numbers on emissions monitoring and application scoring were still awaited as of the last publicly circulated draft. The League of California Cities' comment was among those asking for more public discussion. For more on comments from advocates for affordable housing and rural areas, and hopes in areas defined as disadvantaged under the program, see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3627 . The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on November 12 certified the EIR for the Antelope Valley Area Plan (AVAP) and gave initial consideration to the Plan itself. The Statement of Proceedings reports the Board certified the EIR, adopted the Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations, and adopted the plan's Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program. The Board did not actually approve the AVAP nor its related zoning changes, instead stating its intent to adopt a list of revisions, including a promise that "if a conflict exists" between the AVAP and "any new or existing Significant Ecological Area (SEA) ordinance" the AVAP would control. (As discussed in CP&DR's news feature on the AVAP at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3603 , an SEA Ordinance for areas both in and outside the AVAP area is moving on a separate track in the county's General Plan revision process.) The amendments that the Supervisors previewed are mainly technical but in general reduce possible impediments to project approvals. One amendment also spells out the requirement of compliance with the Southern California Association of Governments' Sustainable Communities Strategy. For plan materials see http://planning.lacounty.gov/tnc/ . The Supervisors' Nov. 12 agenda and materials are at http://bos.co.la.ca.us/BoardMeeting/BoardAgendas.aspx . San Francisco's city government announced it would bid to host the 2024 Olympics. The Saltonstall petitioners lost again at the appellate level in their effort to halt construction on the new Sacramento Kings arena. Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee has details . Earlier the Bee reported the Kings basketball team released plans for mixed-use residential, commercial and office construction ancillary to their new arena in downtown Sacramento. A lawsuit charging that a tribe did not follow the Williamson Act has been dismissed by a Santa Barbara County judge. The Santa Maria Times reported Judge Timothy Staffel dismissed a lawsuit by the Save the Valley group against Vincent Armenta, as tribal chair of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. According to the paper, the suit alleged that Armenta failed properly to assume responsibility for Williamson Act ag-preservation commitments when the Tribe purchased the 1400-acre Camp 4 property, because the Tribe wrote clauses into the transfer documents "including that nothing in the assumption agreement would limit or erase the tribe's sovereign immunity or change the tribe's terms of ownership." The paper reported Judge Staffel cited the Tribe's sovereign immunity in dismissing the case. The State Water Board issued a proposed ruling November 21 responding to 37 challenges, mainly by municipal governments, to Los Angeles' main MS4 permit, issued November 8, 2012, limiting pollution in runoff from local streets and municipal storm sewers. The permit affects the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers but not Long Beach. The permit imposes Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) limits on the amounts of trash and specified pollutants allowed to flow out of municipal storm sewers. The water board announced a workshop on the proposed ruling December 16 and set a public comment deadline of January 21, 2015. As of this writing the text had not yet been posted on the Los Angeles area stormwater page of the State Water Board, which is at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/losangeles/water_issues/programs/stormwater/municipal/ . The proposed ruling would agree to some revisions in the 2012 permit's language but would essentially uphold it. Among the proposed revisions is an alternative program to reward extra effort toward compliance for dischargers that cannot meet the prescribed water quality standards immediately. The proposed ruling interacts with, but is not directly pursuant to, a major 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on LA-area local governments' responsibility for cleaning up municipal street runoff, NRDC v. County of Los Angeles (2013) 133 S.Ct. 710. (The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a Ninth Circuit offshoot from that case last spring, on which see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3489 for coverage and links to context.) The litigation, however, concerns the 2001 predecessor to the 2012 regulation at issue in the new draft ruling. And in the new draft ruling the water board says the 2013 Supreme Court case "did not invalidate any requirements of the Los Angeles MS4 Order and did not result in any changes to the Order." This summer the EPA featured the Los Angeles runoff permit among several examples of innovation in the field: see http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/sw_ms4_compendium.pdf . The program requires permittees to require building owners to either retain runoff on their property or do something to compensate for failure to do so. The Association of California Water Agencies warns ahead of its conference in San Diego Dec. 2-5 that exhibitors may receive calls from people falsely claiming to be with a company contracted to provide housing for exhibitors. The conference itself has a solid-looking lineup of panels. Sacramento is still courting officials of Major League Soccer, hoping to land an expansion team. The State Supreme Court rejected a depublication request in City of San Diego v. Shapiro , the case invalidating the San Diego special hotel tax district that had been meant to pay for a convention center expansion. For coverage of the underlying case see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3545 . Land use obsessives may or may not find it heartwarming that the Ocean Beach Town Council in San Diego County voted to designate the Ocean Beach Community Plan as grand marshal of the OB Holiday Parade.

Two former Placentia city officials in charge of an ambitious project to lower a five-mile rail corridor have been indicted by an Orange County grand jury. The panel indicted former Public Works Director and city consultant Christopher Becker and retired City Administrator Robert D’Amato on two counts of conflict of interest. The charges stem from a city contract with Becker, whom the city hired as a consultant for the rail corridor project at the same time he was the public works director. Six years ago, the city created the Orange North-American Trade Rail Access Corridor (OnTrac) as a joint powers authority between the city and its redevelopment agency. OnTrac was charged with solving the circulation problem created by the increasingly busy railroad tracks, which cut across every north-south thoroughfare in town. OnTrac chose to pursue a project of placing the rail lines in a 35-foot-deep trench for nearly the length of the city (see , February 2005). The agency completed one railroad overpass, but the city finally abandoned the proposed trench in late 2005, by which time the estimated cost of the trench had doubled to about $600 million. When the city created OnTrac, it signed Becker to a 10-year, $4.5 million consulting contract to serve as OnTrac’s executive director. Becker remained a city employee for another two years. Eventually, the city reworked Becker’s consulting contract at a lower rate, and the city cancelled his contract in November 2005. The grand jury alleged that Becker’s arrangement with the city violated conflict of interest laws. The grand jury alleged that D’Amato, who retired as city administrator in December 2003, violated conflict of interest laws by helping in the formation of the contract with Becker and by not investigating when informed of a potential conflict. Becker has been under fire from project opponents for years and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. In asserting his client’s innocence, D’Amato’s attorney, Ron Brower, told the , “Everything was done in public. If there was a crime, then the $64 question is, ‘Why wasn’t the entire City Council indicted?’ They knew everything he knew.” The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors is scheduled this month to begin formulating a response to a county grand jury report that was highly critical of the county Planning Commission and an individual commissioner. Supervisors, who have had little good to say about the 13-page report, scheduled a hearing on the matter for this month. In a report released in late March, the grand jury concluded, “It appears that the Planning Commission has attempted to interject itself into matters over which it has no authority and, in the grand jury’s opinion, has become a vehicle for pursuing the personal agenda of some of its members. Further, decisions often do not appear to be made in a fair, consistent and impartial manner and appear to reflect personal bias rather than a fair and impartial review of the facts.” The panel was particularly critical of Commissioner Sarah Christie, a legislative liaison for the Coastal Commission. The grand jury suggested that Christie got the Coastal Commission involved in the county’s Cambria/San Simeon community plan update. The panel recommended that a commissioner abstain on issue when the same issue “is subject to authority or other direct interest of the commissioner’s employer.” The grand jury also recommended that when the Planning Commission denies projects recommended for approval by the Planning Department, appeals to the Board of Supervisors should be free of charge and the Planning Department ought not prepare findings to support the Planning Commission’s decision. The grand jury, which reportedly did not interview planning commissioners, also said the planning director should be able to appeal Planning Commission denials. A number of people have come to the defense of Christie and the Planning Commission. County Administrator David Edge urged supervisors to reject four of the grand jury’s five recommendations, and he said a fifth recommendation — regarding consideration of other commissioners’ opinions — is already policy. In a separate report, County Planning Director Vic Holanda also dismissed many of the panel’s findings and recommendations. San Luis Obispo County has levied a $900,000 “mitigation fee” on a developer who graded the remains of a dormitory at Mission San Miguel while preparing to build a 59-unit housing project. Developer Gordon Marshall bulldozed the site in 2003 in anticipation of developing the housing project. The earthwork, which extended beyond Marshall’s property to the grounds of Mission San Miguel, damaged a site that was home to Salinan Indians during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. County supervisors, who had earlier supported a $225,000 mitigation fee for the grading, upped the amount to $900,000 in April after hearing testimony from archaeologists about the damage caused and the amount of money needed to complete a scientific excavation of the site. All it took was money to settle lawsuits involving the City of San Jose and Santa Clara County. In April, the city agreed to pay the county $36.5 million and to annex some islands of unincorporated land that the county is eager to surrender. The settlements end litigation — the city had already lost two suits in Superior Court — involving a proposed concert hall the county wants to build and a new city plan for North San Jose. Under the agreement, the city will pay the county $7.5 million annually for three years to help build a new crime lab and seismically retrofit county buildings. The city also will provide $11 million for improvements to Montague Expressway and at least $3 million for other traffic projects. The city had sued the county to halt development of a 7,000-seat concert hall at the county-controlled fairgrounds (see , April 2006; , December 2004). The city, which proposed its own concert hall downtown, contended the project violated a city-county pact that prohibits the county from developing anything other than county government facilities. The city lost the lawsuit. The county had counter-sued the city, arguing that the city’s litigation hindered the project’s financing. As part of the settlement, the county dropped that lawsuit. The settlement does not address the proposed concert hall. County officials may soon decide whether to move forward on the project. In an unrelated case, the county sued the city over the North San Jose plan, which would permit up to 32,000 housing units and 27 million square feet of office space in a 5,000-acre district (see , September 2005). The county claimed the city was not mitigating traffic impacts outside the city. Again, the county won in court. In that case, the settlement does address the issue at hand by providing at least $14 million for traffic improvements. Housing development in San Francisco’s eastern neighborhoods could slow dramatically, as the city’s supervisors are refusing to approve projects without an analysis of how market-rate housing projects affect affordable housing and industrial jobs. The requirement could slow approximately 50 proposed housing projects totaling about 4,600 units in the Soma, Mission, Showplace Square and Potrero Hill districts. Civic activists contend the housing development — primarily in the form of upper-end condominiums and lofts — is displacing low-income residents and blue-collar workers from working-class and industrial areas. City planners are conducting a comprehensive review, which is expected to take about a year. A number of project proponents are preparing their own individual studies in hopes of winning approval before the city completes its review. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy has released a draft strategic plan that is intended the guide the agency — which covers one-quarter of the state — for the next five years. The plan is quite general, and the only identified goals are those that were contained in the legislation creating the conservancy, such as increasing tourism and recreation, conserving physical and cultural resources, and improving water quality. The plan does lay out a number of institutional and resources challenges, including “a lack of knowledge about the importance of the Sierra Nevada region by a majority of Californians living outside of the area.” The plan also lists action steps. The plan is available on the conservancy’s website: www.sierranevada.ca.gov . A comprehensive, annotated glossary of statutes for local government operations has been compiled by the state Senate Local Government Committee. The “Quick List” also contains instructions for retrieving official documents and a list of relevant public agency and private enterprise websites. The Quick List is available at the committee’s website, under reference materials, www.sen.ca.gov/locgov/REFERENCES.htp .

Less than a day before trial, the California High-Speed Rail Authority and Madera/Fresno farming organizations a nnounced they had reached a settlement -- dissolving the last legal challenge to the first segment of California's HSR. According to Anja Raudabaugh, executive director of the Madera Farm Bureau, the rail authority offered significant concessions including increased mitigation for agricultural impacts and compensation for landowners who are affected by the project. Those representing farmers' interest in the Central Valley agree that the settlement concessions likely exceed what would have been afforded to them if they prevailed in the CEQA lawsuit. Now that the last lawsuit has been settled, the rail authority must deal with the implications of the federal Surface Transportation Board having authority over the project. Nevertheless, the rail authority believes it construction on the Madera to Bakersfield segment will begin this summer. Does Muni Need More Funding To Meet Regional Targets? SF Streetsblog In response to last week's approval of SF's ten-year Capital Plan, Supervisor Scott  Wiener claims that Muni will only get worse if officials do not initiate more funds for the underfunded transit system. Under the current proposed spending plan, Muni would get allotted $300 million, an amount well below SFMTA's estimated need of $510 million per year. In addition, MTC recently released its draft for Plan Bay Area , which promotes the widening of highways to create high occupancy toll lanes rather than using existing lanes. Critiques of this plan argue that this logic follows outdated Caltrans practices that cannot be used to solve 21st century transit problems and falls short of addressing other exasperating issues, such as decreasing traffic crashes by 50% and improving walking and biking by 70%. The final plan is scheduled for adoption in July.  New Community Plan May Overturn South LA's Fast Food Ban KCET In 2008, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance banning the development of new, stand-alone fast food restaurants in South LA. The ban was intended to encourage the development of grocery stores and increase the community's access to healthy food options by limiting the amount of fast food restaurants in the area. Now the ban could be overturned as part of the area's new proposed Community Plan. Although the proposed plan is not yet official, its potential override of the fast food ban has sparked a debate among health advocates and those who are skeptical over how planning and policy can fix 'food deserts'. LA Mayor's Budget Includes Consolidation of City's Two Biggest Agencies LA Times Last week, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa released his proposed $7.7 billion budget -- essentially focused on reversing cuts and layoffs for city services.  The proposed budget also includes the consolidation of the Department of Planning and the Department of Building and Safety, and the creation of a new Economic Development Department that would aim to replace the functions of the (now defunct) CRA.  City Council will hold public hearings before voting on the budget next month.

Cordova Hills project approved by Sacramento County Fanning fears that the Sacramento Region won't be able to meet SB 375 emissions reduction standards, Sacramento County supervisors have approved the sprawling South County Cordova Hills project.  Cities turn to new sources of funds for affordable housing Before the dissolution of redevelopment agencies, 95% of local affordable housing dollars came from redevelopment. With RDAs dead in California, cities are being forced to try and close the money gap with other pots of money, namely namely being those reserved for affordable housing.  CA car debates: parking minimums in Santa Monica A proposal to ease parking minimums in Santa Monica is in no way a "war on cars," says Paul Barter of Reinventing Parking. Barter makes the case that people's dependency on the automobile is not going to be alleviated by easing parking minimums. Rather it's the traditional zoning policies that require excessive parking to blame.  Nation's largest landlord uses smart growth strategies The federal government is the biggest landlord in the nation. In this blog from Atlantic Cities, NRDC's Kaid Benfield remind the Government Services Administration that with big development rights comes big responsibility, and advises that its real estate endeavors should give higher priority to how its development decisions impact community life and neighborhood connectivity. CEQA Controversy finds its home at the Capitol  As advocacy groups from both ends of the spectrum are launching CEQA campaigns, state senate leaders Darrell Steinberg and Michael Rubio are trying to create a common outline for the new bill to help guide the process.  New LAX runway plan moving forward despite NIMBY opposition A plan to move the northernmost runway at LAX 260 feet closer to homes in Westchester is moving forward despite opposition, but the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners voted to approve the LAX modernization plan last week. However, the plan still has several hoops it needs to jump through before changes can begin to take place. Get rid of the Fulton Street mall Fresno held its annual State of Downtown Breakfast last Tuesday, where urban designer and architect, Henry Beer, led the discussion for how Fresno can improve its downtown. To no one's surprise, the topic of discussion was the city's downtown Fulton Mall, and again, to no one's surprise, Beer urged Fresno to reopen the mall to cars.  LA kicks off pilot parklets program Three out of the four parklets of the city's pilot parklets program opened to the public last week, and  they have already received wide praise from city officials and the public. Highland Park's parklet opened last Saturday and two parklets on Spring Street opened last Thursday as part of the city's larger efforts to create a more active and pedestrian friendly downtown.