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Officials with the Imperial Irrigation District have proposed a smaller plan for restoration of the Salton Sea, reducing the cost from $9 billion to $3.15 billion. That money, gained through mitigation funds from companies that emit greenhouse gases and from a $7.5 billion water bond, would fund new, shovel-ready projects and geothermal energy development around California's largest lake, which is dying due to diversions and drought. "It's a bargain compared to $9 billion, which everyone agrees has only served to impede any real discussion about what to do," Kevin Kelley, the Imperial Irrigation District's general manager, said at a board meeting. Specifically, the plan calls for $150 million in immediate funding from the $7.5 billion water bond as a stop-gap measure while local officials develop a long-term plan. That money would pay for pilot projects designed to cover parts of the lakebed with small pools, which would suppress dust and provide habitats for fish and birds. Once a prime destination for outdoor recreation, the sea has been shrinking for 12 years because of a massive rural-to-urban water transfer deal in 2003. The decline could become a public health and environmental disaster costing as much as $70 billion if nothing is done to slow sea's degradation, according to the Pacific Institute. Cities Ask U.S. Supreme Court to Reconsider Plan to Save Santa Ana Sucker Fish Two cities and ten water agencies have  asked  the Supreme Court to take up a case against a plan by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to save the endangered Santa Ana sucker by designating critical habitats. The request comes on the heels of a Ninth Circuit Court ruling holding that federal agencies can unilaterally add land to Habitat Conservation Plans under the Endangered Species Act (see CP&DR coverage 29 June 2015). The cities and agencies argued that the designation would unfairly restrict water uses on the Santa Ana River, limiting the agencies' ability to recharge groundwater aquifers with captured runoff from rainstorms in those areas and flood control operations that affect more than 1 million Southern California residents. The designation of more than 9,000 acres of land -- particularly in the northern reaches in the 96-mile-long Santa Ana River watershed-- as critical habitat requires federal agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service before they carry out, fund or authorize any local action that could destroy or alter the habitat's functionality. The Santa Ana sucker, a five-inch-long bottom-feeder, was listed as a threatened species in 2000, and since then it numbers have continued to decline because of diversions, dams, erosions, pollution, and species invasion. Opponents of the expanded HCP have said that the designation does little to help the sucker's complex life cycle. Oakland Businesses Take Issue with Public Art Fee A business group in Oakland filed a lawsuit against the city contesting a development fee used to fund public art. The City Council approved the fee in November 2014 to require developers of projects costing more than $200,000 either to install public art on site or to devote one percent of a commercial project's budget to public art and one-half percent for residential projects, with the ordinance stating that public art is "important for the vitality of the artist community as well as the quality of life for all Oakland residents." The two plaintiffs, the Business Industry Association of the Bay Area and Pacific Legal Foundation, called the fee unconstitutional, saying that the requirements violate the Fifth Amendment's prohibition against "uncompensated takings" because funding art has no connection to the effects of development. "I would interpret this lawsuit as a preemptive strike against the current administration, with the goal of preventing the upcoming development fees from being too onerous," Alex Ludlum, a land associate at Polaris Pacific who works with developers to identify building sites in Oakland, told the San Francisco Business Times . Feinstein Introduces Federal Proposal for Drought Relief Sen. Dianne Feinstein unveiled legislation to combat California's water crisis, introducing a $1.3 billion proposal for water storage, desalination, and other projects that will likely come into conflict with a rival proposal in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. While the House's plan heavily favors San Joaquin Valley growers by rolling back environmental protections and pumping more water there, the two sides could come together over common provisions like storage projects and control of invasive predator species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Feinstein, who is known for deal-making and has connections to agribusiness, said she consulted with 12 environmental groups in crafting the bill after facing criticism last year from environmentalists who said that she failed to include them in negotiations with growers. Feinstein said her bill would not alter the Endangered Species Act, a key objection that environmentalists had to previous legislation."It's definitely a big boost in federal support. It's almost 10 times more than what the feds have provided so far, which is not a lot," Ellen Hanak, a senior fellow at the  Public Policy Institute of California and director of its Water Policy Institute, told the L.A. Times . Comment Period Closes on S.F. Arena EIR A proposed Golden State Warriors arena in San Francisco's Mission Bay is making progress as the ownership closed public comment on its draft Environmental Impact Report and gained the endorsement of a key medical center nearby. Despite the fact that the project will have significant, unmitigable impacts on traffic in areas like the Bay Bridge and as many as 11 key intersections in the South of Market, the University of California, San Francisco endorsed the project under the condition that the city negotiate a traffic "trigger" mechanism that would kick in during large dual or overlapping events. UCSF, which owns a six-story hospital complex across the street from the project, said that the Warriors' plan to beef up public transit and funnel arena-bound cars onto certain streets and hospital vehicles onto others created a workable plan, so long as the trigger mechanisms lead to a plan that will make the hospital accessible at all times. A powerful coalition of opponents of the project, known as the Mission Bay Alliance, said that the project is "fatally flawed," and that its effects on neighborhoods and traffic would "threaten patient access to lifesaving care and be a disaster for the Mission Bay neighborhood, the hospitals and city as a whole," as Bruce Spaulding of the Mission Bay Alliance told the S.F. Chronicle . Poor Air Quality Plagues California National Parks A new report by a national conservation group gives a handful of California's national parks an 'F' grade for pollution based on air quality, visibility, and climate change. The National Parks Conservation Association flunked Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree and Yosemite for routinely having unhealthful levels of ozone -- a lung-damaging pollutant in smog -- during the summer season, with the air quality at Sequoia and Kings Canyon rated worst in the nation as haze blocked 50 miles of scenery on average at the two parks. While levels of ozone within cities have tapered off dramatically in decades because of new regulations, parks face a different challenge as the ozone can be pushed by the wind over long distances and into high-elevation areas far from major pollution sources. The conservation group recommended strengthening federal regulation of the EPA's regional haze rule, wherein states must restore the clarity of more than 150 national parks and wilderness areas to natural levels by 2064. Many parks are off-track by several decades, including Joshua Tree, where natural visibility is not expected to be achieved until 2106. SPUR Recommends Strategy for Downtown San Jose Bay Area urban think tank SPUR released six recommendations for revitalizing downtown San Jose as a city center with people who live and work in walkable, livable neighborhoods. Citing decades of investment and trends of youths working and living in urban centers, SPUR consolidated six ideas to bring more people to downtown San Jose: welcoming all uses of space while holding out for jobs near regional transit, making sure that developers follow key urban design principles, promoting a larger area of Central San Jose with downtown as the core, making the area easier to get around without a car via public transportation, retrofitting the area to be more pedestrian-oriented through placemaking and road redesigns, and building downtown as a cultural and creative center of the South Bay. Transportation Connections Considered for Burbank's Bob Hope Airport A new study outlines potential transportation improvements to improve traffic congestion and air quality at Bob Hope Airport as it hopes to begin extensive improvements, replacing a terminal and building a high-speed rail station at the airport. The study, paid for mosty by a $5.4 million federal grant, found that the airport is ideally situated to be the "epicenter for multi-modal connectivity for the San Fernando Valley," but that it has a lack of direct connection to Metro trains, bus or light rail, and about three-fourths of airport employees and passengers drive their own vehicles to the airport. A 58-acre airport-owned property is currently being marketed for sale, hopefully making room to fund short-term improvements like increasing frequency of Metrolink trains serving the airport along with longer-term improvements like an extension of the Metro Red Line, which could likely come 20-30 years down the road. Carlsbad Plan May Be Retooled in Favor of Cars The Carlsbad Planning Commission recently approved an update eight years in the making to the city's 1994 General Plan, with a caveat. The commission forward the plan to the City Council with the recommendation that the council adjust it it to better accommodate car mobility and reduce housing estimates in its northeast quadrant. In particular, the Planning Commission took issue with the mobility section of the plan, which emphasized pedestrian- and bike-friendly streets in compliance with California's Complete Streets Act of 2008. "I'm tired of hearing about how everything is about the bikes," Commission Chairwoman Victoria Scully said at the meeting. "We need to keep these major streets a priority for the cars." Explaining that aspect of the update, city traffic engineer Doug Bilse said that the city had to stress additional roadway safety in lieu of driving efficiency in making car lanes smaller while widening bike lanes. L.A. Metro Considers New Relationship with Developers Los Angeles's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has proposed changes to its Joint Development Policy concerning the way that the agency partners with developers for development of project on the land it owns. Mostly including provisions regarding affordable housing, the proposed update increases from 31 percent to 35 percent the amount of joint development housing that would be affordable. It also would discount the price of Metro-owned land for a developer willing to build affordable housing up to a maximum of 30 percent equal to the percentage of affordable housing developed. Additionally, it would place emphasis on projects that would provide first/last mile facilities like walkways and bike parking. Hermosa Beach Announces Plans to Go Carbon-Neutral The Los Angeles County beach city of Hermosa Beach released plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to become carbon neutral by 2020. Specifically, the city has implemented a new app by consultant Brendle Group that can calculate the carbon output of every bit of energy the city consumes. It then plans to identify some of the cheapest, quickest routes to reducing carbon output -- including replacing all streetlights and lighting in city facilities -- to get started. The City Council also allocated $50,000 to invest in electric vehicles for parking-enforcement officers and staffers who carpool to office, a chunk of around $420,000 in carbon offsets the city would need to buy in order to become carbon neutral by 2020. "The South Bay is becoming a model for working together to create and implement programs to address greenhouse gas emissions and resource conservation," South Bay Cities Council of Governments Executive Director Jackie Bacharach told the  Daily Breeze .  L.A. Officials Want to Reopen Historic Funicular Calls are growing for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board to reopen the Angels Flight funicular, a 298-foot transportation system akin to an uphill streetcar ride between Bunker Hill and Downtown that has been shut down since 2013 because of safety issues. Seeing the system as a vital historical landmark as well as a valid form of transportation, downtown business and cultural leaders urged Metro to help fund the reopening, saying that the 50-cent fares provide an important connection between the Historic Core and Bunker Hill. Advocates say that the Metro could easily make room in its budget for the funicular's $360,000 annual operating costs. The transportation system has been variedly shut down and reopened over the past several decades. In one accident in 2001, one of the rail cars careened down from the hill and killed and 83-year-old tourist. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation following a 2013 derailment found that the operators had been using a small tree branch to override the train's emergency stop settings.

Defending a federal agency's discretionary authority, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 22 upheld a 2009 restriction on water pumping meant to protect chinook salmon and other fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The ruling was a victory for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and other federal agencies, and for environmental groups backing the federal position. It was a defeat for Southern California water agencies that had challenged the restriction, including the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Westlands Water District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Kern County Water Agency and State Water Contractors, backed by the California Department of Water Resources as intervenor. Judge Richard Tallman issued a ruminative, painstakingly illustrated and contextualized opinion . It quoted John Steinbeck's East of Eden on the heartbreaking effects of dry conditions in California farm country, yet concluded: "People need water, but so do fish." Tallman was joined by the other members of the three-judge panel: Judge Johnnie Rawlinson and temporarily sitting district judge Thomas Rice. As the opinion's first footnote explains, the ruling was separate from, but "informed" by, the Delta Smelt opinion issued earlier this year by Judge Jay Bybee in San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Auth. v. Jewell , 747 F.3d 581 (9th Cir. 2014). That ruling also emphasized deference to agency discretion in reaching scientific conclusions. (See http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3448.) The two opinions had one panel member, Judge Rawlinson, in common. The L.A. Times ' Bettina Boxall has more details , including suggestions that the recent opinion was an unsurprising sequel to the Delta Smelt opinion and that, although some of the water agencies have sought review of the smelt opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court, the high court is unlikely to take up the matter. The case is San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority v. Locke . Bills Effective January 1, 2015: a Rundown of Rundowns It's surprisingly tough to find a public list of all new laws taking effect January 1, 2015, or of all those affecting land use. Local papers will offer grab bags of important new provisions on drivers' licenses, drug sentencing, sick leave, and prevention of cruelty to interns. But about land use? Here are some sources: The League of California Cities' 2014 Legislative Report provides a 208-page description of new statutes relevant to city officials, placed in the League's context, as of November 2014. All bill texts and histories can be found on the Legislature's official site , and laws likely to take effect January 1, 2015 can be found by searching for bills from the 2013-14 session bearing the 2014 statute year . Unless another date is specified in its text, a new law is likely, but not certain , to take effect on the January 1 following its enactment. The Littler employer-side law firm reports Governor Jerry Brown received 1,073 bills from the Legislature and signed 931 in 2014. For new laws specific to land use, many that were in the last crop to win approval are in CP&DR's own summary of the Governor's late-September signing decisions affecting California land use, and in Governor Brown's September signing and veto announcements . Another important land use law collection, excerpted as part of the CP&DR summary, is the "Greatest Hits" list prepared by the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance. It shows the whole year's complement of major bills handled by that committee. Among other legislative tallies, the Housing California list shows fates of bills affecting homelessness, housing funding, and landlord-tenant relations. (Per apparent error, that site shows AB 1537 , on default housing densities in Marin County, as having been vetoed. In fact that bill was signed into law.) Some bills from 2014 are already in effect -- notably the June budget bills, which enacted policy legislation as well as spending decisions. For example, SB 861 imposed new safety and cleanup rules on the petroleum industry and gave the Coastal Commission's staff new enforcement authority to impose fines administratively. SB 862 extensively redistributed the state's cap-and-trade revenues and created the new Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities cap-and-trade program. (The Governor's signing announcement on the June budget bills lists the rest of the bill numbers.) Phase-in provisions apply in some cases, e.g. the SB 270 statewide ban on single-use plastic carryout bags has phase-in dates running from January 1, 2015 to as late as 2020. Plastic Bag Promoters File Signatures to Challenge Statewide Ban Opponents of recently enacted SB 270 said they had submitted more than enough signatures December 29 to qualify a statewide ballot challenge against California's new ban on single-use plastic bags. The petition's sponsors, the American Progressive Bag Alliance, had to collect at least 504,760 California voters' signatures to qualify the measure. The Sacramento Bee reported the group claimed more than 800,000 signatures. County elections officials have eight days from submission of the signatures to verify them. The League of California Cities wrote that if the measure qualified it would prevent implementation of SB 270 until a statewide election in 2016. The Sacramento Business Journal reported earlier that the chief funder of the campaign was bag manufacturer Hilex Poly. SB 270 passed the Legislature in August after fierce multimedia and legislative lobbying and a last-minute reversal by the United Food and Commercial Workers (see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3564 ). Many localities have created their own plastic bag restrictions, in part because SB 270 has a grandfather clause for existing local laws on the subject. Governor Jerry Brown delayed signing the bill until September 30 but signed it with a high-visibility statement announcing the first statewide ban of its kind. Kruger Confirmed to State Supreme Court Leondra Kruger , a respected litigator for the U.S. Justice Department who has argued a dozen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, was confirmed to serve on the California State Supreme Court by the state Commission on Judicial Appointments. The Sacramento Bee described the commission's review as a "brief, friendly hearing" though it did include a query from Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye regarding her limited practice experience in California. A Month for Large Projects The news this month was thick with major construction plans, largely residential, in and around California urban areas. A few of the stories: Oakland's Brooklyn Basin project , with 3100 units, is about to start construction. (Via CACities) CSU-Sacramento is working with developer Westpark Communities to revive plans for a satellite campus at Placer Ranch north of Roseville. SPUR and Socketsite were celebrating the findings of a San Francisco municipal report saying more than 50,000 units of new housing, in 958 different projects, were in the "pipeline" for future construction in the city. L.A. Curbed reported on a plan "to turn Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza into a 24-hour community" including 961 residential units and a hotel. In the city of Alhambra, a former Mervyn's department store is headed for replacement by a mixed-use complex with extensive retail and 260 luxury housing units . The ARTIC transportation hub in Anaheim -- not residential, but legitimately huge -- opened in early December . Meanwhile, some current uses are being pushed to peripheries. The Sacramento Bee followed some of the low-income, troubled tenants being evicted from the downtown Hotel Marshall through their efforts to find and keep new housing. The paper reported the building was to be replaced by a market-rate hotel.

Two environmental groups have sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Secretary of the Interior for opening up 400,000 acres of public land in Southern California for fracking, which they claim violates the National Environmental Policy Act.  The groups, The Center for Biological Diversity and Los Padres Forestwatch, claim that the federal government's environmental report erroneously analyzed impacts to air quality by assuming that only 40 new wells will be drilled each year, though the plan estimates that 4,000 wells will be drilled in the plan's lifetime. The suit alleges  that fracking, which involves high-pressure injection of water and chemicals into shale rock to fracture the formations and extract oil and gas, pollutes groundwater and can cause earthquakes. California's oil producers are increasingly turning to fracturing to extract oil, with Kern County containing 2,361 fracked wells in 2014 and Ventura County containing 456 of them, according to the lawsuit. San Diego Loses Ground in Effort to Keep Chargers Possibly undermining months of work to create a viable proposal for a new pro football stadium in San Diego, the San Diego Chargers issued a statement that a Dec. 15 public vote on a new stadium would be impossible because the city won't be able to craft a legally defensible Environmental Impact Report within that time.  "The various options that we have explored with the city's experts all lead to the same result: Significant time-consuming litigation founded on multiple legal challenges, followed by a high risk of eventual defeat in the courts," Chargers' special counsel Mark Fabiani said in a statement.  The timing of the vote is important because the NFL could move a team to Los Angeles by 2016, and city officials have emphasized that they could indeed meet the Dec. 15 deadline, but that the Chargers have been unwilling to play ball. "It appears the Chargers have pulled the plug on San Diego even though the city and county have gone out of their way to try and accommodate the team," Mayor Kevin Faulconer's Task Force spokesman Tony Manolatos told the Union-Tribune . "Instead of working collaboratively on a solution, the Chargers have thrown up one road block after another in San Diego while working aggressively on stadium plans in Carson." Santa Ana Considers Downtown �Wellness District' The Santa Ana City Council took a step to establishing a "wellness district" for the preservation of Latino commerce in the city's downtown, voting to begin drafting a resolution and figuring out how much it will cost to implement. Supporters cite a study last year by The California Endowment that said the city could bring in an additional $137 million in spending to the downtown by bringing back Latino customers who, despite living so close to the downtown, have been lost to big-box retailers. Among the proposals aimed at promoting community wellness and supporting local vendors, the council vote directs city staff to draft an implementation plan for branding Fourth Street as "Calle Cuatro," supporting the creation of microfarms and a mercadito, and creating a community advisory committee on economic development. L.A. Considers Legalization of Street Vending; Curbs on Homeless Encampments The Los Angeles City Council passed a preliminary measure that would make it easier for law enforcement to break down the city's homeless encampments by reducing the amount of warning time that homeless people are given before authorities seize their belongings from public sidewalks and parks.  The measure would reduce the warning time to 24 hours from 72 hours, and it would also allow authorities to seize bulky items like couches, tables and larger tents -- anything that won't fit in the city's 60-gallon trash bins -- without notice. Through the ordinance, the city would store the belongings for 90 days in a skid row warehouse, complying with a court injunction from 2012 barring the city from seizing and immediately destroying homeless people's unattended property. "We spend $100 million on homelessness, and 85% of our response is law enforcement," Councilman Gil Cedillo, who cast the sole dissenting vote, told the L.A. Times . "That tells us our strategy is not working." The Los Angeles City Council is also weighing whether or not to legalize street vending , possibly becoming the biggest city next to New York to have a legal street vending program. Southern California Public Radio took a look at cities in the LA metropolitan area where it is already legal for policy comparisons. SPCR finds that some vendors hop over to Pasadena, pay about $400 a year in city fees, and obtain a city permit to stay in the lucrative market. Additionally, Santa Ana allows up to 200 pushcart vendors to legally operate, but they must remain mobile. L.A. Mayor Garcetti Co-Launches National 'Climate Action Agenda' Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda, an organization he co-founded with Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia and Mayor Annise Parker of Houston, has called on President Obama to fight for the strongest possible climate agreement at the upcoming 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris. The nationwide coalition of mayors also announced that 27 mayors from across the country have signed on to support the President and the U.S. delegation in Paris in pushing for strong action on climate change. Other California members of the organization include the mayors of Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Santa Monica.  S.F. Giants Revise Housing Plan; Downtown S.F. Towers Face Opposition The San Francisco Giants have revised plans for a large mixed-use project next to AT&T Park to include an unprecedented amount of affordable housing, garnering the endorsement of all 11 supervisors and prompting Supervisor Jane Kim to withdraw her threat to draw up a countermeasure lowering allowed building heights and require half of all residential units to be designated affordable. Kim's opposition had drawn scorn from fellow supervisors who had worked on the deal with the Giants. The new proposal for the 28-acre project built on land controlled by the Port of San Francisco will include 40 percent of its 1,500 apartments priced to various levels of affordability, with 12 percent available for people making $32,000 to $39,000, 21 percent for people making $64,200 to $85,000 and 7 percent for people making $108,000. Community organizers are gearing up for two battles over plans for high-rises near San Francisco's waterfront, with former mayor Art Agnos rallying neighbors of the 160 Folsom and 75 Howard developments to oppose them based on the shadows the buildings would throw on nearby Rincon Park. 160 Folsom is set to be designed by architect Jeanne Gang with a twisting, staggered condo tower reaching up 400 feet, 100 feet higher than the limit and requiring an amendment to the Redevelopment Plan for the Transbay Project Area. Backed by developer Tishman Speyer, the full version would contain 399 condos, 141 of which-- roughly 35 percent -- would be below market rate, and a reduced version would stay within the 300-foot limit and include 318 units. Opponents of the tower have referred to it as a "wall on the waterfront." Meanwhile, the 75 Howard development hasn't been able to get community support for its project, even after offering additional affordable housing and offering to reduce its tower height to 220 feet.  Anaheim Approves Controversial Hotel Tax Break In an attempt to attract larger conventions and high-spending tourists to the city, the Anaheim City Council passed a tax break projected to be around $133 million for developers wanting to build luxury resorts there. Under the plan, developers of hotels that meet AAA's guidelines for four-diamond ratings would get to keep 70 percent of their bed taxes for up to 20 years. Of the remainder, 10 percent of the taxes would go to city coffers, while 20 percent would pay off bonds that funded improvements to Anaheim's city resort district in 1996. Mayor Tom Tait, an opponent of the measure, said that room taxes, which account for nearly half of the general fund's revenue, would be kept by hotel developers rather than going back to Anaheim's coffers to help pay for city services. "We are giving checks to hotel developers, but we have better needs for our money," Tait said at the Council meeting, according to the O.C. Register . San Diego Gives Boost to Recreational Area The San Diego City Council helped solidify plans for a 55-mile hiking and bicycling route on a "coast to crest trail" from Del Mar to Julian by approving a new 50-year agreement to continue jointly funding the project with the county and four North County cities.  San Diego officials had previously threatened to stop participating in the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority, but following a long list of policy changes primarily related to control over the park's financial decisions, the city agreed to a pact along with Escondido, Poway, Solana Beach, and Del Mar. Since the formation of the JPA in 1989, 34 of the park's planned 55 miles have already been acquired and preserved. Navy Plans $1 Billion Campus in Imperial Beach The Navy issued its record of decision to relocate its Coronado-based Navy SEAL command center from Coronado Island to a 600-acre, $1 billion campus along the Silver Strand near Imperial Beach.  SEAL officials have said their current World War II-era buildings are mostly obsolete and force them too often to train away from home, on top of frequent deployments. Built over a decade at a cost of $700 million for new buildings and $300 million for infrastructure improvements, the new project has prompted concern among nearby residents and those interested in birds and plants there. Tesla Expands Presence in East Bay Tesla Motors Inc. closed a deal leasing the Page Technology Center in Fremont, absorbing the last remaining vacancy related to the implosion of solar panel-maker Solyndra in 2011 and beginning its biggest expansion in Northern California since it leased a 431,000-square-foot former Chrysler assembly plant in Lathrop last year. The deal will aid Tesla's manufacturing sector as it preps to start deliveries of its Model X crossover in 2017. Tesla's and other companies' new leases in Fremont have driven the city's industrial vacancy rate down from 5 percent at the end of the first quarter to 2.1 percent, Cushman & Wakefield analyst Sethena Leiker told the San Francisco Business Times .

Following the announcement two weeks ago of the finalists for $120 million worth of grants through the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant program, two metropolitan planning organizations in southern California are calling foul. The five-county region covered by the Southern California Association of Governments, by far the largest metropolitan planning organization in the state, had only 12 of 54 finalists. By contrast, Alameda County alone had eight finalists.  Darrell Johnson, CEO of the Orange County Transportation Authority, and SCAG President Carl Morehouse both wrote letters ( here and here , via CALCOG) to officials at the Strategic Growth Council decrying what they call a selection process that unfairly allocates AHSC funds. "It is unclear how the process for selection on the next step is reasonable or consistent with the legislative intent of the authorizing legislation," wrote Morehouse. He called for SGC to accept full proposals from some of the applicants that had been rejected. Meanwhile, Johnson contended that the grant guidelines inappropriately excluded a streetcar project in Santa Ana that is one of OCTA's high-priority projects. Assuming that the selection process goes forward as planned, SGC and its partner department, Housing and Community Development, may revisit guidelines and consider geographic apportionment for the 2016 grant process. New L.A. City Health Element Uses Planning to Reduce Health Disparities Los Angeles officials have adopted new planning guidelines to reduce sharp health disparities across the city. A joint effort between the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the city's Planning Commission and the California Endowment, the new guidelines include such goals as ensuring 75 percent of all residents are within a quarter of a mile of a park, increasing the number of Angelenos who live within a mile of a farmers market, and improving access to grocery stores. With a city analysis showing that Brentwood resident live 12 years longer than Watts residents, and more than 30 percent of children in South L.A. and Boyle Heights are obese, the guidelines seek to establish targets not traditionally part of health policy. "The built environment has an enormous impact on health," Beatriz Solis, director of the California Endowment's Healthy Communities program for the Southern Region, told the  Los Angeles Times . Report Calls for Orange County to Build More Housing Orange County needs to embrace mixed-use and infill development to fill a desperate housing shortage, according to a new report from the Orange County Business Council. The county today faces a shortage of 62,000 homes; that could increase to 100,000 by 2040 according to job and housing projections. However, there also is no longer enough open land to build more single-family homes.  The housing shortage stunts growth in the county as workers and potential residents are crowded out, according to economist Esmael Adibi. Orange County has already seen its age 25-to-34 population shrink 7 percent over the last 15 years, and nearly 40 percent of workers there commute more than an hour a day. "Everything else being equal, housing costs are a major, major factor to slowing down growth," Adibi told the Los Angeles Times . Monterey County Offers Downtown Vibrancy Grants Monterey County is offering its cities a matching grant of up to $10,000 to work with a consultant in revitalizing and energizing their downtown areas. Funding for the project comes from money the county expects to save from the consolidation of Salinas-area office leases into the recently purchased Schilling Place office complex in South Salinas to help local cities boost their downtown cores. Specializing in downtown retrofitting through zoning an code changes, the consultant, Miami-based Dover, Kohl & Partners, is already working in Monterey County with the city of Fort Ord in a broad urban redesign. Seeing the opportunity of having a big-name consultant in town, Supervisor Jane Parker formed the proposal. "Word is starting to get out and because of Dover Kohl being here, it kind of shined the spotlight and made it more concrete for people. My thought was, �Let's take advantage of a world-class team being in town,'" Parker told the Monterey Herald . L.A. Transportation Authority, Don Shoup Win American Planning Assoc. National Award The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority has received the American Planning Association's National Planning Excellence Award for a Best Practice for its First Last Mile Strategic Plan & Planning Guidelines. The guidelines to improve Los Angeles's first and last mile transportation connectivity, providing a toolbox for localities to build support and resources for developing active transportation infrastructure like sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and clear signage directing users to regional transit hubs. Planners say that public support for the program has been strong because of the simplicity and clarity of the guidelines, which use infographics and imagery instead of complicated and overly technical planning jargon to convey the benefits of a multi-modal system. Meanwhile, UCLA Professor of Planning and "parking guru" Donald Shoup has been named the recipient of the National Planning Excellence Award for a Planning Pioneer; see last week's CP&DR briefs for a note about Shoup's retirement. The awards will be given out at the APA conference in Seattle in late April.  S.F. Think Tank Calls for Seamless Transit A new report by urban think tank SPUR calls for the creation of an integrated transit system in the Bay Area that would make it easier for riders to navigate the labyrinthine transit systems there. The report, titled "Seamless Transit," says that the Bay Area's myriad transit authorities, divergent maps, schedules, fares, and uncoordinated capital planning and investment has made the the system less efficient and less usable. SPUR suggests helping travelers use transit by coordinating marketing and transit information by creating a common regional transit map, standardizing fares, and creating regional passes. L.A. to Spend $1.3 Billion to Fix Sidewalks In a landmark agreement, Los Angeles is  pledging  to spend over $1.3 billion over the next three decades to fix its massive backlog of broken sidewalks and other infrastructure issues in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. In the agreement following a lawsuit filed by attorneys for the disabled, the city must spend $31 million annually on sidewalk and other improvements beginning in the next budget year, then increasing to $63 million in future years to adjust for rising costs. The city said that it plans to start by repairing sidewalks around parks, and in areas that are heavily trafficked, close to hospitals or workplaces, or that are requested by people with mobility challenges. It's unclear whether the promised money will completely eliminate the backlog, as about 40 percent of city sidewalks need repairs according to the Bureau of Street Services. The city has not identified any new funding sources for the settlement. Oakland Clears Path for Coliseum City Development By certifying the environmental impact report and voting to accept a specific rezoning plan, the Oakland City Council cleared a path for the Oakland Raiders or other developers to step forward and commit to its new Coliseum City proposal. The approval shows the council's optimal vision for the site: Three new sports venues, 5,750 homes and nearly 8 million square feet of urban retail and office space with convenient access to BART and the highway. However, Oakland's sports teams have shown tepid interest at best, with the Raiders pursuing a joint venture in Los Angeles and the Oakland A's and Golden State Warriors showing no interest. Fruition of the project is highly contingent upon the interest of at least one sports team in moving there. Officials are also not sure how the public could pay for more than $100 million in new streets, utilities and other infrastructure improvements that would be needed to build the homes, offices and shops for the multibillion project.

Sen. Diane Feinstein sent a letter to President Obama asking him to bypass Congress and designate over one million acres of land between Palm Springs and the Nevada border as national monuments under the 1906 Antiquities Act. Two bills previously sponsored by Feinstein to protect the area over the past six years have languished. In her request to President Obama, Feinstein asked that he create three monuments: one, to be called the Mojave Trails National Monument, would cover 921,000 acres of federal land along Route 66 between Ludlow and Needles; another, called the Sand to Snow National Monument, would take 135,000 acres of land between Joshua Tree National Park and the San Bernardino National Forest and protect 24 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail; the last, Castle Mountains National Monument, would include the historic mining town of Hart near the Mojave National Preserve. Feinstein was encouraged to seek presidential action by conservation groups including The Wildlands Conservancy, the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Mojave Desert Lands Trust and Friends of the Desert Mountains. Map Tracks Gentrification in Bay Area UC Berkeley researchers have created an interactive Urban Displacement Project map showing that the Bay Area's transformation into an exclusive high-income community that pushes out its low-income residents is only just beginning. Headed by UC Berkeley researcher Miriam Zuk and city and regional planning professor Karen Chapple and the product of nearly two years of community-engaged research looking at gentrification and displacement, the project found that in 2013, more than 53 percent of low-income households lived in neighborhoods at risk of or already experiencing displacement and gentrification pressures. Neighborhoods with rail stations, historic housing stock, an abundance of market-rate developments and rising housing prices are especially in danger of losing low-income households. It also finds that the most stable neighborhoods -- such as East Palo Alto, Marin City and San Francisco’s Chinatown -- have remained that way likely because of tenant protections, rent control, and strong community organizing. “Using our online map allows residents, neighborhood groups and governments to assess where their neighborhoods — or those next door — are in terms of the risk and actual occurrence of gentrification and displacement,” Zuk said in a statement. Light Rail Extension Opens in Sacramento Sacramento Regional Transit officially opened its 4.3-mile Blue Line light-rail extension connecting Cosumnes River College to other area campuses and offering south-county commuters an alternative to crowded Highway 99 and Interstate 5. Coming in about $10 million under the projected budget of $270 million, the extension links the rail line to Elk Grove's doorstep, and the college station includes a 2,000-spot parking garage shared by students and commuters. However, skeptical Elk Grove e-tran bus commuters say they have no intention of switching from buses to rail, saying that the trains will be inconvenient -- possibly taking longer than a typical drive to commute downtown -- and unsafe. However, Regional Transit’s security chief Norm Leong said that crime numbers are down on light-rail trains and at stations, totaling 39 thefts and robberies so far this year. High Speed Rail Targets More Properties for Eminent Domain The State Public Works Board has filed eminent domain resolutions for 12 more pieces of property along the high speed rail pathway in the San Joaquin Valley, bringing the total number filed to 270 since December 2013. Encompassing nearly 800 acres in the four county region of Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare counties, the board has been using eminent domain to condemn land when it and property owners cannot agree on price or terms. The resolution, encompassing 53 acres of land, will now go before a judge to decide whether the agency is entitled to the property, and then to a jury to decide the fair market value and other "just compensation" due to the owner. Residents Sue SF Over Flood Damage San Francisco residents affected by a December flood in the Mission District, Excelsior, and South of Market neighborhoods have filed a lawsuit against the city, saying that a lack of maintenance on storm drains and sewage systems led to property damage in those neighborhoods. Residents say that the city knew that repairs were necessary after paying out $5 million for a similar lawsuit stemming from 2003 and 2004 winter storms, but neglected to make needed repairs. The lawsuit alleges that the storms, which dropped 5 inches of rain in San Francisco, brought runoff that mixed with raw sewage and flowed into homes and businesses. It then alleges that Mayor Ed Lee told residents that the city was going to pay for damages, but the city then denied all claims filed. “My only conclusion as to why the city has failed to make good on its promises is because this problem does not exist in one of the more affluent neighborhoods of San Francisco,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Mark Epstein, said in a statement. “My clients are your typical hardworking and honest property owners and renters and do not reside in the city’s Marina or Pacific Heights neighborhoods. Apparently, it is easy to ignore the working class.” Transit Center Opens in San Bernardino The new San Bernardino Transit Center designed to connect all major mass transit systems and connect people to downtown San Bernardino has officially  opened  this month. The $25 million project, located on Rialto Ave. in downtown San Bernardino, came about through a partnership between Omnitrans, the San Bernardino Association of Governments, and the City of San Bernardino with funding from the Federal Transportation Administration and the state of California. The 7,500-square-foot building will connect more than a dozen transit lines, including ten local bus routes, the Green Line, express Omnitrans bus routes, the Victor Valley Transit Authority, Mountain Transit, and the Metrolink San Bernardino Line once it is completed. SF Establishes ‘Green Benefit District' The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution to establish a Green Benefit District -- designed to allow residents to directly invest in the maintenance and improvements of neighborhood parks, playgrounds, plazas, sidewalks and other public space amenities in their neighborhoods -- in Dogpatch & Northwest Potrero Hill. With over 76 percent of voters saying yes to the proposal to create the Dogpatch & Northwest Potrero Hill Green Benefit District, the new district will last for 10 years with a budget of almost $515,000, at a cost of $0.095 per square foot of building area for residential developments and $0.0475 for industrial developments. Olympic Valley Incorporation Falters A grassroots group attempting to incorporate Olympic Valley, adjacent to Squaw Valley ski area, as a town asked for a state review of a Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis prepared by Rosenow Spevacek Group Inc. that concluded that the proposed town "does not appear to be feasible at this time." In a 6-1 vote, the Placer Local Agency Formation Commission approved Incorporate Olympic Valley's request for review, putting a temporary halt to the town formation process and sending the request to the California State Controller's office for review. Specifically, IOV believes that errors were made in the CFA's estimates of the cost of law enforcement for the valley, expenditures based on comparable contract cities, and calculating the general fund reserve as a percentage of the total general fund revenue rather than the town's operating expenses. California Transit Agencies Pick Fight with U.S. Dept. of Labor Several California transit agencies say that the U.S. Department of Labor is holding  $1 billion  hostage, contingent on the agencies violating a state public employee pension reform law which a federal judge upheld last year. The department is still enforcing a federal prohibition against interfering with collective bargaining rights, which it claims California's Public Employees' Pension Reform Act violated by changing pension rights without negotiating with workers. The department could withhold $91 million for BART, $206 million for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, $700 million for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and millions more for agencies across the state. It said it will release the grants if an agency agrees to restore transit union rights and benefits in effect before the California pension reform took effect. In response, transit chiefs including among others Grace Crunican, BART's general manager, and Perry Woodward, chairman of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority signed a letter to Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, stating that "the (Labor Department) is requiring grantees to agree to violate California law in order ... to receive funding." Study Details Peripheral Benefits of SF Transit  In an effort to demonstrate the importance of San Francisco public transportation, a new study from San Francisco's Metropolitan Transportation Agency finds that for every one dollar San Francisco invests in Muni, $2-3 are generated in the local economy. The study, done by SFMTA in partnership with Oakland-based transportation consultant Economic & Planning systems, also found that the economic benefits of Muni exceeded its costs by $634 million to $1.25 billion annually. “This study demonstrates the significant economic benefit we receive when we invest in our transportation system,” Supervisor Scott Wiener told the Examiner . “This is exactly why the transportation fees on new developments we have proposed as part of the Transportation Sustainability Program are so essential.” In order to come up with its numbers, the study's authors had to imagine a scenario wherein Muni did not exist. In that scenario, San Francisco car ownership would increase by 50 percent, and San Franciscans would add 9.3 million to 11.5 million hours to their commutes, along with taking up 27 million to 30 million more parking spaces. L.A. Seeks ‘Zero’ Traffic Deaths In an effort to kick-start his "Vision Zero" plan to eliminate traffic-related deaths by 2025, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an executive directive ordering multiple city departments to report back by Dec. 1, 2015 with specific recommendations for measures that would immediately reduce traffic-related deaths in L.A. by 20 percent by 2017. The directive also calls for the formation of a Vision Zero Task Force as well as an Executive Steering Committee, led by city agencies in coordination with the Los Angeles Department of Public Health. “We have to think big and work hard when it comes to keeping people safe,” said Mayor Garcetti in a press release. “It is tragic that 200 people are killed each year while moving about our city. With more people walking and biking than ever before, we must use every available tool to save lives. I am determined to bring that number down to zero.” Report Details Impacts of Drought on Agriculture A new report titled "Impacts of California's Ongoing Drought: Agriculture," the first comprehensive analysis of the drought on California agricultural revenue and employment through 2014, finds that California's agriculture sector has far exceeded expectations throughout the drought because of massive groundwater pumping that has been devastating to other sectors. Though farmers harvested 640,000 fewer acres last year than before that drought, crop revenue peaked at $34 billion -- the highest in California history -- in 2013. Statewide agriculture-related jobs also reached a record-high of 417,000 people in 2014, and farms have adopted more efficient water management practices, like drip irrigation and switching from lower- to higher-value crops. However, with groundwater pumping serving as a vital force for agriculture, other sectors have suffered, with current and future generations now forced to dig deeper wells, and cities forced to repair infrastructure damaged by subsidence. Pasadena Updates General Plan An update to the City of Pasadena's general plan focuses housing and commercial space in the city's urban core, emphasizing growth and walkability there while attempting to keep increases in density away from the city’s iconic tree-lined neighborhoods. Estimating a modest population increase of about 20,000 people by 2035, the plan focuses 60 percent of new housing and 40 percent of non-residential space in the central district. Part of the plan calls for more infrastructure to encourage walking, biking, and public transportation especially in downtown and on South Fair Oaks, where Marsha Rood, Pasadena's former development administrator said she expects to build "up" rather than outward. Los Angeles Debates Short-Term Rentals Los Angeles officials are trying to hash out the difference between "good" and "bad" short-term rentals as affordable housing advocates, rental operators, and neighborhood activists hotly debate rules over online rental sites like Airbnb. Much of the problems stem from commercial companies turning rent-controlled units into de facto hotels, with nonstop rentals for revolving doors of tourists. Housing advocates bemoan that this practice has taken nearly 11,000 units from the housing market, according to the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, while neighborhood groups complain of noisy parties from tourists. But as they debate the "bad" units, common ground amongst the various groups lies in what Councilman Mike Bonin dubbed "good short-term rentals," wherein a homeowner may rent out a spare room or back house from time to time. Bonin's new proposed rules, backed by Council President Herb Wesson and Councilman Paul Koretz, would bar rentals at rent-controlled units and require them to collect the same kind of city taxes as hotels, which is already legally required but inconsistently done.

Developers in Los Angeles will face more extensive scrutiny if they decide to build near earthquake faults under new rules in Los Angeles. The Westside, the South Bay, and northeast Los Angeles will be the three main areas covered by new scrutiny under a program advanced by Mayor Eric Garcetti. While state law generally says that constructions within about 500 feet of faults zoned by the state require extensive studies, decades of budget cuts have delayed the state's mapping of crucial fault zones in Los Angeles. A Los Angeles Times 2013 investigation found that Los Angeles officials approved more than a dozen construction projects on or near well-known faults without requiring seismic studies because the state had not mapped out the area. Grand Jury Report Faults Management of Irvine Great Park Following a decade of accused mismanagement, a lack of transparency, and an unnecessarily high price tag, the Irvine Great Park plan to create a 1,347 acre park at a former air base needs a strategy for the next 10 years of development, according to a new report released by an Orange County grand jury. As of now, 205 acres of the park have been developed at a cost of $251 million, a price the grand jury said would have been smaller had the city not overreached by crafting a plan to develop the park all at once instead of in phases. The grand jury suggested the dissolution of the Great Park Corporation, because its Board of Directors also acts as the council, and it recommended adopting an ordinance to limit City Council members' influence of city operations. California Cities Fare Poorly in Street Quality; League of Cities Calls for Transportation Funding Seven California cities round out the top 25 cities over population 500,000 with the poorest streets in a new report (pdf) from national transportation research group TRIP. Of those cities, three scored the top three rankings for worst streets: San Francisco-Oakland, with 74 percent of its streets classified as poor; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, with 73 percent; and Concord, with 62 percent. Additionally, the rankings find that those three cities and many of the others listed in the top 25 -- including San Jose, San Diego, Riverside-San Bernardino, and Sacramento -- also have motorists spending the most money annually in vehicle maintenance because of poor roads. Meanwhile, the League of California Cities recently adopted a resolution urging Governor Jerry Brown and the state legislature to provide new sustainable funding for state and local transportation infrastructure. The move followed Governor Brown calling an Extraordinary Session on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the League is also requesting that the state provide a list of projects that could be funded by a new funding package. L.A. Housing Discrimination Suit Dismissed A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by the City of Los Angeles against Wells Fargo & Co. accusing it of targeting minority borrowers with predatory lending practices. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II said that Federal Housing Act loans issued during the time period did not violate the law, and that they were intended to overcome precisely the barriers to ownership often experienced by minorities. City Attorney Michael Feuer filed the suit -- among three other suits accusing big banks of the predatory practice -- saying that the practice violated the Fair Housing Act and helped result in 200,000 foreclosures in Los Angeles from 2008 to 2012, causing city property tax revenue to fall by $481 million.  "The city is not a champion of minority rights as it declared in the complaint," Wright said. "While this case began with allegations that Wells Fargo trampled the rights of minorities, it ends with the city's failed attempt to engage in the exact same conduct." Coastal Commission Challenges Long Beach over Fracking The Coastal Commission is attempting to force Long Beach officials and their corporate sponsors to obtain a special permit before beginning to use fracking on 13 local oil wells, though local officials dispute whether the commission actually has permitting authority for the process. Alison Dettmer, the Coastal Commission's deputy director in charge of energy and ocean resources oversight, said her agency has taken the position that any fracking within the state's coastal zone also requires a coastal development permit, but the state's Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal resources has already issued permits for fracking at the Long Beach islands. Meanwhile, officials and managers of the company in charge of oil extraction operations are still deciding whether fracking the oil well would make financial sense. Jacbos Stepping down from Housing Finance Agency The chairman of the Housing Finance Agency -- the state agency in charge of financing affordable housing -- announced that he will not seek reappointment as his development company plans to eliminate a rent-controlled eight unit complex to make way for million dollar homes. Matthew Jacobs, the chairman and the owner Beverly Hills-based firm Bulldog Partners LLC, said that he will not seek reappointment when his term expires on Sept. 26. "Evictors like Jacobs have no place making affordable housing policy in this state," housing advocacy group Tenants Together said in a statement. S.F. Explores Options for Replacing City Jail San Francisco's Board of Supervisors decided in a sharply divided vote to submit a request for $80 million in state funding for a new jail to replace a current, seismically-unfit one, despite a declining jail population. Council President London Breed cast the deciding vote, with the caveat that the jail needs to be smaller and cost less than the $240 million, 384-bed jail currently proposed. The project is part of a larger effort to move workers out of the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St because of its placement on a fault line. Opponents of the measure noted that the population of the city's six jails has declined dramatically in the past decade, from a high of 2,300 in the mid-1990s to 1,285 this year � a historic 33-year-low. L.A. County Loses Housing Discrimination Suit in Antelope Valley The Los Angeles County Housing Authority will pay $2 million to victims of housing discrimination in Antelope Valley after a U.S. Justice Department investigation concluded that housing officials and sheriff's deputies joined with two cities to drive black residents out of the area from 2004 to 2011. In the settlement, five families who lost their housing will have the chance to have their vouchers reinstated, while others will be able to receive compensation up to $25,000 or have their voucher termination wiped from public housing records. The federal complaint alleged that the county Housing Authority and Sheriff's Department subjected black Section 8 voucher holders to "more intrusive and intimidating compliance checks" than their white counterparts and also were more likely to terminate black residents' vouchers. Federal officials alleged that the cities, which provided money to the county for extra enforcement, encouraged the discriminatory practices. Santa Barbara to Revive Desalination Plant The Santa Barbara City Council has decided to reactivate its desalination plant, approving $55 million for the plant in the hopes that it could provide nearly a third of the city's drinking water. Last September, Lake Cachuma, the city's main reservoir, dipped below 30 percent capacity, prompting the city to begin reactivation of the plant as a last resort with hopes that it will be operational by fall 2016. "We recognize it's a big decision to make," Mayor Helene Schneider told the L.A. Times. "We also recognize that desalination is not just for this particular drought -- they are cyclical." S.F. Mayor Proposes Fee on New Development to Fund Transit San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee proposed a new fee applicable to market rate condominium and apartment projects to raise $14 million a year for transit improvements. Known as a transportation sustainability fee, the new proposal would add market rate apartment and condo developers to the city's Transit Impact Development Fee, which currently applies to commercial developments and production, design, and repair facilities. The addition would hopefully raise the revenue of the fee from $720 million to $1.2 billion over 30 years. Affordable housing developers and builders of complexes with fewer than 20 units, along with medical centers and nonprofits, will be exempt from the fee, which will total $7.74 per square foot of residential developments. The money would be spent on expanding the Muni fleet with new buses and railcars, improving reliability on the busiest routes, retrofitting existing trains, investing in the electrification of Caltrain, and making streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. The proposal has not received any outright opposition from development circles or housing advocates. "We don't suffer from a low cost of producing housing, and $7.74 (a square foot) is not a negligible fee." Tim Colen, executive director of the Housing Action Coalition representing developers, told the San Francisco Gate. "But in the end, high-density urban infill doesn't work without excellent transit, and we want to do the right thing." Yuba County Tribes Reach Detente Over Casino Plans After years of litigation challenging the federal government's decision to place 40 acres in Yuba County into the trust of the Enterprise tribe to build a Class III  casino , opponents of the project have said that they would not try to block construction of a scaled-down version without permanent utilities or games like blackjack and slot machines. The scaled-down version would only span 10,000 square feet and would be a Class II casino, mostly favoring bingo, and that it would have to truck water in and out from the facility. The scaled-back plan prompted questions as to whether the tribe would be held responsible for any of $83 million the tribe would owe the county for mitigation of the construction of the larger Class III casino under a 2002 memorandum of understanding. The Enterprise tribe still plans to build the larger, 318,000 square-foot  casino  with slot machines and other casino games, but plaintiffs are seeking an order to require Enterprise to give 60 days' notice if it intends to construct anything beyond the Class II casino.

The Los Angeles Planning Commission advised the City Council to adopt the city's proposed Mobility Plan 2035  (pdf) , update the land use element of 35 community plans, and adopt an ordinance to implement new street standards and complete street principles. Updating the 1999 Transportation Element of the city's General Plan and the 2010 Bicycle Plan, the Mobility Plan 2035 has the goal of creating a balanced transportation system in the city of Los Angeles by prioritizing pedestrian, bicycle, and transit-oriented roads, and contains a five-year implementation strategy for the plan. The plan would promote complete streets, per AB 1358, and include a range of design guidelines to accommodate multiple modes of transportation.  Delta Smelt on Verge of Extinction The delta smelt, a small, three-inch fish found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta-and the symbol of decades-long debates over water management in the delta--is likely headed toward extinction if water-use trends in California continue. In previous years, researchers have caught hundreds or thousands of the fish in surveys of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Basin. "Numbers are down this year. So the March survey we caught six. The April survey we caught one," Lauren Damon, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told Capital Public Radio. The drought has exhausted habitats for many species in the delta, including the winter-run Chinook salmon, which saw 95 percent of its brood die last year. "If we let the smelt go, we're essentially saying we don't really need a functioning estuary, and California is going to be losing something very special if that fish disappears," Peter Moyle told Capital Public Radio. Supervisors Halt Solar Plant near Joshua Tree A solar project in San Bernardino County has been stalled so officials can take a closer look at its problems, after the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted against it in a 3-2 vote. Approved by the San Bernardino County Planning Commission in December, the Bowman Solar Project would be a three-megawatt photovoltaic solar plant built in the community of Landers north of Joshua Tree National Park, with power generated by the project to be bought by Southern California Edison. Opponents of the project contended that it violated a temporary county solar ordinance adopted in 2013 requiring that projects be restricted to less-populated areas with substantially disturbed landscapes, such as old landfills. The ordinance was intended as a stopgap until the county completes an overall renewable energy amendment to its general plan slated for later this year. Gov. Brown Accelerates S.F. Arena Development Governor Jerry Brown fast-tracked environmental approval of the proposed Golden State Warriors arena on Mission Bay in San Francisco, giving courts just 290 days to rule on any lawsuit contesting the arena's environmental impact report. The arena will be just one of five projects granted fast-track review under AB900, a 2011 state law that streamlines environmental review of key projects. A spokesman for the Mission Bay Alliance group fighting the arena, remained undaunted by the governor's action. "It's less expensive for the alliance, and we will have a decision sooner," spokesman Sam Singer told the  San Francisco Chronicle . Court Blocks S.F. Streetcar Extension A state appeals court blocked construction of a new streetcar loop in San Francisco, ruling that opponents raised "substantial questions" about the the project's conformance with the California Environmental Quality Act. The new Muni extension would run on the T-Third Street line in the Dogpatch neighborhood to connect to the planned Central Subway as a part of a light-rail project authorized in September with a $10 million federal grant. Officials expected to complete the work in October, but with the injunction the court will further review a lawsuit brought on by a group of residents who claim that the 15-year-old EIR is now obsolete because of an influx of development in the area. San Jose Debates Rent Control in Downtown Renters and property owners clashed at a San Jose City Council committee meeting over proposals to implement rent control in San Jose's booming apartment market. Two recent proposals from Mayor Sam Liccardo and a few council members, slated to go before City Manager Norberto Duenas, attempt to expand rent control and strengthen tenant protections to avoid tenants getting priced out of their apartments as prices rise. One proposal, from Councilman Raul Peralez, would expand rent control to include 10,000 more units and reduce allowable rent increases from 8 percent to 4 percent annually. However, at the meeting of the council's Rules and Open Government Committee, property owners said that rent control makes it difficult to invest in properties and has not worked in other cities. S.F. Considers Demolition of I-280 in Mission Bay San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is looking for ways to achieve a multi-billion dollar plan to tear down Interstate 280 at Mission Bay and build a new underground rail tunnel with a station between the proposed Warriors arena and AT&T Park. Lee hopes that the plan would bring Caltrain and high-speed rail into downtown and the new Transbay Terminal while opening up a new area of the city to development. Caltrain has expressed skepticism, however, saying that Lee's vision would derail already-planned efforts to place the new transit center at First and Mission Streets, as the new plan to create the center closer to the waterfront along Third Street would cost time and would require tunneling through landfill for an extra 2 to 3 miles. Senator Proposes Expansion of Boards of Supervisors to Seven Members Citing booming populations that underrepresent minority communities,  State Senator Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia)  has proposed an amendment to the state's constitution to expand boards of supervisors of all counties with a population of 2 million or more -- including San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino, among others -- from five to seven members beginning in 2021. Mendoza, who proposed the amendment, said that  an expansion of the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles would help add a second Latino seat in the nearly 50 percent Latino county. However, board incumbent Don Knabe, whose district overlaps with Mendoza's, has insinuated that the proposal is an attempt for Mendoza to take that seat when he's termed out of state office. Newark Approves Massive Wetlands-Adjacent Development The Newark City Council unanimously approved a controversial 856-acre development of 1,260 housing units, public park space, and an elementary school site by developer Newark Partners LLC, despite pleas from environmentalists that the project would damage nearby federally-protected wetlands. The project, located on sites known as "Areas 3 and 4," dates back 20 years and has been the subject of numerous rounds of litigation for allegedly failing to comply with CEQA, as environmentalists have raised concerns including liquefaction, lateral spread, sea level rise, and the need for additional flood control measures, according to Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge Vice Chair Carin High. The developer will provide $3 million in affordable housing fees and $6 million in other impact fees, along with $14 million and 66 acres of land for a potential golf course. Garden Grove Seeks More Urban Town Center The Garden Grove Planning Commission unanimously  approved  a new downtown zoning amendment to add mixed-use and adaptive reuse zones in the city's downtown. Planners hope to promote a bike- and pedestian-friendly downtown inspired by strategies in Orange, Tustin, Anaheim, and Santa Ana, all of which are attempting to create more urban environments in historically suburban Orange County.

Gov. Jerry Brown  issued  an executive order to establish a California greenhouse gas reduction target of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 - the most aggressive benchmark enacted by any government in North America to reduce dangerous carbon emissions over the next decade and a half. It also orders the state to prepare for adaptation to climate change. California is on track to meet or exceed the current target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, as established in the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32). California's new emission reduction target of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 will make it possible to reach the ultimate goal of reducing emissions 80 percent under 1990 levels by 2050. This is in line with the scientifically established levels needed in the U.S. to limit global warming below 2 degrees Celsius - the warming threshold at which scientists say there will likely be major climate disruptions such as super droughts and rising sea levels."With this order, California sets a very high bar for itself and other states and nations, but it's one that must be reached - for this generation and generations to come," said  Brown in a statement. (See CP&DR  commentary  by Josh Stephens and Bill Fulton on the order's potential impact on statewide Sustainable Communities Strategies.) OPR Releases Draft VMT Guidelines, Advisory on Tribal Resources The Governor's Office of Planning and Research announced the availability of two documents related to the Guidelines Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act. The first document summarizes comments submitted to OPR on the preliminary discussion draft of changes to the CEQA Guidelines related to transportation analysis pursuant to Senate Bill 743. All comments that were submitted to OPR on the preliminary discussion draft during the comment period can be accessed through the  summary  (pdf).  OPR is currently developing a revised draft which will be released for additional public review.  The second document is a draft  technical advisory  (pdf) discussing new requirements, added by Assembly Bill 52, related to tribal cultural resources and CEQA.  The provisions of the new law go into effect July 1, 2015.  OPR is accepting input on the draft technical advisory. (See prior CP&DR coverage of SB 744.) Caltrans Releases Strategic Management Plan Caltrans released its new 2015-2020  Strategic Management Plan  (pdf) , a roadmap of how Caltrans will meet the bold goals it has set for itself in order to be a high-performance, efficient, innovative and modern state department of transportation. The Strategic Management Plan describes Caltrans' five goals and their corresponding objectives, adding performance measures connected to each goal. These performance measures will be used by Caltrans as tools to manage from the Plan. The five categories of goals include safety and health; stewardship and efficiency; sustainabilty, livabilbity, and economy; system performance; and organizational excellence. Examples of metrics for each of these categories are, respectively, fewer than .05 fatalities for every 100 million miles traveled on state highways, and reducing pollutants by 85 percent by 2020; increase from 84 to 88 the percentage of roads rated as having "good" pavement; triple the number of trips taken via bike and double the number taken via walking or transit by 2020; slow the growth of hours of commuter delay; improve stakeholder participation. The plan is a culmination of a comprehensive process that builds upon the efforts of the Caltrans Program Review, Caltrans Improvement Project and recommendations of the State Smart Transportation Initiative. Caltrans is in the process of determining and developing baselines for all performance measures. State Audit of BART Describes Need for $9.6 Billion in Capital Improvements The California State Auditor's office reports that the Bay Area Rapid Transit District needs $9.6 billion in capital improvement and reinvestment projects, but that funding for those projects is still up in the air. $4 billion of the needed money would go to the "Big Three" projects: replacing its fleet of railcars (many of which have been in operation since 1972 and which the auditor says will reach the end of their useful lives by 2026), expanding its vehicle maintenance facility, and replacing its train control system. BART's ability to spend on the capital improvements is constrained by an operating budget deficit that is projected to grow from $5.9 million in 2015-16 to $57.3 million in fiscal year 2017-18. Instead, it may have to look to the 2016 ballot for bonds or sales tax increases. Bay-Delta Habitat Restoration Plan Curtailed Gov. Jerry Brown announced that the state would significantly reduce the acreage slated for conservation efforts in the Sacramento Bay-Delta. The plan cuts from 100,00 to 30,000 the number of acres of fish and wildlife habitat that will be restored, dropping the cost from $8 billion to $300 million. Along with that announcement, Brown reaffirmed his support for a controversial $15 billion plan to build water tunnels to deliver more water to the Central Valley. Critics contend that the reduced conservation area, which effectively nullifies the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, is a precursor to an ecologically harmful "water grab." Supporters say that a smaller area will be easier to manage ad restore.  Mixed-Use Project in San Diego May Face Vote Opponents of a large mixed-use project in the mostly-residential community of Carmel Valley in North San Diego have gathered enough signatures to force a 2016 public vote. The project, a 1.4 million-square-foot complex of office buildings, condos, and retail stores called One Paseo, generated public outcry and the ire of a shopping center across the street, who claimed that the project would have an unmitigable impact on traffic and would fundamentally alter the community's character. It got approval from the San Diego City Council in February, but the 61,235 signatures against it along with a pending lawsuit that says its Environmental Impact Report was inadequate will force the development onto the 2016 ballot, which is already packed with five city council races, a minimum wage increase, primary elections for president and the mayor, along with a possible public vote on a financing plan for a new Chargers stadium. Coachella Adopts General Plan Update The City of Coachella has updated its general plan after four years of work, providing guidelines for the next 20 years as the population continues to grow and the city considers large projects like the La Entrada housing development. The plan, which received a $274,000 grant from the California Endowment and was otherwise funded by $625,000 directly from the city, seeks to fulfill community requests for more transportation options, new opportunities for youth, a sustainable environment, and improvement of schools. The general plan won recognition from the Southern California Association of Governments, which plans on presenting the city with an award for its plan. Report Urges Development along L.A. River A recently released report from the Los Angeles Business Council urges the city to meet Mayor Eric Garcetti's goal of adding 100,000 new housing units in part by creating an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District along the Los Angeles River. The report piggy-backs on a billion-dollar plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to revamp 11 miles of the L.A. River north of downtown. "If you look at frontiers and underutilized resources, I think the L.A. River is really fertile land with a lot of development potential," report author and UCLA real estate professor Paul Habibi told the LA Times. "There's market-driven demand, a lot of developers who are eager to get in there." To save time and costs in rezoning to include affordable housing, the report proposed a variety of tools, including local design guidelines and expedited permitting. The report estimates that a new financing district along the river, which would allow the neighborhood to capture new tax revenue and funnel it back into public works, could raise between $5-10 billion in the next 45 years. Hollywood Project Halted Over Insufficient CEQA Analysis A judge  halted  construction of the controversial three-tower Millennium Hollywood development, saying that the city of Los Angeles failed to fully assess in its Environmental Impact Report the impacts of the project on surrounding neighborhoods. The project, which was hailed as an appropriately dense project in a transit-rich area, was backed unanimously by the City Council and by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Community groups and Caltrans said that the project would significantly worsen traffic on the 101 freeway and be unsafe. In his ruling, Judge James C. Chalfant said that the details of the project were also too vague, with the developer's summary of the uses only mentioning "some combination" of residential uses along with hotel rooms, offices, and restaurants among other things. "A developer must present an accurate and stable picture of the project so that the public and decision-makers can decide whether its environmental consequences are outweighed by its public benefits," Chalfant wrote. Opponents also raised concerns about the project's proximity to newly mapped earthquake faults.  Santa Monica Restricts Short-Term Rentals The Santa Monica City Council  voted  unanimously to strengthen a prohibition on short-term rentals through the home-share service Airbnb. The new ordinance allows "true" homesharing, wherein a homeowner can rent out rooms or guesthouses to travelers while the primary owner is on-site but prohibits rental of entire units by absentee landlords and managers. Short-term rentals, by which entire apartments or homes are rented out, number from 1,400-1,700 in San Monica and account for about five percent of the city's 33,717 rental units. Residents expressed concerns that with Santa Monica already not filling needed housing supply, the short-term rentals are squeezing even more possible residents out of the market. The ordinance is believed to be the strictest regulation of home-sharing in California.  S.F., Oakland Ranked Highly for Walkability San Francisco and Oakland came in second and eighth place, respectively, on WalkScore's rankings of the 10 most walkable cities in the U.S. with populations exceeding 300,000. San Francisco received a walkability score of 83.9, narrowly losing to New York City; and Oakland received a 68.5, losing to Seattle and beating Baltimore. The rankings look at how walkable a city becomes by seeing how much space they claim for pedestrian traffic from cars, by looking at the opening of restaurants and shopping centers, and by judging improvements in public transportation.

San Diego Climate Plan Ruling Ordered Published On November 24, the Fourth Appellate District's Division 1 issued a publication order for its October ruling rejecting San Diego's climate plan. That same day the same division issued its major decision rejecting the EIR for the San Diego Association of Governments' regional transportation plan. The effect was to give value as precedent to two cases that impose stricter greenhouse gas reduction standards on local and regional planners. Kruger Nominated To Fill State Supreme Court Vacancy Governor Jerry Brown has nominated Leondra Kruger, a senior Justice Department lawyer noted as a rising star, to fill the vacancy on the California Supreme Court created by the retirement of Justice Joyce Kennard. Kruger has argued a dozen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, most prominently in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC , a 2012 case on the interaction of a religious employer's prerogatives with an employee's disability rights. Kruger has seldom taken positions on land use issues as an attorney, but as a Harvard undergraduate she had a front-row seat for the demise of Massachusetts rent control per a November 1994 statewide vote and she clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens , a former city attorney who often sided with government agencies on land use and property rights issues. Originally from Pasadena, she was editor of the Yale Law Journal, clerked for D.C. Circuit Judge David S. Tatel as well as Stevens, served briefly as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago, and worked with the firms of Jenner & Block and Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale & Dorr before joining the Justice Department. Migratory Bird Survey Removed From San Jose General Plan Agenda San Jose came close to approving a general plan amendment that would have required surveys of birds during the mid-year nesting season before any trees could be removed or disturbed. But the San Jose Mercury News reports the item was removed from a November 18 council agenda by "a last-minute decision." Planner Whitney Berry told the paper the plan was worked out with environmental, development/construction and Fish and Wildlife representatives in hopes of streamlining CEQA review. The paper says developers "expressed concerns" that it would slow development -- and then on November 14, current mayor Chuck Reed, mayor-elect Sam Liccardo, and Councilwoman Rose Herrera prepared a critical memo on the proposal, saying it amounted to "precluding construction for seven months of the year." The amendment was expected to resurface in revised form in 2015. It's Still Not Over In El Dorado County This November, El Dorado County voters defeated three slow-growth measures and the Placerville Roundabout Menace . The roundabout may have been knocked flat -- but there are more slow-growth initiatives where the last three came from. The Sacramento Bee reports the Board of Supervisors had held back two measures for further study, but has now agreed to place them on the June 2016 ballot. Both measures are directed against new subdivisions. One would prohibit subdivisions that lack sufficient access to water supplies. The other would protect views and areas near farmland. Long Beach Preparing For Freeway Removal Project The Long Beach City Council is expected to approve a contract December 2 with the Mel�ndrez firm of Los Angeles for planning and conceptual design services on the Terminal Island Freeway Transition Plan. The Longbeachize blog says it's a big step in moving forward on plans to remove a large section of the Terminal Island freeway, with accompanying plans to approve quality of life in the "park poor" area of West Long Beach. (Item via Streetsblog LA .) Does Mayor Of Benicia Have To Stop Commenting on Oil Trains? Should a mayor have to stop talking about a public issue for fear of showing bias on the subject? The question has come up in Benicia, where the Valero Refining Co. has proposed to bring crude oil by train to its refinery in the city. The Sacramento Bee reports Mayor Elizabeth Patterson of Benicia has disclosed that when she frequently commented on safety issues involving oil trains, the city attorney "advised her to stop talking about the oil trains and sending out mass emails containing articles and other information, and to recuse herself from voting when it came before the council". Patterson's comments on oil train safety have included "E-Alert" messages. In a recent email, she wrote regarding these messages: "What I do is repost national, regional and local stories about rail safety. My job is to affirm public, health, safety and welfare and to keep my constituents informed about these issues. No opinion is expressed." Her other public comments have included an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle last March calling on Governor Jerry Brown to issue an executive order on safety in the transport of petroleum products. The Council agreed on November 18 to waive its attorney-client privilege and release an opinion issued last summer that was the apparent source of the advice: it came from a city-retained outside attorney, Michael Jenkins of Jenkins & Hogin . A community Web site opposed to the oil trains, the Benicia Independent , has posted a copy of Jenkins' opinion . Jenkins wrote in part, "This is a close case. The evidence I have reviewed can be interpreted to suggest a probability of bias on the part of the Mayor." At issue is the prospect that Patterson would take on a quasi-judicial role in helping to adjudicate Valero's permit application for the oil train project, in which case the company would have a due process right to a hearing before a disinterested authority. In a more recent post on the Benicia Independent site, Patterson protested that Jenkins had reviewed her "E-Alert" statements selectively and that her own attorney had advised her differently. Benicia Approves Housing Element Update In separate November 18 City Council action, the city of Benicia voted to revise its housing element and to adopt an ordinance for transitional housing supportive housing and "emergency shelters", amid concern from Council member Marilyn Bardet that hazardous industrial materials might exist in the Arsenal historic district, which was identified as a site for transitional housing and shelters. For details see the Benicia Herald and the Council's November 18 agenda .

A new report released by the Public Policy Institute of California shows that California's housing market continues to recover from its low at the beginning of 2012. Median home values in the most populous counties have increased by 39 percent since 2012, though they remain 20 percent lower than they were at the market's peak in 2006-2007. The report also shows that the housing recovery has caused a problem for some less affluent residents, as "increasing prices place housing out of reach for many Californians." It finds that homeownership rates in California have fallen more sharply than the rest of the nation, with California falling to 53.8 percent as compared with a 64.7 percent nationwide. Another report  released by NYU's Furman Center describes the percentage changes in rental populations in major US cities from 2006 to 2013. Los Angeles and San Francisco rank among nine cities where more than 50% of the population rents, as of 2013. San Francisco scored in the top five increasing rental populations, with 22% more San Franciscans renting since 2006; Los Angeles' rental population increased by 11%. Richmond-San Rafael Bridge closer to getting new lane, bike path The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge near the northern end of the San Francisco Bay  is one step closer  to getting an extra lane of traffic and a new, separated bike path following an approval of $4.65 million for the project by a committee of the Bay Area Toll Authority. Though no structural work will be necessary on the bridge, officials say that some components on the ground will need to be adjusted on the 5.5-mile bridge to accommodate the new lanes, and they will need to reconstruct an approach on the east side of the bike path to protect bikers from traffic. The Bay Area Toll Authority hopes that the extensions will alleviate the increasing congestion on the bridge. The vote now goes to the full board of BATA for a vote on Feb. 25. Construction will not begin until 2017. SF Proposes Development Curbs in Mission District A San Francisco supervisor  is attempting to limit, or impose a full a moratorium on , the development of market-rate development in the Mission District, one of the most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in San Francisco. Supervisor David Campos said that he is responding to a community outcry in the district for more affordable housing.  "There has been a cry from the community for the last couple years that there is a housing crisis and the projects that are in the pipeline are not responding like it is a crisis," Campos told the San Francisco Business Journal.  He will likely propose legislation in the next few weeks that could attempt to either a moratorium on market-rate housing or create a special-use district near the 24 th  street BART.  So far, about 500 housing units in the district  have been approved for upcoming development  by the Planning Department, but only 34 affordable units have been generated. Prop. K, due on the ballot in November, will attempt to make one-third of all units in the city affordable. Property Owners Vote to Support Sacramento Streetcar Two-thirds of property owners near Sacramento's proposed new streetcar line  voted in favor  of providing funds to help finance the $150 million project. Project advocates said that the mail-in vote - while only advisory in nature- showed that local businesses are on board with the benefits that the trolley line would bring in creating a more vibrant downtown, boosting property values, and serving as a connector between historic and commercial locations. The Federal Transit Administration is also considering funding the 3.3-mile project this year with $75 million in requested money, covering half the project's cost. In May, a an advisory ballot measure will go before 3,800 voters who live within three blocks of the project. Chargers, Raiders Propose Shared Stadium in Carson The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders recently  made a surprise proposal  to build a shared stadium in a city near Los Angeles. The teams announced that they will continue to pursue options for stadium deals in their current cities, but that they will jointly pursue the $1.7 billion stadium in Carson as an alternative. Both the Chargers and the Raiders are on year-to-year leases with their current stadiums, and both teams have shown restlessness with city reluctance to fund new stadiums with taxpayer dollars. The teams stated that they plan to launch a petition drive immediately to put the stadium to a vote of city residents. Gold Line Authority Pushes for Extension to Montclair The Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, which is constructing Phase II of the Gold Line light rail in eastern Los Angeles County, has asked for funding for the next phase, from Azusa to Montclair. It would be the first light rail line to reach into San Bernardino County -  have asked for a transfer  of $33 million in sales taxes for the 12.3 mile extension. The money would come from leftover construction funds from an 11.5-mile extension from East Pasadena to the Azusa city limits, which will be completed in September. The authority says that it has already completed its Environmental Impact Report and hopes that it can get the funding to be ready for operation by 2023. Proponents say that the $1.18 billion project should undoubtedly be a priority for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, but with several other public transportation projects fighting for money, it could be difficult to get the needed funds. "I would say there is no question our project (Azusa-to-Montclair Gold Line) should be a priority. But this is a political game," Doug Tessitor from the Construction Authority Board told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

The demise of redevelopment may leave the city of San Diego with a monstrous bill : $271 million to cover the development of its downtown stadium, Petco Park. When the stadium's financing plan was approved in 1998, general obligation bond funds were to be routed through the Center City Development Corp., one of the city's redevelopment agencies. In anticipation of the 2012 shutdown of redevelopment, CCDC transferred over $200 million to the city. The state then determined that these funds were not authorized for exemption from state "claw-back." In a 9-0 vote earlier this month, the City Council determined that it would pursue legal action against the state. Opponents of Sacramento Arena Raise EIR Concerns in Court Foes of the efforts to build a new stadium for the Sacramento Kings  aired their concerns in court  earlier this month, calling the project's environmental impact report inadequate. Justices in the Court of Appeals asked lawyers for the city whether planners had surveyed other alternative sites and considered the impact of stadium traffic on I-5. Opponents of the project are concerned about a $255 million public subsidy that the city is giving to the arena, and that state lawmakers passed SB 743, written specifically for the project and intended to make it much harder for foes to block construction. The hearing ended without a ruling. Sen. Jackson Seeks to Streamline CEQA Process The  latest attempt to reform CEQA  comes from State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (Dist. 19 � Santa Barbara). Her bill, SB 122, attempts to streamline the CEQA process but does not make substantive changes to the law. SB 122 would make lead agencies keep an administrative record of all actions on a project in real time. Jackson claims that this change would help streamline much of the data-gathering process, which is now typically done only after a lawsuit is filed. The bill would also establish an online clearinghouse through the Office of Planning and Research that would post all documents relating to environmental impact reports across the state. Finally, the bill would reform what Jackson calls "document dumping" at the scheduled close of the public comment period on draft EIRs. City of San Francisco Must Pay for Tree Upkeep The San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed that the city's Department of Public Works, not local property owners,  should be responsible for upkeep of the city's street trees . The vote is a move away from dumping the cost of tree maintenance to homeowners and is in line with the Planning Department's Urban Forest Master Plan. But, the supervisors did not allocate any money toward the $15 million annual cost of upkeep.  That could be the toughest part, as Supervisor Scott Weiner said, "trees don't do well in the budget process." A parcel tax is being considered for the 2016 ballot. Meanwhile, the city is hoping to add 50,000 street trees to its urban forest by 2035. San Diego Awash in Unused Development Impact Fees An investigation by the San Diego Union-Tribune  found that the city has let pile up millions  of unspent dollars of developer impact fees, designed to offset the local impacts of big projects. These monies may be used for local infrastructure projects such as parks and fire stations. Over $78 million collected has not been spent as of June 2014; $35 million of that has not been designated for any specific purpose. Public officials have expressed frustration in the wake of a staggering backlog of infrastructure improvements in the city that have not been fixed. Ranking Gentrification in California According to a new ranking of incidence of gentrification in America's 50 largest cities, Sacramento and Oakland are the most rapidly gentrifying cities in California. Governing Magazine ranked them Nos. 9 and 11, respectively, in its "Gentrification in America" report. Around 30 percent of both cities' census tracts were determined to have gentrified since 2000. Though California cities have some of the highest rents in the country, cities including San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose ranked lower in part because they have already gentrified dramatically. The report defined a neighborhood as gentrified if growth in its median household income and home value was in the top third percentile as compared with other neighborhoods in its metro area; median incomes and home values had to be in the bottom 40% in 2000 for a neighborhood to be eligible. High Speed Rail Opposition Files Petition Two counties in the Central Valley  have filed a petition with the 9th District Court of Appeals , hoping to overturn a ruling by a federal agency prohibiting state courts from citing CEQA in opposition to the high speed rail coming to California. The Surface Transportation Board ruled in December that the state couldn't use CEQA because doing so could "deny or significantly delay an entity's right to construct a line that the (Surface Transportation) Board has specifically authorized, thus impinging upon the board's exclusive jurisdiction over rail transportation." Kings County and Kern County, in association with several anti-HSR groups in the Central Valley and Bay Area, contend that the previous ruling "violates petitioners' constitutional right to seek redress of grievances" and that it violates California's sovereignty as guaranteed by the 10th Amendment.

In California land use news this week: The Monterey Herald is reporting that Cal American Water has settled with landowner Cemex ahead of its Coastal Commission appearance on Wednesday to seek permission to drill a test well under the City of Marina. The well would go under the sea floor to check if water could be taken from that area for a desalination plant proposed for the Cemex sand mining site in North Marina. Cal Am and Cemex had been on the point of litigation . Marina officials have criticized the plan because they feared that it might worsen saltwater intrusion into groundwater and that, once dug, it might be used permanently for extraction, not just for testing. The Commission's agenda packet as of this writing showed a staff recommendation for conditional approval. For prior coverage see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3610 . The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has proposed to cut two BART stations planned for San Jose and Santa Clara. The station in San Jose, on 28th Street in the Alum Rock area, has been popular with its proposed neighbors, who worked willingly with public officials on a transit-oriented development project. Details via Planetizen at http://www.planetizen.com/articles/node-71983 and in the San Francisco Business Times . The HomeAway vacation rental Web site has sued San Francisco over the city's recently passed law legalizing certain vacation rentals, saying it favors Airbnb over other companies. Carolyn Said reported on the dispute in the San Francisco Chronicle . As she noted, City Attorney Dennis Herrera posted a statement saying he would "vigorously defend" against the suit, and complaining, "HomeAway's challenge pushes a dubious legal theory that the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause somehow prohibits local jurisdictions from making local land use decisions." The VTA issued an environmental assessment on its planned Bus Rapid Transit project along El Camino from Palo Alto to San Jose. See http://www.vta.org/el-camino-brt . Reports of the death of "dinosaur planning" may be exaggerated. The LA Times reported last week on the opening of a partly built first "neighborhood" of a 1200-unit "community" to be known as Park Place, in the enormous planned "New Model Colony" town in Ontario, California. The paper describes it as "the first New Model Colony project to debut since the financial crisis." Economist Gerd-Ulf Krueger told the paper, "The dinosaurs... have come alive." Los Angeles Metro held a groundbreaking on the Purple Line . For initial reactions see the #purpleline Twitter hashtag. Ethan Elkind posted a bittersweet note of celebration . The LA Times reports the line that was once dreamed of as the "subway to the sea" will in fact most likely stop at the VA hospital in Westwood. It's a long if pretty walk from there to the ocean. The Sacramento 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 Modesto group, Stamp Out Sprawl, started a petition drive to place an urban growth boundary limit on the November 2015 ballot to steer big-box retail stores away from the Wood Colony area. The Modesto Bee has details at http://www.modbee.com/news/local/article3545807.html . The LA Times reported the Zillow real estate site found 47.9% of working-age adults in Los Angeles and Orange Counties live with a roommate or adult family member other than a spouse. On the real-estate-oriented HousingWire site, that story led to a somewhat different headline: " Zillow: Millions of potential houses lost to 'doubling up' ". The original Zillow report refers to the doubled-up people as "hidden households." As anyone knows who was at the APA-California convention in September, the Disneyland area of Anaheim could use a smoother transportation setup between the theme parks and convention center, and the many blocks of hotels that serve them. Now Planetizen reports some critics are seeing connections between Disney's political contributions and a proposal for a streetcar in the area. A hearing is set for November 12 on Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approval of the Antelope Valley Area Plan and its EIR, discussed in our recent news feature at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3603 . For plan materials see http://planning.lacounty.gov/tnc/ . For the Board of Supervisors agenda see the November 12 entry at http://bos.co.la.ca.us/BoardMeeting/BoardAgendas.aspx . Links to the Board's agenda materials are at http://file.lacounty.gov/bos/supdocs/89590.pdf and include a 118-page draft Statement of Overriding Considerations. An initial hearing was held November 5 on a draft renewable energy ordinance for unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, including some large high desert tracts where large solar arrays have been controversially proposed. See http://planning.lacounty.gov/energy . The Sacramento Bee reports the solar industry is rebounding after losing ground during the home mortgage crisis. Investigative freelancer Darwin Bond Graham writes on his blog that the exclusive city of Piedmont is willing to allow affordable housing in its Housing Element, but principally by encouraging owners of large houses or lots to add second units -- in some cases by re-converting actual former servants' quarters into -- yep, servants' quarters again. The Los Angeles Times reports the statewide plastic bag ban is actually kind of popular . Last week the LA Times reported in detail on seismic protections in the New Wilshire Grand tower . Los Angeles is in a quandary over increasing costs of privately contracted street tree maintenance. Planetizen has a roundup at http://www.planetizen.com/articles/node-71873 of attempts by the City of Lancaster to close its Metrolink station, which serves 400 commuters, based on claims that it brings homeless people to the city. Planetizen picked up a plan to spend $2.8 million developing a rail trail along Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles. See www.planetizen.com/articles/node-71893 . And The Planning Report has an interview with Esther Feldman of Community Conservation Solutions about Zev Yaroslavsky's work creating a missing link for walkers in the LA River Greenway Trail. Stockton is officially out of bankruptcy .