The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) Board of Directors unanimously adopted the 2016 Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy for the six-county Sacramento region and certified the associated EIR. The MTP/SCS is a 20-year plan for transportation improvements in the region based on projections for growth in population, housing and jobs. The plan invests $35 billion into transportation by 2036 to accommodate projected growth of 811,000 new people, 439,000 new jobs and 285,000 new homes. The 2016 MTP/SCS is also grounded in a study of the best use of shrinking transportation funding, air quality improvement, and developing a multimodal (transit, walk, bike, car) system that gives people more options for transportation to different destinations. Investments include $18.4billion for road maintenance, rehab, and capital improvements; $10.6 billion for transit, including vastly increased bus service; and $2.4 billion for bike and pedestrian improvements. "Implementing the 2016 MTP/SCS will result in more transportation choices, reduced time in traffic, more housing choices, reductions to the amount of farmland converted for urban uses, and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cars," said SACOG Executive Director Mike McKeever in a statement.  Obama Creates 1.8 Million Acres of National  Monuments Acting on a proposal originally set forth by Senator Dianne Feinstein, President Obama announced the designation of three new national monuments in the Mojave and Colorado deserts and national forest land. These nearly 1.8 million acres have experienced decades of heavy mining, cattle ranching and off-roading yet maintained their distinct natural beauty. The largest of the three, the Mojave Trails National Monument, spans 1.6 million acres between Barstow and Needles. The Sand to Snow monument includes part of the San Bernardino Mountains, while the Castle Mountains Monument is in a remote corner near the Nevada border. Collectively, the areas are home to many animals, including 250 types of birds, and other unique natural architecture such as volcanic spires and 1,700 petroglyphs. David Lamfrom, director of California desert and wildlife programs for the National Parks Conservation Association told the LA Times that he hopes the next step can be "reintroducing species of a bygone era, starting with pronghorn antelope." The new monuments are meant to expand the conservation efforts begun in 1994 with the creation of Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve.  L.A. Ballot Initiative Seeks to Promote Affordable Housing A coalition of labor and affordable housing advocates launched Build Better LA, an initiative to ensure that affordable housing and good jobs are part of sustainable development in the City of Los Angeles. The initiative is seen as an alternative to the proposed Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, which, among other provisions, calls for a moratorium on all development that does not conform to current zoning laws and community plans. Build Better LA includes a local hire provision that ensures a living wage, and if a project has residential units, it requires developers to provide a percentage to low-income residents. The initiative seeks to increase the number of affordable housing units and job opportunities. "Build Better LA is an initiative that aligns the city's land use policies and funding to build more housing, require local hiring, and create jobs close to major transit areas," said Rusty Hicks, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and convener of Build Better LA. "Through this initiative, we'll be able to close the gap on Angelenos getting priced out of their homes and facing poverty."  High Speed Rail to Head Northward; Lawsuit Commences; Costs Rise Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny heard opening arguments a lawsuit claiming that California High Speed Rail is violating requirements of Proposition 1A, which citizens approved in 2008. Playoffs claim that track alignment in the Bay Area, length of the trip, costs are all violations. They are asking the judge to issue an injunction to stop the state and rail authority from spending additional funds. Meanwhile, the authority has decided to build the 250-mile Central Valley section of the train from Kern County line northward to San Jose, instead of southward and ending in Burbank. The northern route will allow the authority to hold down costs and construct faster, as they are already two years behind schedule. Cost estimates say the entire project has been reduced by $4 billion, to $64 billion for the entire 500-mile project. This segment will be in operation by 2025, earlier than planned which will hopefully attract additional private investors. Consultants Parsons Brinckerhoff, have announced the projected cost of the Central Valley segment have increased 5 percent or $260 million. The project is facing "several negative trends including problems acquiring land, relocating underground utilities and reaching agreements with freight railroads that have nearby tracks" the consultants write in the report. Victorville Terminates Agreement for Rail Station The City of Victorville City Council recently voted to terminate its development agreement with high-speed rail operator XpressWest, which plans to build a line to Las Vegas. The vote was prompted largely by the 2011 dissolutions of redevelopment agencies and lack of new funding to support the city's share of the project. The city is hoping to have a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the company for future development of the Xpress West Project that it still hopes to be a part of. Councilman Ryan McEachron told Victorville Daily Press, "There just needs to be acknowledgement of (state law making the agreement moot) and we still would love to work with XpressWest and the developers out there, assuming they can secure the financing and build the train. This would, in no way, discourage them from moving in that direction." The multi-billion project received backing from Chinese investors. (See prior CP&DR coverage .)  Sacramento Considers Tax Increase for Levee Repair The City of Sacramento plans to ask citizens to pay an average $42 more in property taxes to improve city's levees and double the size of the Sacramento Weir to divert more floodwaters into Yolo Bypass. New requirements in 2007 from the state make all urban areas achieve 200-year flood protection by 2025, which increases the levee cost to an estimated $1.6 billion. The increase of $42 would ask property owners to pay $99 per year for federal and state funds. If the funding does not come through, FEMA could issue a warning that would force a moratorium on building across the city.  President of the Sacramento Taxpayers Association, Katy Grimes, told Sacramento Bee: "We typically oppose these things unless there's a really, really good reason. I think it's going to take a lot of convincing, to be honest." Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA)'s board of directors will hold a public hearing and a final decision will be reached April 1.  Santa Monica Releases Downtown Plan Amid an ongoing battle over development, Santa Monica released its long-awaited Downtown Community Plan. The plan stipulates that only 15 percent of the city's downtown will be redeveloped in the next twenty years, and it will mostly maintain the current mix of residential, commercial, and retail uses. The document "retains most of the area's existing features, including Downtown's mix of historic and modern architecture, its restaurants and entertainment. But� most residents live, work and play within their community and �use their cars' infrequently." The plan stresses the importance of a variety of transportation methods, including cycling and walking. The plan is the latest evolution of the city's Land Use and Circulation Element, which has drawn opposition for its attempt to upzone many of the city's commercial corridors.

The San Francisco Planning Commission voted to allow developers to build taller buildings in exchange for including extra affordable housing only on 215 identified "soft sites" or on properties with less than five percent of parcel covered such as gas stations and parking lots. The density bonus plan, proposed by Mayor Ed Lee, would allow an extra two stories or 25 feet in exchange for 30 percent of the building being below-market-rate housing. Buildings that are 100 percent affordable can build an additional three floors. This will hopefully add an additional 16,000 housing units in the next twenty years. Supervisor Katy Tang told  SF Gate ,  "This is a much better piece of legislation" than earlier drafts or the state bonus law, she said. "This represents San Francisco values." Davis Citizens May Vote on 'Innovation Districts' The City of Davis is planning " innovation districts " designed to promote the city's economy and encourage the city's college students to remain after graduation. David Mayor Dan Wolk aid the city suffers from "intellectual and economic leakage". Two proposed projects, Nishi Gateway and Mace Ranch Innovation Park, are under discussion.  The 47-acre Nishi proposal would create 325,000 square feet of space for local startups and 650 higher-density residential units. The City Council recently approved a ballot measure asking citizens to vote on Nishi Gateway in June; city ordinance requires a vote on projects that would replace agricultural land. Mace Ranch would be 200-plus acres and is undergoing environmental review before potentially going on the November ballot. Before Nishi Gateway can be built two traffic projects must be completed: realigning freeway ramps and a new road to campus from the proposed site. In 2005 and 2009 Davis residence rejected two new residential projects. APA Seeks 'Greatest Places in California' The American Planning Association accepting for nominations for Greatest Places in California. These places are "memorable to the community and individuals and creates a strong sense of place". Places include vistas, corridors, centers, preserves, and others. These places must have multi-modal transportation, sustainable design, safe environment, visually interesting, and contribute to a resident's day-to-day quality of living. These places should be unique or special and potentially help preserve the natural environment. The website is currently accepting submissions. San Jose Passes Mobile Home Protections The City Council of San Jose voted unanimously to preserve the city's remaining mobile home parks, which have been targeted for redevelopment. The vote comes after a decision last August, to impose a moratorium on mobile home park closures while the 1986 ordinance to regulate mobile home park closures was updated. The new ordinance includes three major provisions: First , the City Council is the only decision-making body on any park closures or conversions; second, the city must ensure that displaced residents receive proper relocation money; third, the city is extending the moratorium on conversions or zoning changes for six month. San Jose has some of the state's most expensive housing as well as the state's highest population of mobile home residents, with nearly 35,000 in 59 parks across the city.  Groups Promote Fracking Ban in Monterey County Environmental groups are promoting a ballot measure to ban fracking and new oil drilling in Monterey County. Similar bans are in place in Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Mendocino counties. Supporters of the measure say it is to reduce risk of groundwater pollution and have until early May to collect 7,391 signatures. Those against say the proponents want to end California oil production, which will require importing foreign oil. There have been numerous proposals: Sierra Club wants to ban fracking in Santa Clara County, Santa Barbara County voters rejected a ban in 2014, and Monterey County supervisors voted 3-2 against a ban last year. Monterey County is the fourth largest oil-producing county with nearly 1,200 wells, supporting 1,941 jobs and generating $138 million in state and local taxes.  Santa Monica Looks to Vision Zero Joining the global Vision Zero movement, The City of Santa Monica aims to have zero pedestrian injuries and fatalities through an ambitious 265-page plan that was unanimously approved by city council. The plan discusses the concept of "8 to 80" in which streets are made safer for the very young and elderly and therefore safest for everyone. There was community outreach, survey with 600 participants and forums. The planners looked at where large pedestrians were, location of assisted living facilities and where wide sidewalks and lower speed limits are located. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Fresno Approves Stadium-Adjacent Redevelopment The Fresno City Council approved a new downtown redevelopment project designed to complement the Fresno Grizziles minor league baseball stadium, Chuckchansi Park. The $15 million South Stadium Project development was approved, 6-0. The city has agreed to donate the land, which is currently occupied by the Fulton Mall. The mall has been slated for closure. The mall land will only be transferred once the developers Mehmet Noyan and Terance Frazier have secured full funding  Gold Line Light Rail Extends to Azusa LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority celebrated the opening of the Gold Line Extension Project last March 5. The 11.5 mile light-rail line will connect Pasadena to Azusa going through Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte/City of Hope, Irwindale, and Azusa Pacific University/Citrus College; it extends the first phase of the Gold Line, which runs from downtown Los Angeles to Pasadena. The extension includes six new stations with intermodal park and ride facilities: 1,500 parking spaces, connections to local bus lines and bicycle parking. The extension was funded through Measure R sales tax.  New Website to Aid Historic Preservation in Eureka The Eureka Historical Preservation Commission received a state grant to build a website that comes online in May. Planners are asking for photographs or other information about the architecturally or historically significant buildings in the area. The website will be a user-friendly map with these buildings and information. Eureka is known for its many Victorian buildings from the late 1800s. Assistant Planner Robert Jensen hopes this will provide a push for property owners to restore historic buildings.

The San Diego City Council is expected to approve Southeastern San Diego's first comprehensive set of zoning changes since 1987 with the goal of encouraging more development near mass transit.  Community leaders often complain that the area's lack of high-paying jobs discourages developers from building quality retail and housing projects, even though much of southeastern San Diego is less than 10 minutes from downtown. The changes aim to spur development by rezoning 6,740 acres in the area, where there is more vacant and under utilized land than anywhere else in the city. City officials have decided to split the area into two parts - Southeastern San Diego west of Interstate 805 and Encanto east of the freeway - and to adopt separate community plans for each. The number of multifamily housing units would triple from 4,000 to 12,000 in Encanto and increase 37 percent in Southeastern San Diego, from 9,400 to 12,900, while then umber of single family homes would stay about the same.  The new housing is restricted to targeted areas along trolley lines and in high-potential commercial spots such as Euclid Avenue, Market Street, Imperial Avenue and Commercial Street. Bay Area Group Threatens to -Sue the Suburbs' The San Francisco Bay Area Renters Foundation, a pro-development group, says that it will fulfill its promise to " sue the suburbs ," saying it will file a lawsuit next week against the city of Lafayette, saying that it is failing to construct its fair share of housing. At issue in Lafayette is a development approved by the City Council containing 44 single-family homes, a steep reduction in density from the originally proposed 315 units of middle-income housing that garnered protests. With the Bay Area permitting just about half of the housing it needed from 2007 to 2014, and permitting only about 28 percent of low to moderate income units, the renters' group is using Lafayette as a starting point for its plans to sue other Bay Area suburbs. The suit would finds its base on the state's 1982 Housing Accountability Act, which prohibits cities from blocking higher density affordable housing without a specific findings that it threatens health and safety in an unfixable way. SCAG Releases Draft EIR for Sustainable Communities Strategy The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has prepared a Draft Program Environmental Impact Report for its proposed 2016-2040 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy. The Draft PEIR is available for a 60-day public review and comment period from Dec. 4-Feb. 1. Two public workshops, each providing the same information, will take place at SCAG's Los Angeles office. The Draft PEIR is available for review on SCAG's website at:  http://scagrtpscs.net/Pages/Draft2016PEIR.aspx . S.F. Supervisors Support EIR for Warriors Arena  The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to support the Environmental Impact Report for the  Golden State Warriors ' 18,500-seat, $1 billion Mission Bay arena project. Rejecting an appeal from opposition group Mission Bay Alliance saying that the project would have unmitigable impacts on traffic and the UCSF Hospital at Mission Bay, the supervisors found that plans for beefed-up public transit traffic control officers could handle the thousands of basketball fans flooding the neighborhood for games. They also voted 9-1 -- with Supervisor John Avalos voting against -- to establish a Mission Bay transportation fund dedicated to paying for $55 million in transit infrastructure, including four new light-rail vehicles, upgraded Muni power, new signals and signage and an expanded T-Third line platform next to the arena and UCSF. However, Warriors officials fully expect that the project will face its final battle in court, as the Mission Bay Alliance has said that it will file a lawsuit to block the arena. LAO Report: Real Estate Taxes Lag Home Price Increases California's median  home prices  have increased by about 10 percent a year since bottoming out in 2011, but property taxes are likely to increase by only 1.5 percent next year, according to reports from two state agencies. The Legislative Analyst's Office first reported that median housing prices have increased by 45 percent in four years, reaching about $450,000 in September 2015. Topping the increases, San Francisco has seen a 15 percent increase to $1.1 million in the past year, and Santa Clara has seen a 13 percent increase to $926,000. However, with home prices and rents climbing far faster than incomes, the LAO study said those increases "could suggest that the housing market is somewhat overheated." The Board of Equalization said in a separate report that the 10 percent-per-year increases will not reflect next year's property tax bills because inflation has remained remarkably low, and the board's property tax overseer, Dean Kinnee, dispatched a letter to county assessors Friday, instructing them to raise taxable values by 1.525 percent in accordance with Proposition 13, the 1978 property tax limit. San Jose May Allow Tent City for Homeless The San Jose City Council is deliberating the creation of a tent city to quickly house a small portion of the roughly 4,000 homeless people in the city for the winter. Following the lead of Santa Clara County, which allocated $200,000 to a nonprofit to run a tent city, the San Jose Council voted 9-1 to ask staff to analyze the price tag and feasibility of a legal encampment and find potential locations. The staff report lists 11 public 2-acre sites for a potential tent cluster, ranging from Monterey Highway and Bernal Road near a freeway offramp to a vacant facility near the Hillview Library. Mayor Sam Liccardo has objected to the tent cities, saying that sanctioned encampments have not worked in other cities and finding a site will take too long to address the immediate needs of the homeless. Klamath River Dam Removal in Jeopardy After stalling for several years in Congress, a settlement between the state, environmentalists, tribes, and farmers to remove four dams along the Klamath River in both Oregon and California may fizzle out, causing a relicensing process to begin. The river basin has long been the site of intense political fights over the sharing of scarce water between farms and fish, and the compromise to remove the dams would restore the river for imperiled salmon and steelhead, and give farmers greater certainty about irrigation water. However, fearing it would set a precedent for dam removal, House Republicans have blocked the removal proposal for years. If there's no legislation by the end of the year, when the agreements expire, several parties indicated they might abandon the settlement. "It's not the end," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), whose congressional district includes the lower Klamath, told the LA Times . "If anything it may be the beginning of a new and potentially more productive push to get these dams out by way of the process and the Clean Water Act authority the state of California has." Relicensing of the dams would go through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which licenses hydropower projects for 30 to 50 years. Groups Present Restoration Plan for Carrizo Plain Two environmental groups have teamed up on a plan to restore nearly 8,000 acres of degraded wildlife habitat in the Carrizo Plain area of southeastern San Luis Obispo County as a result of several lawsuits requiring two solar companies to conserve the land as environmental mitigation. The two environmental groups, Carrizo Plain Conservancy and the Sequoia Riverlands Trust, plan to replant the land, which has been converted to grassland through centuries of farming and grazing, with 15 percent brush cover. That land serves as habitat for pronghorn antelope, San Joaquin kit foxes, giant kangaroo rats, blunt-nosed leopard lizards and birds. The sprawling 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm was required to conserve 5,400 acres under a settlement worth several million dollars, and the nearby 250-megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch was required to conserve 2,500 acres. Lompoc Purchases Site for Transit Center The Lompoc City Council approved an initiative to purchase $550,000 worth of land, marking the first step in the city's attempts to build a $13 million Old Town Transit Center . Funding for the center will partially come from the voter-approved Prop. 1B, which has already provided $2.3 million of an anticipated $3.1 million for the project. It will also rely on a yearly $1 million redirected from funds for streets and roads. The new facility will include 15,446 square feet in fleet maintenance bay space and 5,900 square feet in transit maintenance bay space, along with updated parking facilities. California Cities Among -Best Performing' Six California cities landed in the Top 25 spots of the Milken Institute's annual " Best-Performing Cities " index, with San Jose and San Francisco securing the first and second spots, respectively, on the list. "San Jose's tech boom continues unabated," says Ross DeVol, Milken Institute chief research officer and one of the report's authors. "Its economy has the densest concentration of high-tech manufacturing in the nation." The index finds that technology continues to power America's most dynamic cities, with diversified economies showing resiliency amid the plunge in oil prices. High Speed Rail Loses Key Supporter; Deal for Fresno Maintenance Facility Stalls The state high speed rail project hit another speed bump as Democratic Assemblywoman Patty Lopez (D-San Fernando) withdrew her support for the project, saying that five other Democrats in the Legislature are also reviewing their positions. Support for the project amongst Democrats had previously been nearly unanimous, but Lopez told the LA Times that the project would damage her low-income, mostly Latino community, which has been hurt historically by the construction of three freeways, garbage dumps and other decisions by political power brokers in the state. In other high speed rail news, Fresno's plans to win the bid for a heavy maintenance facility have hit a hitch as the financial plan to build the 700-acre facility changed. Developer Tim Jones had offered to front $750,00 for the facility if Fresno County was chosen for the project. His funds would be supplemented by $25 million in Measure C funds. The Fresno County Transportation Authority had agreed to reimburse Jones. Jones, however, recently proposed new terms, putting the deal in jeopardy. Court Gives Powers to S.F. Rent Board A state appeals court ruled that the San Francisco Rent Board can apply its own safeguards to protect tenants against eviction in lieu of contrasting state laws. The case arises as various landlords in the city seek to evict tenants to raise rents on the next occupants. The landlord in this case, John Britton, relied on a 2000 state law that allows landlords to change the terms of month-to-month leases with 30 days' notice, announcing new rules for tenants and saying those who couldn't comply would have to leave. San Francisco's Rent Board, which enforces the city's 1979 rent control law, passed regulations in 2012 that restrict landlords' authority to enforce new lease terms by evicting tenants or forcing them to move out. Ruling in favor of the rent board, Justice Maria Rivera said in a 3-0 decision that under the Supreme Court rulings from 1976 onward, "a municipality has the authority to limit the substantive grounds for eviction."

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) has approved a new two-year business plan. It includes an agreement to add more than $1 billion in costs to connect the City of Merced to the initial operating segment and to invest $2 billion to improve existing rail services in Southern California. While it will not change the alignment, the plan calls for construction of an additional line that will connect to Merced and eventually further to Sacramento. This statement was released in a 22-page revision of the draft 2016 business plan that had received significant criticism. The new document did not name new sources of funding but examined potential private or federal funding. While HSRA is attempting to address complaints, residents of San Jose, farmers in Central Valley, officials in Bakersfield and Southern California are frustrated and pessimistic. According to the 2008 bond, the deadline for presenting the final to the legislature was May 1. San Diego Stadium Plan Submits Signatures The group backing the Citizens Plan initiative, one of two competing potential ballot measures to promote a new NFL football stadium in San Diego, has submitted 100,845 signatures to raise a hotel tax to pay for tourism promotion and a convention center. The hotel tax would be raised from 12.5 to 15.5 percent and hotel owners could deduct up to two percent from the patrons for tourism marketing. The Chargers are pushing their own proposal, which would raise hotel tax to 16.5 percent, which would pay for the $1.8 billion stadium and convention center. With the hotel tax funds, the Citizens Plan wants to renovate Qualcomm Stadium into a tourist and higher education facility in Mission Valley and protect and preserve the river park.(See prior CP&DR coverage .) Federal Government Questions Use of Funds for Water Tunnels The Interior Department inspector general has begun an investigation looking into funding irregularities for the proposed water tunnel project known as California Water Fix. The $15 billion plan received complaints from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit that accused the project of taking $60 million federal money that was intended for fish and wildlife conservation. If the inspector general finds that the funds were misallocated, the state would be required to pay the money back, which could harm the tunnel project. Interactive Website Illuminates Transportation Data in Southern California UCLA's Lewis Center, in collaboration with the Southern California Association of Governments, released Revision , a new web application to better understand Southern California's transportation options. Metrics that the site can display include accessibility, livability, employment, health, commutes and will focus on growth near public transportation. By generating customized maps, users can see differences between neighborhoods, trends over time, Area Report, and Property Reports. Revision's area reports will compare over 10,000 census blocks in Southern California to countywide data or to one another. The website and visuals are available for Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. ULI Enters Debate over Future of Planning in Los Angeles The Urban Land Institutes's Los Angeles Chapter has released a Planning and Development Principles Statement for Los Angeles to advocate for a community vision, instead of the project-by-project negotiations that has been currently happening. Acknowledging that the city's 1995 General Plan Framework is outdated and that the city has "neglected" its Community Plans, the statement comes out in part as a response to the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, a proposed ballot measure that could constrain the city's ability to plan. The eight principles to help guide the way forward are 1) allowing all unique communities to thrive equally, 2) make great plans, 3) stick to the plans once they're made, 4) allow growth but keep neighborhood character, 5) provide adequate infrastructure, 6) commit to budget so all community plans can be reviewed and updated regularly, 7) EIRs should be reliable and trusted, and lastly 8) engagement from everyone. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) L.A. County Considers Tax for New Parks Los Angeles County is considering an initiative to use a parcel tax of 3-to-5 cents per developed square foot, to build parks. In some cities in the county, like Malibu, there are 13 acres of park for each 1,000 residents. El Monte and South El Monte have around one acre per 1,000 residents. A report by the county showed 51 percent of residents live more than half a mile from the nearest park, and in some areas the parks are in unsafe locations or rundown. Funds that could be generate by the proposed tax range from $191 million to $309 million. Funds would not be equally divided among the five supervisorial districts, instead funding would be distributed based on need. Four Finalists Chosen to Redesign L.A.'s Pershing Square Nonprofit Pershing Square Renew has selected four finalists for redesigning Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles. The square, last redesigned in the early 1990s, has long been reviled as unattractive and unwelcoming. Agence Ter and Team's design includes a "smart" canopy, variety of themed gardens, and a main lawn that will show film screenings. James Corner Field Operations with Frederick Fisher & Partners include playgrounds, restaurants, hammock grove, and dog run to name a few amenities. These are the same designers of Santa Monica's Tongva Park and Manhattan's High Line. SWA I Morphosis's goal is to create a park that is active in the day and nighttime with many activities and a solar-powered hydroponic urban farming tower. wHY with Civitas, has a vine-covered shade structure, misting devices and uses alternatives and sustainable water filtration for the entire park. the public is able to vote and give comments. Funding for the project, which may cost in the tens of millions of dollars, has yet to be secured. $1.3 Billion Housing Measure Introduced Amid growing concerns for the state's housing supply, a group of Assembly Democrats has proposed legislation that would allocate $1.3 billion to help metropolitan areas increase housing supply. The bill would include local grants and tax credits to support construction of multi-family rental units, homes for farmworkers, supportive services for homeless and lower-cost housing statewide. Gov. Brown's 2016-17 budget proposal contained around $776 million for housing and transit from the cap-and-trade fund from carbon emission permits. Republicans, such as Marc Steinorth (R-Rancho Cucamonga) argue that instead of asking for more taxes, legislators should "encourage cities--even suburban ones--to focus on increasing housing supply, rather than tie their hands with out-of-date regulations." Beverly Hills Takes Lead on Autonomous Vehicles Beverly Hills City Council voted unanimously to look into providing autonomous public transportation to shuttle residents from one location to another. Mayor John Mirisch hopes this small city of 5.7 miles can be a leader in adopting this new and innovative technology. While driverless cars are able to navigate in controlled-areas such as freeways and parking garages, city driving can become too chaotic. The city also plans to install fiber-optic cable to provide high-speed access throughout the city, which in the future, would allow the autonomous vehicles to communicate with one another. APA Awards Go to L.A., San Jose Projects in Los Angeles and San Jose received two of six National Planning Achievement Awards at the recent American Planning Association conference. People Street, a project of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, transforms underused areas of city streets into plazas or small parks. The program provides a guidelines and a "kit of parts" with preapproved design elements, to allow community members to spearhead projects in their neighborhoods. The San Jose project is a Water Pollution Control Plant that treats wastewater for over 1.4 million residents. The plant's plan has three goals: strengthen region's economy, restore sensitive bay habitats and provide new opportunities for recreation, and protect against sea level rise.  Lung Association Rates California's Air The American Lung Association's State of the Air 2016 report found two California cities ranked top of the list for most polluted cities in the nation. Bakersfield tops the list with most airborne particles and LA leads in harmful ozone pollution. Eighty percent of Californians, roughly 32 million people, live in counties with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution during some time in the year. Cities in California have made progress, businesses have spent $40 billion since 1992 to cut air pollution and have reduced pollutants by 80 percent since 1980 levels.

The state Department of Water Resources sharpened plans for the construction of two 30-mile-long tunnels on the Sacramento River, releasing hundreds of pages of documents in its environmental impact statement detailing the project's changes from the original 2006 plan worth $15 billion. Among changes, the new details show that the plan will eliminate pumping plants on the east bank of the Sacramento River in favor of a gravity-fed system into the tunnels. The details also present a scaled-back version of the plan, with Gov. Jerry Brown only calling for 15,600 acres for habitat restoration of offset the effect of the tunnels -only one-sixth of the amount of the governor's original proposal - and dropping efforts to obtain a 50-year permit for the project, raising anxiety among water agencies that are expecting more reliability in their water deliveries. Opposition to the project arose following the release of the documents. Stockton-area farmer Dean Cortopassi is circulating an initiative that would force public work projects costing over $2 billion to receive voter approval before issuing revenue bonds, a potential hitch in Brown's plan to avoid a public vote by raising funds from water agencies in exchange for reliable water deliveries. Environmentalists and Delta residents still say that pushing huge volumes of fresh water into the tunnels would greatly decrease drinking water quality for the East Bay and northern San Joaquin Valley and continue to degrade fish habitats, even though the Brown administration is proposing to restore 30,000 acres of habitat in the Delta. Army Corps Approves L.A. River Plan The Civil Works Review Board of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unanimously approved a plan, over a decade in the making, to restore 719 acres of the Los Angeles River, marking a key victory in the long-anticipated plans to reestablish riparian strand, freshwater marsh, and aquatic habitat while maintaining flood risk management on the river. The Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration project proposes restoration measures in and along an 11-mile stretch of the river to reestablish scarce riparian strand, freshwater marsh, and aquatic habitat, while maintaining existing levels of flood risk management. The city and the Corps are expected to share the $1.3 billion cost, but financial commitments have yet to be worked out.  "The vote today validated that the recommended plan is technically feasible, environmentally acceptable, and economically justified," said Los Angeles District Commander Col. Kim Colloton. "Our partnership with the City of Los Angeles is as strong as it was in 1898 when we were working on the breakwater for the Port of Los Angeles, and it has been providing benefits and functioning well for over 80 years. It's now time to make room for the river." In order for the Corps and the City to begin construction, Congress now must authorize the project under the  Water Resources Development Act and appropriate funds for it. Obama Designates Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument President Obama  declared  the Berryessa Snow Mountain a national monument in an effort to better coordinate management of the area and raise its visibility for additional tourism and economic growth. The 331,000-acre wild land area covering Napa, Mendocino, Lake, Solano and Yolo counties is home to bald eagles, tule elk, and rare plants found nowhere else on Earth. It hosts historic Indian cultural sites from tribes that have inhabited the area for at least 11,000 years. Berryessa had been under mixed jurisdiction, with the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Forest Service governing various tracts. Officials believe that the new designation will better coordinate management of the area, possibly generating as much as $26 million in economic activity over five years under the joint management of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. "After years of tireless work by countless numbers of people, the Berryessa Snow Mountain region is finally getting the permanent protection it deserves," U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and the driving force behind the designation, said in a press release. "This national monument designation will provide a boost to our local economy, enhance recreational opportunities for tens of thousands of people, and protect important wildlife." Judge Rules in Favor of Four Rural Water Districts Potentially hindering the state's efforts to enforce curtailments of 1.2 million acre-feet of water diversion for senior rights holders in the Central Valley, a state judge ruled that the State Water Resources Control Board cannot impose broad curtailments of water usage to four Central Valley irrigation districts without giving each one an individual chance to defend itself. Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled that the SWRCB cannot issue mass notices that property owners holding senior riparian rights must stop diverting water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys "without any sort of pre-deprivation hearing." Experts told the Sacramento Bee that the ruling could affect the authority from an executive order intended to streamline the curtailment process quickly in the fourth year of drought. "The court is sending the state board a message that the water users have been trying to send for a few months," Jennifer Spaletta, a lawyer for the Central Delta Agency, told the Sacramento Bee . "Water rights are complicated. They cannot send out these broad orders." The curtailments marked the first time since 1977 that the state has affected senior rights, and the state had curtailed the rights to more than 1.2 million acre-feet of water leading up to the ruling. Orange County Streetcar Moves Forward The Orange County Transportation Authority agreed to a memorandum of understanding with the city of Santa Ana for the $250 million OC Streetcar Project, outlining the roles and responsibilities, development, operations, and maintenance of the project. Under the new agreement, the OCTA is responsible for the design, construction, and operations, along with securing the funding, while the OCTA and the city of Santa Ana must both develop and participate in a public outreach program for the project. With construction expected to begin in 2017 and operations beginning in 2019, the route will stop at 12 stations from the Santa Ana train station, through downtown Santa Ana, and connecting to a new multimodal transit hub at Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove. L.A. County May Ban Utility-Scale Wind Turbines The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took preliminary steps to ban utility-scale wind turbines in the county's unincorporated areas, voting unanimously on a draft Renewable Energy Ordinance that would update the county's permitting and regulations on those projects along with small-scale wind and solar projects. After hearing complaints from residents of Antelope Valley that the large wind projects - originally planned to have a height limit of 500 feet- created fugitive dust and contributed to health concerns like valley fever, Supervisor Michael Antonovich proposed the ban in favor of regulations that would incentivize construction of small-scale projects mounted on roofs by streamlining the permitting process for those smaller projects. The county's Department of Regional Planning staff had recommended that the large wind farms, which typically generate electricity for off-site use and are contracted through a power-purchase agreement with a utility, be allowed but regulated. Oakland Considers Proposal to Keep Raiders Oakland City council members met in a closed session to discuss a proposal by San Diego developer Floyd Kephart in which Oakland and Alameda Counties would finance $100-140 million in infrastructure improvements before submitting plans to finance the $1 billion Oakland Raiders "Coliseum City" project he is heading. While activists rallied to decry the project, saying that Kephart should guarantee local jobs, affordable housing, and public services, Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan defended Kephart's request to be freed from obligations to improve infrastructure. "Even if all the sports teams and Floyd Kephart disappear, we should still develop that site," Kaplan told the San Francisco Chronicle. She added that transit-oriented development - such as a massive sports complex, convention center, or shopping mall near the Coliseum BART station - will create jobs, boost the economy and encourage people to use public transportation. Judge to Deliberate on Sacramento Arena Following Final Arguments A lawsuit over a public subsidy given to fund a new downtown stadium for the Sacramento Kings will go to a judge following final arguments in which plaintiffs argued that the city committed fraud by hiding the full value of its investment. Specifically, they argued that rights to 3,700 parking spaces at the former Downtown Plaza and entitlements to build six digital signboards near freeways amounts to a secret subsidy given by the city without any public disclosure. Attorneys for the city said that the plaintiffs were tossing unproven theories in hopes that one would stick. "They failed to really produce any evidence that there was a collusion or conspiracy among city staff, city officials, the city council to defraud the public," Assistant City Attorney Matt Ruyak said at the hearing, according to Capitol Public Radio . Expedited Review Environmental Approved for Potential S.D. Football Stadium The San Diego City Council voted, 6-3, to approve a $2.1 million expedited environmental review for a new Chargers stadium, hoping to convince the NFL to force the non-complicit Chargers -- currently pursuing a joint venture in Carson with the Oakland Raiders -- back to the bargaining table, . Officials hope that the vote will show the NFL that San Diego is serious about building a new stadium in the wake of a looming visit of NFL executives to San Diego in July and a meeting of NFL owners in Chicago on August 10, along with Mayor Kevin Faulconer's hopes to put a stadium proposal on the ballot in December or January. The proposal would build a new stadium at the Chargers' existing site at Qualcomm Stadium, though the Chargers were in favor of a downtown site. The council members in opposition called the spending an improper use of taxpayer money. "Without a financing plan for this project, we are simply not being serious," as Councilman David Alvarez said at the meeting, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. U.S., Mexico Move Towards Tijuana River Agreement The U.S. and Mexico are preparing to sign a binding formal agreement to regulate pollution that has plagued the Tijuana River watershed on both sides of the border. The agreement, known as a "minute" and expected to be completed before the end of the summer, would set up a bilateral framework composed of government agencies and the nonprofit sector to address the watershed's three major issues: sediment control, solid waste management, and water quality. The Tijuana River Watershed covers 1,735 miles of Baja California and San Diego County, and pollution from discarded tires in Tijuana, sediment erosion from Mexican canyons, and other pollution have affected water quality on both sides of the border for the past three decades. Judge Throws Up Roadblock for Uber Ride-Hailing Service A California judge dealt a blow to ride-hailing service Uber, recommending that the Silicon Valley-based company be fined $7.3 million and be suspended from operating in California for evading a 2013 state law designed to ensure that drivers are doling out rides fairly to all passengers. In the ruling, Karen V. Clopton, chief administrative law judge of the California Public Utilities Commission, said that Uber's annual report concerning data about rides provided through the app did not include hard numbers on customers who requested cars to accommodate service animals or wheelchairs, or raw numbers on requests tabulated by ZIP Codes.  While a $7.3 million fine would be just a drop in the bucket for the company backed by $5.9 billion in venture capital, the suspension of Uber's services in its own backyard would be a major symbolic blow as it faces litigation in other cities in the U.S. along with countries throughout Europe.  "It's not a market they would want to jeopardize their existence in over not handing over some spreadsheets," Juan Matute, the associate director of the UCLA Lewis Center and the Institute of Transportation Studies, told the LA Times.

The Mountain View City Council specified the number of houses it is prepared to build in the city's North Bayshore business district, choosing the densest option of building 9,100 units in the area that's home to Google, LinkedIn, and Microsoft. "It gives us the most flexibility moving forward," Vice Mayor Pat Showalter said at the meeting, according to the San Francisco Business Journal . "It's not all going to be built. So having more areas where it's allowed is better." Getting to that number of units would require a revision of the final Environmental Impact Report, which the previous council had approved without any residential space. After that, voters put a pro-housing council majority into office last November as housing advocates said approving office space with no housing would aggravate traffic issues and promote suburban sprawl. Councilmembers supported a land-use plan that would allow residential uses for over 60 acres of land, most of which is owned by Google. Mountain View currently has 31,000 households.  Downtown L.A. Subway Project Falters Los Angeles' Downtown Regional Connector project -- considered as a crucial missing link in Metro's expanding mass transit network -- is already encountering cost overruns and schedule delays, even before tunneling has begun. Half of the project's $92.7 million reserve for unexpected cost has been expended because of complications with underground utilities, and a Metro analysis indicates that the estimated $1.42-billion price tag for the subway connection needs to grow by $130 million, or 9%, to cover the added expenses and replenish the reserve fund. The project will be a 1.9-mile connection between the 7th Street subway station near Staples Center to the eastern edge of Little Tokyo near Union Station, and is seen as the linchpin of an unprecedented boom in rail construction for Metro. "These kinds of stumbles that we're having here are very common in construction projects, but especially when you're doing it in a huge business area, in a downtown environment," said Metro spokesperson Pauletta Tonilas. "It's not a surprise that we've hit some bumps in the road." Bay Area Group Calls for Penalties on Cities that Shirk Housing Obligations A controversial new report from the Bay Area Council suggests that Bay Area cities that do not build enough housing to keep up with the region's growth should be punished by having their ability to approve or reject development projects stripped. The "Roadmap for Economic Resilience" report suggests creating "super agencies" to supersede local planning authorities in approving and funding projects, and it suggests that the state could expand "by right" approvals in which cities are powerless to block a project if it complies with local zoning and building codes. It also said that the area's 26 transit agencies need to begin coordinating their planning immediately. "The mission of the report isn't to say, 'It must be done this way,'" Jim Wunderman, the council's chief executive officer, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "It's to start a region-wide conversation. ... We don't, in any way, want to put local governments out of the business of deciding what goes in their neighborhoods." L.A. Earthquake Upgrades to Begin in February As early as February, Los Angeles officials will start instructing some property owners to initiate earthquake retrofits  on thousands of wooden buildings in the city. The orders will apply to "soft-story" wooden apartments with weak first floors that are often held up by slender columns over carports.  An estimated 15,000 buildings -- both wooden and concrete -- across the city will be strengthened under Los Angeles' new landmark retrofitting laws. Owners of the city's largest apartment buildings containing 16 or more units will receive the first wave of orders, after which they have one year either to submit proof that the building doesn't need retrofitting or to submit plans for retrofit or demolition. Property Owners Force Repeal of Rent Control in Richmond The Richmond City Council voted to repeal a rent control ordinance following a successful petition drive by property owners in the area. The ordinance was passed by a City Council vote instead of a voter referendum and was therefore subject to repeal if enough opposing signatures were gathered. It would have prevented landlords from increasing rents more than 2 percent each year and made it more difficult to evict tenants. Councilwoman Gayle McLaughlin, who supports rent control, said coalition groups are drafting a new policy with simpler and clearer language to be voted on by the city council in the near future, after which it will be put up for a referendum for Richmond voters. Los Angeles Faces CEQA Suit over Drilling A group of environmental advocates are  suing  the City of Los Angeles, alleging that the city has violated the California Environmental Quality Act by rubber stamping plans involving oil drilling near homes. Officials have exempted most plans related  o oil drilling and extraction from CEQA requirements "under the basis of there being no change in land use," because many sites predate the 1970 passage of CEQA, according to a report prepared last year by the Planning Department. The lawsuit, which comes from Youth for Environmental Justice, the Center for Biological Diversity and the South Central Youth Leadership Coalition, could find only one instance when Los Angeles required an Environmental Impact Report for oil drilling, and it came in a largely white neighborhood. The groups are arguing that oil drilling sites should be fitted with much more stringent conditions like taller walls, better sound protection, and less-polluting equipment. Redwood City Approves Affordable Housing Fee The Redwood City City Council approved a new affordable housing fee on development in the city.  The move, which would charge developers $5 to $25 per square foot for commercial projects over 5,000 square feet and residential projects of five or more units to generate $3 million per year., was opposed by business and developers' groups, who argued that the fee would raise housing prices and bring development to a halt. "I think when it comes to the situation that we're in right now, the rules are different," Vice Mayor Rosanne Foust, who supported the ordinance, told the San Jose Mercury News. "And if one housing developer decides, 'you know what, I'm not interested in paying that fee,' my guess is there are four other housing developers that are going to be behind him." Developers who agree to build affordable housing or provide land for such a project could be exempted from the fee. Wind Farm Proposed for Coast off Morro Bay Plans to build the state's first offshore wind farm are gaining steam as a Seattle company released a plan to install 100 floating turbines up to 636 feet tall about 15 miles off Morro Bay. The project would generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity, capable of powering 300,000 homes. However, some environmentalists are already wary of the project. "California places a great deal of value on the Pacific coastline and what it looks like when you travel there. People don't want to look out and see a floating industrial facility," said Susan Jordan, director of the California Coastal Protection Network in Santa Barbara. California currently draws 8 percent of its electricity from its 1,883 wind turbines. It needs to increase that and other renewable sources to follow Gov. Jerry Brown's landmark law requiring state utilities to provide 50 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Report: San Diego Facies Housing Crisis A new report from the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the London Group finds that San Diego County is building itself up for an affordable housing crisis that could choke economic growth. The report finds that home building has slowed dramatically since the 2008 recession with only 3,153 multifamily units  and 2,272 single family units being built since 2008, respectively corresponding to 44 percent and 64 percent of what SANDAG anticipated. The report predicts that there could be a shortage of 45,000 to 118,000 single family homes by 2050. "Ultimately we pay the price in those companies that are not growing or moving out or expanding elsewhere," economist Gary London said. "The other path is that we become a boutique region where we basically become a region that mostly accommodates the haves and leaves out the have-nots." Restoration Begins on Portion of Salton Sea Officials began work on a $3.5 million project to restore 420 acres of Red Hill Bay on the southeastern shore of the beleaguered Salton Sea, which has been dying for decades. Recently, agricultural runoff, which is crucial to the sea's water levels, has been declining. The modest project, which is slated for completion in early 2017, is a signal that restoration of the 35-mile-long sea is not a lost cause. The Pacific Institute, an environmental think tank, has warned that a loss of water in the sea exposes the sea bottom laden with pesticides and salt, potentially causing an impending disaster to public health, property values, agricultural production, the environment, and the recreation industry. The Salton Sea Authority has set a goal of restoring 12,000 acres of shoreline habitat in the next five years, and another 25,000 acres starting in 2020.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 12-2 to support a sweeping new mobility plan that would focus on increasing bicycle and pedestrian safety and reducing car usage by reshaping streets with medians, widened sidewalks, and over 300 miles of dedicated bike and bus lanes, at the expense of car lanes. The plan, dubbed " Mobility Plan 2035 ," (PDF) seeks to cut the fatality rate from traffic collisions to zero within 20 years, partly by keeping cars within speed limits by creating road diets, where vehicular lanes are shrunk and things like medians and sidewalks are widened. Opponents have argued that the plan would worsen traffic throughout the city and worsen emergency response times.  OPR Releases Draft CEQA Guidelines Update The Governor's Office of Planning and Research has released its Preliminary Discussion Draft of its updates to the guidelines for implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act. Notably, the draft proposes efficiency improvements including streamlined environmental checklists and enhanced exemptions for things like mixed-use projects near transit, substantive improvements to include energy impacts analysis and water supply impacts, and technical improvements including clarifying using projected future conditions as an environmental baseline. Notably, the draft does not include changes to transportation analysis including the "level of service" metric as required by SB 743 and will release that proposal separately. OPR is seeking comments on the draft until October 12, 2015. Bay Area Counties Collaborate on Proposed Transportation Funding Tax Measure A transportation advocacy group is asking residents of five Bay Area counties to approve a half-cent sales tax to raise $500 million a year for transportation improvements, marking the first time multiple counties have taken a coordinated regional approach to asking voters to improve highways and transit systems. Carl Guardino, president of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group leading the charge, said that having all five counties of Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Contra Costa vote in the November 2016 ballot cycle would facilitate regional improvements across counties. In order to be approved as a "special tax," however, the measures would face the difficult task of being approved by two-thirds of voters in each county. "The spending will be primarily focused on state highway system and picking up the ball the state has dropped," Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, told Reuters .  S.D. Airport, Coastal Commission Reach Odd Agreement Over Parking Lot In order to build a new $80 million parking structure at San Diego International Airport, officials there must paradoxically encourage the public not to use it in a compromise with the California Coastal Commission. The move comes as the Coastal Commission had asked the airport authority why the proposed three-story, 3,000 space garage was necessary when the airport authority said in 2009 that it wouldn't build the parking garage in order to encourage passengers to use public transit, rideshare and private parking lots away from the coast. Airport Spokesman Jon Heller said in a statement, "Our passengers' reaction to limited parking over the past six years strongly indicates that limiting parking does not increase transit use at San Diego International Airport and additional parking facilities are, in fact, needed." Parking is one of the airport's three top moneymakers, and brought in nearly $39 million in 2014. The Coastal Commission approved the garage on the condition that the airport increase its efforts to encourage the use of alternative transportation.  Solano County General Plan Update to Emphasize Flood Protection The Solano County Board of Supervisors will update a chapter in the Public Health and Safety portion of the county's General Plan to include comprehensive flood protection measures in line with floodplain mapping prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Water Resources. County staff reported to The Reporter that the update identifies rivers, creeks, streams, flood corridors, riparian habitat, and land that may accommodate floodwater for purposes of groundwater recharge and stormwater management. The updated mapping is consistent with requirements established by the Central Valley Flood Protection Board for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Drainage District. The update will also include updated fire hazard maps including state responsibility areas and an Implementation Program for the update. Grand Jury Faults Kings Co. Supes for Rail Lawsuit A grand jury criticized the Kings County Board of Supervisors for filing lawsuits against the state high-speed rail project, saying that supervisors should not have used public funding for litigation involving privately owned land that the state is seeking. In a 167-page report titled "The Train Has Already Left the Station," the jury questioned the expenditure of $150,000 in public funds on the battle, asserting that the rail line would not take any county-owned land except where it crosses public roads. County Supervisor Doug Verboon said the county elected to fight the project when the state in 2011 refused to provide a detailed plan for taking property, choosing to put the line through the middle of farm fields rather than along existing highways. The county is involved in two lawsuits: one saiys that the state will fail to comply with a 2008 bond act requiring the system to operate without subsidies, while the other asserts that the project failed to comply with California's Environmental Quality Act. San Jose Considers Moratorium on Mobile Home Park Closures San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and four City Council members have proposed a moratorium on closures of mobile home parks in the area as the sizzling real estate market there has made land beneath the parks triple in value and make developers eager to build market-rate housing there. The proposal came about after the announced closure of Winchester Ranch Mobile Home Community, which threatens to displace more than 100 mostly-elderly residents. Hoping to beef up protection for low-income residents, the City Council has requested a revision to a never-used 1986 ordinance outlining the process for closing mobile park homes. In the meantime, however, anyone can apply to close a park unless the city adopts the moratorium. State Wins Federal Grant for Habitat Protection California will receive nearly $16 million of a $37.2 million federal grant to 20 states from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support conservation planning and acquisition of vital habitat for endangered species. Awarded through the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund and funded in part by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the grants will benefit species ranging from the California gnatcatcher and the Karner blue butterfly, and it will enable states to work with private landowners, conservation groups and other government agencies to initiate conservation planning efforts and acquire or protect habitat for the conservation of threatened and endangered species. Electronic Billboard Stokes Dispute Between O.C. Cities The cities of Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa are fighting over a 79-foot-tall Clear Channel electronic billboard that would be a financial boon to Fountain Valley -- producing minimum $150,000 a year -- but a potential visual menace to residents of Costa Mesa, who argue that the sign will illuminate their homes at night. Matt Mogensen, Fountain Valley's interim planning and building director, said that the billboard would produce an ongoing revenue stream and allow the city to advertise its events four weeks annually on the dual 672-square-foot screens. However, Costa Mesa Development Services Director Gary Armstrong wrote a letter to Fountain Valley, urging Fountain Valley to consider alternative locations for the billboard, to lower its height to 31 feet, and to restrict hours of operation from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The sign would sit on the border of the two cities, and Fountain Valley city staff recommended its Planning Commission to approve the billboard despite Costa Mesa's pleas. Sacramento Considers Regulations on Short-Term Rentals Sacramento could join a growing list of cities across California seeking to regulate the growing online short-term rental market through websites like Airbnb. An ordinance set to go to the city's Planning and Design Commission would limit the number of days a property owner could rent out a home or room before needing to apply for a $2,600-minimum conditional use permit, and it would require renters to pay the current hotel occupancy tax of 12 percent the price of a nightly stay. Airbnb representatives have asked city officials to extend the proposed cap on service to beyond 30 nights, Joy Patterson, the principal planner with the city, told the Sacramento Business Journal. $50 Million Fund Dedicated to Housing in L.A. Los Angeles will expand its New Generation Fund, a public-private partnership between the city and financial institutions, bringing in $50 million to create, preserve and retrofit affordable housing in the city. The New Generation Fund offers pre-development and acquisition funding, using $10 million in City investment to leverage $50 million in private capital. "Early stage funding is critical in the development of affordable housing, especially in a high-cost city like Los Angeles with great market pressures," said Jeff Schaffer, VP and Southern California market leader, Enterprise. Developments Contribute to Sacramento Revitalization Two developments in Sacramento's urban core are sending signals of the revitalization of the central city as city leaders attempt to meet Mayor Kevin Johnson's "In Downtown" housing initiative goal of adding 10,000 housing units there over the next decade. The Sacramento City Council approved plans to open a new Whole Foods in midtown, also adding 141 apartments in a new six-story building. Additionally, the Sacramento City Unified School District voted unanimously to reopen Washington Elementary School in fall 2016, three years after it was closed due to falling enrollment. "This summer, we've seen a vision become a reality," Johnson told the Sacramento Bee . "With the two votes (Thursday), which will bring a supermarket, over 100 housing units and will reopen a school, we are transforming our downtown into a destination for people to live, work and play."

The Pismo Beach City Council voted to impose a moratorium on all new development in anticipation of a drastic drop in water supply next year. The moratorium, which is the city's first since 1988 and believed to be the first in the state in the current drought cycle,  immediately halts all building permit applications for vacant parcels and requires redevelopment or building changes at existing properties to consume less than or equal to the amount of water currently used. The city did not meet its 24 percent water conservation target set by the state for the months of September and October. State officials have announced that it expects to deliver only 10 percent of the water it allocates to California cities as reservoirs are still well below capacity, contributing to the decision to enact the moratorium. If the city's anticipated water supply falls below two triggers -- 1,130 acre-feet and 850 acre-feet -- two more building restriction tiers will go into effect: one prohibiting any new building permits, and another requiring new commercial use and redevelopment of existing buildings to show that water demand would be at least 30 percent less than the year before the tier was triggered. Fresno to Miss Deadline for 45,000-Home Expansion The city of Fresno's plans to expand development into an area called the Southeast Growth Area have languished, as it appears that the city will miss agreed-upon deadlines with the county to build on the land within 20 years. A decade ago, the county approved an expansion of the city of Fresno by 14 miles to the south and east to build a projected 45,000 homes accommodating 110,000 residents, along with the already-built $23.5 million Clovis Unified elementary school. Now, with none of the area built out and the state calling for more infill development and less sprawl, some members of the Local Agency Formation Commission -- which approves future boundaries for cities -- are calling for a reduction of the size of the growth area. SGC Releases RFP for Technical Assistance Pilot for AHSC The Strategic Growth Council has released a request for proposals to provide direct technical assistance to disadvantaged communities interested in applying for the 2015-16 Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program. This Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit competitive proposals from experienced and qualified contractors who will be engaged to provide technical assistance and specific services to eligible participants through a contract(s) with the SGC for the 2015-16 AHSC program funding round. Selected contractors for the SGC Technical Assistance Pilot will provide direct grant writing, analytical, and project management support to applicants to ultimately achieve successful AHSC applications for projects benefiting disadvantaged communities that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The RFP can be found by looking for Bid #RFP SGC 15100 - AHSC Technical Assistance Pilot on the  Bid Sync website. Federal Transportation Bill Includes $26 Billion for California California will receive $26 billion in federal funds for a variety of transportation projects as Congress agreed on a long-term transportation bill to raise federal spending on highways by 5 percent and transit by 8 percent in its first year. The bill, pushed through by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California) and James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), comes just in time to avoid the expiration of the Highway Trust Fund. It lacks a sustainable funding source, all but ensuring that the funding deficit for repairs will be even worse when the bill expires in five years. Instead of securing a sustainable funding source by raising the 18.4 cents a gallon federal gasoline tax, which both parties have shunned, Congressional negotiators scoured the budget for obscure alternatives, raiding the Federal Reserve's cushion against bank losses to revoking the passports of citizens behind on their taxes by $50,000 or more in an effort to get them to pay up.  Newport Beach Bans Marijuana Dispensaries The Newport Beach City Council voted to ban marijuana dispensaries and delivery services in the city in response to the state's Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, effective Jan. 1, which will create California's first statewide rules for growers and retailers. The state act forces cities either to take immediate action to enact rules or bans for medical marijuana, or to allow the state to become the sole authority for licensing and regulation. Newport Beach's municipal code previously did not address medical marijuana, but dispensaries have not been allowed to operate in the city, according to City Manager Dave Kiff. However, online searches found that several services say they deliver marijuana to people in the city. Riverside County Considers Steep Development Fees in Eastvale, Jurupa Valley A new proposal from a Riverside County water district would charge developers more than $5,000 per residential unit to pay the cost of water for homes being built in Eastvale and Jurupa Valley. The proposal from Jurupa Community Services District would first tack on a new $3,557 per-unit water resource fee charged to developers. "The goal of this new fee is to fairly apportion the cost of water supplies and sewer service between existing customers and new development," general manager Todd Corbin told the Press-Enterprise. "If we didn't do this, it's clear that existing customers would be subsidizing the cost of new development." The district is also proposing to hike  existing fees developers pay to connect their projects to water and sewer systems. All in all, the costs to builders would rise from $13,170 to $18,983, an estimated 44 percent increase. The Eastvale City Council adopted a resolution formally declaring its opposition to the increases.  San Francisco Mayor Looks to Another Housing Ballot Measure With San Francisco voters overwhelmingly approving pro-housing ballot measures in November, Mayor Ed Lee is convening a group of developers and affordable-housing advocates with the hopes of crafting a ballot measure for next year's ballot to increase the percentage of below-market units included in new projects. The city currently requires 12 percent affordable housing under 2012's Prop. C, which dropped the requirement from 15 percent. With development booming in the city, Lee said that the goal will be to offer developers benefits, such as raised height limits, higher densities, or fast-tracked approvals, to offset increased affordable housing requirements. While some projects in the city have agreed to go as high as 40 percent below-market-rate units, developers warn that increasing the requirements could halt the smaller projects that make up the bulk of the city's housing production. Los Angeles Housing Authority Loses Section 8 Suit A federal appeals court ruled that the Los Angeles Housing Authority's 2004 reduction in rent subsidies for about 20,000 poor people violated their right to due process. The court's ruling hinged on notifications of the cuts sent by the Housing Authority to Section 8 beneficiaries. Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt said the law requires the Housing Authority to give recipients a year's notice of possible cuts, and the notification fliers were so confusing and inadequate that the authority violated the recipients' rights to due process. The flier "uses the term �payment standards' six times without ever defining or explaining the term's meaning," Reinhardt said in the ruling. "A short and simple explanation, such as �this means that the Housing Authority has reduced the maximum amount it will contribute towards recipients' rent,' would have provided at least a small measure of clarity." The lawsuit came in a class action brought by the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness.  Santa Ana Loosens Limitations on Accessory Dwelling Units Santa Ana is updating city code to make it easier to build accessory dwelling units, or " granny flats ". Current regulations limit second units to 750 square feet or one-third the size of the lot's main house, with at least one parking space per bedroom. Thpse rules don't necessarily match up with the realities of how people live in the city, Hassan Haghani, executive director of the Santa Ana Planning and Building Agency, told KPCC. He imagines "good-sized" granny flats that could house a small family with a bathroom and full kitchen. "We have an awful lot of square footage of unused space in Orange County in the form of single-family homes," he said. A neighborhood not interested in packing in more families could request to be excluded from the ordinance under rules currently being written by City Council staffers. S.F. to Create City Department Dedicated to Homelessness San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced the creation of a city department that will group all of San Francisco's homeless services under one roof to streamline coordination and reduce clogs in the system. The new department, which may have as many as 30 employees, will inherit homelessness tasks currently performed by other city agencies, mainly the Department of Public Health and the Human Services Agency, and will oversee street outreach counseling teams, homeless housing services and mental health programs aimed at indigents. It comes as Lee plans to lay out his goal of spending at least $1 billion over the next four years to help 8,000 people out of homelessness.  "I'm not going to...say I am ending homelessness," the mayor said. "But I will use that phrase to say that everybody who works on this problem has the goal to end homelessness for a single person, a veteran, a child, a family member. I want a department that is dedicated to that outcome every day."  Olympic Valley Withdraws Application to Incorporate Efforts to incorporate the Squaw Valley area of Placer County � also know as Olympic Valley -- have officially come to a halt, with organizers withdrawing their application from the county's Local Agency Formation Commission. Inocorporate Olympic Valley, the group heading the bid, said that it would withdraw because LAFCO's stance has been staunchly negative on the financial viability of incorporation. An analysis from the State Controller's Office agreed with 18 of the 31 concerns of the group and found that the proposed city would net $15 million in revenues over its first 10 years. The effort was largely launched to gain greater say over development proposals in the Squaw Valley area, including one 200-unit housing development for resort employees. San Diego Council Member Proposes Alternative Infrastructure Plan  San Diego City Councilman Mark Kersey unveiled an infrastructure financing plan for the next 30 years to secure $4 to $5 billion for neighborhood infrastructure needs without raising taxes. The plan would dedicate future sales tax growth for the next 30 years and savings from voter-approved pension reform for the next 30 years, and it would preserve half of all new major general fund growth for the next 10 years to finance ongoing infrastructure needs. Kersey, the chairman of the Council's Infrastructure Committee, said that the full council will take up the proposal next year so it can be ready for the primary election ballot, where it would need a simple majority of voters to go into effect. "I think if we look at the past history, city leaders have shown an unwillingness to invest in needed (infrastructure)," Kersey told the Pomerado News. "With a voters mandate, infrastructure will be a top city priority."

Marking a major expansion of Los Angeles’ rail network, Phase II of the Exposition Light Rail Line, from Culver City to Santa Monica, officially opened Friday, May 20. The extension realizes a long-sought goal of connecting downtown Los Angeles to the beach; the two combined phrases make the trip in 46 minutes. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and other backers hope that the line will attract commuters who would otherwise travel on the heavily congested Interstate 10. It is also hoped that by reaching into the region’s affluent Westside the line will attract discretionary riders. Metro estimates that 64,000 riders will use the line daily by 2030. Built at a cost of $1.5 billion, Expo Line Phase II is one of several rail projects underway in Metro’s current construction plan. the design of the line has drawn criticism for having too many at-grade street crossings – 29 – and for not having signal priority in the City of Los Angeles. With the opening of Expo Phase II, Metro now operates over 100 miles of subway and light rail lines. (See prior CP&DR coverage  here  and here .) Report Describes Loss of Natural Lands in Western U.S. A new report called The Disappearing West , published by Truckee-based non-profit research group Conservation Science Partners, charts the transformation of the west’s natural lands by new subdivisions, roads, oil and gas production, agricultural operations, and other human developments. Between 2001 and 2011 nearly 4,321 square miles were developed in the 11 western states, with California losing the most natural land. They calculated every 2.5 minutes the West loses an area of natural land the size of a football field, that equates to a loss of over 430 square miles annually. Among California counties, San Bernardino lost the most land – 60,000 acres – followed by Riverside, Kern, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties. The report also found that only 12 percent of western land is protected as parkland or other type of preserve; California has the highest percentage of protected land in the West, at 24 percent. Completion of First Segment of High Speed Rail Pushed Back to 2022 The first segment of California High Speed Rail originally scheduled for completion in 2018 will not be done until 2022 according to revised contract with the federal government. The contract confirms that federal funds may be still used for the project even thought it is behind schedule. The delay has provided fuel for opponents of the project. Supporters say the delay reflects more ambitious plans and an improved vision, and they blame farmers and not-in-my-back-yarders for holding up construction with lawsuits and other protests. The Obama administration has given CHRSA an extension for the use of federal funds. The authority has 15 months to spend $2.5 billion from the federal government, but many feel the funds will still be spent after the deadline. Meanwhile, CHSRA has promised up to $500,000 each for cities including La Mirada, Norwalk and Santa Fe Springs to fund economic and environmental impact studies for the network’s eventual extension into Orange County. Friant Study Area Put in ‘Limbo’ by Fresno County Supervisors Fresno County supervisors voted , 5-0, to keep the Friant Corridor Study Area, a 5,364-acre section of land along the San Joaquin River between Fresno and the town of Friant, in limbo or “set aside.” While some groups are interested in developing the land, others, primarily environmental groups, say there is inadequate water available for development. A more complete study will now have to be done to include potential water supply sources. Twice the Fresno County Planning Commission has rejected the Friant Corridor Study. Developers Quad Knopf are interested in six “opportunity sites,” which include six percent of the study area. They are interested in expanding Lost Lake Recreation Area, kayak and canoe rentals, recreational fields, restaurants and convenience stores. Quad Knopf is not interested in residential development and thus did not complete an exhaustive comprehensive study including water supply. American Planning Association Launches Planning Assistance Program California Chapter of American Planning Association has launched a program that would offer planning assistance to financially constrained cities throughout California and Baja California. The Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT) helps educate the community, engages and empowers the municipalities. Participants may qualify for AICP credit and team members help with short-term and future planning. The evaluations for pro-bono assistance consider community need, potential positive impact and community readiness in terms of local leadership and community support. The community then reimburses team members for transportation, food, overnight accommodations and facilities and materials to undertake the project. The program is based on a similar programs in Illinois, Washington, and New Jersey. Study Shows Shortage of Funding for Bay Area Transportation Projects Transportation research firm Trip has released a study indicating that the Bay Area’s transportation projects are severely underfunded. Of the 20 most critical projects, only three have full funding, 11 have partial funding, and six won’t get any funds until 2020. Trip ranked the top 20 projects green, yellow or red depending on their funding. Projects receiving yellow ranking is seismic retrofitting of the Golden Gate Bridge, MTC’s planned express lane and BART extension to downtown San Jose to name a few. Red, or projects with severe underfunding, are the Caltrain extension, BART improvements, Interstate 680 interchanges and Highway 152 realignment and widening. They also looked at projects in Sacramento, San Diego and Los Angeles. Innovative Developer Tapped to Revitalize Downtown Garden Grove The Garden Grove city council unanimously approved a project intended to transform the downtown of the suburban Orange County city into a walkable business-friendly area. Little American Business (LAB) Holdings, owned by Shaheen Sadeghi , are the developers behind the widely acclaimed Anaheim Packing House and Costa Mesa’s The Lab. LAB is purchasing 17 parcels, including 12 single-family homes, downtown and plans to convert each into an art gallery, brewery, yoga, or coffee shop. The plans call for preservation of buildings’ historic elements. Some in Garden Grove say that the city has not sought enough public input into the project and have expressed concerns about displacement. Oakland Adopts Impact Fees on New Market-Rate Units Oakland is adopting impact fees on new market-rate housing units to provide funds for transportation, infrastructure and affordable housing. The City Council approved the fees, 7-1, which mirror those in neighboring cities Emeryville and Berkeley. The city is divided into three geographic zones with different fees for the different areas. The lowest fees starting in September is $750 per market-rate unit is in the area east of 23rd Avenue (including Coliseum City) and the highest is $7,000 in downtown, uptown and Lake Merritt. The fees are designed in part to encourage developers that include affordable housing in their projects, as they would be exempt. However, many residents worry that the fees are too low and not phased in quickly enough to push for change. (See coverage of rent control this month.) Los Angeles County Seeks Tax for Homeless Services The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to pursue a “millionaires tax” that would pay for housing and services for the homeless. Additionally, the supervisors will look at the $1 billion per year the county spends on homeless single adults on things like emergency medical care, mental health treatment, cash assistance and incarceration. Both propositions would need two-thirds approval from voters, and the millionaire’s tax would need a change in state law because the county does not have the authority to increase income taxes. Meanwhile, The city and county of Los Angeles passed plans to approve $150 million in funding to reduce homelessness. The state is considering a $2 billion in bonds to build 10,0000 to 14,000 units for mentally ill homeless people statewide.  Unlike the millionaire’s tax, the proposal to look into spending on homeless services was unanimously approved. Updates & Quick Hits The Concord City Council voted unanimously to approve Lennar Urban to develop the Concord Naval Weapons Station despite accusations about an unfair bidding process and objections from residents. Orange County Transportation Authority will be cutting bus routes with low-ridership starting June 12 but majority of reductions take place in October. For June, route 172 and 173 between Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach will be eliminated, and Route 178 on Saturdays from Huntington Beach to Irvine. The 91/Perris Valley Line (91/PV), which will extend Metrolink service on the 91 Line, will begin operations June 6. It is the first extension of Metrolink since the Antelope Valley Line was built in 1994. The extension will extend 24 miles from the Riverside to South Perris and add four new stations. The extension cost $248 million and will serve approximately 4,000 riders a week. UCLA Professor of Regional and International Development in the Department of Urban Planning Michael Storper received the Royal Medal from the Royal Geographical Society for his “leadership in human and economic geography.” His research focuses on urban economies, with a focus on California. Airbnb estimates it brought in $920 million into the Los Angeles economy last year. The national Hotel and Lodging Association says does not account for the loss in affordable housing and stable communities. The city is working on whether to tax guests or adopting rules and regulating hosts. Enough signatures have been collected to place an affordable housing measure, Build Better L.A. , on the November citywide ballot. The measure would compel real estate developers to provide affordable housing for larger projects that seek exemptions from city planning and zoning rules. Two Chargers fan groups are asking  San Diego visitors to boycott three hotel chains that are they say are opposed the proposed stadium-convention complex in downtown San Diego . The groups say they are following the money and want transparency for campaigns and projects. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) What was an ongoing debate in San Diego has finally been put to rest. The city’s Climate Action Plan is enforceable to the extent required by CEQA, according to City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. The 3,000-unit Parkmerced development in San Francisco is encouraging residents to take public transportation or ride-hailing services by offering $100-a-month credit. It is assumed to be the largest such developer-sponsored program in the state, and supporters are hailing it as a model for incentivizing the use of alternative transportation modes.

South Los Angeles and a section of San Diego south of downtown have been designated federal Promise Zones . Instituted in response to the recession of the late 2000s and administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the designation enables the country’s neediest neighborhoods to receive competitive federal grants to tackle poverty-related issues. This is the third round of designations; there are now 13 urban Promise Zones nationwide. Promise Zones are usually evaluated on number of empty foreclosed homes. After multiple unsuccessful applications, South L.A. won the designation in part because of high rates of multiple families living in a single apartment and one of the worst homelessness rates in the country; in San Diego’s Promise Zone, the youth unemployment rate of 40 percent was cited as a reason for the designation. Los Angeles is the only city to have two designations within its boundaries, with another area designated in 2014. Since the first designation, Los Angeles has secured nearly 30 grant awards in more than $100 million for education, workforce development, healthy food access and economic opportunity.  Initiative Would Significantly Revise Ventura County Open-Space Policy A proposed initiative in Ventura would weaken the existing open-space laws that were approved in 1995 and 2002. The Save Our Agricultural Resources (SOAR) and Hillsides Voter Participation Area ordinances were put in place by voters in order to give them a say in whether farmland could be converted into other land uses. Now, SOAR staff is updating its plan to include unincorporated county and assorted city measures. Opponents to the staff initiative have collected 30,000 signatures to place a new initiative, Sustain VC, on the ballot. The Sustain VC initiative would require voter approval to develop farmland and open space in unincorporated county, as well as designate up to 225 acres for food processing plants and rezone farm parcels. UC Berkeley Releases Tool for Analyzing Housing Supply Statewide The Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley released a new Housing Development Dashboard , an interactive platform to allow stakeholders to easily understand and interact with land use measures and market conditions for housing production. The Dashboard was designed in response to the state’s housing affordability crisis with an eye towards evaluating the supply of housing statewide. The Dashboard is designed to simulate a variety of housing strategies and outcomes: Will a higher level of inclusionary housing stall production? How much more housing would get built if we streamlined the approval process? The Dashboard was built on multiple data sets and default assumptions about economic factors that influence housing production. Next the researchers assessed how various policies change the cost of development. Currently the system has a Development Calculator and Policy Gauge, although the latter is only developed for four Bay Area cities. Senate Approves Reconstitution of SCAQMD Board The state Senate approved a bill to add three state-appointed environmental justice members to the South Coast Air Quality Management District board. SCAQMD has come under fire for becoming more business friendly after the transition to the panel’s Republican majority, according to Senate Leader Kevin DeLeón (D-LA). This was evidenced by the SCAQMD vote, which fell along party lines, 7 Republicans opposed and five Democrats and one independent in favor. This bill would expand the board from 13 to 16 members, with the three new representatives appointed by the governor, Senate Rules Committee, and the Assembly speaker. Currently there are 10 locally chosen members and three state appointees. SCAQMD is in charge of improving air quality for 17 million residents, with an area that currently has the worst smog in the nation. Survey Gauges Los Angeles Voters’ Attitudes towards Transportation Options In anticipation of a major transportation measure on the November ballot, Los Angeles-based transportation advocacy group Investing in Place released  results of a survey of L.A. County voters and their priorities related to transportation funds. The survey found strong voter approval for using tax revenue from the potential L.A. County Transportation tax to fund alternatives to driving, and especially for investing in projects that improve walkability throughout the county. There is strong support for spending funds on freeways, rail transit and bus service, more voters are interested in methods that are alternatives to driving. For instance 83 percent of voters said they would be in favor of using funds to make it easier and safer for children to walk or bike to school. Additionally it is estimated that 19 percent of all trips in L.A. County are walking or biking, while those methods of transportation represent 39 percent of those killed in traffic collisions. Making alternatives to driving safer and improving sidewalks must be priorities for Los Angeles County. Feds Approve Redevelopment of L.A.’s Jordan Downs The City of Los Angeles has received federal approval to demolish and transform the 49-acre Jordan Downs, a public housing project in Watts that has been plagued with problems for generations. This revitalization will happen in multiple phases. The first phase, beginning this year, includes a public-private effort led by HACLA to rebuild 250 units of new affordable housing, 120,000 square feet of retail, nearly two acres of park space and an expansive community center. In later phases, there were will be additional public amenities and total 1,410 units of housing (both affordable rental and ownership). Updates & Quick Hits The San Francisco Planning Commission voted, 4-3, to reject a ban on chain stores on Polk Street after a proposed Whole Foods caused an uproar among residents. Planning commissioners said zoning should be amended to permit some retail establishments in while imposing restrictions on developments opposed by residents. Documents filed this week by state and federal officials assert that the proposed $17 billion Delta tunnels will not divert Northern California’s water to Southern California. Public hearings will begin end of July, with the first set dedicated to water rights and the second round on tunnels’ impact on the environment. California Coastal Commission Chairman Steve Kinsey will recuse himself from voting on the proposed Newport Banning Ranch project because of previously undisclosed private meetings with developers. Notices of ex-parte meetings must be filed within a week of the meeting; Kinsey failed to report two separate meetings last year. The Los Angeles City Council voted , 12-0, to provide $198.5 million in subsidies and loans to Related Cos. to build a mixed use development consisting of two towers across from Walt Disney Concert Hall.  The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission approved , 5-0, a farm-labor housing camp west of Orcutt. The Curletti Farm Employee Housing Project included 30 bunkhouses, common buildings for cooking, dining and laundry for Betteravia Farms which grows produce on 9,000 acres. Developers John Leung and Jean Lang, who had been developing a $1 billion, 65-acre El Monte Transit Village, are facing three counts of bank fraud and seven counts of making false statements to a federally insured institution. The city of El Monte is suing the two for forging signatures to obtain loans and lines of credit and both were arrested in 2009 for forgery, embezzlement, grand theft, burglary and fraud but charges were filed last week. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted , 10-0, to approve legislation that would require short-term rentals to post listings only if the resident is registered with the city, or face daily fines up to $1,000.

In a possible blow to High Speed Rail and climate-change programs like the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant program, the most recent cap-and-trade auction fell short of expectations. Only 2 percent of carbon credits were purchased -- 785,000 of the 43 million offered, all sold at the floor price of $12.73. The Department of Finance had anticipated revenues of $2.4 billion for the fiscal year. Three previous auctions met expectations, resulting in a total of $1.8 billion for the year. The rail authority was expecting $150 million and received $2.5 million from the $10 million that was generated last week. Some analysts suggest that emitters of carbon dioxide have cut back on emissions more than anticipated. Other reasons for the low turnout are because there is less need for credits, litigation may overturn the entire system and volatility by speculators in a secondary trading market. There is a $500 million reserve set up for volatility that could help close the gap, which will be decided on by Gov. Jerry Brown and the legislature. Riverside to Reconsider Governance of March Air Base Riverside County supervisors are sponsoring a measure to ask the Board of Supervisors to restructure the March Joint Powers Authority, which in 1993 was tasked with overseeing the transition from military to civilian use. The former March Air Force Base is significantly smaller now and does not need the annual $600,000 subsidy. The remaining land would be parceled equally among the three cities: Riverside, Moreno Valley and Perris. The JPA will still exist but its role would be as airport authority, overseeing civilian use of the March base and promoting base’s importance in case of downsizing or elimination by Congress. Disbanding the JPA has been considered before and failed, but the supervisors are more hopeful because the vision and most land has been developed. Sacramento May Shut Underperforming Light Rail Segment Sacramento Regional Transit is considering closing the Green Line to North Natomas and Sacramento International Airport indefinitely, after costing $44 million and operating for four years. This line averages only 440 boardings a day and costs $330,000 annually. Transit officials had hoped housing developments in the areas the Green Line served would come online more quickly. Another option, instead of closing a line, would be having every few Gold Line trains make the entire Green Line loop . Final decisions will be made in June, and the cuts would take place January 2017. RT has suffered from low ridership, increased costs, and less state and federal transportation funding. Fares were increased by 10 percent, making tickets the most expensive in the state. Lawsuit Filed by Critic of Inglewood Football Stadium Barbara Ohno, a former accountant for the city of Inglewood, is filing a lawsuit against Mayor James Butts and other officials because she claims to have been let go for “whistle-blowing” on alleged financial and accounting irregularities during the city’s pursuit of an NFL team. She says the city “engaged in faulty financial and accounting practices, fraudulent regulatory reporting, and reclassification of costs to depict a favorable, but false, financial picture.” City representatives say Ohno was a probationary employee released before completing her probationary period and that the city was never required to present financial data to the NFL. Los Angles May Subsidize Grand Avenue Project The City of Los Angeles may offer a financial aid package of $198.5 million over 25 years to Related Cos. to support the completion of the long-awaited Grand Avenue Project. Related put $50 million into constructing Grand Park and opened Emerson, a luxury apartment building nearby, two years later. Now, a pair of hotel and residential towers are planned across from Walt Disney Concert Hall but the funds are short. The proposed funds would help Related finish constructing a four-star hotel, 429 residential units, restaurants and stores on Grand Avenue. Related would be able to keep half of the taxes generated for the city. This subsidy package represents half of the funding gap, which an analyst says is so high because of the decision to hire Frank Gehry as the architect.  City Council will vote on the proposal next week and construction on the towers will begin next year. Los Angeles Sponsors Competition for Innovative Urban Solutions Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has announced the first Mayor’s Cup, with a $25,000 prize, for innovative solutions for promoting entrepreneurship, preserving affordable housing, supporting small businesses, and beautifying vacant and blighted spaces. The program is soliciting proposals from student entrepreneurs and local academics to incentivize creativity. Submissions must solve one of eight challenges posed by the program.  Finalists will pitch ideas to panel of business and government leaders; grand prize winners will work with City Hall for eight weeks to bring their proposals to life. Applications are due Oct. 15 and finalists will be announced early November. San Francisco Competes for  ‘ Smart City’ Grant San Francisco is one of seven cities pitching a transportation vision to U.S. Department of Transportation for a $50 million “Smart City” grant. The San Francisco plan includes Mayor Ed Lee, SF Municipal Transportation Agency, UC Berkeley, Google, Uber and Lyft. The plan includes autonomous buses, shared bikes, Uber and Lyft vehicles and parking structures converted into green space or affordable housing. The entire system would be available using a single smartphone app. More than 40 companies have pledged a combined $99 million should they receive the federal grant. This new system would improve safety, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and allow people to travel anywhere in the city in twenty minutes or less. The project will be implemented in three-year phases over the next decade. Quick Hits & Updates Madera County is creating a Department of Water and Natural Resources to streamline services for residents, ensure groundwater management, and deal with supply, quality and storage. Julia Berry, former executive director of Madera County Farm Bureau, is the new director of the department.A judge approved the Metropolitan Water District’s purchase of 20,000 acres in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties asked the Superior Court to block the purchase arguing about the potential harm to the delta.In one of the largest commercial deals in recent memory in San Francisco, the Planning Commission approved two mixed-use towers totaling 2.3 million square feet in the Transbay district in South of Market. One tower is 850 feet with residence and offices and the other is 605 with residences and a hotel. City officials say the project supports walkability, increased public transit and restores historic buildings on site.KaBOOM! announced its 2016 Playful Cities USA that make it easy for kids to get “balanced and active play in their neighborhoods.” Out of the 257 communities that were recognized, 30 are in California. San Francisco and Kerman have been recognized as honorees ten times.The ongoing lawsuit on Bakersfield’s Centennial Corridor project must return to court earlier than expected because demolition contractors began dismantling vacant structures. The group suing, Concerned Citizens About Centennial Corridor, is asking for a preliminary injunction against further work on the project before the June 3 court date.The Del Rey Oaks city council unanimously approved a would-be ballot initiative clearing the way for  the development of a 54-acre RV park in the city. It is believed to be the first time the “Tuolumne tactic,” which enables a council to pre-empt a popular vote without CEQA review, has been used on a project that small.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on April 25 to take a case from Connecticut that would have overturned the 1985 case Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City , 473 U. S. 172, a pre-First English case in which the court ruled that property owners seeking to a regulatory taking case in federal court have to first ensure that all administrative remedies at the local or state level are exhausted and then seek compensation through whatever mechanism is provided by the state.