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Apparently Marilyn Monroe violates the California Motor Vehicle Code and the California Environmental Quality Act. Overturning the decision of a Riverside County judge, an appellate court has ruled that the City of Palm Springs’ decision to close off a street for three years to display a statue of Marilyn violates both laws.

More homeless people isn’t an environmental impact, but noisy drunken students are. Gov. Newsom wants to do something about that.

CP&DR Vol. 38 No. 2 February 2023

The City of Weed – 3,000 people located along I-5 more than 200 miles north of Sacramento – isn’t usually front and center in California planning and development news. But a dispute over water – and over motivations behind subsequent lawsuits – has brought Weed to the fore.

If you’re going to file a lawsuit under the California Environmental Quality Act, you’ve got to bring up issues during administrative review – and do so very specifically.

Property Owners Sue San Francisco over Vacancy Tax A group of landlords and property owners along with the San Francisco Apartment Association are suing the city over "The Empty Home Tax," a citywide tax on empty properties. The claimants assert the tax is a violation of their constitutional right to property ownership. "The Empty Home Tax," or Proposition M, passed in November with 54% of voter support, will start charging property owners a tax on units sitting vacant for over 182 days, taking effect in 2024. The taxes start at $2,500 for smaller units and $5,000 for units over 1,000 square feet and will be enforced on buildings with three or more units. The tax is an incentivizing effort to make sure thytatt property owners and landlords are renting out available housing. The San Francisco Supervisor pushed back on the lawsuit in a statement, saying "San Francisco voters delivered a clear mandate that it is completely unacceptable to have tens of thousands of vacant homes as more than 4,000 people are living on our streets." The same claimants previous sued the city and lost over a law banning evictions during the pandemic. Several Land Use Bills Introduced in Legislature; "Cannabis Cafes" Could be Legalized A flurry of bills related to land use were introduced in both chambers of the California legislature recently. One bill could legalize the sale of beverages and food at cannabis retailers, enabling them to operate like cafes, in the hopes of helping the legal cannabis industry survive in California. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Senator Scott Wiener's new bill makes 2017 Senate Bill 35 - the law that requires local city governments to streamline building if affordable housing goals have not been met - permanent in the state while also removing a requirement to use unionized workers, hoping to expand its reach. SB 423 , as proposed by Senator Scott Wiener, is a permanent amendment to SB 35, expanding the original provision to include mixed-use housing developments. The original SB 35 was set to expire in two years, but Senator Wiener ensured the bill would continue to streamline housing projects permanently in California. Assembly Bill 930 would enable two or more legislative bodies (including city or county government, special districts or transit agencies) to together form a Reinvestment in Infrastructure for a Sustainable and Equitable California district (RISE district) and provide low- and moderate-income housing bonds for the combined area. 24,000 New Homes Coming to San Diego's Mira Mesa Neighborhood The San Diego City Council unanimously approved a blueprint for Mira Mesa with a big plan to ditch the car-dependent neighborhood and construct pedestrian-friendly urban villages with 24,000 new homes, mostly in high-rise housing. While other San Diego neighborhoods would remain unchanged for the moment, the city plans to rezone Mira Mesa's commercial land for high-density housing. Meanwhile, lawmakers hope to build walking bridges over car-centric streets, and several lanes primarily used by vehicles would turn into pathways for buses and bicycles. The plan's opponents are concerned that the blueprint will attract too many residents and not enough infrastructure or green space, and environmental advocates say proposals for reducing auto-dependency are inadequate. Report Estimates Effect of CEQA Suits on Housing Production The Center for Jobs and the Economy released a new report that analyzes the damaging impact of CEQA lawsuits on housing production. While the 3.5 million-home statewide shortfall intensifies, lawsuits against new housing that prevent upzoning, transit accessibility, and housing affordability under the guise of environmental violations continue to grow. The report illuminates that anti-housing lawsuits have impacted nearly half of the state's annual housing production, which totals an average of 110,784 homes. The authors conclude that CEQA has acted as a form of population reduction by driving out residents. While the researchers intend to analyze two more years of CEQA lawsuit data, they do not expect results to change. State Allocates $825 Million for Affordable Housing California Governor Gavin Newsom announced this week upwards of $825-million in awards over 9,500 homes in 58 communities to build affordable housing, along with a streamlined application process for local governments. This new process was made possible by Assembly Bill 434 , which allowed for multiple housing applications to be narrowed down into a single award process. Under this new approach, requests for housing development funds have soared. The first round of new Multifamily Finance Super Notice of Funding Availability ("Super NOFA") received more than $3.5 billion in developer requests. CP&DR Coverage: TOD Arrives in the Suburbs While many big-city transit districts have gotten in on transit-oriented development, the suburbs have been slow to catch on -- until recently. The North San Diego County Transit District , which runs the buses and trains in the region, is in the midst of planning for reuse of a dozen underutilized parking lots that are next to the region's train and bus stations. NCTD transit goes to San Diego and from the north county coastal cities to inland communities such as Escondido. When completed in a decade, those redeveloped parking lots should contain hundreds of new housing units, retail, and offices, all of which are expected to create more riders for the transit systems. Quick Hits & Updates Los Angeles City Mayor Karen Bass ordered city officials to provide a comprehensive list of vacant properties across the city by Mar. 31, one of the largest steps Bass has taken yet in her term to address the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. Bass, in her campaign promises, ensured she will find housing for 17,000 in her first year in office. She hopes to use vacant land to build temporary or permanent housing in the city. The California Department of Housing and Community Development in partnership with the Strategic Growth Council announced the release of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Notice of Funding Availability for approximately $750 million. The application is open now through April 4. Cal Poly Humboldt, currently facing a student housing crisis, is looking into temporarily housing approximately 600 students on a barge in Humboldt Bay. The consideration follows a large-scale student body protest over a lack of on-campus housing. Under the proposed Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act , housing and renewable energy developments potentially disruptive to the endangered local Joshua trees will pay to relocate the trees elsewhere in order to approve more projects in the high desert. San Francisco's plan to build tiny homes for the homeless in the Mission district faces fierce criticism from community members, as well as mounting internal concern about cost, although funding has already been secured for the project. Even some proponents of the plan are shifting position. State Sen. Scott Wiener introduced a plan to strip down the San Francisco Central Freeway that cuts through SoMa and connects travelers between the Bay Bridge and the city's downtown. Thus far, Wiener has requested that Caltrans conduct a study of the impact of demolition, part of which has already been reimagined into Octavia Boulevard, which is now home to apartment buildings and new amenities. BART and San Francisco developer Bridge Housing have entered a two-year Exclusive Negotiating Agreement to construct a transit-oriented housing development near the North Berkeley Station. The 5.5-acre site could hold 500 to 1,200 homes, 35% of which would be affordable. Bay Area airports may see flooding damage to runways if local governments do not mitigate the impacts of sea level rise and storm surge, according to a new study from UC Berkeley. Researchers found that 39 out of 43 coastal airports would be at-risk to flooding by 2100, including all Bay Area airports, half of which are expected to face flooding in the next 20 years. The city of Rancho Mirage faces a lawsuit by a lone resident claiming officials are not following through on a promise to adapt a city-owned mobile home park into affordable housing. The commitment dates back to the land purchase in 2009 by the city, when officials claimed the space was soon to be “uninhabitable” and they would adapt the land into affordable senior housing.

Two weeks ago, dozens of Bay Area jurisdictions failed, in one way or another, to meet the state-mandated deadline for adopting housing elements compliant with the sixth cycle of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment process and certified by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

While the City of San Diego has made aggressive moves recently to increase density, reduce parking requirements, and take advantage of its increasingly robust transit network, the city’s suburbs have traditionally been less enthusiastic about new development. Affluent coastal cities in north San Diego County, such as Del Mar and Encinitas have balked at state-mandated housing requirements and passed slow-growth ballot measures.

AG Warns Huntington Beach Over Builder's Remedy Attorney General Rob Bonta has warned the City of Huntington Beach that recent efforts to exempt itself from the Builder's Remedy is illegal. The Huntington Beach Planning Commission has already passed an ordinance prohibiting the processing of Builder's Remedy projects and City Council approval is pending. On January 9, 2023, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) sent a "Notice of Potential Violation" to the city, notifying the city that such a proposed ordinance would likely violate state housing and permitting laws. On February 7, 2023, Huntington Beach's city attorney transmitted the proposed ordinance, along with a legal memorandum, for the city's Planning Commission to review. Bonta followed up a warning from the Department of Housing & Community Development that the move violates the Housing Accountability Act. San Francisco Mayor Announces Aggressive Housing Program With San Francisco's Housing Element certified by the state, Mayor London Breed announced an overhaul of the city's housing policies. In an Executive Directive last week, Breed said she aims to amend the “blatant obstructionism and well-intentioned but ill-advised laws” causing the housing crisis in San Francisco by the state-approved plan. The Housing Element plans for 82,000 new housing units over the next eight years, and 46,000 of those units need to be considered affordable housing under Breed's 2023 Housing Element. The order also creates a task force of nonprofit builders and city officials to spearhead the implementation and funding of the wide scale project, hoping to build alongside transit corridors throughout three major zones of the city. The approval of the vast building project comes on the heels of approvals on other large housing projects in the city, after years of suffering from a historic lack of housing. State Awards First Prohousing Designation to Counties The city of El Sereno and the counties of Sacramento and Placer have been designated “Prohousing” under the new Prohousing Incentive Pilot Program, administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development. One of Placer County's application highlights is the increase of height limits in several multifamily zones to expand housing opportunities. The county also developed a universal entitlement application to expedite permit processing and created zoning to allow for Tiny Homes on Wheels, increasing housing choices while concurrently mitigating the impacts of fire hazards. The City of El Cerrito is promoting innovative housing types, notably the multi-phase Mayfair Project, which received local housing trust funds and utilizes modular housing technology to reduce cost and building times. In addition, El Cerrito implemented a post-entitlement process to further accelerate and streamline housing development; HCD also praised the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan. Sacramento County's application highlights include the modification of development standards and other applicable zoning provisions to promote greater development intensity. In addition, the county provides impact fee reductions for residential development and permits “missing middle” housing. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Lawsuit Filed to Block Los Angeles Transfer Tax Measure The Apartment Association of Los Angeles and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association are filing suit against the City of Los Angeles to over turn Measure ULA, a property transfer tax recently approved by 58 percent of city voters. The measure applies a 4 percent tax on property transactions between $5 million and $10 million, and a 5.5 percent tax on transactions of $10 million or more. It is scheduled to take effect on April 1. The tax is planned to fund affordable housing and tenant assistance programs. According to the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, the measure would raise approximately $923 million each year for affordable housing production and homelessness prevention<…> while having no effect on the average Angeleno.” The plaintiff's suit argues, however, that the tax is unconstitutional and will adversely impact property owners in the city and could chill market-rate development. Daniel Yukelson, Executive Director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, said in a statement, "If this unlawful tax is allowed to stand, it will be the last straw that will cause property owners to invest elsewhere and never to come back to Los Angeles." Report: AHSC Program Supported 15,324 Affordable Units The California Housing Partnership, in collaboration with Enterprise Community Partners, has released an analytical report on the efficacy of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program. In the six rounds since 2015, the AHSC program has invested $2.5 billion in 164 affordable housing developments across the state. According to the authors, the program has already added 15,324 affordable homes to the California housing stock while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 4.4 million metric tons. The report ultimately celebrates the AHSC program for its community-first approach to improving housing and climate goals and recommends further investment in AHSC as the only state affordable housing program with a continuous, designated funding source. (See related CP&DR coverage .) 24,000 New Homes Coming to San Diego's Mira Mesa Neighborhood The San Diego City Council unanimously approved a blueprint for Mira Mesa with a big plan to ditch the car-dependent neighborhood and construct pedestrian-friendly urban villages with 24,000 new homes, mostly in high-rise housing. While other San Diego neighborhoods would remain unchanged for the moment, the city plans to rezone Mira Mesa's commercial land for high-density housing. Meanwhile, lawmakers hope to build walking bridges over car-centric streets, and several lanes primarily used by vehicles would turn into pathways for buses and bicycles. The plan's opponents are concerned that the blueprint will attract too many residents and not enough infrastructure or green space, and environmental advocates say proposals for reducing auto-dependency are inadequate. CP&DR Coverage: State Awards Six Prohousing Designations Last February, the City of Sacramento became the first city to receive the state's "Prohousing" designation. A half-dozen more cities were approved in mid-December: Citrus Heights, Fontana, Oakland, Roseville, San Diego, and West Sacramento. From HCD's perspective, these cities represent “the best of the best” in terms of policies and programs to add housing, above and beyond basic compliance with state housing law. Fifteen applications are pending, including applications from major cities such as Fresno, Los Angles, and San Francisco. Seven are from counties. Along with the six recent designations, HCD announced the availability of up to $25.7 million in grant funding for the Prohousing Incentive Pilot Program (PIP). Quick Hits & Updates San Francisco Muni is facing a $214 million budget deficit beginning in 2025 as federal pandemic aid runs out. The city is also facing a deficit in its general fund, another way SFMT receives its budget. The city is looking into solutions including increasing parking control officers for parking citations, raising parking permit fees and charging delivery and rideshare drivers a fee when parking in a loading zone. 36.3 million trees died in the state of California in 2022, 26.8 million more than the year prior, according to a report by the U.S. Forest Service. Experts pointed to a severe drought leading into 2022, aggravating disease and pest infestations in the state's already dense and vulnerable forests. A Silicon Valley home developer and CEO is on a hunger strike over the city's resolution to delay the construction of his housing developments after this team did not procure approval for the project from the local Department of Environmental Health. Investigators hired by the Anaheim City Council to conduct a probe of the Angel Stadium sale have asked for an additional $750,000. The investigators cite the large scope of the work and additional email evidence has to be examined, stating the size of the investigation is much loftier than anticipated. The Guerneville Forest Coalition has filed a lawsuit to prevent logging near a 2,000-year-old redwood tree in Sonoma County. The group is fighting against Cal Fire, which approved a timber harvest plan that could impact the 340-foot Clar Tree that has avoided harm three times in the past 25 years. San Francisco Mayor London Breed's plan to allow the redevelopment of gas stations, parking lots, and other auto-related properties into housing will move forward after the Board of Supervisors approved the legislation following 14 months of delays. The Cars to Casas policy may not result in tangible impacts until the housing market and construction costs improve. In an effort to increase housing production, Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles announced changes to the city's review and approval processes for housing and shelters. City departments involved in review and approval must complete their work within 60 days, and discretionary review for all developments not requiring zoning changes will be waived. Construction has started on a new entry pavilion to the Los Angeles River Greenway in Canoga Park. Designed by Frank Gehry and part of the county's master plan for the 51-mile river, the project will include two buildings that frame the entrance with public restrooms, public art, a shade canopy, picnic tables, bike racks, and a drinking fountain. A group fighting for reparations for eviction and displacement from Palm Springs' Section 14 land during the 1950s and 60s are seeking $2 billion from the city, up from a previous proposal of $100 million. Though city officials have acknowledged their obligation to the impacted families, they are asking that the state get involved since the city budget is just $232 million.

Just when you thought appellate judges were growing frustrated with the California Environmental Quality Act, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled that a major project in the Irvine Business Complex is not exempt from CEQA because it involves a significant transfer of density within the IBC. In a business-against-business CEQA lawsuit, the justices actually seemed alarmed at the scale of change proposed by the project.

The issue of wildfire evacuation routes is threatening to bring down another major development project – this time, a 536-unit residential project in the suburban Rancho Penasquitos area. A San Diego County Superior Court judge ruled that the city should have included an analysis of wildlife evacuation routes in the environmental impact report. The judge also ruled that the city should have considered the cumulative impact of the Junipers project and two other nearby pending projects but did not do so in the EIR. In the last year, wildfire evacuation routes have become a major issue under the California Environmental Quality Act. Among other cases, the Fanita Ranch project in nearby Santee was shut down by a different San Diego judge on wildfire evacuation issues last year. At a CEQA seminar in December, Ron Milam of Fehr & Peers expressed concern about wildfire evacuation as a CEQA issue, saying, ““This is one of those ones that if you’re not careful will expand.” Locally, the cumulative impact angle got more attention, especially from San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott. The Junipers project , proposed by Lennar, is a gated community, which will redevelop the property that was the former location of a golf course. But two other projects are being developed nearby, including Minnenium PQ , a 313-unit apartment building, and The Trails at Carmel Highlands , which would add 826 homes. Local residents, organized as PQ-NE Action Group , argued in the CEQA lawsuit that the city should have considered the cumulative impact of all three projects. In San Franciscans for Reasonable Growth v. City and County of San Francisco (1984) 151 Cal. App. 3d 61, the seminal case on the issue, the First District court of Appeal said that projects “under environmental review” should be examined for their cumulative impact. This view was later added to the CEQA guidelines (Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 14, § 15355), which defines cumulative impact as “the change in the environment which results from the incremental impact of the project when added to other closely related past, present, and reasonably foreseeable probable future projects.” In the Junipers case, the city did not examine the cumulative impact of the three projects because the other two applications had not been “deemed complete” when the Notice of Preparation for the EIR was issued in 12018. But San Diego Superior Court Judge Ronald Frazier concluded:. “The city was clearly aware Millennium PQ and Trails were reasonably probably future projects. Thus, the EIR fails to comply with CEQA because it did not adequately consider the cumulative impact of Millennium PQ, Trails, and the Project.” The ruling raised Elliott’s ire. She told the San Diego Union-Tribune : “We disagree with the ruling, which could potentially require the city to restart the environmental review process whenever a second, unrelated project is proposed nearby, delaying completion of the first project.” The case is PQ-NE Action Group v. City of San Diego , No. 37-2021-00033583-CU-TT-CTL (tentative ruling filed February 2, 2023).

Following the January 31 deadline by which the 109 or so jurisdictions of the Bay Area were supposed to have adopted certified housing elements, it's hard to tell whether many of them are being savvy to a fault or simply tempting fate.