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Ever since the first SB 35 project was proposed in Burbank last fall, many city residents – and their elected officials – have indicated that the developer would have a fight on its hands. At a special meeting in mid-April, the city council decided it’s not an SB 35 project after all. The developer has filed a lawsuit challenging the decision. After early skirmishes in the Bay Area, Burbank would appear to be ground-zero now for the fight over how to implement SB 35. So what’s going on? The proposed project would build almost 100 townhomes on the site of the Pickwick bowling alley on Riverside Drive near the Los Angeles Equestrian Center along Highway 134. Nearby residents have opposed the project, saying it’s not consistent with the plans that the city has adopted for the area over the years. There’s nothing surprising about this; the so-called Rancho area near Pickwick has relatively large lots and there’s a large equestrian contingent in the area. (Rancho residents are allowed to keep horses.) But there’s a dispute over whether residential development is allowed in the location – and, it would appear, an inconsistency between the general plan and the zoning ordinance. The Burbank situation is a good example of what can happen if cities do not maintain strict consistency between those two documents – especially in the context of aggressive state housing production laws like SB 35. SB 35 permits ministerial approval of housing projects in some circumstances, assuming they meet affordable housing and labor requirements, in cities that are not meeting their regional housing targets. (See a collection of previous CP&DR SB 35 coverage here .) We’ve seen SB 35 fights in many cities, but most of the time the staff has made the determination as to whether SB 35 applies – a logical approach given that ministerial, by definition, means that city councils and planning commissions don’t get to review the project. But not in Burbank, where the city council has adopted an ordinance giving itself the power to determine whether a project meets SB 35 criteria. The run-up to April’s meeting was pretty contentious. As early as last August, Emily Gabel-Luddy – a Rancho resident, longtime and highly respected Los Angeles city planner, and former councilmember and mayor in Burbank – asserted that “the Pickwick site is not eligible for an SB 35 ministerial approval process.There’s no residential permitted on the Pickwick property, not in the Plan or in the .” Then, in October, at the behest of Burbank’s elected officials, State Sen. Anthony Portantino wrote a letter stating that the Burbank staff had erroneously interpreted the situation. “It is my understanding that Pickwick requires a General Plan amendment in order for the ministerial approval provision of SB 35 to be relevant and applicable,” he wrote. Portantino voted against SB 35 in 2017, saying it would have a negative impact on communities such as Burbank. After that, at its organizational meeting in January, the Burbank City Council took the unusual step of adopting an ordinance declaring itself, not the staff , as the final decisionmaker on whether a project conforms with SB 35. Throughout all this controversy, the Burbank community development staff continued to take the position that, under the general plan, residential development is permitted on the Pickwick site and elsewhere and therefore the project qualified for SB 35 treatment.

A Los Angeles judge has ruled the SB 10 is constitutional even though it gives local elected officials the power to overrule a local ballot initiative in some cases.

Fresno Mayor Unveils Housing Plan Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer has introduced his One Fresno Housing Strategy intended to improve housing affordability in response to the county's increasingly hot, and unaffordable, housing market. The proposal spans 150 pages and features 47 priority policies across four categories: "preserving housing, producing housing, preventing displacement, and promoting equity." Policies include affordable housing incentives, inclusionary zoning, eviction protections, and fewer restrictions for market-rate housing construction. The three-year plan will cost an estimated $260 million, and the mayor's office hopes that 6,926 new affordable and 4,110 market-rate homes will become available. This target would not meet the state's RHNA number. The city council will welcome public commentary on which policies to prioritize and implementation strategies. State Analyzes Location of New Housing; Inland Built Faster than Coastal Out of the 112,886 single-family, multi-family, and mobile homes constructed throughout California in 2021, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco added the most new housing, in absolute numbers, according to a new report from the Department of Finance. Though these big cities built the most housing, inland communities and regions recovering from wildfire damage saw the largest year-over-year increases in housing, trends that reflect patterns of population migration inland. The research indicates that roughly 46% of the new units were single-family homes, while 52% were multifamily. However, the new units represent only a 0.7% increase, suggesting that cities are far from building enough new units to meet the statewide housing need. Among cities with populations over 30,000, Santa Cruz had the most dramatic increase by percentage, at 11.3%. High Speed Rail Authorizes Valley-Bay Segment; L.A. Station Upgrades The California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors approved two new projects: one that would modernize Union Station and one that would construct a bullet train from Central Valley to the Bay Area. The first $420 million project includes a management and funding agreement with L.A. Metro through the Link Union Station project. Meanwhile, the 90-mile bullet train route is moving forward after the Authority environmentally cleared a segment between Merced and San Jose. While construction has been in process in the Central Valley for several years, the Authority's vote marks the first approval of a route to the coast. Officials hope the system will confront a jobs-housing imbalance by linking Fresno to San Jose in a roughly one-hour ride, though the estimated opening date has been delayed until 2031. Portola Valley Residents Threaten Legal Action over Potential Upzoning A group of homeowners in the wealthy Silicon Valley suburb of Portola Valley have threatened to sue the city over proposed zoning changes that are designed to help the city accommodate its Regional Housing Needs Allocation. The homeowners, through attorney (and former San Jose Mayor) Chuck Reed have filed a request under the Public Records Act for all documents related to the city's proposed zoning changes. At issue are residential properties slated for upzoning that, according to owners, have little or no chance of being redeveloped and, therefore, cannot reasonably help the city fulfill its RHNA requirements. Residents have threatened to sue the city and to report it to the Department of Housing and Community Development to urge the department to find the city's housing element out of compliance. CP&DR Legal Coverage: AIDS Healthcare Loses Again The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has lost yet another appellate case challenging a mostly market-rate development project in Los Angeles – this time unsuccessfully arguing that affordable housing requirements in the long-extinct Hollywood Redevelopment Plan should still be in place. This time, AHF argued that the city should have imposed a 15% affordable housing requirement on a 200-unit project at Sunset and Cahuenga, three blocks from AHF’s office, because the 15% requirement was contained in the Hollywood redevelopment plan. (The project was approved with 5% of the units set aside for very low-income residents, meaning residents with between 30% and 50% of the area’s median income.) But the Hollywood plan disappeared in 2012 when the state eliminated redevelopment, and the appellate court rejected a variety of AHF arguments that the 15% requirement should have been imposed. Quick Hits & Updates Millbrae City Council is planning to approve several restrictions, including size limits and affordability requirements, for projects built under SB 9. The city intends to require that new construction does not differ too much from existing architecture and that a certain number of units houses low-income residents. Pasadena City Council and Caltrans have approved a relinquishment agreement over a property intended for use in the unconstructed 710 Freeway Extension project. Before the city, which already displaced hundreds of residents to form a freeway connection, decides its next plan for the parcel, the state Transportation Commission must approve the agreement. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a plan to establish a new office or department that would manage the county's approach to homelessness. The new branch would supervise other agencies and act in close contact with the Board of Supervisors. Following Attorney General Rob Bonta's letter to Fresno County that warns against industrial development plans, neighbors of the proposed 3,000-acre project are expressing their concerns about the project's impacts. While residents want more housing, high-paying jobs, grocery stores, and health care, the new plan threatens to bring more warehouses and pollution. While most adults believe homelessness is a big problem in their local community, views on the issue have shifted since the start of the pandemic, according to a survey from the Public Policy Institute of California. The data suggests that the largest change occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the percentage of those who are very concerned about homelessness declined by 24 points, down to 39%. The San Diego City Council has introduced a new method for increasing ADU construction designated for very low-income tenants: an incentive that shortens the time period that homeowners must keep their second ADU as affordable. The city council suggests that shortening the period from 15 to 10 years will allow for more flexibility for developers, who will then build more affordable housing. Pasadena housing and rent control advocates have obtained over 15,000 signatures that will put rent control and a pro-tenant, "just cause" charter amendment on the November ballot. The 15,352 signatures must still be approved by city officials. The Contra Costa County Superior Court sided with Save Mount Diablo and rejected the City of Pittsburgh's and Seeno/Discovery Builders' 1,650-unit development in Faria/Southwest Hills. The court maintains that the environmental impact report violated the law regarding air quality, traffic, and water supply. A new survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies suggests that nearly two-thirds of Los Angeles voters are extremely concerned about rising temperatures, wildfires, and air pollution and their health impacts. The majority of voters expressed a need for concrete action on global warming and fossil fuel pollution, especially relating to transit use and reducing auto-dependency.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has lost yet another appellate case challenging a mostly market-rate development project in Los Angeles – this time unsuccessfully arguing that affordable housing requirements in the long-extinct Hollywood Redevelopment Plan should still be in place.

Budget Surplus May Boost Funding for Climate, Infrastructure, Affordable Housing, Homelessness Programs State Senate leaders have proposed several plans for spending California's budget surplus , which has blown past the projected $29 billion figure to $68 billion. Several officials are primarily seeking to return $8 billion in tax rebates to help residents face rising costs and small businesses repay federal unemployment debt. Proposals related to housing include $3 billion for each of the next three years on houselessness programs and extending Project Homekey and $2.7 billion for affordable housing projects. For students, officials propose $5 billion toward housing and facilities maintenance. Meanwhile, $20 billion would go toward previously proposed infrastructure projects and $18 billion for climate resilience programs, including a new and balanced water system and wildfire prevention programs. California Population Declined Slightly in 2021; Losses on Coast, Gains Inland While California's declining population trends seem to be slowing, continued outward migration trends reflect the persistent impacts of the pandemic and the housing crisis. Population numbers between April and December of 2020 demonstrated a decline rate of 0.59%, while the rate between Jan. 1, 2021 and Jan. 1, 2022 totaled 0.3%, with 117,552 residents leaving California. Experts suggest that, as the pandemic slows, so do COVID-19 related deaths and federal delays in approving migration to California from out of the country. However, population loss along the urban coast remains severe, especially in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange, California's three most populous counties. Meanwhile, the Central Valley and Inland Empire, where affordable housing and remote work opportunities remain attractive, continue to see strong growth. Upscale S.F. Neighborhood Seeks Historic Designation to Thwart SB 9 A state commission unanimously approved a recommendation to designate San Francisco's St. Francis Wood, a famously wealthy neighborhood, as "historic," which would allow the community to avoid SB 9. To fully circumvent the construction of denser development, the neighborhood would still have to receive the approval of Keeper of National Register of Historic Places Joy Beasley within 45 days, before which Beasley will accept public commentary. Many residents have suggested that St. Francis Wood is intentionally attempting to restrict housing to single-family development, while the St. Francis Homes Association claims that it has been hoping to achieve this status for years to honor its unique architecture and landscaping. Many have also brought attention to the neighborhood's history of exclusion, marked by the blatant banning of people of color from owning property when it was established in 1912. Study Catalogs Prevalence of Single-Family Zoning in L.A. Area A study from UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute that considers single-family zoning in the greater Los Angeles area found that 78% of neighborhoods are zoned for single-family homes and therefore do not allow apartment buildings. Additionally, six of the 191 cities studied feature purely single-family zoning. Areas with these restrictions are also frequently whiter and wealthier, which suggests that this policy contributes to racial segregation and inequitable access to significant educational and financial resources for low-income communities and communities of color. The report builds on a previous UC Berkeley study that found that, in 2020, 85% of San Francisco Bay Area neighborhoods were zoned for single-family housing, demonstrating a statewide trend amidst a major housing crisis. California Cities among Most Polluted in United States California metro areas composed 11 of the top 25 spots on the American Lung Association's annual State of the Air Report, with Los Angeles-Long Beach taking the number one spot for ozone pollution. Meanwhile, several Bay Area metros, notably Bakersfield and Fresno-Madera-Hanford, topped the list of the areas with the most year-round particle pollution. People of color were 3.6 times more likely than white people to live in a county with failing pollution grades. The report also found that nine million more people were exposed to increases in deadly particle pollution and that 40% of U.S. residents, or over 137 million people, live in environments with unhealthy levels of particle pollution or smog. CP&DR Coverage: Emeryville Embraces High-Density Housing The second-smallest city in the Bay Area, Emeryville currently has a current population of 13,000--and it wants to get larger. In the RHNA process, the Association of Bay Area Governments has assigned the city an increase of about 1,800 units. If built, those units will not alleviate the area’s housing shortages on their own. But for many leaders in Emeryville, the greater densities that the RHNA goal will require, and the amenities that will accompany them, are goals in and of themselves. The city is also deliberately pursuing a “Prohousing Designation” from the Department of Housing and Community Development, which will unlock financial assistance from the state. Quick Hits & Updates The state Department of Finance owes the City of Huntington Beach at least $5.2 million in redevelopment loan reimbursements, as determined by a California Superior Court judge. The city sued in 2018, hoping for a $75 million reimbursement for multiple loans intended to spur Surf City Development starting in the 1980s. The City of Vernon, which had 222 residents according to the 2020 Census and has been plagued by accusations of corruption throughout its history, is attempting to increase housing availability with its Westside Specific Plan, which has begun its environmental review period. The plan, in line with the 2021-2029 Housing Element, would bring mixed-use and multifamily complexes in place of more industrial development. (See related CP&DR coverage .) San Francisco Supervisors have voted , 7-4, to permanently keep the east end of JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park car-free following months of public debate. About 1.5 miles will be dedicated strictly to the walkers, runners, and bicyclists, who began to make use of the street in larger numbers toward the beginning of the pandemic. Senator Anthony Portantino has is sponsoring SB 932, a bill that would prioritize bicyclist and pedestrian safety by requiring cities and counties to include a map of areas where high rates of injury occur in their general plans, which would then force them to implement policies that protect bicyclists and pedestrians. The Southern steelhead trout has received temporary protection status under the Endangered Species Act, meaning future development in Ventura County must consider and reduce impacts on the species. In the next year, the Fish and Wildlife Commission will determine if the species should be listed as "endangered" or "threatened." LADOT's Sustainable Transportation Equity Project, in an effort to achieve "universal basic mobility," is offering 2,000 South L.A. residents $150 monthly to pay for public bus and train fares, shuttles, and scooter and bicycle rentals. Priority will be given to low-income residents, students, senior citizens, and people with disabilities, and the program will also aim to increase clean transit and pedestrian- and bike-friendly streets. In 2021, San Jose saw new records of permits for accessory dwelling units, totaling 804 requested permits and 464 issued. While San Jose began issuing ADU permits in 2015, numbers increased in 2019 with the city's introduction of its ADU permit program, which helps inform residents through the process, and upward trends are continuing through 2022. State officials are proposing a $2.6-billion deal with the federal government and several water suppliers that would support the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a critical water source and habitat that has been significantly depleted to meet human demands. The new memorandum of understanding suggests an eight-year plan for identifying supplies to restore the river, though environmental advocates reject the proposal, stating it was created through backroom negotiations and will not benefit the river delta. A judge will not block a San Francisco ordinance that permits some small businesses to not pay rent due to pandemic-induced shutdowns, allowing the ordinance, unanimously approved by supervisors last July, to move forward despite pushback from property owners. Amazon is shifting plans to build five new warehouses in the Bay Area due to criticism from labor unions and environmental groups that they would bring unjust jobs and pollution from vans and trucks. While unclear what the next steps will be, the company has either withdrawn, delayed, or modified its plans, in tandem with San Francisco's 18-month moratorium on Amazon delivery stations. The Strategic Growth Council is accepting applications for community-led infrastructure projects interested in receiving a portion of the $106.2 million in funding available as part of Round 4 of the Transformative Climate Communities Program. These developments should center environmental, health, and economic benefits for underserved communities. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla announced that the Federal Transit Administration will provide over $1.9 billion to California over the next year to fund transit projects, including buses, trains, and ferries, that will increase accessibility and reduce pollution. UCLA Lewis Center Housing Initiative released a report that advances the idea of the "zoning buffer" and its impacts on land values and affordable housing. Author Shane Phillips contextualizes the zoning buffer, or the gap between existing housing and maximum housing allowed by zoning, with current attempts to upzone for higher-density housing to combat historical downzoning and housing shortages that has resulted in higher land values and decreased affordability. He argues that broad upzoning, or policies permitting at least moderate density on many parcels is the only way housing will become more affordable in the long-term because it results in expansive development opportunities that minimize increases in land value, benefitting many stakeholders and maintaining affordability.

To put it mildly, Emeryville Mayor John Bauters takes to Twitter prolifically—especially for an elected official. Amid endorsements of peanut butter ice cream, backpacking, otters, and support for LBGTQ+ youth, Bauters makes his urbanist sensibilities clear. He enjoys biking, walking, public transit, and street trees. He loves affordable housing. He critiques the slow pace of housing production in San Francisco, directly across the bay. And Bauters does not like obstructionist NIMBYism one bit. He tweeted recently, “I’m tired of it all. I’m tired of being told that as a local elected I should defend ‘local control’ all the time. When used in the housing context, it’s a racist weapon. It needs to be reformed, and NIMBYs need to be neutralized. They perpetuate our housing crisis.” Bauters is simply – though loudly – reflecting his city’s own commitment to housing. San Francisco loudly espouses liberal virtues without building much housing. Cities like Berkeley and Oakland have slowly embraced the prospect of permitting more housing, and more suburban Bay Area cities have contorted their regulations to avert even the production of accessory dwelling units. But Emeryville has embraced housing on a scale that no other Bay Area city has even considered. In particular, the city hopes to not only meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation goals, but to exceed it — by as much as 50%. “It means they definitely are supportive of housing development projects, sometimes at higher densities than other cities may be interested in, and possibly even higher than what our zoning may allow,” said Emeryville Community Development Director Charles Bryant, referring to the City Council. It does help to be small. Emeryville currently has a current population of 13,000. In the RHNA process, the Association of Bay Area Governments has assigned the city an increase of about 1,800 units. If built, those units will not alleviate the area’s housing shortages on their own. But for many leaders in Emeryville, the greater densities that the RHNA goal will require, and the amenities that will accompany them, are goals in and of themselves. “I don’t know many other cities that are as happy to meet their RHNA goals as we are,” said Bauters. The city is also deliberately pursuing a “Prohousing Designation” from the Department of Housing and Community Development, which will unlock financial assistance from the state. Most of Emeryville’s new units are likely to be built on former industrial sites and in other underused spaces left over from a different era. For most of the 20 th century, Emeryville was known as a home of heavy industry, with a paint factory, a scrap metal mill, a truck factory, and extensive rail yards. It was also known for brothels and speakeasies. Many of those businesses have given way to tech and science-related firms, including major offices of Pixar Animation, Novartis, Peete’s Coffee, and Clif Bar. The city has roughly twice as many jobs as residents. In suburban areas, aggressive housing increases often entail relatively indiscriminate development of single-unit homes on greenfield sites—resulting in sprawl--a development pattern that, Bryant said, "kind of makes my skin crawl." In Emeryville’s case, sprawl is not an option—the city is bounded by the cities of Oakland to the east and south, Berkeley to the north, and the San Francisco Bay to the west—and the city’s planning process allows for anything but a free-for-all. “A pro-housing attitude doesn’t mean that people can do whatever they want,” said Bryant. Emeryville requires developers to meet certain conditions and provide some combination of public amenities and upgrades in order to gain approval, including affordable housing set-asides, impact fees, public art, park space, and active transportation infrastructure. The city requires 12-18% affordable units in all new buildings, and it has a density bonus system that allows for a bonuses up to a nearly unheard-of 100%.

Complex Deal Paves Way for Redevelopment of Angel Stadium The City of Anaheim and the Department of Housing and Community Development have reached a settlement over Anaheim's violation of the Surplus Land Act, allowing the Angel Stadium land sale to move forward to Angels owner Arte Moreno. Moreno's development company plans to transform the 150-acre parking lot parcel into a site with homes, shops, restaurants, hotels, and offices. While Moreno does not plan to construct much affordable housing on the site, he has agreed to use $96 million out of the city's $124 million in credits to build 1,000 affordable units elsewhere in Anaheim in order to comply with the Surplus Land Act. Attorney General Rob Bonta supports the agreement. Once the city council ratifies the settlement, the deal should not face any more legal challenges. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Coastal Commission Staff Recommends Against Orange County Desalination Plant Coastal Commission staff members voiced their opposition to Poseidon Water's persistent attempt to desalinate ocean water off Huntington Beach and produce tap water for Orange County. In their report, officials noted that the project risks environmental harm for vulnerable communities and is too expensive, totaling $1.4 billion. They recommended that the commission votes against the project during the May 12th public hearing. If the commission rejects the project that would produce 50 million gallons a day, Poseidon's efforts may come to an end and set a precedent for future desalination proposals. Thus far, Poseidon has spent over $100 million in research, marketing, planning, and political efforts and asked the commission in a letter to disregard the staff's recommendation. Padres Affiliate to Develop 1,800 Units Near PetCo Park San Diego officials approved the $35.1 million sale of Tailgate Park to a developer group run by the San Diego Padres. The team has a plan to transform the four-block parking lot into a $1.5 billion residential project, with 270 of the 1,800 proposed units reserved for low- and middle-income households. One council member voted against the sale, stating that the plan did not include enough affordable housing, while other members noted that the sale is an important step in creating more affordable housing and confronting homelessness. If the transaction does not close escrow before the end of 2022, officials will have to restart the process and designate 25 percent of the units as affordable. Study: California Environmental Regulations Disfavor Minority Communities A new study from the University of California San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy reveals more evidence that California's environmental regulations preferentially protect white people from exposure to air pollution, leaving communities of color more at-risk to health burdens. Researchers compared patterns of air pollution both before and during COVID-19 shutdowns and found that Black communities continued to face higher pollution from emission sources that did not shut down with the in-person economy, and Asian and Latinx communities saw an increase in air pollution when businesses returned to in-person. Additionally, low-income communities are regularly exposed to more pollution in a fully-functioning economy. Researchers suggest that the evidence signals a policy failure to confront systemic environmental racism. Study Analyzes Relationship between New Construction, Tenant Protections, Displacement A new study from a coalition of researchers analyzes the impact of new housing construction, rent stabilization, and just-cause eviction policies on displacement in the Bay Area. Key findings in the research show that market-rate housing production typically serves the most wealthy residents, and while displacement for low- and moderate-income residents is not as high as is feared when market-rate housing is built, it is consistently associated with a higher likelihood of downward mobility. Research also shows that rent stabilization and just cause eviction protections minimize displacement but also make it harder for low-income residents to move in. CP&DR Coverage: Excessive Homeownership "Tenure" in California Cities A recent report from the real estate listing site Redfin reveals a slow pace of life, at least for Los Angeles's homeowners. As of 2021, the median Angeleno homeowner has stayed put for 18.1 years. Los Angels ranks dead last among the 74 cities that Redfin analyzed. Every single one of them. Other California cities follow closely: San Jose, Oxnard, and Anaheim all have average tenures of over 16 years. San Diego and San Francisco are over 15 years. Tenures in all California cities in the report are well above the nationwide average of 13.2 years and are, respectively, 3-4 years longer than the study's 2012 benchmarks. The causes and effects are equally dispiriting, according to CP&DR's Josh Stephens.  Quick Hits & Updates Orange County's Airport Land Use Commission is pushing back against plans from Newport Beach and Irvine to increase affordable housing availability by constructing new housing adjacent to the airport, noting that future residents may be at risk to environmental pollutants and noise disruptions. The commission cannot reject the cities' plans but can file complaints that force cooperation or a city council vote. The Inglewood City Council approved a proposal to construct the 1.6-mile Inglewood Transit Connector that would connect the Crenshaw Line's Downtown Inglewood Station to SoFi stadium and the future Intuit Dome. Construction is estimated to cost $1.4 billion, though officials are hoping to attain new funding sources following a federal environmental review process in order to complete the extension before the 2028 Olympics. Instead of pursuing a regional transit center involved in the redevelopment of the U.S. Navy's Old Town NAVWAR site, San Diego leaders are chasing a two-part plan that includes a rail transit connection to the airport in the short-term and a larger transit hub in the long-term. The City of Fontana and Attorney General Rob Bonta have reached a settlement over a planned warehouse development adjacent to Jurupa Hills High School. The project will still move forward but with restrictions intended to protect at-risk communities from industrial pollution, including emissions reductions through clean energy and the establishment of a community benefit bund to increase green spaces at the high school. About 78,000 very low-income Sacramento renters cannot find an affordable home to live in, according to a recent study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Researchers also reported that thousands of low-income residents spend over 30% of their income on rent and that only 41 affordable and available homes exist for every 100 very low-income household in Sacramento. The U.S. Supreme Court chose to not consider an appeal from the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, a landlord group attempting to overturn the city's eviction moratorium. The move will ensure that eviction protections for renters burdened by the pandemic remain in place, delivering a win to tenant advocates. Most registered voters, including 70% of Democrats, continue to support a statewide high-speed rail system, according to a new study, even though construction has been a slow process since voters approved funding 14 years ago. Meanwhile, 35% of voters were opposed to carrying on with the project. The Coastal Commission rejected a federal plan to confront water pollution and other burdens of cattle ranching in the Point Reyes National Seashore. The commission noted that the plan, which would allow park staff to shoot some of the park's tule elk to minimize fighting over property, is insufficient and unclear. San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney has defeated former Supervisor David Campos in a special state Assembly election that left Haney with roughly 63% of the votes. Haney has the support of a coalition of labor unions and housing advocates. He had recently been involved in a controversy over the disapproval of a high-rise building in his district; other supervisors overruled his support for it. (See related CP&DR coverage .)

CP&DR Vol. 37 No. 4 April 2022

By the accounts of pop culture, Los Angeles is a fast-moving city that creates tends just as quickly as it abandons them. It dances to the seasonal rhythms of fashion, cinema, television, and, as of late, the breakneck pace of YouTube and TikTok. And yet, as it turns out, Los Angeles is actually ruled by stasis. A recent report from the real estate listing site Redfin reveals a far slower pace of life, at least for the city’s homeowners. As of 2021, the median Angeleno homeowner has stayed put for 18.1 years. Los Angels ranks dead last among the 74 cities that Redfin analyzed. Every single one of them. Other California cities follow closely: San Jose, Oxnard, and Anaheim all have average tenures of over 16 years. San Diego and San Francisco are over 15 years. Tenures in all California cities in the report are well above the nationwide average of 13.2 years and are, respectively, 3-4 years longer than the study's 2012 benchmarks. The causes and effects are equally dispiriting. By plenty of measures, Los Angeles has been the country’s least-affordable housing market, comparing average rents against average salaries. The for-sale market follows suit. So, homeowners who bought in decades ago have gained wealth through appreciation. But, they’re unlikely to trade up (or down) because the alternatives are just as expensive as their current homes are. They’d have to gain significant wreath through other means and/or dedicate a larger share of their wealth a new home as they do to their current homes. (The same may be true in Cleveland, Dayton, and Detroit, where, despite median home values as low as $180,000, relative poverty makes inhibits would-be movers.) For whatever reason, Grand Rapids, Michigan, has the shortest average tenure, at 5.8 years. Louisville ranks second, at 6.6, and a handful of affordable cities in Florida and elsewhere in the Sunbelt come in comfortably below 10 years. Economics thus imprison Californians in their own homes. Policy throws away the key. The policy, of course, is Prop. 13. Champions and detractors alike can surely agree that it provides a powerful incentive to immobility. In many ways, Redfin's analysis is just another way of illustrating California's housing crisis. But it is revealing and unusually powerful. What the numbers reveal is that, while we might assume that incumbent homeowners are the relative winners in the housing crisis, their victories are limited. They too are constrained. They're possibly stuck in starter homes that weren’t intended to serve them that long. Or, perversely, they might be stuck in dream homes that have outlived their usefulness -- but are still more economical than a more manageable downsized unit might be. The statistics are powerful because they express the human scale of the housing crisis. A shortage of 2 million homes is a statistic. Staring at the same walls for nearly two decades can, in many instances, be a tragedy. The tragedy lies in the erosion of freedom. One of the many benefits of urban life is that of diversity: lively center cities, commodious suburbs, distinctive neighborhoods. We're all familiar with those typologies. And we all know that tastes change. A young couple who buys a fixer-upper in Echo Park might want to raise kids in a downtown high-rise ten years later (and make way for the next young couple). A mid-career professional who buys a condo near her job might want to buy a house near her next job, on the other side of town. An aesthete's tastes might change, and he might want to trade a midcentury Modern ranch house for something from the '80s built entirely of glass blocks and neon tubes. These are the options people deserve. In the aggregate, these are the freedoms that makes a city healthy. Just as we rightfully worry about economically vulnerable people losing homes, we should also worry--at least a bit--about well-off people being stuck in their homes. If all goes well, each of these residents becomes happier and more economically satisfied from one move to the next. But the residents themselves aren’t the only beneficiaries. Their neighborhoods and neighbors do too. Freedom of movement means freedom to discover a fitting place and then to participate in the life of that place, as a customer, diner, neighborhood council member, or gadfly. It also means the freedom to create new relationships. Whatever the welcome wagon might look like in a given neighborhood, every move presents opportunities to make new friends and even new colleagues on the sidewalk, at the local bar, and in the grocery aisles. These relationships are especially crucial in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, whose economies thrive on artistic and entrepreneurial creativity. Imagine how much worse off the world would have been if some weird tax policy had kept John Lennon's parents on the opposite side of Liverpool from the McCartneys, or if Flea and Anthony Kedis hadn’t both lived in Fairfax High School’s catchment area. In Los Angeles and other constrained cities, I can't help but think that housing tenure equates with an unspoken but troubling sense of collective anxiety. On balance, churn is good; stasis is not. Anyone who owns a home is fortunate. But fortune might not feel so good when, after a few years, it feels more like an obligation a burden -- and that the only way to release yourself from it is to move to Ohio. But we should not want people to move to Ohio. We should want them to stay in their respective cities and in our state, if they so choose, and contribute as fully as they can. That’s where the public sector comes in. Planners hardly need any more reason to figure out how California cities can accommodate more housing. And the wheels of policy are slowing turning in the direction of more housing. But the Redfin report gives them one more reason to get it right, and—along with developers--to do it quickly. We do not want 18.1 years to turn into a life sentence.

Realtor Group Sues Six Cities over Unapproved Housing Elements Californians for Homeownership, a nonprofit organization connected to the California Association of Realtors, sued six cities located in Los Angeles and Orange counties for failing to meet an October 15 deadline to approve updated housing elements that outline how they will accomplish housing requirements over the next decade. The cities include Bradbury, La Habra Heights, Manhattan Beach, Vernon, South Pasadena, and Laguna Hills. The lawsuit is associated with state regulations that increase punishments for local governments that do not adhere to state housing requirements. The nonprofit is aiming for a court order that necessitates quickly-certified and lawful housing elements, which would be certified by the Department of Housing and Community Development. Burbank City Council Thwarts Potential SB 35 Project The City of Burbank may be attempting to intentionally prevent an Orange County-based developer proposing to redevelop a Burbank landmark into a townhouse complex from accessing the streamlined approvals process awarded through SB 35. In its effort to purchase Pickwick Bowl and Gardens and build 98 townhomes, MW Investment Group has suggested that it will designate 10 of the homes as affordable for low-income residents, which would make the project automatically eligible for SB 35's incentives. SB 35, adopted in 2018, restricts cities from rejecting multifamily housing that includes affordable units. Council members argued that the project did not comply with the city's existing land use regulations and was therefore not subject to SB 35 as proposed; the developers could apply for a general plan amendment instead. Attorneys for MW Investment implied that legal action pursuant to the Housing Accountability Act may be forthcoming. State Declines to Consider Protected Status for Joshua Tree In response to a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity suggesting climate change's impact on the Joshua tree, the state Fish and Game Commission recommended against identifying the species as threatened. If the Joshua tree avoids this designation by the time the commission reveals its final decision, local jurisdictions will have the power to limit the expansion of commercial, residential, and energy projects on land where Joshua trees sit. Currently, about 40 percent the Joshua tree's range is on private land, and endangered species laws would apply. However, the commission's recommendation suggests that the renewable energy industry may make more use of Joshua tree land, even though it's faced criticism for doing so. LAO Makes Recommendations for New Student Housing Grants Program A new report from the Legislative Analyst's Office analyzes Gov. Gavin Newsom's list of campus projects that may be awarded first-round grant funding under the Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program. In addition to providing key background information on Gov. Newsom's project list, which would total $488 million, the authors provide several recommendations moving forward, such as for the Legislature to contemplate a different approach that considers other measures of affordability or approves more projects in the first round. The authors also recommend that the Legislature implements measures that would reduce risks in the case of cost overruns and discusses other approaches to alleviating the stress of college finances of low-income students and improving existing infrastructure. Warehouse Project in Ontario Meets with Legal Action A recently approved logistics center plan and general plan update that permit over five million square feet of industrial development on south Ontario dairy land are facing pushback from environmental and farming organizations. First, the Center for Community Action Environmental Justice sued the city of Ontario for disregarding public health and agricultural land vitality, hoping that the San Bernardino Superior Court will reject both the project and the general plan updates. A week later, signatures are compiling to repeal the city council's approval of the South Ontario Logistics Center Specific Plan. While those in support of the project cite job opportunities, many community members are concerned that diesel trucks will supplement low-paying jobs to further harm the community. (See related CP&DR coverage.) CP&DR Legal Coverage: Conservation EIR Alternatives; Short-Term Rentals An appellate court has ruled that the environmental impact report for a Livermore development project – a project approved by the city council in that notoriously slow-growth city – was inadequate because it didn’t consider the possibility of purchasing the property for conservation. The First District Court of Appeal found that the RFEIR should have considered the possibility that the land could be purchased for conservation from two possible funding sources – one a mitigation fund created by the giant Dougherty Valley housing project and the other mitigation fund created by the expansion of the Altamont Landfill. A regulation restricting the availability of short-term rentals in Manhattan Beach prompted a suit from an AirBnb host who argued that the restriction required Coastal Commission approval. The court sided with the plaintiff in a case that hinged on whether short-term rentals are considered "hotels or motels" under the city's ordinances. Quick Hits & Updates The town of Los Gatos has sued Santa Clara County for fraud, breach of contract, and negligence over a 1,300-foot section of Shannon Road, which allegedly required millions of dollars in repairs. The road, known for its cracking pavement and originally owned by the county, was handed to Los Gatos following its 2018 annexation, along with maintenance responsibilities. Los Gatos believes that the county failed to make meaningful repairs and intentionally made the road's problems the town's responsibility.The town is seeking $5.5 million in damages. Most U.S. residents, including urban dwellers, believe that high density increases pollution, traffic congestion, and crime, according to a new poll from YouGov. Though city dwellers were more likely to say that high density is more environmentally friendly, most said that it's better for the environment to build houses farther apart. California could shrink its water use by over 30 percent by increasing usage efficiency, according to a new study by the Pacific Institute. Researchers also found that urban areas could reduce the depletion of rivers and aquifers by investing in local projects that would recycle wastewater and capture stormwater. The Berkeley Planning Commission voted , 5-4, to endorse a zoning change that increases the height limit for new BART housing on top of parking lots at two stations from 7 to 12 stories. This would increase the maximum number of housing units from 2,400 to 3,600. A campaign in support of a San Francisco affordable housing measure that could end up on the November ballot has begun, with housing advocates and elected officials responding to the Board of Supervisors' rejection of a measure proposed by Mayor London Breed in January. The Affordable Homes Now measure would accelerate the approval process for new projects. Researchers at UCLA's Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies have released a report that analyzes the relationship between eligibility for al fresco dining services and street and sidewalk conditions throughout Los Angeles and proposes solutions to make outdoor dining more accessible. Findings demonstrate that neighborhoods of color frequently feature narrower sidewalks, which makes it difficult to expand business participation. Los Angeles is a founding member of a new multi-city partnership launched by the The World Economic Forum to promote urban aerial mobility and tackle congestion, inclusivity, noise, and privacy. About one in five Airbnb listings in Los Angeles over one year violated city policy, according to a report from Better Neighbors LA, a coalition that represents hotel employees and tenants. The report suggests that nearly two-thirds of Airbnb listings may have violated regulations and recommended that the city actively enforces its short-term rental law through targeted fines. The West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project is  suing the Port of Oakland, maintaining that its open-air sand and gravel plant, which is currently under construction, will add air pollutants, harming nearby residents' health. The environmental group hopes that construction will halt, though port officials declined to comment on the lawsuit. In collaboration with Spin, Bakersfield has introduced 125 new e-bikes in order to supplement public transit with sustainable and accessible transportation options. The city implemented the program with a $700,000 state Active Transportation Program grant, which will assist with maintenance and operating costs and allow for subsidized discounts for students and low-income residents.

So, is a house that’s used as an AirBNB a residence or a motel? And whichever it is, does the Coastal Commission have to approve the definition?

NIMBYism probably had a few births: the founding of Llewellyn Park, the ruling in Euclid vs. Ambler , and the invention of redlining. Or maybe it dates back to the first time homo habilis drew a line in the dirt. Exclusion and opposition to progress do not arise overnight. In California, at least, we can safely peg the origin of modern NIMBYism to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. Ever since then, California’s political center of gravity has celebrated suburbs, derided center cities, used and abused the California Environmental Quality Act. Most of all, it has exploited the benefits of Prop. 13's tax freeze and advocated for artificial scarcity that preserves and, in many cases, has wildly increased real and nominal property values. NIMBYism has had a good run: a good, multi-million-dollar fun for many millions of (relatively older, whiter, wealthier) Californians. That run is ending. Let's count the ways: NIMBY-oriented petitions to force recall elections in Los Angeles and San Diego failed to even get on their respective ballots. Statewide ballot measures like 2020's Prop. 21, a rent control measure sponsored by NIMBY group AIDS Healthcare, failed handily. So did, a few more years ago, Measure S in Los Angeles, one of the most massive local slow-growth measures in California history. I personally spent a few days of my life earlier this year researching and writing about the "Our Neighborhood Voices" ballot initiative, advanced by a group of local elected officials who talked big game about recapturing local control from the state. Just two weeks after I wrote my story, they pulled their petitions, with hardly enough signatures to authorize a marriage certificate, much less a statewide proposition. Many planning departments shed veteran staff members following the Great Recession. A new generation of young entry-level planners and progressive mid-career planners are taking over. The same can be said for many city councils too (e.g. Sacramento, Berkeley, Culver City, Emeryville). The YIMBY movement has advanced from the anarchist tendencies of SF-BARF to the remarkably effective lobbying and advocacy efforts of California YIMBY. Richard Close, long hailed as the king of Los Angeles NIMBYs at the improbably powerful Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, passed away in 2021. His death is both symbolic and substantive. The demise of single-family zoning in cities like Sacramento and Berkeley (pre-SB 9) illustrates a powerful confluence of social justice and housing advocacy. Livable California--an organization that probably seems powerful, forceful, and righteous within the echo chamber of its membership--looks increasingly ineffectual and cartoonish (thanks in part to the insightful and hilarious commentary from their nemesis: microblogger Jordan Grimes ). The State Legislature has passed pr o-housing laws at remarkable rate, with relatively few failures and vetoes (notwithstanding high-profile failures like SB 827 , SB 50, and AB 1401 that, I think, provided cover for more subtle pro-housing laws). The new RHNA process , which, while not perfect , is very real . The attorney general is keeping tabs on cities, calling them out for noncompliance, and threatening to file lawsuits. To widespread dismay, San Francisco Supervisors killed a high-density apartment building that had checked all the planning boxes. That seems like a victory, except for the outcry and derision that it inspired. San Francisco voters may face a ballot initiative in November that would make it harder for the supervisors to deny projects. Most recently, and most dramatically, a homeowner activist in Berkeley won a lawsuit that would have prevented UC Berkeley from building a new mixed-use dorm and, more importantly, forcing it to reduce enrollment. Initially, it seemed like an enormous, potentially devastating win over one of the world's great public institutions. And yet, not two weeks later, the legislation and governor, in an astonishing display of unity and effectiveness, passed a law to negate the lawsuit. Students of Classical history at Berkeley will know this as a "Pyrrhic victory." In short, after NIMBYism went nearly undefeated and scarcely contested for four decades, its losses are piling up. It’s not dead, but it’s sputtering. None of those single events, of course, gives California and its cities free rein to build the 2-3 million units that are needed. But collectively they point to a political shift that, coupled with structural economic and demographic trends, suggest that NIMBYism is not what it used to be—and probably never will be again. Economically, only 54% of housing units in California are owner-occupied, a full ten percentage points lower than the national average. By definition, everyone else rents or borrows (or is unhoused or dependent). Those renters may or may not actively support development. But they are highly unlikely to support the NIMBY agenda. Anyone who aspires to purchase a home is likely to actively oppose it. Demographically, an increasingly small share of California's population benefits from Prop. 13. The primordial Prop. 13 beneficiaries have made out like bandits. And anyone who's purchased a home in the past decade or so is probably sufficiently resentful of the fact that they are paying property taxes that might be, in some cases, many times greater than those of their longer-tenured neighbors. There are two (entirely complementary) ways to cure that: get rid of Prop. 13 or build more housing in order to close the gap between a given property's tax basis and its present-day value. To be candid, the journalist in me is a little upset about the demise of NIMBYism. Conflict makes for good copy. But, while I do not support unbridled development and appreciate many stakeholders' concerns, I think this evolution will, on balance, be good for California and Californians -- at least those who don't own $2 million homes that they purchased for $80,000 and a Bee Gees album. Here's what it means for California planners: they can actually plan.  Even so, planners today are less encumbered than ever before by NIMBY-inspired restrictions. From a political perspective, I think they're going to hear increasingly fewer strident voices of opposition at public meetings in the coming years. Those voices might not be any less loud, but they'll be less numerous. In a democracy, numbers are supposed to matter more than volume. Planners can plan according to best practices rather than political constraints. Granted, some NIMBY-friendly policies and institutions will take a while to catch up with public opinion. CEQA will always complicate planners’ work, and it will always favor the status quo. The state’s funding structure (hello, again, Prop. 13) and the absence of redevelopment authority constrains pro-housing cities. Many new housing laws are byzantine, or will be effective only on the margins. Elected officials will still pursue agendas at odds with those of planning departments.  NIMBYs will still win occasional victories, through clever use of CEQA and political pressure in certain slow-growth redoubts, like the San Francisco Peninsula and Orange County. But they’re also going to lose. Their losses will lead to frustration. But frustration is not policy. And the more time passes, the more evidence will mount that the sky remains intact. SB 9 is not going to destroy neighborhoods. Very few cities will adopt SB 10 ; those that do will not be transformed overnight. NIMBYs will have few arguments and little evidence. As for the NIMBYs themselves, whether they self-identify as such or are de facto fellow travelers, we can only hope that they think carefully about how they want to wield what little power they have left. They can, of course, keep filing lawsuits, badgering planners, and spinning conspiracy theories at Livable California meetings if they want to. (Everyone needs a hobby.) Alternatively, they could accept that the state’s tastes, needs, and demographic composition have changed. they could help ensure that cities change accordingly and for the better, by participating in consensus-building discussions that acknowledge the realities of growth, equity, sustainability, and--yes--livability. California will still need dissenting voices, varying opinions, and civic watchdogs, of course. Many NIMBY advocates could ably and usefully serve those functions without resorting to extremism or antagonism. And they can still enjoy themselves and be thankful for their windfall wealth and tax subsidies. I could be wrong. You never know what the next lawsuit will bring or what odd alliance is going to emerge. But, just as any sensible household needs to plan for retirement, so should the NIMBY movement. It's about time.