After a major court victory last week, the City of Oakland and the Oakland A’s are one step closer to building a new stadium near the Port of Oakland. But big challenges remain, including not only litigation but figuring out how to pay for almost $200 in new infrastructure required for the stadium.

Builder's Remedy Comes to Palo Alto A new SB 330 pre-application project in Palo Alto would include nine units of affordable housing out of a proposed 45-unit building, with plans to invoke the “builder's remedy.” A SB (Senate Bill) 330 project can submit a pre-application to collect zoning, design, subdivision, and fee requirements that would then be applied to the entire project's construction process. After the pre-application process, the project cannot be impacted by a city's new ordinances, policies or fees. The applicant must then submit a formal application within 180 days of the pre-application. The applicant's plan to apply as a “builder's remedy” project would then prohibit the city from denying the housing project regardless of non-compliance with zoning or city plan as the project has a number of affordable housing units. The project is still required to comply with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the city's review process. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Yet Another Developer Sought for Concord Naval Weapons Station The Concord City Council is once again looking for a new developer for the third time in three years for the Naval Weapons Station. The massive project, first proposed over 20 years ago, is projected to take four decades to complete. The Concord City Council scrapped a contract with the project's most recent developer over internal legal battles within the developer's organization and questions over trustworthiness. The 5,200-acre parcel of land was abandoned by the U.S. Navy in the 1990s, and the city's new plan includes thousands of homes, millions of square feet of commercial space, parks, and new schools. The City Council is expected to approve a new list of potential developers by late next month. The list of developers would then each submit a proposal to the city for a vote. Concord City Council is now requiring all potential developers to disclose any litigation against them, as well as agreements to negotiate with local labor unions. Multiple developers have already reached out to the city expressing interest in the project, despite another long setback for plans of a mini-city. San Bernardino Carousel Mall Redevelopment Imperiled by Violations San Bernardino city officials violated four state laws in the planning behind the long-awaited redevelopment of the Carousel Mall, the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) wrote in a letter. City officials now have a two-month timeframe to resolve the wrongdoing before incurring penalties of 30% of the sale price for the first violation, and 50% for each of the three other violations. The first of the violations occurred in August 2021 when the city claimed they received no qualifications of interest in the property, when in fact two different affordable housing developers reached out. Secondly, before declaring surplus land, the city negotiated contracts with at least one developer, violating surplus land law. Then, the city failed to negotiate at all with both of the affordable housing developers. Finally, the city is facing penalties for not providing accurate documentation for the property. HCD stressed the need for future compliance, and the city has until May 15 to resolve the offenses. City officials state the individuals involved in the 2021 dealings are “no longer with the city.” San Francisco Considers Menu of Housing Streamlining Reforms San Francisco officials are advancing legislation to streamline office-to-housing redevelopment projects, subsequently easing guidelines in the Union Square area to help the area move away from their reliance on corporate retail stores. Mayor London Breed and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin hope this will revitalize the downtown area, jumpstarting local business and housing after the pandemic dramatically impacted the area's economy. They are also starting to understand the permanence of the impact of the pandemic on the downtown area, hoping to change the area away from just office and retail spaces. San Francisco's current office vacancy rate is at 29.4%, an increase from the last quarter. The legislative changes could speed up redevelopment by as much as 18 months. The legislation will also diversify how the spaces are used, loosening retail and office space requirements of buildings. CP&DR Coverage: Cities Fight Back Against Builder's Remedy The Town of Los Altos Hills and the City of Sonoma are relying on technicalities to assert that their housing elements are valid and the builder's remedy is moot. Both jurisdictions are part of the Association of Bay Area Governments region, whose deadline for certification and adoption of housing elements was January 31. Sonoma has thus far blocked the builder's remedy application for The Montaldo, a multifamily development slated for a two-acre site that currently contains only a single-family house. The Montaldo was previously proposed for 55 units. The builder's remedy version calls for 64 units, all of which would be designated for middle-income residents. Los Altos Hills faced builder's remedy applications for three relatively small projects (including one project with two variants) and determined that all four applications were "incomplete." Quick Hits & Updates Governor Newsom announced Los Angeles as the newest prohousing city in the state. Newsom praised the city and Mayor Karen Bass's action to build new housing in the city, working to address the housing crisis in the area. Los Angeles joins 10 other cities across the state in the designation. (See related CP&DR coverage .) The California Transportation Agency released their first ever document detailing why certain state projects did not receive funding, including two large LA Metro rail projects. The document based decisions on a ratings sheet, ultimately concluding they wanted to geographically space out projects that received funding. According to new data , San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing has hundreds of millions of funding to address their homelessness issue, but are slow to spend over the last several years due to internal understaffing, bureaucratic procedures on how money is spent and pandemic-related housing issues. National City is taking new steps to address nonconforming, vacant buildings by issuing permits to building owners for temporary use of the property for reasons other than the original zoning requirements, like coworking spaces, retail, health centers or pop-ups. A new report by the Apartment List found Los Angeles ranks 39th of the country's 50 largest cities in residential permitting, only permitting 2.5 new units for every 1,000 residents in 2022. That rate is gradually increasing from previous years, with 2.4 new units per 1,000 residents permitted in 2021 and 2 new units per 1,000 residents in 2020. The Inglewood Center - home to 21 businesses - is facing demolition to make way for the $1.6 billion transit system connecting the Metro K Line to SoFi Stadium and other events arenas in the area. The Inglewood Center houses multiple small businesses facing higher rent in the area, despite the city's offer of reimbursement. In a comparison by the National Transit Database, ridership on Los Angeles' transit system did not drop to the rates of the Bay Area transit system ridership lows during the Pandemic, and LA Metro and buses in Los Angeles are seeing a higher increase in ridership post-pandemic. Sacramento city officials are looking into a vacancy tax on empty lots, stores, and potentially homes. The City Council is in the early stages of drafting a tax ordinance, which would appear on ballots for voters to ultimately decide. Two environmental groups filed suit against the city of Desert Hot Springs, claiming a recently -approved large multi-use development plan violates CEQA by excluding an environmental impact report. Pasadena City Council voted to phase out its planned development zoning designation, ridding the city of a method of accelerating large project approvals, citing concerns of ungovernable projects. In a new federal budget proposal, the Biden Administration announced a $500 million funding uplift for a Bay Area BART line through San Jose. The Bay Area transit system was previously facing a large funding drop-off as pandemic-era federal funding came to a halt.

CP&DR Vol. 38 No. 3 March 2023

In 2013, the developer of a mixed-use project in downtown Palo Alto paid almost a million dollars in in-lieu parking fees – supposedly to help pay for construction of a new city parking garage downtown. A decade later, the mixed-use building has been built, the parking garage has not – and now the developer is going to get his million dollars back.

Huntington Beach Fails to Adopt Housing Element Huntington Beach continues to push back against state housing mandates by blocking the approval of a large-scale housing plan, and a federal judge denied the city's requested injunction against the mandates. In a tied vote, the Huntington Beach city council again deadlocked and failed to adopt its Sixth Cycle housing element, pushing the vote again until their next city council meeting. State housing law provides that a city may incur monthly fines up to $600,000. Huntington Beach recently brought the state to federal court over the monthly fines, arguing the city needed a restraining order to prevent the state from enforcing the fines until the issue was settled in court. The U.S. District Judge rejected the requested injunction "given that there is insufficient evidence in the record of any imminent fines, penalties or other punitive measures against the city." State Attorney General Rob Bonta applauded the decision, stressing city's must cooperate with state efforts to increase housing and address the housing crisis. Huntington City Council will meet again April 4 to raise the housing element vote once again. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Bonta Puts Elk Grove on Notice over Denial of Supportive Housing Project Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a letter to the mayor of Elk Grove putting the city on notice that its denial of a proposed supportive housing project violates state laws including Senate Bill 35, the Housing Accountability Act, and fair housing laws intended to prohibit discriminatory land use practices. The proposed project, known as the Oak Rose Apartments, would have added 66 units of supportive housing for lower-income households at risk of homelessness, in a jurisdiction in dire need of low-income housing opportunities. The Elk Grove City Council improperly denied the project, claiming that it did not meet the City's zoning standards and was therefore ineligible for SB 35 ministerial review. Attorney General Bonta urged Elk Grove to take prompt corrective action to realign with state law, threatening legal consequence. Initially after the city's denial of the Elk Grove project, the state Department of Housing and Community Development issued a notice that the denial violated state housing laws. The city responded that the project violated city zoning laws; Bonta, in turn, claimed that the restriction itself was not a strong enough basis to deny the project. Legal Options Run Out for Opponents of Infamous Lafayette Development Following a 12-year political and legal struggle, a 315-unit housing project in Lafayette is moving forward after the California Supreme Court declined to hear the case against the project. The court also refused to depublish a Court of Appeal ruling in favor of the project. The declines, which implicitly affirm that the project complies with the Housing Accountability Act and CEQA, mark the end of Save Lafayette's campaign to stop development of Terraces of Lafayette, which turned into one of the most high-profile symbols of the Bay Area's housing shortage and the lengths to which project opponents will go to impede a project. The city's approval of the project came in 2020 after 120 public meetings; Save Lafayette then sued, setting in motion the legal actions that culminated in this month's Supreme Court action. Pro-housing organizations see this as a large win for housing in the wealthy Bay Area suburb, reinforcing the Housing Accountability Act. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Tracking Land-Use Fallout of Silicon Valley Bank Collapse A new map tracks the 11 affordable housing projects across the Bay Area with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) loans or equity impacted by the bank's failure. The projects now face a period of scrambling for funding nearly 1,000 units of affordable housing. SVB loaned or invested almost $2 billion in affordable housing projects across the Bay Area before federal officials seized $209 billion of assets. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation assured project developers lines of credits established by SVB will continue for projects already under construction, leaving unanswered questions about loans SVB agreed to for new projects not yet under construction. At least six projects comprising over 600 units in San Francisco were primarily funded by loans from SVB, and San Francisco officials now say they will seek alternative funding and loan options for the projects all at various stages of development. The interruption and delays in construction poses a time risk to these projects, concerning officials and project developers. One developer with impacted housing projects across the Bay Area remains optimistic other banks will step in as funders. Does SF Charter Grant Power Of Discretionary Review Or Not? UC Davis law professor Chris Elmendorf has published a brief paper challenging the idea that the San Francisco city charter gives the city expansive discretionary power over development projects. “The drafters of the charter did not choose it, and the voters who adopted the charter did not ratify it,” Elmendorf wrote. “Rather, it was invented by the city's lawyers decades later—during the heyday of antigrowth activism in the late 1970s—and then “ratified” by a careless and unnecessary passage in a Court of Appeal opinion .” Discretionary review, of course, opens the door to the California Environmental Quality Act. Elmendorf's argument would make many San Francisco development projects subject to ministerial review only. Study Tracks Inequitable Impacts of Pollution in Los Angeles A study by USC's Sol Price School of Public Policy found that Los Angeles residents who primarily drive are less likely to be exposed to the same degree of air pollution as residents taking public transit. The study tracked the driving habits of white commuters through non-white communities in the city due to years of racist city planning decisions putting non-white residents in direct contact with the impacts of citywide commuting. Predominantly non-white communities razed in the 20th century to build freeways now face disproportionate rates of air pollution, regardless of the socio-economic makeup of the non-white communities. The study proposed a number of public policy decisions to amend the discrepancy, including raising fuel efficiency standards for cars and encouraging electric car usage, creating tolls or pollution taxes, incentivizing work from home, and zoning for more residential units in job-rich communities. Quick Hits & Updates A lawsuit originally filed by the city of Santa Ana has been dismissed after ultimately compelling a developer to finish a previously-delayed homeless shelter project. The city filed a federal lawsuit after the developer paused or slowed construction on a 200-bed shelter, violating their lease agreement. The project finished during the lawsuit, after mounting pressures in court after multiple hearings. The federal judge then dropped the case, citing that neither party formally won as the objective of the litigation is complete. A team of scientists, using both satellite and ground instruments, mapped nitrogen dioxide in the state, down to a neighborhood level. They found high levels of nitrogen dioxide particularly near high-rise apartments and food processing infrastructure in Los Angeles. A group of investors and business owners are pushing a large-scale transformation of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, including a food hall, interactive museum, short-term apartment rentals, and public space centering on and around Pier 45. The Long Beach City Council is once again considering a plan to replace a Terminal Island freeway with a large park space to work as a green buffer between the Port of Long Beach and the western part of the city impacted by traffic congestion and air pollution. Governor Newsom asked the federal government to permit Medicaid funds to apply to up to six months of rent or temporary housing funds for enrollees on the brink of or struggling with homelessness. Experts expect a scrutinized response from the Biden Administration at the effectiveness of the plan. During his most recent announcement as part of his State of the State tour, Governor Newsom reported a new plan for wide-scale mental-health based housing and treatment facilities in the state, using at least $3 billion in bond measures. Newsom plans to annually use another $1 billion from the already-implemented income tax of top earners to upkeep the housing and treatment facilities. Activists in La Jolla are making a renewed push to establish the community as a city separate from San Diego. The Association for the City of La Jolla is presently seeking funding for a financial analysis of the move, saying that it would financially benefit both La Jolla but San Diego. A team of scientists, using both satellite and ground instruments, mapped nitrogen dioxide in the state, down to a neighborhood level. They found high levels of nitrogen dioxide particularly near high-rise apartments and food processing infrastructure in Los Angeles. National nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners and the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority released a report and database on the Bay Area's expected affordable housing, tracking 395 affordable housing projects in multiple stages of development. They anticipate, with the completion of all of these projects, the region will see over 33,000 affordable homes. A development company paid $559 million to acquire NASCAR's San Bernardino Auto Club Speedway racetrack in Fontana. The racetrack will be replaced by a planned 6.6 million square foot logistics space, returning the speedway to its pre-NASCAR industrial past. The San Francisco Chronicle released an interactive map of the nine Bay Area counties according to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) walkability index . The map indicates that neighborhoods like San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland are considered more walkable, whereas suburbs in the North and East Bay are found to be less walkable according to the index.

A basement don’t seem very removable – though it could be movable if it’s situated close to an unstable coastal bluff. And the basement is at the bottom, one might say, of a lengthy dispute between a homeowner in the Leucadia section of Encinitas and the Coastal Commission. In an unpublished decision, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the Coastal Commission, which overruled the City of Encinitas’s decision to approve the construction of a much larger home, including a basement that would have to be removed in the event of significant bluff erosion. Andre and Jennifer Hurst bought a 1,300-square-foot blufftop home in Leucadia that was secured by two coastal protection systems – a seawall below and a subterranean cassion and beam protection systems, both of which were installed after the property experienced a major landslide in 1996. The Hursts proposed demolishing the old home and building a new 2,800-square-foot home with a 1,200-square-foot basement, located 40 feet inland from the bluff.

SGC Announces Major Funding Opportunities for Planning and Development The Strategic Growth Council (SGC) announced $99.2 in funding opportunities for neighborhood-serving capital infrastructure projects in historically underserved communities. These projects must reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve both public and environmental health, and create economic opportunities for community members. The funding and program entitled the Transformative Climate Communities Program hopes to allocate funds for communities to decide what projects, goals, and strategies best serve their individual neighborhoods. In this fifth round of the Transformative Climate Communities Program, three Implementation Grants are available totaling $29.5 million each. Multiple Project Development grants are awarded at up to $5 million each. Three Planning Grants total $300,000 each. There is an additional new Advance Pay Program and a new Project Development grant to fund pre-development projects. Additionally, California Indigenous tribes are eligible for a subsection of application for Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities and Rural Applications. The application is online to gauge interest in available funds and connect applicants with Technical Assistance providers. The application is also a link to an online submissions folder to upload materials. Final applications are due August 1. San Francisco to Investigate Influential Housing Nonprofit A San Francisco Supervisor is calling for hearings to probe the business operations of the nonprofit Tenants and Owners Development Corp., also known as TODCO, claiming the nonprofit has dramatically increased spending on lobbying while ignoring the needs of its buildings and tenants. The supervisor is requesting the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and Mayor Breed's Office of Housing and Community Development to report on their contracts with the nonprofit. She is also requesting the Department of Building Inspection and the Planning Department to present previously-filed complaints against TODCO buildings. TODCO has about $50 million in assets and multi-million dollars worth of contracts with both the city of San Francisco and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The nonprofit has a long history of controversy and criticism for funding certain ballot measures and opposing other housing developments in the city. It was reported that TODCO's spending $473,000 in 2020-21 on lobbying in comparison with its previous $5,000 spent in 2012-13. TODCO is one of a number of local nonprofit building contractors facing pushback against spending and business operations in the Bay Area. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Newsom Celebrates Incremental Progress on Homelessness Governor Newsom announced both that the state is on track to reduce the number of unsheltered people by 15% in the next two years in addition to the statewide construction of 1,200 tiny homes. 350 of those tiny homes will go to the city of Sacramento, 500 to Los Angeles, 200 to San Jose, and 150 to San Diego. The cities will be responsible for finding a location for the homes and funding the upkeep. The homes themselves are as small as 120 square feet, equipped with electricity but not plumbing, water, or cooking capabilities. Some critics state this is a “bandaid” by Newsom on a larger issue only building in severity. Since 2020, homelessness in the state has risen 6% compared to a nationwide increase of only 0.4%. But San Jose, where 500 tiny homes were constructed in the last three years, has seen a 9% drop in the number of unhoused people without shelter. Newsom's announcements come during the first stop of his four city State of the State tour, where he has promised to announce major changes on issues like housing, health care, and public safety. Symptoms of Climate Change Growing More Severe in California The fourth edition of "Indicators of Climate Change in California," published by Cal EPA and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, details the severe increase in climate crisis impacts throughout the state. According to state scientists, the dangers of fossil fuel dependence are abundantly clear and worsening; wildfires, drought, and excessive heat have intensified, placed human health in increased danger, and created irreparable damage to landscapes and communities. Notably, annual average air temperatures have increased by 2.5 degrees since 1895, and eight of the 10 hottest years took place in the last decade. The report, which totals nearly 700 pages, suggests that the state has taken meaningful action in terms of coastal protection, renewable energy, and electric vehicle use, but initiatives must involve stronger actions to prevent the most catastrophic impacts. CPD&R Coverage: Court Nixes Re-Litigation of Entitlements; CEQA Requires Air Pollution Analysis In a very strongly worded published opinion, the Second District Court of Appeal has rejected all the arguments of a neighborhood group opposed to an eldercare facility in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles. The three-judge panel shot down the neighbors' arguments about the project's incompatibility with the neighborhood's park-like setting character and current architecture in the strongest possible terms. In so doing, they reiterated the idea that the neighbors cannot re-litigate the permit approval process in court and that the role of the courts is to defer to the city's judgment when substantial evidence exists. If you're going to build housing close to a highway, you ‘d better analyze the air pollution impact on the residents. That's the lesson from a situation in Grass Valley, where an environmental impact report on a mixed-used project 170 feet from State Route 20/49 didn't pay much attention to the air pollution impact of the project. The other lesson - one that has come up in innumerable cases under the California Environmental Quality Act - is to bring up every issue you can think of during the administrative process. The plaintiffs' wildfire arguments fell flat because they were only brought up on appeal. Quick Hits & Updates Los Angeles is the most recent city to receive a prohousing designation from the state. Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the city and Mayor Bass's urgent and proactive action to build new housing in the city, working to address the housing crisis in the area. Los Angeles joins 10 other cities across the state in the designation an d is the first city in the Southern California Association of Governments region to earn the designation. (See related CP&DR coverage .) The California Department of Housing and Community Development is soliciting ideas and input from the public for ways to improve the upcoming Regional Housing Needs Allocation process and address the housing shortage. The Regional Housing Needs Allocation process determines housing needs for the state on a region-by-region basis. In a new federal budget proposal, the Biden Administration announced a $500 million funding uplift for a Bay Area BART line through San Jose. The Bay Area transit system was previously facing a large funding dropoff as pandemic-era federal funding came to a halt. Two environmental groups filed suit against the city of Desert Hot Springs, claiming a recently -approved large multi-use development plan violates CEQA by excluding an environmental impact report. Sacramento city officials are looking into a vacancy tax on empty lots, stores, and potentially homes. The City Council is in the early stages of drafting a tax ordinance, which would appear on ballots for voters to ultimately decide. With the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, over 500 units of affordable housing in San Francisco expect a delay . Many loans through Silicon Valley Bank will be transferred to the city, but developers are wary of extended delays in production through that process. Pasadena City Council voted to phase out its planned development zoning designation, ridding the city of a method of accelerating large project approvals, citing concerns of ungovernable projects. A study by San Francisco think tank SPUR and Concord Group economics firm shows that Bay Area apartments became more affordable between 2010 and 2021 when compared with changing median income. At the same time, wealth discrepancies between white collar employees and blue collar employees has worsened, with middle-income jobs now making generally 80% below the region's median income. The Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Committee named Andrew Fremier as the new executive director. Fremier previously served seven years on the Federal Transit Administration's executive team and three years as Planning Chief for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Palo Alto Unified School District Board voted on and approved a new affordable housing project for 29 subsidized units for school district faculty and staff meeting qualifying income levels. The project faced four years of negotiations before finally securing land and a vote of approval. The proposed 250 apartment project adjacent to San Quentin State Prison cleared its environmental analysis. Half of the proposed apartments will be for Marin County educational staff and employees, and the project will be owned by Marin County and the Marin County Department of Education.

In denying a housing project on the parking lot of well-known Spengler’s Fresh Fish Grotto, the City of Berkeley violated not only SB 35 but also the Housing Accountability Act’s requirement that affordable housing projects can be denied only if certain narrow findings are met.

In a very strongly worded published opinion, the Second District Court of Appeal has rejected all the arguments of a neighborhood group opposed to an eldercare facility in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles.

APA Legislative Platform Calls for Housing Development The American Planning Association of California released its 2023-2023 Legislation Platform outlining priorities in the next two years of statewide city planning issues, offering a resource to APA members, policymakers, advocates, and the public. The Legislation Platform is organized by seven sections ranking by priority, including housing, equity, climate resilience and hazard mitigation, infrastructure, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), healthy communities, and community planning. Planning principals and actions are highlighted under each of the seven sections. Their highest prioritized housing section stresses evaluating existing housing resources, locating and designating appropriate sites for all types of housing, and encouraging "objective development standards" and infrastructure plans for affordable housing. APA also stresses the flexibility of zoning in denser areas. Action items include supporting legislation, projects like multi-family housing units in single-family zones, and advocating for new state funding for housing. High Speed Rail Authority Lowers Ridership Estimates Plans for the nation's largest infrastructure project are facing setbacks as the California High-Speed Rail Authority decreased expected their ridership rates between Merced and Bakersfield by 25%, outlined a general schedule setback, and estimated a much higher cost of entire production than originally anticipated. Following slow economic and population growth in the state, the rates of expected ridership went from 8.8 million in a 2019 forecast to 6.6 million in the project's update. The entire length of the high-speed railway now exceeds secured funding by $10 billion due to higher inflation, a decision to elevate stations and lines, and a new contingency plan. Transportation experts cite the urgency over these decisions, stating the project's future is at risk due to the change in ridership and increased costs. Additionally, Republican House leader McCarthy states federal funds will no longer finance the project's additional costs due to the project's missed deadlines and looming engineering obstacles, including the tunnels needed to build through state mountain ranges. The state will know whether or federal funds are approved by next year. The project may again turn to voters to subsidize the additional costs of the Bakersfield-Merced line. San Francisco, Los Angeles Score Highly among Walkable Cities A new report from Smart Growth America ranks the nation's 35 largest metro areas by walkable urbanism. The report takes into consideration multi-family rental rates, for-sale home prices, and premiums in commercial rents. Four California cities, San Francisco (6), Los Angeles (8) fared well while Sacramento (24), and San Diego (28) ranked in the bottom half. The same four cities performed entirely differently on the Social Equity Index. Despite being ranked eighth in walkable urbanism, Los Angeles ranked 35th on the Social Equity Index (SEI), from a combination of low rankings on affordability, transit systems, and proximity to walkable areas. Sacramento was the highest performer of the California cities on the SEI rankings at 20, with San Francisco close behind at 22. The report also found that 6.8% of the US population and 19.1% of the total US real GDP is contained in 1.2% of the landmass of the top 35 U.S. metros. Online Dashboard Illustrates Impacts of Housing Policies Researchers at UC Berkeley's Terner Center for Housing Innovation released a new Housing Policy Dashboard tool intended to allow elected officials, planners, and the public to access data regarding housing policy impacts in Los Angeles. The tool builds on an earlier system, the Housing Development Dashboard, which targeted Bay Area cities. Now, researchers hope that Los Angeles decision makers will better consider the feasibility of policy ideas before implementing them, therefore leading to greater housing supply. Primarily, the tool registers on which parcels of land housing complexes can be built and how much, depending on each policy filter. Researchers' takeaways include that each policy leads to more housing but has different impacts in terms of equity and sustainability, signaling the importance of a comprehensive solution with several policies involved. State Auditor Identifies Cities Financially at Risk For the fifth year in a row, the City of Compton has landed the number one spot on the state auditor's office list of the most financially at-risk cities. Other cities that made the list's top 20 include San Gabriel, which improved slightly from second to third place; Montebello, which regressed from seventh to fifth place; Torrance; Redondo Beach; West Covina; and Los Angeles. Compton, San Gabriel, and Montebello were classified as "high risk," meaning they are vulnerable to waste, fraud, and mismanagement. Meanwhile, Torrance's ranking improved, and the city is no longer in the high risk zone. The report considers the status of reserves, debt burden, liquidity, revenue trends, and more and found that many cities have been impacted by low reserves and high pension liabilities. CP&DR Coverage: Huntington Beach Battles State over Housing Laws Rankled by state efforts to promote housing development, the City of Huntington Beach has sued the state to opt out of SB 9, SB 10, and the builder's remedy--and the state has sued back. The city's complaint, filed in federal court, claims that the state's enforcement of housing laws “will continue with an unbridled power play to control all aspects of the City Council's land use decisions in order to eliminate the suburban character of the city and replace it with a high-density mecca.” Some Huntington Beach officials claim that the city's RHNA numbers are unfairly high and therefore "fraudulent." The state filed a countersuit and a motion for preliminary injunction against the City of Huntington Beach for violating state housing laws. In the complaint, the state argues that the city's ban on approval of certain affordable housing projects is illegal under the HAA, SB 9, the ADU law, and the Housing Crisis Act, and must be struck down. Attorney General Rob Bonta and HCD have both separately sent letters warning the city that the proposed ordinance violates the Housing Accountability Act and would harm the public by illegally blocking affordable housing projects for low- and middle-income residents. Meanwhile, over two-dozen builder's remedy projects have been filed in Southern California, with others pending in the Bay Area. Quick Hits & Updates A new housing development at the Ashby BART station in Berkeley is stalled by negotiations between the city and BART. City officials want a portion of the development to serve the community, including affordable housing and space for a market, which would prove less profitable to BART. BART is already undergoing a record high financial crisis as federal pandemic funding dwindles. Google, amid layoffs and downsizing office space, is reassessing the construction timeline of planned San Jose transit village. Although emphasizing the company's commitment to the project, Google warns of delays to develop the site. The Culver City City Council voted this week to ban camping in public spaces in a highly-criticized move to address the homelessness crisis in the area. City officials responded by saying the ban will not go into effect until several plans - including a "designated safe" camping site and 73 additional units of shelter - find footing in the city. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided to grant PG&E an exception to seek a 20-year permit on Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in San Luis Obispo County. The decision only allows the power plant to remain in operation through 2023, though, to smooth a transition from nuclear to renewable energy in the state. The California Air Resources Board, the state's emissions regulations agency, added a community in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles to its emissions-reduction program. The program is the first of its kind, offering top down solutions from the state agency to address communities disproportionately impacted by greenhouse emissions. Stanford University filed suit against Santa Clara County arguing that faculty homes fall under a "college interest" and therefore should be exempt from the same property ownership taxes. San Diego officials are solidifying plans for a Mission Bay redevelopment, including a wetlands restoration project as part of a climate action plan set, a small golf course, and a camp site. Stakeholders are adding amendments to the project plans, but have until April 20 to do so. In the wake of population loss in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and more generally in the state, inland suburbs like Menifee are seeing huge population boons. Coastal cities are increasing in price of living, so many families are choosing to move to smaller towns. The Winnemem Wintu people are warning that sacred Indigenous lands are at risk of submersion if Shasta Dam is enlarged. They oppose the project as many of the last remaining sacred sites of the tribe would be flooded. Abundant Housing LA released a housing element quality map this week, scoring areas of Los Angeles based on not only housing element but also HCD certification, number of single-family housing and previous performance in housing development. An appellate court has denied a rehearing request by Save Livermore Downtown. The group hoped to move a 130-unit affordable housing development to an undetermined location and instead use the area for a public park. The court upholds the affordable housing development. California state Department of Toxic Substances Control, after citing a deficit of funds to address lead removal in Los Angeles County, missed a spending deadline and forfeited more than half of their $6.5 million budget set aside for testing for lead and cleaning up lead contamination in neighborhoods.

Builder's Remedy Applications Represent 8,600 Units in Southern California Developers in Southern California filed 26 builder's remedy projects as of late January, allocating 1,795 of the 8,642 new homes as low-income housing, according to analysis by the Orange County Register. Builder's remedy fast tracks projects as cities cannot deny a project with at least 20% low-income units, even if the plans do not align with the city's general plan or zoning restrictions.The builder's remedy applies in 251 of the 539 state municipalities as none have a state-approved housing plan. Eight San Diego jurisdictions do not have a state-approved plan; 108 jurisdictions in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Imperial also have yet to establish plans. Additionally, 103 Bay Area jurisdictions have not adopted the required housing elements. Builder's remedy projects are slated in the cities of Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Del Mar, La Cañada Flintridge, La Habra, and Orange as of the end of January. (See related CP&DR coverage .) San Diego County Climate Plan Faces Lawsuit The Protect Our Community Foundation, an environmental nonprofit in San Diego, is suing the county over its climate-change plan. The lawsuit alleges the county wrongfully awarded a no-bid contract to the University of California, San Diego, concealing ties between UCSD and utility companies. Furthermore, the claimants said they uncovered a donation of $840,000 from San Diego Gas & Electric to UCSD the same year UCSD was awarded the bid by the county. The climate-change plan itself includes a mass "regional decarbonization framework," outlining solar fields and wind power projects requiring new, multi-billion dollar power line investments. The claimants request the judge require the county to rescind the plan and release a competitive bid for a researcher for the plan, as the research unfairly skews towards projects requiring massive utility upgrades, as opposed to local rooftop solar panels. Bills Seek to Ease Office Conversions, Allow Single-Stairway Apartment Buildings Assembly Bill 532 , or the Office to Housing Conversion Act, if approved will pay developers to convert offices into housing and streamline the construction process. Using a Calgary program as a framework and inspiration for the bill, Assembly Member Matt Haney hopes the bill will stop cities from stonewalling any potential office-to-housing conversions by making the project approval automatic with strict time limits on obtaining building permits. The bill would also create a fund - the California Downtown Recovery Catalyst Fund - in the form of project grants, while also capping fees and design requirement costs. This is where the bill could lose public support, as taxpayer money would fund the grants and the approval process could be seen as lenient. The bill has already seen support by YIMBY Action, the executive director stating its potential to create "vibrant, mixed-use communities."ousing advocacy group Assembly Bill 835 , the single stair reform bill, which would require the State Fire Marshal to research and propose standards to permit multiunit buildings over three stories to use single-stairways for egress. Current regulations require buildings over three stories to have at least two stairways, to facilitate escape in the event of fire. . Many architects and developers have criticized double-stair requirements, calling them unnecessary, costly, and constraining. Study: Downtown San Francisco Languishes; Central Valley Downtowns Boom Downtown San Francisco has the slowest COVID-19 recovery of 61 cities in North America studied by the University of Toronto's School of Cities think tank, reporting 31% of activity compared to fall 2019. Using cell phone data as a measurement of activity in the area, a recent study determined Downtown San Francisco to be relatively empty. One of the causes of such a shift is believed to be the housing market pushing residents out of the Bay Area, those seeking cheaper housing. Another is the downtown area's prevalence of jobs that are now worked remotely, composing 31% of the workforce in the area. Much of the area's office buildings (65%) lie vacant. Officials are seeking to remedy the issue by proposing alternative land use and diversifying the area, but the city is facing economic barriers to changing the downtown office spaces to better suit the current in-person workforce — or even into new housing. In contrast, inland cities with relatively affordable housing like Bakersfield and Fresno, where activity has reached 125% and 121% of 2019 levels, respectively. They ranked second and third in the study, behind only Salt Lake City. CP&DR Coverage: Will People's Park Case Spark CEQA Reform? More homeless people isn't an environmental impact, but noisy drunken students are. Gov. Newsom wants to do something about that. The final First District of Appeal ruling in the UC Berkeley People's Park case was different from the tentative ruling in December, which also said displacement leading to more homeless was an environmental impact. Nevertheless, the final ruling - which also cut back on detailed arguments about the noise and was written by a different judge - struck a chord with Newsom, who said on Twitter that the California Environmental Quality Act process is “broken” and promised to make reform of the law a high priority this year. CP&DR's Bill Fulton considers how the judiciary and the legislature have thus far failed to do anything but make CEQA more complicated--and whether that trend will finally reverse this year. Quick Hits & Updates The Little Hoover Commission - an independent citizens commission working to improve state government - will hold a series of hearings this spring to examine the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The first of three hearings will be held in person on Thursday, March 16, with the option for remote participation. This hearing will focus on the debate over CEQA and give the Commission the opportunity to hear different perspectives on CEQA and on CEQA's impact and effectiveness. The second and third hearings will be held virtually April 13 and April 27. The new Select Committee on Reconnecting Communities in the California Legislature will investigate methods to repair damages to communities segmented by highways in the 1950s and ‘60s, focusing particularly on the communities of color impacted by racist land use laws. The Coastal Commission approved a bid by the city of Eureka this week to ban digital billboards. The legislation bans the construction of new digital billboards, with widespread support by city officials and business owners. Already delayed with a lawsuit, the 1,500-home planned development in the Bay Area's Pittsburg Hills faces another obstacle as the Planning Commission turned down the project. The Planning Commission's vote indicates the project should be reevaluated before approved by the City Council. At their Feb. 9 meeting , a member of Fresno City Council proposed a new fund as part of a settlement to alleviate the impacts of the nearby Amazon fulfillment center on the surrounding community. Certain residents can apply for up to $10,000 to mitigate impacts of noise, traffic and pollution within their homes by installing HVAC air filtration units, double-paned windows, insulation and landscaping, for example. The council member says that residents did not anticipate the Amazon fulfillment center's disruption to a quiet lifestyle. Construction is projected to start this year on a $25-billion freight hub in the Inland Empire. Developer Highland Fairview recently announced the hire of Stantec to lead design and engineering plans. Stantec's principal-in-charge claims the scope of the sustainability plan "has not been tackled on this scale in the U.S." Highland Fairview initially met with pushback from local environmental groups in 2021, and presently stresses the sustainability plan and the project's goal of carbon neutrality. The deal between Highland Fairview and the environmental groups includes rooftop solar generation, electrical vehicle chargers onsite and LEED-Silver certified core and shell of the warehouse. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) One of Los Angeles Skid Row's largest providers of low-income housing is facing financial collapse, and seeking outside sources to maintain funds to keep housing intact for the almost-2,000 units of single residency occupants.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. Using San Francisco's Potrero Power Station as a model, Mayor London Breed is proposing the creation of a new "infrastructure financing district," helping developers borrow against future tax revenues to fund infrastructure development on-site. (See related CP&DR coverage . A tentative decision by a San Diego Superior Court judge could impact San Diego's plans for high- and mid-rise housing. The decision, if it goes into law, will make environmental studies on certain developments much more complicated and unclear. The ruling could also potentially halt current construction on a number of large projects in the city. Brightline West, the company developing a high-speed rail project between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, agreed to build a series of wildlife crossings along the I-15, finding an agreement with both Caltrans and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. A proposed ordinance in the City of Los Angeles would require restaurants to apply for costly new permits for existing al fresco dining patios, as well as restricting and reversing COVID-related restaurant programs. Many restaurant owners in Los Angeles are concerned about the costs of these new permits as operation costs continue to skyrocket due to inflation. (See related CP&DR coverage .)

In late February, an appellate court in the Bay Area ruled that noisy student parties at UC Berkeley are an environmental impact that must be analyzed under the California Environmental Quality Act.