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.

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. The situation involved the Dorsey Marketplace project, a mixed-use project in Grass Valley located on the 27-acre site of a former mine. In 2015, developer Russel Jeter proposed a project with 179,000 square feet of commercial use and 90 multifamily residential units. Subsequently, the project was changed to reduce the commercial space to 104,000 square feet, increase the multifamily residential to 172 units, and add 8,500 square feet of office space. The city approved the project with a mitigations and a statement of overriding consideration in 2020. Subsequently, a group called Community Environmental Advocates sued, claiming a wide range of deficiencies in the environmental impact report. But only the air quality question stuck. The group lost in Superior Court and appealed to the Third District Court of Appeal.

In yet another case suggesting how acrimonious development disputes in California has become, a land-use lobbyist in San Diego have sued each other for libel. The community activist subsequently filed an anti-SLAPP motion against the lobbyist – which has been shot down by both a Superior Court judge an a Court of Appeal panel. The lobbyist’s libel suit will apparently go forward.

Huntington Beach Sues State over Housing Targets, Flouts Builder's Remedy At the authorization of the Huntington Beach City Council, the Huntington Beach City Attorney announced he is preparing a lawsuit to protest the city's Regional Housing Needs Allocation of 13,368 units. At the same meeting, a council member said the city was working with the Department of Housing and Community Development to meet the allocation requirement. Council members said that, while the the city is working on meeting state requirements, they plan to fight the state on the "unfair" attempt to urbanize the city. At the same time, the city's Planning Commission voted this week to reject all “builder's remedy” applications, even if they comply with state law.. On Feb. 25, , the California Attorney General and Department of Housing and Community Development both wrote urging the city reject a newly proposed ban on ADU housing projects and projects that fall under Senate Bills 9 and 10 . "The City of Huntington Beach continues to attempt to evade their responsibility to build housing, but they will simply not win,” said Governor Gavin Newsom in a statement. (See related CP&DR coverage here and here .) State Allocates $2.5 Billion in Transit Funding, Favoring Los Angeles and Bay Area Gov. Newsom announced awards totaling more than $2.5 billion to 16 ongoing public transportation projects in the first wave of an infusion of state funding to expand transit and passenger rail service throughout the state, helping to cut planet-warming pollution. Today's funding announcement is part of a larger, multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment to upgrade the state's transit system to enhance mobility options, improve service and reduce overdependence on driving. The grants are administered by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) as part of the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP). Projects receiving funding include: $600 million for LA Metro's East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor project to complete the 6.7-mile initial segment between Van Nuys/Orange Line and Van Nuys/San Fernando stations, scheduled by 2030. $407 million for the Inglewood Transit Connector, scheduled to be completed in time for service to support the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. $375 million for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension project, which will bring BART service to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara. $367 million for the Peninsula Corridor Electrification project, which is electrifying Caltrain rail service. $142 million for the Valley Rail project, ensuring completion of nine project components stretching throughout the Altamont Corridor Express and San Joaquin service areas. $19 million for the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority's West Valley Connector Bus Rapid Transit and Zero-Emission Bus Initiative, which will introduce a new 19-mile bus rapid transit system. San Bernardino city official claim the awards are biased towards Los Angeles City and County railway projects; the Gold Line Authority, through LA Metro, requested full funding for the project ($798 million) but was denied. In addition to the $2.54 billion announced today for existing TIRCP projects, CalSTA will award another $1.14 billion to new transit projects and improvements at high-priority intersections by the end of April. The recent announcement represents the first round of awards as part of a sixth cycle of TIRCP investment, which will eventually total $25 billion. Berkeley People's Park Ruling Sparks Calls for CEQA Reform In response to a ruling blocking construction of UC Berkeley student housing on the site of People's Park--ruled in part on the grounds that “noisy” college students qualify as an environmental impact under CEQA, Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for wholesale CEQA reform. In a tweet posted on the governor's official Twitter account, Newsom wrote, “Our CEQA process is clearly broken when a few wealthy Berkelely homeowners can block desperately needed student housing for years and even decades. California cannot afford to be held hostage by NIMBYs who weaponize CEQA to block student and affordable housing. This selfish mindset is driving up housing process, and making our state less affordable. The law needs to change, and I am committed to working with lawmakers to making more changes so our state can build the housing we desperately need.” Assembly Bill 1700 , sponsored by Joshua Hoover (AD 7, Folsom), may be a frontrunner for addressing the issues in the People's Park case; it “would specify that population growth, in and of itself, resulting from a housing project and noise impacts of a housing project are not an effect on the environment for purposes of CEQA.” (See related CP&DR coverage .) San Diego Authorizes Taller Buildings Farther from Transit Stations The San Diego City Council voted , 5-4, to enable the construction of taller buildings and more backyard housing units further away from transit lines than was previously allowed. The limit for more backyard units had been one half-mile from a transit station. The loosened regulations allow for denser housing citywide; proponents hope it will help address the housing shortages. With the expansion of the ADU zone to a full mile radius, the total acreage expanding to 5,224 additional acres of homes for a developer density bonus. Another 4,612 acres are now eligible for San Diego's backyard apartment bonus program. But most residents who spoke at the meeting opposed the changes to the ruling, citing people will not walk a mile to transit and will consequently reduce the use of public transit. They also site the lack of city infrastructure plans to match the dense housing, and pointed to wildfire-prone areas where higher density housing can now be built. CP&DR Coverage: Battles Rage over Bay Area Housing Elements No fewer than 12 jurisdictions are facing lawsuits from a loose coalition of housing advocacy groups, and many more--presumably all of the noncompliant cities--were instantly made subject to "Builder's Remedy" provisions, by which developers can essentially force the approval of projects that have a sufficient amount of affordable housing, regardless of the projects' mass and density. Californians for Homeownership, California Housing Defense Fund and YIMBY Law have each filed a handful of suits. Defendants include Santa Clara County and the following cities: Belvedere, Burlingame, Cupertino, Daly City, Fairfax, Martinez, Novato, Palo Alto, Pinole, Pleasant Hill, and Richmond. Five of the twelve jurisdictions are on the San Francisco Peninsula, where resistance to new housing has historically been fierce. Quick Hits & Updates The city of Oakland will turn over 380 loading zones into “smart zones,” using a contactless payment method for commercial deliveries. The housing nonprofit Californians for Homeownership is suing the city of Beverly Hills over its housing policies, hoping to enforce the builder's remedy. Californians for Homeownership believes the city must start approving any housing project with a certain amount of low-income housing, per the remedy. Acrisure Arena in the Coachella Valley city of Palm Desert opened recently as both the home of the AHL's newest Coachella Valley Firebirds and a large music venue, hosting approximately 11,000 concert-goers or 10,500 hockey fans. Riverside-San Bernardino County - in addition to Palm Beach, Tampa, Phoenix and Fort Worth - is now one of the most undersupplied housing markets in the country, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. The housing market in the area is measured by vacancy rates as well as overcrowding conditions in family homes. An old Honda dealership on Market street and South Van Ness avenue in San Francisco will be home to a 55 story tower , but the developer, Crescent Heights, was afforded a four-year extension by the City Planning Commission to start construction. Crescent Heights has already spent $40 million to fulfill its affordable housing requirement, and say that they could break ground sooner. The scooter company Bird - previously permitted to operated 1,500 scooters in San Francisco - is now leaving the city, citing low profit in the city and burdensome business regulations.California High-Speed Rail Authority now reports the cost of the bullet train construction between Merced and Bakersfield has increased by billions of dollars due to inflation. The completion of construction is also now estimated between 2030 and 2033.A new study claims that San Francisco is losing billions in economic activity due to work-from-home policies, as workers' spend on average $3,567 less per year per person on businesses near their places of work.The Apartment Association of Orange County, a group of landlords, is set to sue the city of Santa Ana over housing policies first approved in 2021, including protections for tenants against rent increases and evictions.According to a new study by the Public Policy Institute of California, rates of homeless continue to rise throughout the state, particularly in urban areas, with 30% of the nation's homeless population residing in California.

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

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

CP&DR Vol. 38 No. 2 February 2023

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

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

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