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Walt Disney Co. to Develop Branded Master-Planned Community in Rancho Mirage Walt Disney Co. is proposing to develop a series of master-planned communities around the country dedicated to what the company describe as "storyliving." "Storyliving by Disney," will begin with a 618-acre project called Cotino in Rancho Mirage, close to Walt Disney's former Coachella Valley home, in collaboration with DMB Development. Mayor Ted Weill noted that, if completed, this would be Rancho Mirage's largest development. Though the complexes will be for all ages, one section will be dedicated to residents aged 55 and older, and options for purchase include estates, single-family homes, and condominiums. The company intends to foster a unique Disney experience while facilitating new connections between residents and plans to provide wellness, entertainment, and philanthropic services. The community will include "access to curated experiences, such as wellness programming; entertainment ranging from live performances to cooking classes; philanthropic endeavors; seminars and much more," according to a company statement . Court Orders UC Berkeley to Curtail Enrollment to Ease Environmental Impacts An appellate court denied a request from the University of California Board of Regents to suspend proceedings to freeze enrollment at UC Berkeley, as ordered by an Alameda County Superior Court Judge in August, while the regents move forward with the appellate process. While the regents also appealed this decision to the state Supreme Court, the move suggests that the university may be forced to reduce its incoming fall 2022 class by 3,050, which would total one-third of the class population and decrease tuition earnings by $57 million. Campus officials say this will reduce financial aid and classroom resources. In August, Save Berkeley's Neighborhoods succeeded in its lawsuit that argued that UC Berkeley's expansion plan would harm traffic, noise, housing prices, and the environment. (See related CP&DR analysis .) Court Strikes Down Attempt to Block Housing in Livermore Affordable housing developer Eden Housing and supporters of a downtown Livermore affordable housing project are celebrating a legal victory after Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch rejected a lawsuit filed by Save Livermore Downtown. Opponents, though, will likely appeal and continue to delay construction for two more years. The judge found that the neighborhood group's attempt to obstruct 130 units of affordable housing had no legal validity, and many believe that the group was leading with racism and classism in its opposition. The original lawsuit has already delayed the project by one year and cost Eden Housing a return of $68 million in low-income housing tax credits. Eden Housing now must reapply for funding to move forward with the project. Report: Lessons from Pandemic-Era Tactical Urbanism in S.F. SPUR published a report titled Temporary to Transformative that considers pandemic-era improvements to San Francisco's city streetscape and how those might be included or expanded in a more equitable and functioning city future with streets as the center of public life and health. The nonprofit determined 4 key strategies that encompass 18 recommendations and consider the benefits of San Francisco's Shared Spaces and Slow Streets programs. The 4 strategies include " a comprehensive and resilient network," improving "the prototyping and feedback loop," securing "equitable and sustainable funding," and streamlining initiatives to reflect the effectiveness of quickly implementing measures to make streets safer and more lively toward the pandemic's beginning. CP&DR Coverage: New Era of Housing Element Enforcement Cities across the state are required to draft and adopt housing elements that not only accommodate, in most cases, significantly higher targets (for both market-rate and affordable units) than ever before but also must do so in greater detail and with a greater level of certainty than ever before. So far, roughly half the participating justifications in the state have submitted draft housing elements to HCD for review and approval. The early results suggest that there are going to be some growing pains. Out of roughly 200 drafts submitted from the Southern California Association of Governments region and the San Diego Association of Governments region, more than 70% have needed revisions—some minor, some not-so-minor—in order for HCD to deem them in compliance. Quick Hits & Updates A new study from researchers at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, "By Transit, By-Right: Impacts of Housing Development Approval Processes on Transit-Supportive Density" found that Transit Oriented Community projects are approved faster than non-TOC projects, and all by-right multifamily developments are approved faster than discretionary projects. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the California Housing Accelerator will award $923 million to affordable housing projects across the state that are ready for construction but could not move forward due to a lack of federal tax credits and bonds. 27 projects have been approved thus far, and most of them will begin construction this summer, generating 2,300 housing units, 500 of which will be for unhoused residents. San Diego has passed San Francisco as the country's least affordable metro area, according to a recent unaffordability report from OJO Labs. The report, which compares median home prices to local incomes, found that San Diego home prices rose 14.3% year over year to $764,000. The Watsonville City Council approved the city clerk's certification of a petition hoping to extend Measure U city boundaries until 2040, which will likely send the decision to voters on the November ballot. In 2002, residents voted to establish urban boundaries that would impact where developers could build. In response to the HCD's finding that Anaheim's sale of Angel Stadium violated the Surplus Land Act, the city wrote back, saying it disagrees with the state's decision and offering no solution or confirmation that it would agree to a potential $96 million fine. Going forward, the state will have to decide if it will negotiate with, financially penalize, or go to court with Anaheim. The gray wolf is back under federal endangered species protections after U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, acting under the Trump administration, chose to remove protections and promote gray wolf hunting, capturing, and poisoning. Developers of One Metro West in Costa Mesa have requested that a special election be held to welcome voter opinion on a city council-approved plan for the 15.320-acre mixed-use development in northwest Costa Mesa that would add 1,057 apartments. Beverly Hills-based Rose Equities has committed to covering the maximum $500,000 cost of the election that would make One Metro West the first major project to be on a ballot under Measure Y. San Francisco developer Republic Metropolitan is suing Santa Clara for violating state housing law and breaching a contract to construct a housing project with 170 units for students and 70 units for low-income residents. The city blocked the project after two years of planning for a mixed-use complex on land owned by the city and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. Caltrans is considering solutions to protect the 21-mile State Route 37 Corridor, the North Bay's most heavily trafficked east/west highway, from periodic flooding while also minimizing traffic congestion and creating safe travel options for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders. San Diego County Supervisors unanimously approved a master plan for the proposed McClellan-Palomar Airport near Carlsbad and have committed to conducting a sustainability plan for all county airports. The McClellan-Palomar plan includes runway extensions and safety improvements regarding noise and runway configurations. Strada TCC Partners' plan to entirely demolish and redevelop San Francisco's Piers 30-32 and Seawall Lot 330 into 30,000 square feet of retail and 376,000 square feet of office space with floating pools and "wetlands" is generating several concerns. City commissions are worried that water recreation may be an unfair use of land, that the balance between office space and public benefits is uneven, and that pier reconstruction may not even be possible. A 34.5 acre site in Folsom may become home to a micro-hospital, ambulatory surgery center, outpatient medical office building, and hotel if UC Davis Health succeeds with a new development proposal. The health center announced that it would work with AKT Development Corp. and Angelo K. Tsakopoulos on a proposal for a high-technology residential space near the medical campus. The Mid-Sunset Neighborhood Association suffered a loss after San Francisco Superior Court Judge Charles Haines rejected a request for injunctive relief from the association's attorneys who hoped to block a 7-story affordable housing complex in the Sunset District. The group argued that the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation's proposal is unlawful because neither the developer nor the government considered a building with fewer floors and, naturally, fewer units. Mountain View City Council will consider Google's proposal for reimagining a suburban office park into a walkable urban village. Google filed two proposals for two new communities located on 127 acres of office parks that would include 7,000 residential units and 3.1 million square feet of office space, shops, restaurants, and a school.

The layers of bureaucracy that lie between the state’s estimated housing need, as expressed by projections by the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the actual zoning for new units at the local level are seemingly infinite—from the legislature to metropolitan planning organizations to local agencies, with an array of stakeholders and agencies thrown in for good measure.

San Diego Adopts Suite of Housing Incentives San Diego City Council approved , 8-1, a package of seven housing incentives, including regulation changes for ADUs, that are intended to increase housing availability while also catering to residents with concerns about "neighborhood character." The package, named "Homes for All of Us," also includes a policy that disallows property owners who take advantage of SB9 to also benefit from the new ADU incentives, which expand on San Diego's already lenient ADU regulations. Developers may also now build housing projects with new libraries and fire stations on public land, and businesses will have an easier time building on-site housing for workers. Other incentives exist for those who build larger "family" units and units for disabled people. Critics of the package believe that it does not do enough to protect "neighborhood character." San Francisco May Face Vacancy Tax Ballot Measure San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston and two housing advocacy groups introduced a ballot measure titled the "Empty Homes Tax" that would tax property owners with vacant residential units. This would apply to owners of buildings with a unit that has been vacant for over six months, and the tax rate would increase for larger units and longer vacancies. The Democratic Socialists of America San Francisco Chapter and Faith in Action Bay Area are working with Preston to raise about $38 million annually add about 5,000 units to the housing stock in the first two years of implementation. Residents would voice their opinion on the measure on the November ballot, but supporters will have to father 9,000 signatures by July 11 for the measure to qualify. Cities Threaten Suit to Undo SB 9 Carson, Redondo Beach, and Torrance have begun a legal battle against SB 9 to render the law as invalid, arguing that the law's failure to allow for local control over land-use decisions and its lack of specificity regarding the affordable housing crisis violate the state Constitution, specifically for charter cities. While supporters of the bill celebrate its potential to confront the housing crisis, opponents are arguing that rescinding local decision-making ability will make it harder for leaders to properly address community needs. Specifically, Carson City Attorney Sunny Soltani mentioned concerns regarding environmental impacts, affordable housing, and gentrification. SB 9 will likely face additional challenges from general law cities like Rancho Palos Verdes and Hesperia. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Lost Coast Land Returned to Indigenous Tribes Save the Redwoods League has committed to giving over 500 acres on the Lost Coast to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, returning land with ancient redwoods to the descendants of the region's original inhabitants. Ten tribes who have lived on the land, Tc'ih-Léh-Dûñ, or "Fish Run Place" in the Sinkyone language, for thousands of years will now care for the land with steep hills and a tributary of the Eel River, which is home to steelhead trout and Coho salmon. The league had previously purchased a 5-mile stretch of the Lost Coast from a lumber company that stripped the forest for timber. The land will return to the area's indigenous inhabitants as part of the LANDBACK movement. CP&DR Legal Coverage: San Diego High Rise Prevails on Density Bonus  In the Bankers Hill neighborhood of San Diego, a community association opposed a 20-story apartment building based on two arguments that might have succeeded in the past: conflicts with the general plan and the idea that the project’s “massing and scale” is out of character with the neighborhood. But the Bankers Hill neighbors aren’t winning the argument. They’ve lost all the way down the line – planning commission, city council, Superior Court, and now in an unpublished opinion by the Court of Appeal. The reason is the recent changes in state law that give developers more power to seek density bonuses, concessions, and waivers, which in this case are overpowering the neighbors’ traditional arguments. In fact, the appellate court criticized the neighborhood group for “sidestepping” the density bonus law in their arguments. Quick Hits & Updates Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the California Housing Accelerator will award $923 million to affordable housing projects across the state that are ready for construction but could not move forward due to a lack of federal tax credits and bonds. 27 projects have been approved thus far, and most of them will begin construction this summer, generating 2,300 housing units, 500 of which will be for unhoused residents. HCD has submitted proposed regulations for the Prohousing Designation Program and is accepting public comments. (See related CP&DR coverage .) The first headquarters of the Black Panther Party, now home to It's All Good Bakery in Oakland, might get demolished and transformed into a five-story, 20-unit mixed-use housing development. Many Oakland residents have voiced concerns about the potential project's erasure of Black history and the impact on the city's Black community. Three environmental groups have sued the National Park Service in the U.S. District Court of Northern California over its decision to allow cattle ranching to operate at the Point Reyes National Seashore. The environmentalists are arguing that officials are prioritizing the dairy and beef industries at the expense of wildlife, including tule elk, and their ecosystem. While most large U.S. cities are not on track to meet their climate goals, San Francisco is equitably cleaning up its energy use, according to the  2021 City Clean Energy Scorecard . The report, released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), ranks 100 major U.S. cities on efforts including reducing energy waste in homes and buildings and moving toward a cleaner power grid. San Francisco came in first place for its new program that provides free home energy-saving kits to residents living in low-income areas with high pollution. The city also updated its energy code for new buildings and received honors for its transportation programs. Los Angeles, San Jose, and Oakland took 8th, 9th, and 10th place, respectively. The Antioch City Council has banned future natural gas and oil drilling in the city, ensuring that its future remains well-free, in updates to its municipal code. While Sunset Exploration had applied for a drilling permit to operate in the city's "heavy industrial" zone, they will now have to look outside of Antioch. Berkeley is considering a new paving policy that would prioritize quieter neighborhood streets over busy corridors and invest further in low-income neighborhoods. Under the new policy and $38.5 million five-year paving plan, streets in the city's "Equity Zone" would receive increased resources. San Diego's Blue Line Trolley extension cost double the per mile national average for light-rail projects and finished construction in half the average time, according to a recent UC Berkeley study. The report's co-author found that the 11-mile, $2.2 billion extension with nine new stations was "well executed" by SANDAG. Orange County Superior Court Judge James Crandall ruled that Mission Viejo City Council members acted in accordance with transparency law in their private negotiations surrounding the purchase and redevelopment of the Stein Mart building in the city's downtown shopping center. The property owner who filed the lawsuit argued that the City Council violated the Brown Act. Anaheim's Disneyland Resort may transform an area with a strip mall, mobile home park, and a Toy Story parking lot into a mixed-use development with hotels, restaurants, shops, and apartments along Katella Avenue. If approved by the city, "DisneylandForward" is intended to work with another proposal, Katella Gateway Anaheim, that would construct four hotel towers, four residential towers, and seven commercial buildings on 23 acres of an existing mobile home park, to increase tourism and revenue. Locals have voiced concerns about the 200 mobile homes that would be demolished and the likely increase in traffic. OPR recently released a  technical advisory that provides an overview of existing CEQA provisions that can streamline the planning and construction of sustainable transportation projects. This TA also provides guidance on how to prepare a project business case and racial equity analysis, as required for sustainable transportation projects over $100 million seeking to use the CEQA exemption contained in Public Resources Code § 21080.25. California’s  Regional Early Action Planning Program 2.0 (REAP 2.0) will provide $600 million in state and federal investment to advance the implementation of adopted regional plans by funding projects that accelerate infill housing and reductions in per capita vehicle miles traveled. An advance application for the program is now available. Berkeley officials, including Mayor Jesse Arreguín, have voiced their support for a ballot initiative that would raise hundreds of millions of dollars to fund infrastructure improvements and affordable housing construction. Officials are still considering several details related to the measure but have determined that the city must be more bold to address its housing crisis and raise the $1 billion required for maintenance.

The Chico general plan does not mandate that all new development projects must be “infill” projects – and even a project that substantially increases greenhouse gas emissions is permissible, an appellate court has ruled in an unpublished csae.

Why would a city win a land-use court case and then argue that it shouldn’t be used as a precedent for future cases?

Woodside Draws Scorn for Declaring City "Mountain Lion Habitat" In an apparent surrender after a short-lived but high-profile debacle, the town of Woodside has decided not to oppose certain residential units in the name of mountain lion protection. In a response to the implementation of Senate Bill 9, which widely permits lot splits and the development of duplexes on single-family lots statewide, Woodside had planned to put a moratorium on SB 9 projects by declaring itself a mountain lion habitat. The mountain lion is a candidate species for protection under the California Endangered Species Act, and city leaders argued that the mountain lion's status prevented the city from approving further development. The move attracted widespread derision, especially from housing advocates who claimed that the habitat designation was simply an excuse to deny more housing in the city. Even the California Mountain Lion Foundation criticized the move; the organization tweeted , "a blanket prohibition against adding an additional unit on an already developed parcel anywhere in the town is neither required by the California Endangered Species Act, nor contributing to the protection of mountain lions." The move was also opposed by Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office issued a statement reading, in part, "Habitat is land that has the capacity to support a specific species, including providing food and shelter. Land that is already developed — with, for example a single-family home — is not, by definition, habitat. . . . Any exemption under SB 9 requires the town to examine the attributes of an individual parcel of land. An entire town cannot be declared habitat for a protected species, and the exemption of a specific lot would have to be based on substantial evidence." A statement from the town indicates that it will accept SB 9 applications effective immediately. (See related CP&DR coverage .) S.F. Supervisors Thwart Mayor's Ballot Initiative to Promote Housing San Francisco Mayor London Breed's third attempt to place a measure that would streamline housing production on the June 7 ballot has failed after the Board of Supervisors rejected her proposal. Mayor Breed hoped that San Francisco residents would be able to vote on a charter amendment that would allow certain projects to quickly move past the city's discretionary review process, cutting down the approval timeline by one or two years. However, Supervisor Peskin argued that the Mayor failed to achieve adequate input from impacted stakeholders. Proposals to build 100% affordable housing or developments with over 25 units that include an affordable hosing requirement and would have qualified for the streamlined process. Report Contradicts Claims that CEQA Impedes Development The 50-year old California Environmental Quality Act is a critical tool for advancing environmental justice and combating climate change, according to a report released by The Housing Workshop and commissioned by the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment. The report contends that the CEQA is not a significant barrier to the state’s housing production, contrary to critic’s contentions, and its provisions are helpful in ensuring government transparency and community involvement. The report uses current data and case studies to assess CEQA litigation rates, economic prosperity metrics, and the cost of CEQA compliance. Its analysis shows that the number of CEQA lawsuits has remained consistently very low over the last two decades, despite a rapid growth in the state’s population in the same period. Toxic Troubles Plague Vallco Mall Redevelopment Property owners of the Vallco Town Center will have to decontaminate 50 acres of chemical-ridden soil that lays as the foundation for the new development before beginning construction. The site formerly held a shopping mall with several nearby dry cleaners and a Sears Automotive Center that left contaminated soil, which the property owners analyzed in their updated report to the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health. The proposal for the new development includes 2,402 new homes, 400,000 square feet of retail, and 1.8 million square feet of office space, though the county still needs to sign off on the new report, and site owner Sand Hill Property Co. must submit its proposal for decontamination, which will likely come in the form of soil removal that is already planned to allow for underground parking. (See related CP&DR coverage .) CP&DR Coverage: Ballot Initiative Would Curtail State Land Use Authority Prompted by dissatisfaction over Senate Bill 9 and Senate Bill 10, an advocacy group led by municipal officials is seeking to put a measure on the November ballot that would not only undo those laws but also curtail almost all of Sacramento's power to influence local planning, zoning, and housing production. The ballot initiative goes by the slogan "Our Neighborhood Voices" and is officially called the "Brand-Huang-Mendoza Tripartisan Land Use Initiative," named for its three major backers: Mayor Bill Brand of Redondo Beach, Council Member Peggy Huang of Yorba Linda, and Council Member Jovita Mendoza of Brentwood. Quick Hits & Updates Los Angeles City Council voted to ban future oil and gas wells and phase out existing wells, a momentous decision that will combat pollution, fossil fuel dependence, and environmental injustice in a city that contains the country's largest number of urban wells. This move will come as a meaningful success to community organizations who have fought for fossil fuel divestment for years and will lead to a study that suggests how to legally remove oil wells from the city. California's years-long drought is infamous, but a proposed statewide ballot measure that would make it easier to fund and build dams and more large water projects will likely not move forward due to momentum and fundraising shortfalls. The initiative would require that 2% of the state's general fund, roughly $4 billion, be dedicated to growing water supplies. Long Beach City Council approved an updated plan to the city's park system that details investment initiatives in local parks and programming for the next 10 years, specifically in areas with minimal green space tied to systemic racism. The plan would invest further in equitable park land, consider park disparities, and increase mobile recreation programs and language access. California was one of three states to hold areas with the highest concentrations of at-risk markets , with seven throughout the entire state, according to ATTOM, which released its fourth-quarter 2021 Special Coronavirus Report that analyzes county-level housing markets and their vulnerability to the pandemic's economic impacts. The counties of Butte, El Dorado, Humboldt, Shasta, Kern, Madera, and Riverside were included on this list. The United States Supreme Court will consider an appeal from Chantell and Michael Sackett that would minimize federal control of private property related to the Clean Water Act. In 2007, the EPA required the Sacketts to stop work on their property, noting that it would impact wetlands that could not legally be polluted without a permit. A federal judge rejected a request from oil, gas, and hydropower industry groups to reinstate a Trump-era rule that reduces the regulation of projects that result in significant water pollution, delivering a victory to 20 states who sued to block the rule, including California. The groups argued that, without the rule, the country would lose out on important energy projects, heighten costs on developers, and harm the economy and claimed that they would not be able to fairly participate in rulemaking processes if the rule were rejected. San Diego City Council approved a new growth blueprint for Barrio Logan intended to improve community public health by approving green spaces and other projects that would separate residents from the shipping industry and its pollution and confront environmental racism. The update also demands "freeway lids" over I-5 and community gardens to increase healthy food access. The Town of Fairfax has approved amendments to its General Plan that will include more respectful and equitable language. Specifically, the town will no longer use the terms "community character" and "neighborhood character" and will instead clarify the intended message behind that language. The San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metropolitan area remained the nation's most expensive place to live for the sixth year in a row, according to 2020 federal data that found prices in the area were 17.4% higher than the national average. The data also found San Diego-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara in fifth place and proved that California is the third-most expensive state. Developer Hines is hoping to build a residential building three blocks away from and a few feet shorter than its San Francisco high-rise Salesforce Tower development. The developer would use density bonuses to construct its 808-unit apartment building on a site originally zoned for 400 feet in height but supposedly allowed to reach Hines's desired 1,066 feet using public-subsidized bonuses. The Natomas Unified School District unanimously approved a proposal to purchase part of the mostly unused Sleep Train Arena site from Sacramento Business Holdings Natomas LLC, who owns the Sacramento Kings, for $6 million. The NUSD School Board plans to build a school site on its newly-acquired 12-acre lot. The Oakland Department of Transportation is beginning to phase out its Slow Streets program intended to protect pedestrians and bicyclists, a process that began almost two years ago. Officials will start removing Slow Streets infrastructure, including signs, safety cones, and barricades, located on about 21 miles of roadway within the next two weeks, allowing vehicles to return to the streets.

Amid all the publicity about recent housing production bills, one important tool hasn’t gotten much publicity: the specific plan. Designed to be a cross between a mini-general plan and a zoning ordinance, the specific plan can play a role in moving housing and other development projects – not least because, under a 1984 law, a specific project qualifies for an exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act if it conforms with an adopted specific plan. That’s a lesson that the Coalition for Biological Diversity and other environmentalists learned anew recently when they challenged the City of Newark’s approval of almost 500 housing units in an environmentally sensitive area near San Francisco Bay. The environmentalists claimed the project would harm the endangered harvest mouse, even though the project as approved wasn’t nearly as big as the project considered in the city’s environmental impact report, which was prepared for an entire specific plan area. Recently, the First District Court of Appeal ruled that Newark had acted properly in exempting the housing project from CEQA because it conformed to – and indeed was smaller than the project envisioned by – the Areas 3 and 4 Specific Plan. The court also resisted the temptation to reverse the anti-“reverse CEQA” bent of recent California court rulings, saying that sea level rise in the coming decades is not a matter for analysis in the environmental documentation for this project. Areas 3 and 4 are located south of the Dumbarton Bridge close to the Bay. The areas include significant wetlands. The city approved a specific plan and certified an environmental impact report for the area in 2010. After the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge , a wetlands advocacy group, sued and won in the trial court based on confusion over whether the EIR was a program- or project-level document, the city clarified that it was a program-level EIR and recirculated it. In 2015, the city re-certified the EIR and re-adopted the specific plan. The EIR identified significant impacts for the harvest mouse and for wetlands. The city then approved two housing projects: one in Area 3 for 386 units and one in Area 4 for 469 units , proposed by Sobrato Development and known as Sanctuary West. The second project abandoned a golf course that had been included in the specific plan and instead offered to deed much of the area to the city for conservation.

CP&DR Vol. 37 No. 1 January 2022

$808 Million in AHSC Grants Awarded to 37 Projects Statewide The California Strategic Growth Council announced $808 million in funding awards for 37 affordable housing projects across the state as part of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program, which aims to promote dense, transit-oriented development and lower housing-related carbon emissions. Combined, the projects receiving this sixth round of awards will avoid over 1.4 million metric tons of CO2, equivalent to taking 304,472 daily passenger vehicles off the road for one year. AHSC is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment, particularly in disadvantaged communities. (See related CP&DR coverage .) San Diego Amends Inclusionary Policy to Promote Housing in Coastal Zone The San Diego City Council approved , 8-1, amendments to the city's 2019 inclusionary housing law that requires market-rate housing developers to build affordable housing or face greater costs. City council members reviewed the changes after the Coastal Commission recommended a policy that requires that the affordable units be built within a half-mile of mass transit or areas designated for more housing by the California Tax Credit Allocation Community. The city council also approved a requirement that less than five percent of affordable housing units be government subsidized. While some changes will impact the whole city, most would be targeted toward coastal neighborhoods, though the Coastal Commission must give a final approval before the law takes effect. Developer Sues City of Alhambra over Rejection of Housing Project Los Angeles-based real estate group The Ratkovich Company is suing the City of Alhambra in Los Angeles Superior Court to fight to construct more affordable housing. The move is in response to the city's dismissal of The Villages at the Alhambra, the largest housing project in California to be rejected by a local government. Ratkovich's development aligned with all city zoning and development requirements and was intended to bring 790 units to underused land at The Alhambra, which features 1 million square feet of office space near public transit. The company hopes that Alhambra will approve the project after spending four years and 20 public hearings considering the development, a process that had already violated the state's Housing Crisis Act. PPIC: New Housing Production Falls Short of Need California's strategies for increasing the state's housing supply does not make up for decades of undersupply with population growth, according to data from the 2020 Census and analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California. The Census Bureau's data shows that new housing has not matched population growth; the amount of people increased 3.2 times more than housing units over the past decade. Now, California is short of the near 3.5 million homes that Gov. Gavin Newsom believes will be essential by 2025. The Census also proved that coastal housing is the most expensive, but inland regions have experienced the largest percent change in housing values because residents are pushed or attracted to their lower costs. CP&DR Legal Coverage: Development Code Vagueness; Density Bonus Law In the City of Santa Cruz, 1930 Ocean Street Extension would build eight fourplexes on hilly terrain near the San Lorenzo River. The project’s been in litigation for years – in part because of the potential impact of a nearby crematorium – but the latest battle basically comes down to this: Do the city’s Planned Development Permit rules require the developer to go through a process to modify slope regulations for the project or do they exempt the developer from that process? A Superior Court judge said one thing and now an appellate court has said the opposite. Meanwhile, in San Diego a community association opposed a 20-story apartment building based on two arguments that might have succeeded in the past: conflicts with the general plan and the idea that the project’s “massing and scale” is out of character with the neighborhood. But the Bankers Hill neighbors aren’t winning the argument. They’ve lost all the day down the line, and an appellate court criticized the neighborhood group for “sidestepping” the density bonus law in their arguments. Quick Hits & Updates  San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced that the city will opt-in to Senate Bill 10 in order to streamline the process of building housing near mass transit areas. San Diego will likely be the first large city in California to do so. Documents filed in a lawsuit over the Angel Stadium deal suggest that city leaders privately decided that they would sell the stadium before formal negotiations between the city and Angels Baseball began in November 2019 and while the public still believed that the city would renegotiate the lease. The Oakland Department of Transportation is beginning to phase out its Slow Streets program intended to protect pedestrians and bicyclists, a process that began almost two years ago. Officials will start removing Slow Streets infrastructure, including signs, safety cones, and barricades, located on about 21 miles of roadway within the next two weeks, allowing vehicles to return to the streets. (Related CP&DR coverage .)  The Simi Valley City Council unanimously adopted to extend an an urgency ordinance that will enhance local control over the impacts of Senate Bill 9 for two more years. (See related CP&DR coverage .) San Francisco developer Republic Metropolitan is suing Santa Clara for violating state housing law and breaching a contract to construct a housing project with 170 units for students and 70 units for low-income residents. The city blocked the project after two years of planning for a mixed-use complex on land owned by the city and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. The Oakland Planning Commission is recommending that the City Council approve the A's Howard Terminal waterfront ballpark project environmental review after considering hours of public input. While some members of the public hoped the commission would take more time, its decision is a major step in moving forward with the $12 billion project. The frequent use of racially-motivated exclusionary zoning policy has generated unaffordability and exclusion, according to a group of researchers who used the results of a longitudinal survey of local governments in the US's 30 largest metropolitan areas in 2003-2019 to analyze the steps necessary for reforming land use regulation. The researchers argue for urban planners' ethical and legal responsibility to undo the racial segregation embedded in local zoning. The Strategic Growth Council announced the recipients of the BOOST Program, a state-wide program tailored to help under-resourced California communities advance their climate action, resilience, and equity objectives. The communities include the cities of Barstow, La Puente, Maywood, McFarland, Needles, Rialto, and South San Francisco, who will receive support in the form of trainings, partnership development, community engagement planning and implementation support, grant application assistance, and communications assistance. The UC San Francisco has introduced a 3-year pilot Community Investment Program intended to advance health equity by funding affordable housing and BIPOC-owned small businesses. The Anchor Institution Initiative has promised to invest $5 million into housing assistance, employment, and small business loans in San Francisco in the Easy Bay. While California officials voice their commitment to low-emission, climate-focused transit, their actual achievements are negligible, according to a draft report co-authored by researchers at UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Davis. At both the local and regional levels, policymakers tend to pass car-centric policies, which is evidenced by the fact that programs under AB 285, the state's plan to reduce emissions, only account for 2% of state transit spending. While a landlord interest group, Santa Ana for Fair & Equitable Housing, was hoping to repeal Orange County's first rent control law, the group announced that it will no longer pursue its effort. Instead, it is considering filing complaints regarding violations of the Ralph M. Brown Act when the council examined and voted on the policy in October. The Eureka-Arcata-Fortuna metropolitan area took 15th place on The Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com's list of the Top 20 Emerging Housing Markets, which analyzes the markets expected to be advantageous for both homeowners and investors, most of which were smaller markets.

Recent changes in state law – the density bonus law, expanded CEQA exemptions, and objective standards – are changing the game in the neighborhood-by-neighborhood battle over density and development throughout California. But in many cases, neighborhood activists seeking to limit new development are still fighting the last war – to their detriment. The latest example of this trend comes from the Bankers Hill neighborhood in San Diego, where a community association opposed a 20-story apartment building based on two arguments that might have succeeded in the past: conflicts with the general plan and the idea that the project’s “massing and scale” is out of character with the neighborhood. But the Bankers Hill neighbors aren’t winning the argument. They’ve lost all the way down the line – planning commission, city council, Superior Court, and now in an unpublished opinion by the Court of Appeal. And the reason is the recent changes in state law that give developers more power to seek density bonuses, concessions, and waivers, which in this case are overpowering the neighbors’ traditional arguments. In fact, the appellate court criticized the neighborhood group for “sidestepping” the density bonus law in their arguments. The project in question is a proposed 20-story, 204-unit apartment building at Sixth and Olive in Bankers Hill, a long-established neighborhood just north of Downtown San Diego and just west of Balboa Park. The land is actually owned by St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, which is adjacent. The new project, to be developed by St. Paul’s development partner, Greystar , includes a courtyard that would be shared by the apartment building and the cathedral. They would also share an underground parking garage. Under the city’s conventional rules, Greystar would have been limited to 147 units on the site and also would have been subject to additional discretionary review under the city’s Community Plan Implementation Overlay Zone (CPIOZ), which requires additional review for projects of more than 65 feet. However, under the state Density Bonus Law (sometimes known as the SDBL), Greystar proposed an addition 57 units, including 18 very-low-income units (restricted to residents with incomes below 50% of median income). In addition, Greystar asked – as it is permitted to do so under the Density Bonus Law – for three incentives that deviated from the city’s development standards: eliminating a setback on one street, eliminating two on-site loading spaces for trucks, and reducing the number of private storage areas for residents. (As required by state law, the Density Bonus Law is implemented in San Diego by local “Affordable Housing Regulations”.

Update: As of Feb. 18, the campaign to put the "Our Neighborhood Voices" measure on the November 2022 statewide ballot has been suspended by its backers and is now focusing on the November 2024 ballot. An announcement addressed to supporters reads, in part, that the campaign "will re-file their measure to qualify for the 2024 ballot and continue organizing an ‘unstoppable neighborhood grassroots movement’ of several hundred thousand Californians to make that qualification a certainty."  “We are not ever going to give up until we have restored a neighborhood voice in community planning,” said proponent Bill Brand, Mayor of Redondo Beach, in the statement. “New State laws like SB9 are stripping local communities of their ability to control what happens in their own towns. This cannot stand and thanks to the thousands of Californians joining our cause, it will not stand."  A regulatory approach to housing that was intended to bring subtle, incremental changes to California's housing supply has inspired what could be a massive, tectonic shift in the relationship between the state government and California cities. Prompted by dissatisfaction over Senate Bill 9 and Senate Bill 10--2021 laws that, respectively, eliminate most instances of single-family zoning and make it easier for cities to approve medium-density housing developments near transit--an advocacy group led by municipal officials is seeking to put a measure on the November ballot that would not only undo those laws but also curtail almost all of Sacramento's power to influence local planning, zoning, and housing production. The ballot initiative goes by the slogan "Our Neighborhood Voices" and is officially called the "Brand-Huang-Mendoza Tripartisan Land Use Initiative," named for its three major backers: Mayor Bill Brand of Redondo Beach, Council Member Peggy Huang of Yorba Linda, and Council Member Jovita Mendoza of Brentwood. The initiative's filing documents list John Heath, executive director of New Life Development, as the main point of contact. CP&DR repeatedly contacted several proponents of the Our Neighborhood Voices initiative and got no reply. “We know you think your cities are full and you like them the way they are,” said California YIMBY Director of Communications Matthew Lewis, of the local activists backing the initiative. “But you can’t throw out literally everything because you’re angry that now we’re making it legal to build more homes. It kind of feels to me like an epic temper tantrum.” Though it was triggered by SB 9 and SB 10, the initiative would do far more than reverse just those laws. The initiative " rovides that city and county land-use and zoning laws (including local housing laws) override all conflicting state laws." The initiative allows for only three exceptions: the Coastal Act, the siting of power plants, and development of water, communication, or transportation infrastructure projects. Essentially every other land use decision would be the exclusive domain of local jurisdictions. The duplexes and lot splits permitted by SB 9, the ministerial approvals for certain housing projects under SB 35, and the state's laws concerning accessory dwelling units -- among many others -- would go by the wayside. The initiative also focuses on voter initiatives, specifying that state law cannot override local popular votes -- even and including those that oppose new housing. This provision responds to an element of SB 10 that enables jurisdictions to ministerially approve certain medium-density housing projects. SB 10 includes projects that might be disallowed through local voter initiatives. Though SB 10 is voluntary -- city councils must proactively choose to adopt SB 10 -- its threat to voter initiatives has made it a target. In a recent interview with The Planning Report , Brand described this provision as “very dangerous;” he said the same about SB 10’s relief of environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. Also at risk: the Regional Housing Needs Allocation process. While the initiative would not necessarily undo the targets that the Department of Housing and Community Development sets for the state’s regional planning areas (which are, in turn, allocated by the respective metropolitan planning organizations), it could gut recently adopted laws that strengthen the RHNA process and compel cities to meet their RHNA targets.  The initiative has been cleared for signature-gathering by the attorney general. It needs to submit 997,139 verified signatures by May 2. Proponents say that statewide land-use laws, including, presumably other recently passed legislation like SB 35 and SB 330, unfairly infringe on local officials' powers. More substantively, they say that even in the face of the state's housing shortage, cities need the freedom to determine where and how to add new housing. Sweeping measures like SB 9, they say, simply may not be appropriate in many places. That was the argument many member cities of the League of California Cities made when the bill was moving through the legislature. In a joint letter sent in September, over 240 cities wrote, in part, “Policymakers must avoid pushing new, unproven policies that would undermine local planning, change the rules midstream, or conflict with the myriad of new housing laws recently passed that cities are now implementing.” Even so, the organization's board recently voted to take no position on the Our Neighborhood Voices initiative. Via a statement provided to CP&DR, Melanie Perron, League of California Cities Deputy Executive Director, Advocacy and Public Affairs, said, “the underlying premise of the proposed ballot measure is sound, however a Cal Cities working group, dedicated to studying the initiative, identified the potential for multiple unintended and negative consequences beyond housing that could arise if the initiative were to pass." Many recently adopted housing laws have not mandated or otherwise given cities support for affordable, below-market-rate housing. Proponents of the initiative say that this shortcoming renders the laws inappropriate and ineffective. They claim that the status quo caters to market-rate development that can crowd out potential affordable developments. (The initiative itself includes no specific provisions to increase housing supply or to promote affordable housing.) In The Planning Report, Brand said, “It's not just about supply, it's about getting more affordable housing built. The state's making it more difficult by sending us these market rate housing bills that are really just upzoning the entire state for market rate—that's not what we need.” Some affordable housing developers oppose the initiative outright. In a recently released statement, Jill Breidenbach, a professor of housing policy at Occidental College, and Alan Greenlee, executive director of the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing, wrote, “This proposed initiative is a full retreat from efforts to enact statewide legislation tackling local barriers to housing production.” In their analysis, efforts to undo recent housing laws benefit, “wealthy homeowners in exclusionary neighborhoods unprecedented equity accumulation that stems directly from local government choices.” The measure received "major funding" from Reyla Graber, a resident of the City of Alameda, and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The latter has in recent years advocated against development, especially in its home city of Los Angeles. It sponsored 2017's Measure S, a slow-growth initiative in Los Angeles, and two statewide initiatives, in 2020 and 2018, that would have strengthened rent control. All three measures failed by substantial margins.  AIDS Healthcare Foundation spokesperson Ged Kenslea confirmed that the organization had donated to the initiative campaign. He wrote in an email, “our involvement begins and ends with providing initial seed money for the campaign start up,” but refused to offer further commentary. The organizers have not released signature counts thus far. The initiative did get a major boost, however, from the Regional Council of the Southern California Association of Governments. The council voted 32-12, with three abstentions, to support the initiative. Last year, the council adopted a Regional Housing Needs Allocation plan that requires its constituent jurisdictions to zone for over 1.4 million new units in the next eight years. A SCAG spokesperson responded to an initial inquiry from CP&DR but did not follow up. Perron cited concerns about management and mitigation of natural disasters, including earthquakes and fires; efforts to further environmental justice for disadvantaged communities, and "the undoing of decades of housing laws that establish shared goals and policies by cities and the state that largely defer to local governments on implementation." Voters might not want these laws undone either. A recent poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Business Council Institute found that 55% of voters surveyed support SB 9 while 27% oppose it, with 18% undecided. The same poll found that 68% support SB 10 and 13% oppose it. Renters who responded to the poll were overwhelmingly in favor of the laws, while homeowners were split evenly. “I don’t think (initiative proponents) understand the degree of commitment of the legislature or the growing majority of Californians who are fed up with the status quo and ready ready to make it legal to build homes in our cities,” said Lewis. Contacts & Resources Our Neighborhood Voices Initiative Text Matthew Lewis, Director of Communications, California YIMBY, matthew@cayimby.org Related CP&DR Coverage Cities Move Quickly to Regulate SB 9 Housing Units How Will SB 9 Affect Planning in California? Revised SB 35 Guidelines Near Completion

S.F. Supervisors Face Lawsuit over Denial of Housing Project YIMBY Action  filed a lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco in San Francisco County Superior Court, arguing the Board of Supervisors violated multiple state housing laws, including the CEQA, the Housing Accountability Act, the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, and the Permit Streamlining Act, when they rejected the 469 Stevenson housing project near the city's Financial District. YIMBY Law disapproves of the Board's belief that the CEQA review provided "inadequate analysis," especially because the Planning Department had been involved in designing the 500-unit project for four years. The group has previously filed a lawsuit against San Francisco over another housing project and the City of Los Angeles, also for violating state laws that YIMBY Action advocated for. (See related CP&DR coverage .) High Speed Rail Authority Certifies EIR for Burbank-to-Los Angeles Segment The California High Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors unanimously certified the Final Environmental Impact Report for the 14-mile segment from Burbank to Los Angeles, making 60%, or 300 miles, of the Phase 1 system from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim environmentally cleared. This is Southern California's second environmental document certification and the Los Angeles Basin's first from the Board. As funding becomes available, the project will be closer to connecting a new Hollywood Burbank Airport Station to Los Angeles Union Station with high-speed rail service along the Los Angeles River. The location is intended to improve air quality, reduce traffic congestion, and increase accessibility. Going forward, the CEQA and NEPA must file a Notice of Determination and issue a Record of Decision, and the Board will review environmental documents for remaining sections of the project. Officials in the City of Burbank have expressed concerns about the alignment, saying that construction of a tunnel and underground station could disrupt the city's water supply. Coastal Commission Report Anticipates 10-Foot Sea Level Rise In its newest report on the danger of sea level rise, the Coastal Commission is using extreme estimates and scenarios to ensure the state is as prepared as possible to relocate vulnerable coastal roads, railways, and sewage plants. In the report, the Coastal Commission assumes sea levels will increase by 10 feet by 2100 in order to ensure that crucial infrastructure is protected. The 224-page draft titled "Critical Infrastructure at Risk: Sea Level Rise Planning Guidance for California's Coastal Zone" particularly focuses on transportation and water infrastructure as two systems that require a lot of prior preparation. The report was released August 16, and public and local jurisdictions may comment on the draft until September 24 for the Coastal Commission to consider final approval in November or December. Purchase of Mill Site in Fort Bragg Raises Concerns The owner of Fort Bragg's Skunk Train used its status as a federally-recognized railroad to purchase a vacant Georgia-Pacific mill site through eminent domain. The site nearly covers all of the west side of Fort BRagg, meaning one owner will make decisions regarding residential, business, and tourist-oriented development on 300 bluff-top acres located in an under-resourced community. The move has faced significant opposition from the Mendocino Coast community, including city officials and local residents who have both characterized the deal as a "land grab" to redevelop one of the largest parcels on the North Coast. The company has been trying to purchase the property for the last two decades and has voiced its dedication to working with the government to establish the area as a "blue economy" that considers ocean resources and resilience. San Francisco Parklets Policy Draws Criticism Though San Francisco Supervisors approved policy to make outdoor parklets popularized due to the pandemic permanent, strict rules and regulations are driving many restaurants to completely cease their outdoor dining operations. One estimate suggests that as many as 90% of parklets must be removed or severely changed to comply with the over 60-page city guidelines covered in the Shared Spaces policy program, or they may face severe charges. As restaurants receive violation notices, the city is not acting on fine punishments, according to spokesperson for Mayor London Breed's office Jeff Cretan. Meanwhile, worried restaurant owners are working through confusing violation notices and parklet requirements to support their businesses. CP&DR Coverage: Newsom Proposes $1 Billion in Planning-Related Grants Anticipating the release of a new statewide housing plan early this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised in his proposed budget to redouble efforts to identify land for new housing and further streamline housing regulations in an effort to accelerate housing production. In addition, Newsom plans to continue funneling money into programs designed to accelerate housing production, including another $500 million for the Infill Infrastructure Grant program, $300 million for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities run by the Strategic Growth Council, $100 million to accelerate housing development on state-owned land, and another $100 million to incentivize adaptive reuse of older buildings for housing. Quick Hits & Updates  Orange County Superior Court Judge James Crandall ruled that Mission Viejo City Council members acted in accordance with transparency law in their private negotiations surrounding the purchase and redevelopment of the Stein Mart building in the city's downtown shopping center. The property owner who filed the lawsuit argued that the City Council violated the Brown Act. Under its Universal Basic Mobility pilot program, the Oakland Department of Transportation has issued 500 debit cards to residents and employees of East Oakland who may spend the uploaded $150 on public transit, bike share, and e-scooters. The program, with funding from the Alameda County Transportation Commission and assistance from community organizations to increase awareness about transit options, is intended to minimize financial obstacles to accessing public and shared transit. Once residents complete a survey this month, the city will approve an additional and final $150 upload. The Rename S-Valley Fresno County coalition, founded by Roman C. Rain Tree, is proposing to replace the derogatory term for Indigenous women with "Nuum," meaning "the people" in Western Mono language. Just before, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland required the Board on Geographic Names to begin removing the term from federal use. While several states have outlawed its use in place names, 650 federal pieces of land still include the term in its name. Environmental groups that filed a lawsuit to prevent the construction of hundreds of two-story tract homes along Alameda County's wetlands lost after a state district court ruled that the the City of Newark's and developer The Sobrato Organization's Sanctuary West plan with 469 single-family, market-rate homes may move forward. While the groups argued that the city and developer did not sufficiently consider the impact of rising sea levels in the next decades in their environmental review, the court maintained that environmental conditions decades from now should not be accounted for in this current decision, and the developer agreed to raise homes above predicted sea level heights. The 72,000-acre Frank and Joan Randall Preserve's 13-year effort to form a $65 million wildlife conservancy between the southern Sierra Nevada and Tejon Ranch has been completed after it acquired its last property. Nine Kern County ranches will form an expanse of biodiverse land intended to protect mountain lions, California condors, and other species, producing the largest project assembled in the state by The Nature Conservancy. To help protect California’s natural resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the California Strategic Growth Council approved over $65 million in grants to protect agricultural lands on the outskirts of cities from development and support for local governments to develop regional agricultural land conservation strategies. The funding will help the state avoid an estimated 2.4 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. The Strategic Growth Council (SGC) announced plans to prioritize the establishment of a Racial Equity Resource Hub that would amend the SGC's Racial Equity Resolution to allow more state, regional, and local access to resources that would promote racial equity in policy and practice. The SGC recommends reestablishing its commitment to confronting racism by improving resource access, outreach, and data analysis within the Resource Hub. While the Oakland A's have been flirting with a plan to develop the team's waterfront ballpark project in Jack London Square for years, the team has officially placed an offer to purchase a piece of land in Las Vegas to potentially host the ballpark site. Though negotiations are still underway, news broke the same day that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff confirmed that the city would receive federal funds for infrastructure improvements at Jack London Square. As part of Arcata's Strategic Infill Redevelopment Program intended to reduce building sprawl by taking advantage of underused land, the city has released its draft plan for developing housing in the 138-acre Gateway area. The Gateway Area Plan draft will be available for public commentary for about a year before the City Council votes on it. About 600 San Francisco neighborhoods and 289 neighborhoods in the San Jose metro area have low food access, according to data analysis from ABC7. According to the analysis, 65% of neighborhoods lack access to easily accessible grocery stores, while 18% of the two metro areas both have limited food access and are low-income.