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Thirteen years after submitting its original application, Syar Industries has won an appellate court ruling under the California Environmental Quality Act permitting the company to move forward with the expansion of a quarry in Napa County. The project’s opponents are considering appealing to the California Supreme Court.

CP&DR Vol. 36 No. 4 April 2021

For years, the San Diego Sports Arena, could have been considered “surplus land” insofar as it’s been over three decades since a major league team called the arena home. Likewise, much of the land around the stations of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority are also “surplus,” having been used as staging areas for rail transit stops. According to the Surplus Land Act (SLA), a relatively new state law whose implementing guidelines went into effect in January, all of these properties must be made available to affordable housing developers first. While state officials defend the guidelines, the landowning agencies say the law will undermine their vision for the property – and maybe even hinder their ability to build the affordable housing that the law seeks to create. The SLA’s mission is straightforward and almost universally embraced—in concept. “We’re thinking about this an opportunity to not only support the department’s mission but also to support one of the biggest constraints to housing, affordable or otherwise, which is the cost of land,” said Sasha Wisotsky Kergan, Data & Research Unit Chief for Housing Policy at the state Department of Housing & Community Development. “There’s some real potential for localities to apply costs that are already sunk into land into the support of housing development. That can really start removing some of the barriers and constraints that we’ve all been navigating.” And yet, many agencies--primarily transit agencies that control prime properties near rail stations and other transit agencies—say the provisions of the SLA are burdensome and even counterproductive. Assembly Bill 1486, adopted last year, officially started the SLA clock. It clarified some of the language in the original SLA—including the word “dispose – and grandfathers in many projects that are already underway; they must be completed by the end of 2022. Most remaining surplus properties, though, will be subject to the SLA. “One thing 1486 does is it puts every public agency on notice that they need an asset plan… they cannot keep that property on the shelf and not think about it,” said Larry Kosmont, Chairman and CEO of real estate advisory firm Kosmont Companies. With the release of SLA guidelines by the HCD in December, transit agencies say that the SLA not only may interfere with their vision for their surplus properties, especially those that are ripe for high-density transit-oriented development, but also may hinder the creation of affordable housing as part of larger projects. For example, Los Angeles Metro has, since 2016, partnered with developer Trammell Crow to develop more than 1,500 units of housing, including affordable housing and some commercial space, at its North Hollywood subway station. The Surplus Land Act now essentially forbids the use of exclusive negotiating agreements, making North Hollywood but one example of a development that might be prevented by the act. All told, Metro estimates that up to 3,039 units developed under its joint development program, including 777 affordable units, are “at risk.” Meanwhile, the act significantly restricts how Metro can dispose of properties that do not yet have development agreements in place.

Judge Orders Los Angeles to Provide Shelter to Homeless A federal judge ordered Los Angeles, both city and county, to shelter or house the entire homeless population of Skid Row by October. It’s unclear whether the city and county will challenge the order, which also calls for the city to put $1 billion into an escrow account. The ruling argues that L.A. city and county wrongly focused on permanent housing at the expense of more temporary shelter. The judge wrote that “after adequate shelter is offered,” he would allow the city to enforce laws that keep streets and sidewalks clear of tents so long as they’re consistent with previous legal rulings that have limited the enforcement of such rules. The plaintiffs, the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, a coalition of downtown business owners and residents that filed the case in March 2020, accusing the city and county of breaching their duty to abate a nuisance, reducing property value without compensation, wasting public funds and violating the state environmental act and state and federal acts protecting people with disabilities. The city plans to file an appeal . San Diego Envisions Transit Hub Near Airport SANDAG has submitted a notice of preparation (NOP) for environmental review of a central mobility hub, marking a pivotal step in the agency’s quest to develop a transit center with an airport connection at the Navy’s Old Town Campus. “San Diego Grand Central Station,” as it is often referred to, would become the region’s primary transportation center, connecting all rail and bus lines with a people mover to the airport. The NOP marks the first major milestone toward bringing high-speed transit to the airport. The environmental report will study two location options, as well as an extension of the trolley to the airport, along with improvements to local roads and highway access. The total project cost is estimated to be $4 billion or more, of which $1 billion would need to be raised locally, according to SANDAG officials. HCD to release Housing Element Implementation and APR Data Dashboard The California Department of Housing and Community Development announced the release of the housing element APR Dashboard on the department’s new Open Data Tools webpage. For the first time, city and county officials can view all the annual progress report (APR) data — previously only available in multiple spreadsheets and PDFs — consolidated in one place and reformatted as graphs and charts. The dashboard includes new data points: updates on housing element program commitments, housing applications, and housing funding source information. Users will be able to track housing production at a variety of income levels and structure types, and find out how close a state, region or town is to meeting its housing goals. The dashboard will be updated this summer with data received on the 2020 APR’s, which were due on April 1, 2021. A webinar describing dashboard features will be held May 4. CP&DR Legal: Coastal Commission Prevails in Only-in-Malibu Suit An appellate court has upheld a $4.1 million penalty against a Malibu beach property owner—a plastic surgeon based in Beverly Hills--for refusing to remove a small structure that blocks access to the beach. The court also refused to strike down as unconstitutional a 2014 law that gave the Coastal Commission the authority to impose large fines to property owners in such situations. The property owner was represented in this case by the Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit public interest law firm that often pursues high-profile cases on behalf of property owners. The appellate court’s ruling consumed 63 pages, but the court ruled in favor of the Coastal Commission on all arguments. Quick Hits & Updates  The Encinitas City Council voted to rescind its recently crafted ordinance for higher-density developments, a move seen as necessary to passing a housing element proposals. Encinitas is slated to be on time for the 2021 to 2029 housing planning cycle with a housing element that accommodates 1,550 units, including 838 low-income units. The Carlsbad City Council unanimously approved the city’s 2021-2029 Housing Element. If repurposed for residential development, city-owned sites could yield more than 1,000 lower-income units, according to the document. Rezoned industrial parcels and up-zoned residential parcels could accommodate another 1,000, leaving a theoretical surplus of more than 1,400 lower-income units. The Walt Disney Corporation unveiled Disney Forward, a plan to significantly expand Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. Disney is not acquiring any new land for this expansion proposal, nor is it seeking any public funding from Anaheim, which was the case for some of its previously unsuccessful proposals over the last few decades. The Coastal Commission voted , 5-4, to endorse the National Park Service’s plan to allow commercial cattle ranchers to obtain longer leases and kill some elk in Point Reyes National Seashore. In exchange, ranchers will be required to improve water quality tests near ranches and generate public reports of their progress. San Bernardino has chosen the developers that will redevelop the 43-acre Carousel Mall site. Renaissance and ICO Real Estate Group have proposed converting the Carousel Mall site into a downtown hub will up to 3,500 new residential units, as well as entertainment, commercial, and office space. A Canadian mining company is drafting plans to reopen the more than 150-year-old Idaho-Maryland Mine. northeast of Sacramento, the 73 miles of underground tunnels may have still have billions of dollars’ worth of gold deposits. Residents, who have lived with the environmental scars for decades, are pushing back. According to a report adopted by Clovis City Council, Clovis saw 1,124 units built in 2020, all of which were considered affordable for families with moderate incomes or above moderate. None fit the state standard of low-income affordable. The state goal for Clovis is 6,328 units between 2013 and 2023. Major League Soccer's commissioner says the league’s reneging on Sacramento's bid for a team was a ‘COVID casualty,’ but not dead yet. In season opening remarks, Don Garber said the league has been looking at several other cities as possible landing sties since Sacramento's lead investor backed out of a deal to finance the team. A legal aid provider filed suit against the City of Chico and the city's police department for strict measures taken against the homeless. The suit seeks an injunction barring the city from enforcing 72-hour eviction notices issued to unhoused people sleeping and resting on public land. It also seeks ending continued enforcement of city ordinances that criminally penalize the plaintiffs' homeless status. Encinitas is making a push to pass an update to its density bonus law that would prevent it from having to adhere to AB 2345 via a loophole built into the law but intended to apply to cities like Los Angeles and San Diego that have already exceed state requirements. If successful, Encinitas would get the benefit of AB 2345—a density bonus—without having to include additional affordable housing. Researchers from the UC Berkeley Terner Center found evidence to suggest the provisions proposed in SB 478 could have important implications for the creation of "missing middle" housing by allowing more size and shape of new small-scale development. One caveat, the researchers note, is that jurisdictions do not rely on FAR and minimum lot size alone, the two key provisions of the bill. The Yucaipa City Council is in the final stages of its progress reports to the Housing and Community Development and the Office of Planning and Research on the status of its General Plan and Housing Element. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has announced $63 million in awards for the Local Housing Trust Fund (LHTF) program, which funds the construction or rehabilitation of affordable rental housing projects, emergency shelters, permanent supportive housing, and transitional housing. Despite a pandemic-induced recession that left millions of Californians out of work, median home values increased 11% over the past year to an all-time high of $635,055 in February 2021. One critical factor is years of undersupply in the housing market as new construction fell short of demand. California’s homeowner vacancy rates—already among the lowest in the nation—dropped by one-fourth during the pandemic to 0.6% in the last quarter of 2020.

SB 35 doesn’t infringe on a local governments home-rule powers, an appellate court has ruled.

After Decades of Rancor, Cargill Abandons Redwood City Development Redwood City Salt Plant, LLC, an affiliate of Cargill Incorporated, abandoned its latest attempt to facilitate selling off its salt ponds on the San Francisco Bay for a development of up to 12,000 homes, a prospect that dates back as far as the late 1970s. By dropping its appeal of the 2020 Federal District Court's ruling, the legal decision stands that the Redwood City salt ponds are protected under the Clean Water Act and the “Waters of the United States” doctrine. In 2019, the EPA removed federal Clean Water Act protections from the South Bay salt ponds by issuing a determination that the ponds are land, not water, and thus not subject to clean water protections. After local environmental groups challenged the agency determination in court, Judge William Alsup ruled that the ponds are connected to the Bay, and therefore require Clean Water Act protection. Both Trump’s EPA and Cargill appealed the ruling. In February, the EPA abandoned its appeal of the court's decision. The litigation, San Francisco Baykeeper vs US EPA, includes plaintiff partners San Francisco Baykeeper, Save The Bay, Committee for Green Foothills, and Citizens’ Committee to Complete the Refuge. The State of California sued the EPA separately, and the cases were later combined. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Cargill may try to sell the land to the federal government for conservation. (See related CP&DR coverage .) San Diego Convention Center May Go on Ballot Again San Diego officials are trying to use some potentially clever legal maneuvering to revive a March 2020 ballot measure that would have generated nearly $7 billion for convention center expansion, homelessness programs and road repairs. The City Council is planning to take the legal position that the ballot measure was approved despite receiving support from less than two-thirds of voters, which was thought to be the approval threshold at the time of the vote. The council may also direct City Attorney Mara Elliott to file a “validation” lawsuit that would ask the state Supreme Court to determine the ultimate fate of the measure. The city’s new stance is based on three recent appellate court decisions that a simple majority approval is enough to trigger a tax hike if the measure is placed on the ballot by citizens. Report Recommends Value Capture for Transit-Oriented Development New research from the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University examines transit-oriented developments (TODs) and obstacles that impede their development and success. Researchers found that many cities have TODs but barriers related to land use, zoning and value-capture tools (like joint development projects and tax increment financing) often create issues for them. VC tools capture land use value increases from public improvements such as rezoning, and most transit agencies are unable to attain the necessary land use or zoning powers. To overcome these barriers, researchers recommending zoning and land use changes: considering land use zoning, and VC in an integrated manner, and providing more power to transit agencies over adjacent land use and zoning. They also recommend public agencies focus on reducing developer risk, use all tools at their disposable to assemble land parcels, and press for systematic and comprehensive assessment of property value increases. CP&DR Coverage: Fulton on Biden Infrastructure (and Zoning!) Plan The Biden Administration is proposing a $5 billion infrastructure grant program available only to local jurisdictions that loosen zoning regulations. The most amazing part of this proposal is the not the grant program itself but the weird, upside-down political reaction it’s received. For decades, progressive lefties have favored strict land use regulation in order to empower communities and rein in evil developers, while conservatives have favored a more market-oriented approach that involves minimal regulation. Which brings us to the question of whether $5 billion will make much difference. In the big picture, the answer is probably no – but combined with the state’s own efforts to fund zoning reform, it could be an important incremental measure. Quick Hits & Updates The Los Angeles City Planning Commission voted 5-2 to support the adoption of a new Hollywood Community Plan , which covers a 22-square-mile area. The updated land use rules would accommodate the Southern California Association of Government’s housing requirement and then some, allowing for a population ranging from 243,000 and 264,000. The plan has been through several iterations and been stalled by lawsuits over the past decade.  Housing California and the California Housing Partnership unveiled California’s Roadmap Home 2030, a 10-year comprehensive, racial equity-centered and evidence-based framework of bold policy solutions to end homelessness and create stable, affordable homes for all Californians. Two San Diego County Supervisors are proposing that the county repeal resolutions that prohibited the region’s 18 tribes from expanding their reservations. The ban, which was put into place when casino operations were proliferating at the turn of the century, made it impossible for tribes to purchase reservation or trust lands that support tribes’ rights to self-determination. A study out of the UCLA Institute on Inequality and Democracy found that evictions are much more likely to occur in neighborhoods with higher poverty rates and/or shares of African‐American individuals than in neighborhoods with rising rent or income levels. These findings suggest that court‐based evictions are much more likely to be found in areas with low‐income households and racial minorities than in areas experiencing rapid neighborhood change. A fresh redevelopment proposal for a San Jose shopping center would add nearly 1,000 homes, shops, restaurants, and offices to San Jose. A major change from prior proposals is the removal of plans for a school that would have been part of the development. Instead, the primary focus would be the homes and over 100,00 additional square feet of office space from previous proposals and a 3.5-acre park. The Coastal Commission issued approval to Dana Point Harbor Partners to begin construction on the redevelopment of the marinas, putting the partners in a position to potentially start construction by the end of this year. The massive, mixed-use project—which will include renovating an aging marina, as well as constructing new restaurants, shops and hotels—completely reimagines Dana Point’s 49-year-old harbor. San Francisco supervisors approved an 806-foot tower that will be the city’s fourth-tallest building, the culmination of a four-year process that faltered after an office lease was canceled by Salesforce when the pandemic popularized remote work. The project includes 325,000 square feet of office space, 165 condos and 189 hotel rooms. Amid complaints from residents, Lake Tahoe’s destination towns have set new rules on short term rentals in recent months or are in the process of curtailing their spread. The pandemic has strained long-standing tensions between Lake Tahoe locals and tourists as people from urban areas opt for local rather than international travel, juicing the short-term rental market.

Court Delays Tejon Ranch Mega-Development over Wildfire Danger Citing wildfire risk, a judge has blocked the construction of a controversial development as Tejon Ranch. The proposal to build 19,300 homes on 6,700 acres won final certification from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors two years ago, making the project look all but inevitable. But a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge rejected the county’s approval of the developer’s environmental report, citing wildfire risk and increased greenhouse emissions from vehicular traffic. Specifically, he found wind-driven embers to surrounding areas to be “problematic,” and ruled that the developer mistakenly claimed the project was part of the cap-and-trade program. The project’s developer says the decision will merely delay construction. The ruling denied 20 of the 23 claims raised in separate lawsuits filed by various environmental groups. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Google Releases Community Benefits Proposal for San Jose Development In a bid to gain approval from San Jose stakeholders, Google has offered $200 million in community benefits as part of its plans to build a transit-oriented village in downtown San Jose. The proposal, which has won over previous critics, includes money for anti-displacement efforts and affordable housing, and marks the first time Google has outlined specific parameters for its community benefits package. Google has said it will pay for 1,000 affordable homes on company-owned land. Additional affordable homes would be funded through special fees paid by the search giant or by Google providing the land for housing development at sites near the transit village. a $150 million community fund to combat homelessness, a 30 percent local hire goal for construction, and on-site field trips, career days and computer science workshops for students. The remaining $50 million in the fund would be spread throughout these other efforts, including local hiring, career exploration, and awarding design and construction contracts for the office buildings to local small businesses. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Loss of Pro Soccer Imperils Sacramento Railyards Redevelopment As of late 2019, Sacramento was poised to become the home of Major League Soccer’s newest expansion franchise, the arrival of which would mean a brand new stadium and redevelopment of long-neglected Sacramento Railyards. But last month, private equity billionaire Ron Burkle reneged on his commitment to back Sacramento Republic FC, the city’s professional soccer team. Without Burkle’s backing, the whole deal may collapse, and with it the brand new stadium and redevelopment of Sacramento Railyards that were part of the deal package. At jeopardy are thousands of new residential units, millions of square feet of retail and commercial space, and a 1 million-square-foot Kaiser Permanente medical campus. For now, those plans are very much in question unless the soccer club can find new financial backing. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) CP&DR Podcast: Single-Family Upheaval & Pending Legislation A wave of cities throughout California, including Sacramento, Berkeley, and Oakland, have pledged to do away with single-unit zoning and permit duplexes by-right. It's a seemingly simple principle, but a potentially vast planning challenge. On the CP&DR podcast , Bill Fulton and Josh Stephens discuss this latest trend in planning and what it means for cities that have already adopted it and for cities that might be considering it. Meanwhile, the legislature is considering a raft of land-use bills that are as diverse as they are numerous. Bill and Josh look at some of the highlights. Quick Hits & Updates California’s Chapter of the American Planning Association  released a report of the organization’s legislative platform for the 2021-2022 Legislative Session. The report designate seven areas as priorities for the upcoming session: housing, inclusion and social justice, hazards and hazard mitigation, infrastructure, CEQA, coordinated planning, and healthy, vital neighborhoods. Legislation proposed by State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) would return oceanfront property in Manhattan Beach to descendants of a Black family that owned the land 100 years ago until the city seized the property. If passed, the bill would allow Los Angeles County to transfer the property back to the Bruce family. The city of Sacramento, UC Davis and Oak Park-area activists reached an agreement Tuesday that will allow University of California to launch major development project Aggie Square with the investment of more than an estimated $50 million with the city and others to improve the surrounding community. The agreement calls for the city and Aggie Square developers to invest at least $50 million to be used to build affordable housing in adjacent neighborhoods. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) A judge has ruled in favor of the Oakland A’s in a lawsuit the team filed against the state agency overseeing Schnitzer Steel, a company that opposes the team’s plan for a new ballpark at Howard Terminal. Schnitzer filed a suit against the A’s proposed project last year. Now the company may be forced to change operations to treat hazardous materials, an expensive proposition unless the company successfully countersues. A 65-mile stretch of California High Speed Rail in Kings County will be delayed by at least two years, potentially boosting costs and jeopardizing the state’s funding plan. The notification of the new delay came from a major construction company, addressed to the California High-Speed Rail Authority; the company claims state delays in securing land are behind the delays. A lawsuit filed by homeowners at the Hunters Point Shipyard against the homes’ developers over radiation contamination will be settled for $6.3 million. The suit, filed in 2018, alleged landowner Lennar and developer Five Point Holdings developed and sold about 350 homes at the site for about $1 million each, but kept homeowners in the dark about toxic radiation in the soil. Scientists have pinpointed a long-overlooked portion of the southern San Andreas fault that could make “the Big One” less damaging than once thought. A newly discovered fault stand in the Little San Bernardino Mountains could mean that the inevitable damage will be spread over a larger area, inflicting less damage in any one locale. New technical maps hold new details for how the land around Anaheim’s Angels Stadium will be redeveloped. The developer has nixed plans to build multiple mini-parks in favor of two larger parks; those are in addition to a showpiece 7-acre park. The first phase of development is expected to include a mix of homes, shops and restaurants, as well as some offices. New “mobility hubs” with drop-off areas for buses and rideshares, will be built on the edges of the site. The Southern California Association of Governments announced grant awards totaling $1.25 million to 15 nonprofits and community-based organizations to promote equitable growth strategies. SCAG is dedicating $1 million of Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) grant funds toward the program, with additional funding from the California Community Foundation (CCF), the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Irvine Foundation. California Forward, a nonprofit housing advocacy organization, released “Regions Build Together – A Housing Agenda for All California.” The report looks at the state through nine regional housing markets to identify the current state of affordability, distinct challenges, and opportunities that can be replicated or scaled up at a state level.

Deep down in President Biden’s “Jobs for America” infrastructure plan – so far down it’s easy to miss – there’s a surprisingly strong statement about the need to “eliminate exclusionary zoning and harmful land use policies”. It’s the kind of statement you’d traditionally expect from a Republican White House. But typical of the post-Trump world, the statement is indicative of how the Trump Administration has turned things upside down.

A wave of cities throughout California, including Sacramento, Berkeley, and Oakland, have pledged to do away with single-unit zoning and permit duplexes by-right. It's a seemingly simple principle, but a potentially vast planning challenge. Bill Fulton and Josh Stephens discuss this latest trend in planning and what it means for cities that have already adopted it and for cities that might be considering it. Meanwhile, the legislature is considering a raft of land-use bills that are as diverse as they are numerous. Bill and Josh  look at some of the highlights.   For other platforms, including Spotify, click here .  Related CP&DR Coverage  Ending Single-Family Zoning Is Only Step One How Berkeley Will Move Away From Single-Family Zoning Sacramento Moves Forward With Abolishing Single-Family Zoning Proposed Legislation Would Give Cities Fewer Excuses for Blocking Housing COMMENTS:

Biden Infrastructure Plan to Include California Investments, Address Housing Inequity President Biden’s recently released $2 trillion infrastructure plan addresses , among many other needs, exclusionary zoning laws – like minimum lot sizes, mandatory parking requirements, and prohibitions on multifamily housing – have inflated housing and construction costs and locked families out of areas with more opportunities. California cities have already begun to reassess this type of zoning; a national movement could hasten California’s efforts. Biden is calling on Congress to enact an innovative, new competitive grant program that awards flexible and attractive funding to jurisdictions that take concrete steps to eliminate such needless barriers to producing affordable housing. The grant program is just one of the many elements of Biden’s Infrastructure plan that could impact California in substantive ways. In addition to California’s share of repairs and upgrades to existing infrastructure, the plan could include improvements for the 351-mile rail corridor between San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, and San Diego. A map released by Amtrak includes a plan for a new passenger rail service along existing tracks connecting Los Angeles with Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson. Federal funds might also be used for local projects such as extension of BART to San Jose or a network of carpool lanes in the Bay Area.  Santa Monica Considers Sweeping Pro-Housing Policies The Santa Monica City Council adopted  an an aggressive set of principles to increase housing, and housing equity, in the city, which, despite demand, has scarcely grown in the past two decades. Among other principles, the city will explore upzoning along boulevards, an “affordable housing overlay zone” throughout most of the city, incentives for accessory dwelling units, and the possibility of allowing multiple units on lots currently zoned for single-family housing. The policies include an interim zoning ordinance (IZO) banning non-residential developments in Santa Monica and single-family dwellings in commercial districts for 45 days as staff identifies potential housing sites, as part of the Housing Element Update. For the 2021-2029 planning period, Santa Monica has been mandated to build 8,873 housing units, 70 percent of which are affordable units. With only 3% of the city’s total land area currently available as the highest potential for housing, the turnover of even a handful of sites to non-residential development instead of housing projects would greatly impact the city’s ability to have sufficient sites for the SSI and would very likely hamper future Housing Element updates, said city officials. (See related CP&DR coverage .)   HCD launches Efforts to Update California Statewide Housing Plan A few years ago, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announced it will rebrand the California Statewide Housing Assessment, which lays out the state’s housing challenges and opportunities, and produce a Housing Action Plan with strategies and long-term goals. Citing longstanding policies that create barriers to housing and the catastrophic impacts of COVID-19 on housing and homelessness, HCD is rebranding the assessment as the Statewide Housing Plan for all Californians. The new Statewide Housing Plan will include housing goals, policies, and objectives; Data and analysis of 10 years of housing need for all residents, including vulnerable populations; details about current housing conditions; recommended actions for government and private sector to achieve housing goals; Housing assistance goals, including for people experiencing homelessness; identification of constraints and recommendations to remove barriers; evaluation of data priorities and needs to support housing goals; and strategies to coordinate housing assistance and activities.  CP&DR Coverage: State Updates CalEnviroScreen Amid Calls for Environmental Justice In March, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) released the draft of its fourth iteration of CalEnviroScreen (CES). First released in 2013, CES is a database of environmental hazards that forms the basis of myriad state and local efforts to limit human exposure and strive for environmental justice. One of its most significant impacts on urban planning is that of identifying disadvantaged communities for the purpose of drafting environmental justice elements for cities’ and counties’ general plans, as required by 2016’s Senate Bill 1000. The most dramatic change to CES is the addition of a new indicator — risk of lead poisoning — bringing the tool's total number of indicators to 21. The other 20 indicators have been updated with recent data. Several indicators, including those relating to water quality, pesticide use, and chrome plating facilities, have been tweaked. OEHHA is currently taking comments on the draft. The deadline is April 30. Quick Hits & Updates  According to a Los Angeles Times review of environmental cases brought by state attorneys who have jurisdiction of Los Angeles, prosecutors have made more nonprosecution agreements with companies that flout environmental regulations than any other U.S. Attorney’s Office in the nation. In some cases, companies declare bankruptcy and dissolve after making the deal, effectively leaving no responsible party to prosecute. Once a paved roadway, a block on the east side of downtown San Diego has been converted to a pedestrian promenade. Officially called the “14th Street Greenway,” the project is the first of six interconnected greenways planned for surrounding city blocks, as envisioned by the Downtown San Diego Mobility Plan. Following up on an earlier council action, the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to start removing single-family zoning from the city and update the city’s general plan. Along with the zoning changes, council members approved prioritizing projects in Priority Development Areas and transit and commercial corridors. The new rules allow up to four units on lots currently zoned for just one unit. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Amid concerns about displacement and gentrification, the developers behind Aggie Square , a proposed $1.1 billion satellite campus for UC Davis in Sacramento, are offering new guarantees to fund affordable housing, workforce development and opportunities for nearby businesses. The new agreement, would create legally enforceable mandates for affordable housing construction and local hiring. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) A new study from researchers at UCLA and Santa Clara University that examines the opportunity cost of parking requirements found that 13 percent of Silicon Valley is devoted to parking, and that more than half of the average commercial parcel is parking space. The team ran a simulation in which parking requirements from the year 2000 forward were reduced and showed that under conservative assumptions the region could have added space for nearly 13,000 jobs, equivalent to a 37 percent increase over the actual job growth that occurred during that time. San Diego County is teaming up with the U.S. Navy to purchase 2,151 acres in Campo that will expand San Diego’s conservation land. Acquiring the property will help officials link nearby reserves and wildlife corridors and may provide connections to nearby regional trails, such as the Pacific Crest Trail, county staff said. The Clovis City Council unanimously voted to study the feasibility of annexing 1,050 acres that includes roughly 825 acres of new housing the council approved in October. The city’s contribution to funding the environmental review is less than a quarter of the nearly half a million in contributions from developer groups.

I know next to nothing about commodities trading. But I do know this: people who buy pork bellies do not make bacon. Whether they end up on a breakfast plate, on a bun, in a McRib, or as the centerpiece of a celebrity chef's paleo-inspired menu is immaterial to the people who own them. Investors buy commodities (or, rather, the financial idea of commodities) not for what the commodities do but for the simple fact that they exist. They profit when demand grows relative to supply or supply shrinks relative to demand.  To the person who owns pork bellies, the fewer pork bellies there are in the world the better.  How, then, is a house like bacon?  Investors buy a commodity when it is A) relatively scarce; and B) undervalued relative to its scarcity. Homes are undervalued when the cost of purchasing them is relatively less than the cost of renting them (accounting for carrying costs, value-add improvements, etc.). If investors can buy homes such that the value of rent exceeds the cost of ownership ,then they make a profit. This is Real Estate Investing 101. (Not to be confused with Real Estate Developing 101.) This capitalist axiom makes Los Angeles a ripe target, since the city has some of the highest rent-to-income rates in the country. Over the past few years, concerns about “Wall Street ownership” of houses in California has grown increasingly serious, with the The Blackstone Group being the poster child for a handful of finance companies that buy up single-family homes, often in disadvantaged areas, only to kick out tenants and increase rents. They charge as much rent as the market will bear, with little concern for communities and the urban fabric. As absentee landlords, they probably aren’t going to get involved in civic life. Maybe they’re outbidding real people who want their pieces of the American dream and would be better stewards thereof. Maybe they’re going to distribute their profits to horrible human beings who each already own five homes of their own. They are surely displacing and evicting vulnerable residents. All of those things are bad. But those bad things are all made possible by the opportunity that Blackstone has been given. And, yet, somehow the (justified) ire against Blackstone leads many stakeholders to conclude that, to really stick it to The Man, we need to limit new development. This is completely backwards. Blackstone deserves derision. Unfortunately, much of the derision comes from a loose alliance of anti-growth homeowners and far-left, anti-Wall Street activists that, rather than solve the problem on which Blackstone is capitalizing, plays right into Blackstone’s hands. The 80,000 or so homes in Blackstone’s nationwide portfolio and the few thousand homes in its California portfolio do not drive the 3.5 million-unit Los Angeles market. Blackstone did not create a shortage of 3 million units statewide (give or take). Blackstone did not impose restrictive zoning laws. Blackstone did not kill California’s redevelopment system. Blackstone did not drive up rents in the 2010s when recession-stricken millennials emerged out of their parents’ basements.  Blackstone did not create California's insane real estate market. It is capitalizing on California’s insane real estate market. The housing market is complex . But, fundamentally, the way to decouple speculation and commodification from housing — whether you own one, ten, or 10,000 houses — is to make housing less scarce.  That is, generally speaking, what the YIMBY movement is trying to do. It’s what many planners in California are trying to do. It’s even what some elected officials are trying to do, at the state and, sometimes, at the local levels. But it’s rarely what incumbent homeowners are trying to do.  Many homeowners are their own little Blackstones. Many of the same people who decry the purchase of thousands of homes by Wall Street are the same people who protest the development of new homes in their neighborhoods. Why? Sure, some of them care — a little — about “neighborhood character.” But California’s NIMBY movement has not endured the decades, beginning with its Prop. 13 temper tantrum in 1978, because of neighborhood character. It’s because they don’t want to endanger their property values.  Last year’s SB 50, this year’s SB 9 and SB 10, and other municipal- and state-level pro-density regulations warrant plenty of scrutiny and criticism. All’s fair in politics. But, in the debate over growth, Blackstone is a red herring.  See, Blackstone is not a developer. It’s a landlord .  As I've written before, landlords and developers do completely different things and have completely different interests. With its pile of cash, Blackstone can scoop up homes by the thousands. It doesn’t need new development. It doesn’t need to wait years for entitlements or battle neighbors at community meetings. In fact, Blackstone has been making off like a bandit while stakeholders have been making speeches and planners have been patiently tearing their hair out. California has more humans than bedrooms, by a margin in the millions. To not build just to spite Blackstone is like not planting crops when people are starving. The best way to de-commoditize housing is simple: make more of it. If you truly hate Blackstone, you should want to see cranes and backhoes everywhere. More homes and more housing choice means more aggregate supply and less demand for the units on offer by any given landlord. I don’t know what the price of bacon is going to be tomorrow. I do know that, when Californians bring it home, I want more homes for them to bring it to.

Ever since the killing of George Floyd last May, passions surrounding social justice and racial equity have been running high and catching attention of policymakers across California. Meanwhile, a less dramatic — but still important — effort to has been underway in the halls of California bureaucracy to help achieve at least some of those social justice goals.