San Jose Gives Final Approval to Google Downtown West Complex On May 25, the San Jose City Council approved plans for Google’s 80-acre mixed-use mega-campus, Downtown West. With approvals from multiple stakeholders — housing and labor organizers, businesses, and the surrounding community — advocates of Downtown West are referring to the public-private partnership as “the gold standard.” The proposal, which is part of the larger Diridon Station Area Plan, includes housing, transportation, retail, office space, and public park development as well as a job creation program and a fund to help transition community members out of homelessness. While the plan has had one key opponent — the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, which expressed concerns about local parking supply — the city has curbed any potential hurdles with the team by ensuring that a sufficient amount of parking will remain near the arena. Moving forward, we can expect infrastructure construction to begin in 2022 and the appearance of some buildings in 2023. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Biden Administration Supports Wind Power off California Coast In its effort to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and invest in renewable energy, the Biden administration, with support from Gov. Gavin Newsom, intends to develop offshore wind power facilities in the Pacific Ocean about 20 miles off the coasts of Morro Bay and Humboldt County. Large wind turbines — 600 to 700 feet tall — would generate enough clean electricity to power 1.6 million homes, and the initiative would provide a significant number of jobs for electricians and construction workers. Though the Department of Defense will no longer challenge the Morro Bay site, circulating now are worries from the commercial fishing industry. Biden’s plan also aligns with the climate goals of Gov. Jerry Brown, who set a zero-emission energy source requirement by 2045. OPR Planning Survey Reveals Attitudes about Pandemic, Affordable Housing The Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) released  results of its 2020 Annual Planning Survey . Many of the survey questions centered on the COVID-19 pandemic and local capacity to address statewide concerns. By a wide margin, cities reported that streamlining housing was the most widely taken action in response to COVID-19, surpassing transit transit service and climate change mitigation and adaptation as responses. One hundred and forty-nine cities and 30 county respondents bolstered programs to support persons at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness. Ninety-nine jurisdictions increased focus on temporary shelters and supportive housing, 76 focused on affordable housing supply, and 57 utilized project Home Key and Room Key funding. General Plan updates have continued mostly unabated. With regards to climate change, many local agencies have streamlined permitting for solar and electric vehicle charging stations. Moreover, nearly half of all respondents developed a climate action plan or included GHG reduction measures in their general plan. Unsurprisingly, interest in technical assistance (TA), particularly with regards to housing, has ticked up since COVID has pushed activities on-line. Overall interest in was above 70 percent for each planning topic. Court Upholds Ballot Initiative Taxing Commercial Rent in S.F. for Child Care A state Supreme Court decision validates Proposition C, a San Francisco ballot initiative designed to raise $146 million a year to fund child care and education through taxes on commercial rents. It was challenged in court by anti-tax advocates who argued that ballot measures raising local taxes require approval of two-thirds of the voters. But California appellate courts have recently ruled that the two-thirds requirement does not apply to measures placed on local ballots by signatures on initiative petitions because those are actions by the voters, not local governments. The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco reached that conclusion last June in upholding another citywide initiative, a November 2018 measure raising business taxes to fund programs for the homeless. Another division of the court issued a similar ruling in January upholding Prop. C of June 2018. Quick Hits & Updates  The City of Long Beach is proposing to supplement its density bonus program with new transportation incentives, allowing housing development to expand in neighborhoods close to bus and rail lines. The Enhanced Density Bonus ordinance covers properties with at least five units located within a half-mile of a high-quality transit corridor or major transit stops. A long-simmering argument between the City and County of San Francisco and the state over the Tuolumne River came to a head again when the city filed a lawsuit, maintaining that the state's actions would result in water shortages for San Francisco residents. The state claims that the city must restrict its river water extraction in order to protect the Tuolumne's ecosystem. Fresno's 81-year-old downtown Tower Theatre may achieve historical landmark status if the court permits the City of Fresno to enter and appraise the building. The City filed its order in the midst of heightening controversy over the theater’s anticipated sale to Adventure Community Church sale. The Livermore City Council will make a decision about the removal of planning commissioner John Stein after he made derogatory comments concerning a vote on affordable housing developments. Stein was the only member to vote "no" on the proposal, saying affordable housing would create a "ghetto." Other council members have voiced their concern that Stein's comments signify a larger issue about his approach to marginalized communities. Converting underused office spaces to housing units could stimulate Los Angeles’s economic recovery, according to a new report from the Central City Association and Gilmore Associates. The increase in empty offices due to the pandemic provokes conversations about expanding adaptive reuse across Los Angeles, since an estimated 80% of Los Angeles residents can continue to work from home. While expectations for declining rent prices in coastal and central areas remain, cost increases are projected for just about everywhere else in LA County, according to the USC Casden Multifamily Forecast . The forecast considers the uncertainty that follows pandemic-era realities, including the departure of jobs and amenities from downtown and central LA, relocations to areas outside of the city, and the thousands of dollars still owed in rent. The Wilton Rancheria  tribe will move forward with plans to develop its Sky River Casino in Elk Grove after a D.C. Court of Appeals ruled against efforts by Stand Up for California! to stop the Interior Department from acquiring land for its construction. Though Stand Up has made multiple attempts in opposition to the casino, Wilton Rancheria says that its continued legal victories indicate a move toward greater autonomy for the only federally-recognized tribe in Sacramento County. The Congress for the New Urbanism , a Washington-based organization that champions walkable urbanism, is welcoming long-time Californian Rick Cole as the new executive director. Cole embraced New Urbanism as Mayor of Pasadena; he served as City Manager in Azusa, Ventura, and Santa Monica; and served as Deputy Mayor for Budget and Innovation for the City of Los Angeles. Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered California's top oil regulator to implement regulation to stop issuing new fracking permits by 2024. He has also directed the state's air resources agency to look at ways to phase out oil extraction completely by 2045. The order comes just after a more aggressive plan to ban oil and gas production died in the state Senate. Federal officials approved the $550 million Crimson Solar Project that will have the capacity to power approximately 87,500 homes from public land in the Mojave Desert west of Blythe. The project, slated to be erected on 2,000 acres, is located within an area designated for development within the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. San Francisco and San Diego parks scored top marks in a national ranking of public park systems by Commercial Cafe. San Francisco ranked in the top 5 for its investments in the local park system and its park-to-city area ratio, as well as its above-average percentage of walking commuters. San Diego earned the 14th-highest score, ranking well for walking commute time, as well as park area and spending. The mayors of the Bay Area’s three largest cities are pushing back after they were denied key affordable housing funds. The denial of funds means four projects in San Jose, five in San Francisco, and five in Oakland now are on hold. In total, 1,600 units for low-income and homeless residents are stalled, and another 1,4000 are at risk. A new statewide survey by USC and the California Emerging Technology Fund showed 55 percent of workers with access to broadband have been working fully or partly at home. The findings suggest telecommuting could reduce vehicle trips - relative to pre-pandemic levels - by 55 percent. Poseidon Water won a key approval in its quest to build a desalination plant on the Huntington Beach coastline. But the permit does not ensure that the facility will break ground. Poseidon still needs a construction permit from the California Coastal Commission and a binding deal with a public agency to buy 50 million gallons a day of desalinated water.

When is a house not a house?

CP&DR Vol. 36 No. 5 May 2021

Traditionally, California’s “May Revise,” the governor’s update to the budget proposed in January, is a quiet, bureaucratic affair. This year, Gov. Gavin Newsom has turned up the volume -- and the expenditures. It hinges on a projected $75.7 billion surplus, reflecting many Californians’ unexpectedly high incomes and investment profits in 2020, plus $25 billion in pandemic relief monies from the federal government, bringing the total state budget to $268 billion. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) In a series of recent announcements, Newsom carved out that $100 billion calling it the “ California Comeback Plan ,” with new investments in a wide variety of projects and services. (The Legislative Analysts Office cautioned that the $75 billion surplus is really only about half that number, because the other half must be spent on schools, savings, or debt repayment.) More than 10% of the California Comeback monies will be dedicated to housing and homelessness, among other expenditures related to transportation, environmental justice, and planning initiatives to mitigate climate change. Budget categories related to land use include the following: Housing & Homelessness  The Governor’s plan will invest $12 billion to tackle the homelessness crisis, helping more than 65,000 people get off the streets or avoid homelessness altogether. The seeks to rebuild the behavioral health housing system that has been dismantled over decades. It also comes with new accountability measures to ensure local governments are spending the money effectively. California will seek to achieve functional zero on family homelessness within five years through a new $3.5 billion investment in homeless prevention, rental support through CalWORKs and new housing opportunities for people at risk of homelessness. The package will expand Project Homekey and unlock more than 46,000 new homeless housing units, including nearly 5,000 new affordable homes for people at risk of or exiting homelessness. Finally, the plan calls for partnering with local governments to clean litter, commission public art and revitalize downtowns, freeways and neighborhoods across California and will put $3.5 billion into building more affordable housing for low-income families and create homeownership opportunities. Climate Resilience & Community Resilience $1.3 billion in targeted investments for communities that are facing the impacts of climate change. This includes proposals addressing extreme heat, sea level rise, and community-driven infrastructure investments in the most disadvantaged communities, which are often the hardest hit by climate change and other health, environmental, and economic challenges. A subset called the Community Resilience Package includes $495 million over three years in investments that foster economic and climate-resilient communities through the California Strategic Growth Council, Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR), and the California Environmental Protection Agency. The vast majority of these funds consist of a $420 million investment in the Transformative Climate Communities Program, which funds place-based, sustainable, community-driven, catalytic projects in the most disadvantaged communities. (See related CP&DR coverage .) The Regional Climate Collaboratives Program will receive a $20 million investment for collaboratives of multi-disciplinary partners to enable under-resourced communities to build capacity to advance community-led resilience and equity goals. $20 million investment for Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program Planning Grants to help fill local, regional, and tribal funding needs, provide communities the resources to identify climate priorities, and support climate-resilient infrastructure projects across the state. The Governor also proposes $22 million for the Fifth Climate Change Assessment, which provides the foundation for science-informed policy and investment decisions that protect public health and safety, reduce risks to vulnerable communities. Transportation & High Speed Rail $4.2 billion for the High Speed Rail project, $3.1 billion for high-priority rail and active transportation projects, and $2.4 billion to repair the state highways and local bridges, and accelerate rail projects. Taken together, these investments will result in thousands of new jobs and spur even more economic activity throughout the state. Environmental Justice An additional $200 million, bringing the total to $500 million, to accelerate cleanup of contaminated properties throughout the state in impacted communities and proposes an additional $291 million for cleanup of additional properties near the former Exide facility in Vernon. The May Revision further invests in protecting Californians from harmful pesticides by implementing a notification system to provide important information about local pesticide use. It also includes $200 million to plug abandoned orphaned oil and gas wells, many located near low-income residential areas. Environment & Emissions  $5.1 billion in the coming years to address water supply statewide — including drinking water, waste water and drought mitigation in communities. The budget proposes spending $794 million in upgrades in farming, improved drought resiliency, sustainable pest management and more. The governor is also proposing $3.2 billion over the next three years to expand the state’s zero emission vehicle goals, including more zero-emission short-haul vehicles and alternative fuels infrastructure.

Newsom Signs Bill to Expand CEQA Streamlining for Housing In what may be a preview of a strongly pro-housing 2021 legislative season, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 7, which extends expedited California Environmental Quality Act review for key developments and expands the streamlining process to include small-scale housing projects – boosting the state’s economic recovery with the creation of more housing and good jobs. SB 7, known as the Housing + Jobs Expansion & Extension Act and a centerpiece of the senate’s “Building Housing for All” package of 11 bills, extends through 2025 the provisions of legislation enacted in 2011 (AB 900) that created an expedited judicial review process under CEQA for large, multi-benefit housing, clean energy and manufacturing projects. To allow smaller housing projects to qualify for streamlining, SB 7 lowers the threshold for eligible housing projects to those with investments between $15 million and $100 million that include at least 15 percent affordable housing and are infill projects. AB 900 has resulted in the approval of nearly 20 major new clean energy and infill housing projects, creating over 10,000 new housing units and thousands of high-wage construction and permanent jobs. (See related CP&DR coverage .) SPUR Envisions Collaborative Effort to Add 2.2 Million Units to Bay Area by 2070 SPUR  released its long-awaited Regional Strategy, an ambitious set of policy proposals to create a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous Bay Area by the year 2070. The numerous proposals include building 2.2 million new housing units, ending exclusionary zoning practices, eliminating fossil fuels use, preventing future wildfires through land use planning, building housing and job centers around transit, and fundamentally re-envisioning Bay Area transit. The report is based around five big ideas, primarily that housing is infrastructure, that protecting vulnerable Bay Area residents is important, and that Bay Area communities should be inclusive and diverse. The second big idea is growth as opportunity. The third centers around closing the wealth and well-being gap to build economic security for all people. Finally, equitable environmental goals must include a 21st-century transportation system where it's easy, fast, and enjoyable to get around without driving alone. Developer of Controversial Warehouse Complex Settles Lawsuit After over five years of legal battles, developer Highland Fairview and a coalition of environmental groups signed a $47 million settlement agreement that brings the World Logistics Center a step closer to development. If completed, the 40.6 million square feet of warehouse space--about 700 football fields--would be one of the world's largest logistics centers. The settlement requires Highland Fairview to invest up to $12.1 million in electric vehicles, use solar electricity to generate at least 50% of each warehouse’s demand, create electric vehicle charging infrastructure, electrify the complex and take measures to reduce the World Logistics Center’s impact on air quality, local wildlife and area residents. Highland Fairview doesn’t yet have the green light to begin construction as another legal challenge is still underway. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) CP&DR Coverage: Parking Reform Hits the Gas Cities across California are lowering, or even eliminating,  parking minimums in an effort to de-emphasize the use of cars and promote dense development. Some cities' reforms are citywide, while others apply to localized areas such as downtowns, other commercial centers, and transit nodes. One of the first major reforms came nine years ago, when Los Angeles reduced parking densities around 20 or so rail stations. Santa Monica followed suit in 2016 by eliminating parking minimums in the downtown area. In the last two years, however, California has seen a dramatic increase in activity around parking reform. At the same time that cities are reconsidering their approaches to parking, the state legislature is doing the same. Assembly Bill 1401, currently in committee, would prohibit cities from imposing minimum parking requirements on any development within a half-mile of public transit. Quick Hits & Updates Major League Baseball has granted the Oakland A’s permission to explore relocation to other markets as they continue to pursue a deal with the city to build a waterfront ballpark in downtown Oakland. Opening the possibility for relocation could add urgency as the A's have asked the Oakland City Council to vote on the ballpark proposal by July. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals paused a sweeping order by a district court judge that would require the city and county of Los Angeles to house everyone on Skid Row by fall. The reprieve is only temporary: a three-judge panel issued a stay in the district court judge’s preliminary injunction until June 15, while a hearing in the case overseen by Carter proceeds on May 27. San Jose's planning commission gave its blessing to the updated Diridion Station Area Plan , greatly increasing the capacity for both residential and commercial development around Diridion Station. The City Council will voted on the amended DSAP during the same meeting it votes on Google's San Jose campus proposal, which could happen as soon as late May. While California's population is trending downward, the latest data shows that people who move to California are more likely to be working age, to be employed, and to earn high wages--and are less likely to be in poverty--than those who move away. Those who move to California also tend to have higher education levels than those who move out. San Diego leaders voted, 3-2, to adopt a countywide temporary rent cap of roughly 4 percent and new rules to make evictions more difficult for landlords during the pandemic. Landlords under the new law can no longer evict tenants for “just cause” reasons, such as lease violations, and can only be removed if they are an “imminent health or safety threat.” It also blocks a homeowner from moving back into their property and kicking a renter out. A Court of Appeal sided with the Coastal Commission and ruled that the City of Santa Barbara must permit more vacation rental properties in order to facilitate coastal access. The city lost a 2015 decision which determined that any development proposal must apply for a Coastal Development Permit; the court determined that the city’s attempt to restrict vacation rentals is considered a “development.” The Coastal Commission's recent decision to prohibit off-roading at theOceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area is facing legal challenges from Friends of Oceano Dunes. The organization, which filed two other pending lawsuits against the Coastal Commission, argues that the site should be legally designated for OHV use. The Blackstone Group , one of the largest residential landlords in San Diego County, intends to purchase 5,800 units for over $1 billion, marking a momentous real estate transaction. The private equity firm's assets in the area currently total $4.5 billion, and the group plans to spend $100 million to renovate its upcoming purchases. The firm also expressed its goal to ensure affordable housing with free in-building services. (See related CP&DR commentary .) San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman is proposing a policy that allows for the construction of four-unit buildings on corner lots that are currently dedicated to single-family housing. Mandelman claims that his legislation would address development disparities in the city, where multifamily housing production on the east side is limited, but many find his approach to be too weak to make significant improvements to San Francisco housing. (See related CP&DR coverage .) The McCloud River, in Siskouyu and Shasta counties, has been named to American Rivers’ 10 “ Most Endangered ” list. A Trump-era decision to raise the height of Shasta Dam on the McCloud River could have devastating implications for theWinnemem Wintu tribe. Though the river is federally protected from dams, the height increase, if left unmitigated by the Biden Administration, would flood 5,000 acres of nearby forest and riverside habitats. The Clovis City Council will appeal a court ruling that rejects the state's approval of Clovis' Housing Element. The city faced opposition from Central California Legal services, which argued that the city’s housing policies exclude low-income households. Clovis maintains that, in collaboration with the private sector, it will develop affordable housing. The court, meanwhile, expressed that state law requires the city to allocate sites for low-income housing, but those proposed for its Housing Element could also be designated for lower-density housing.

Sen. Nancy Skinner’s SB 330 – the so-called “Housing Crisis Act of 2019” – is one of the most sweeping housing reform bills enacted by the state in the last few years. Among other things, it essentially prohibits cities from reducing housing densities and placing moratoriums on most housing-related development applications.

When Bakersfield, one of the least-dense of California’s major cities, is considering relaxing its minimum parking requirements in its downtown, you know parking reform’s moment has arrived.

Newsom Seeks $12 Billion for Affordable Housing, Homelessness Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $12-billion proposal to create affordable housing, increase mental health services, and fund other programs to get people off the street. If approved by legislators as part of the state budget, the plan would purportedly house 65,000 people and stabilize housing for more than 300,000 at-risk people. It also would provide at least 28,000 new beds and housing placements for people with behavioral health issues and seniors facing a high risk of becoming homeless. Newsom's proposal includes $7 billion for property purchases through the state's Project Homekey program, $150 million to stabilize and rehouse Project Roomkey clients, $1.75 billion to build affordable homes and $447 million to address student homelessness in the California public college system. State Puts $3.1 Billion into Climate in 2020, Including $1 Billion to Disadvantaged Communities The Air Resources Board reports that 2020 was another record year for California Climate Investments with more than $3.1 billion invested in more than 51,000 projects across California’s 58 counties. Projects implemented in 2020 alone will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 18 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over the course of their lifetimes. Of the $3.1 billion investment in 2020, $1 billion is benefiting disadvantaged and low-income communities and households — collectively referred to as priority populations. To date, California Climate Investments projects have helped plant more than 133,000 urban trees, reduced smog-forming and other air pollutants by more than 60,000 tons, added more than 7,200 new affordable housing units, and saved Californians almost $93 million through water energy‑efficiency projects. Milbrae Faces Suit over Denial of Housing Complex  A developer is suing Millbrae over the city’s refusal to process an application for a 384-unit apartment complex near San Francisco International Airport, the latest example of residential builders using the state’s tough pro-housing laws to force cities to approve projects. Anton Development is proposing to redevelop a 6.7-acre property that the city rezoned in 2020 from a mixed-use designation to a “planned development”-- a change that would cost Anton $18 million in fees. The zoning change and accompanying fees were implemented several years after Anton submitted its application for the housing complex. The state has weighed in on the side of the developer — warning that the case could be referred to the state attorney general if the project is not approved. SPUR Considers One Million More Housing Units in Bay Area To evaluate housing possibilities in the Bay Area, think tank SPUR compared two simulations, named “Business as Usual” and “New Civic Vision.” The Business as Usual scenario projects where housing would go under existing zoning policies, whereas the New Civic Vision proposes land use changes that would further environmental and equity goals. Under the Business as Usual scenario, housing would be underbuilt by 800,000 units. Instead, SPUR proposes adding housing within walking and biking distance of existing and future transit, with the highest-density housing closest to stations. SPUR projects the region can accommodate more than a million new units in transit-oriented locations. In addition, they propose adding modest density to neighborhoods that are predominantly made up of single-family homes, particularly those with great schools and amenities. SPUR estimates the region has capacity for more than a million new units in these infill suburban locations in forms such as accessory dwelling units, triplexes, fourplexes and low-density apartment buildings. CP&DR Coverage: Fulton on the Geography of California’s Decline According to the state Department of Finance, the state lost almost 200,000 people in 2020, the year that COVID caused home prices to rise dramatically and people to flee large cities. This is the first time in the modern history of California – some 170-plus years – that the population has gone down. But, as Bill Fulton writes , a close examination of the trends reveal that the population isn’t going down everywhere. It’s only going down in expensive coastal areas, where pretty much any house will now cost you at least $1 million. The population growth is continuing at more or less the same pace in inland areas, though even there it did dip a bit in 2020. Quick Hits & Updates California Forward released “Regions Build Together – A Housing Agenda for All California,” a regions-up housing agenda consisting of 14 practical actions that can relieve the state’s persistent housing crisis. The detailed chapters covering the nine regional housing markets include the Bay Area; Central Coast; Central Valley; Greater Los Angeles; Imperial and San Diego; Inland Empire; Northern California; Orange; and, Sacramento. LA Metro officials are proposing to pare down Metro's fareless pilot to a version that applies to only certain riders, mainly student and low-income. Metro has discounted fare programs for low-income, student, and senior riders, but relatively cumbersome enrollment processes has kept enrollment in these programs fairly low. Though a fareless initiative has support on the Metro board, some boardmembers have expressed skepticism. Decarbonizing transportation is essential to achieve the state's goals of carbon neutrality by 2045, but such a transition is unlikely to occur rapidly without key policy intervention, according to a new study that included research from the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation . A team of transportation and policy experts from the University of California released a report to the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) outlining policy options that, when combined, could lead to a zero-carbon transportation system by 2045. A crew looking to assess a DDT dump site off of Los Angeles' coast were shocked by scale of the their findings: after two weeks surveying a swath of seafloor larger than the city of San Francisco, the scientists could find no end to the dumping ground. As many as half a million barrels could still be underwater, according to a recent UC Santa Barbara study. San Diego’s formula for deciding which crumbling streets get repaired first is about to change significantly, with neighborhood equity and climate resiliency becoming the main factors. The main goal of the new policy, which is expected to be unveiled this summer, is reversing decades of underfunding for road repairs in many of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

Regulation of short-term vacation rentals in the coastal zone requires Coastal Commission approval, an appellate court has ruled.

In El Dorado County, the growth wars never seem to end. The county’s general plan has been rejected and approved by voters over the years, and sometimes it has been voted in during one election cycle and out during the next, depending on who controls the Board of Supervisors. And over the years, ballot measures have piled on top of ballot measures, creating a confusing stew of planning policies.

U.S. Senate Could Designate 600,000 Acres of Wilderness in California A legislative package introduced in the U.S. Senate could add 600,000 new acres of federally protected wilderness in California and would expand protections for more than 1 million acres of public land. The Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale will, if the package is successful, be the center of a new 50,000-acre national recreation area covering foothill areas of the San Gabriel Mountains and portions of the San Gabriel River and the Rio Hondo. The three bills would add add more than 109,000 acres to San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and designate 30,000 acres of wilderness that was left out when President Obama designated the monument in 2014. It would also designate more than 583 miles of river — including 45 miles of San Gabriel River tributaries, as well as Little Rock Creek — as “wild and scenic rivers,” a protection that prohibits dams or new mining. San Jose Google Complex Takes Step, Clashes with Sharks Google's proposed San Jose megacampus cleared a crucial hurdle with the unanimous approval of the city's planning commission. Now, it's up to the San Jose City Council next month to decide whether the project moves forward, but city leaders have long signaled their strong support for the massive project. But despite widespread support from the city and community, Google’s project and proposed development surrounding it have one very vocal opponent: the San Jose Sharks. The NHL’s San Jose Sharks say they want 4,800 parking spaces in exchange for their approval of Google’s proposed downtown campus—nearly 2,000 more than what the city promises to maintain during construction. =Nevertheless, the planning commission sided with residents, affordable housing advocates and public transit proponents who urged them to move forward with the project and step away from San Jose’s long history of over-parking. BART and Caltrain Explore Merger A merger with BART is one of the concepts Caltrain’s board is considering this year as it overhauls the railroad’s management. Caltrain’s governing board agreed to study and recommend changes to its management structure as part of a deal struck last summer to put a sales tax measure supporting the railroad on the November ballot, which voters approved. Over the coming decade, the two rail agencies are set to offer increasingly similar services. Caltrain has plans to eventually run express trains every 15 minutes along its soon-to-be-electrified tracks. Both agencies also have their sights set on major infrastructure projects: Caltrain wants to extend its tracks to the Salesforce Transit Center in downtown San Francisco, and BART officials are pitching a second transbay crossing. Additionally, the $6.9 billion BART extension through downtown San Jose would create two new connection opportunities in the South Bay, at Diridon Station and a planned Santa Clara stop. PPIC Evaluates Cities’ Drought Preparedness A new report from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) says that as California’s droughts get more intense due to climate change, most cities are well-prepared for droughts, but many small communities are vulnerable. The state’s large urban areas have made major investments in improving drought resilience by diversifying their supply sources—including water reuse, recycling, and stormwater capture—and expanding conservation efforts. Because of this, urban areas often experience drought impacts later than other sectors. Although California has added almost 10 million people since 1990, the amount of water used in cities has remained roughly the same. But small rural communities—many of them communities of color—are ill-prepared to manage drought, often due to financial constraints. Communities that rely on shallow wells are especially vulnerable to dry conditions and regional groundwater over-pumping. CP&DR Coverage: Napa Quarry Wins Appellate Court Approval 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. The 91-page appellate court ruling, originally issued at the end of March but published in late April, was a slam-dunk win for Syar Industries and Napa County. The court found that the project opponents, organized as Stop Syar Expansion, had failed to exhaust administrative remedies on all five challenges and – in any event – would lose on the merits even of the administrative remedies had been exhausted. Quick Hits & Updates Apple will add nearly 4,000 jobs in greater San Diego through 2026, a likely boon for the county's universities, which will feed the company the software and hardware engineers the company needs. The schools have recently announced expansion plans as well: UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering is constructing two large research buildings, and will be launching a new curriculum called A.I. Tools for Engineering. San Diego State University is considering expanding its engineering school to the Mission Valley satellite campus. UCLA's annual Quality of Life Index found a growing number of Los Angeles County residents between 18 and 49 believe the area's cost of living threatens their ability to make ends meet, get ahead, or gain financial security. The index found that young residents reported having a lower quality of life than older residents, and researchers think the pandemic may have exacerbated that disparity. While the Los Angeles economy declined faster than in many other regions, LA has bounced back quicker, according to a new analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California. As of March 2021, employment in Los Angeles has recovered 64% of losses during the first three months of the pandemic, compared to 59% statewide. However, unemployment is still 10.9%—much higher than the statewide 8.2%. Amid pushback from residents, the Fremont City Council on Tuesday unanimously rejected a developer’s proposal to build 13 homes on long-vacant land adjacent to Interstate 680. The plan called for two-story houses with four bedrooms, ranging in size from 2,181 to 3,106 square feet. Despite residents voicing opposition, the Livermore Planning Commission recommended the development of the 130-unit, 4-story Eden Housing project in the city’s downtown core. With a park situated in-between, the two buildings will contain one-, two- and three-bedroom rental apartments for people with incomes that are 20% to 60% of the Alameda County median income. Six projects in Sonoma County received $5.8 million in grants from the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation matched by an additional $11.7 million from four cities, the county parks system and a private foundation — the largest joint investment in recreational lands since 2008. The projects will add 145 acres of new and enhanced parks and trail extensions from Healdsburg to Petaluma and out to Bodega Bay. The Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission signed off on the initial phase of the remodel of Pershing Square . The most visible of the proposed changes is the removal of a café building, creating space for a landscaped plaza with outdoor seating. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) LA Metro is taking steps to plan out a northern extension of the Crenshaw/LAX Line to Hollywood. Metro is studying three potential alignments for the project, all of which run between Expo/Crenshaw Station and Hollywood. Huntington Beach will not sue the state over state mandated housing goals; the city council voted 5-2 to indefinitely postpone fighting the mandate after not taking action on initiating a lawsuit in March. Pasadena’s ADU Program earned high marks from a Utah-based organization that recognizes ambitious feasible, and scalable solutions to housing affordability. The city earned a Top 10 finalist spot for its Comprehensive Assistance’ for financing, designing, permitting, and constructing a new ADU in the city. The Los Angeles City Council is considering a proposal that would curtail the use of wood-frame construction for larger developments in densely-populated neighborhoods in an effort to reduce the city’s vulnerability to wildfires. Hillside neighborhoods across the city could be impacted by the changes, as could portions of Highland Park, Echo Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and Pacific Palisades. The Dublin City Council unanimously voted to allocate $10 million to a proposed affordable housing project that will be located close to the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. The project will have two, five-story buildings with 308 total apartments built out in two phases.

No one in the ‘80s grew up dreaming of becoming an infill builder, because there was no such thing. So, long before I became a fellow traveller of YIMBY’s, New Urbanists, creative classers, smart growthers, and sundry other folks who want to uplift rather than tear down cities and their residents, I wanted to work for Kaufman & Broad. Back then, for someone with an inherently development-oriented imagination, Eli Broad, half of Kaufman & Broad’s identity, might as well have been Andres Duany. Broad died Friday at the age of 87 and is being mourned throughout the city. I lived about two miles from the Kaufman & Broad (later renamed KB Home) headquarters, located in a midrise tower in Westwood. The name was on top of the building and on a plinth at street level that I drove past on a regular basis. The idea of real estate development seemed cool, and K&B was my most palpable connection to development. At the time suburbia seemed cool enough. It was better than the in-between-ness of West LA. What was not in-between were the communities that Broad built. KB Home headquarters in Westwood. Broad built tract homes. He built them on the urban fringe. Once he was done bulldozing one fringe, he went on to the next, pushing the rings of sprawl outward from whichever urban center they orbited. He focused primarily on the Los Angeles and Phoenix regions, with projects in the San Antonio, Tucson, and Las Vegas areas, among others. Various incarnations of KB Home have built, in total, over 600,000 homes since Broad and partner Donald Kaufman founded the company in 1957. Broad was, in short, one of the world’s preeminent merchants of sprawl. But at the same time that he was chopping down cactuses, paving over farmland, and pouring concrete by the hundreds and thousands of acres, Broad was drawing up very different plans for his adoptive city. Broad arrived in Los Angeles from Michigan in the 1960s, when the city’s core was being erased. Urban renewal leveled Bunker Hill, a great if ragged Victorian-era urban neighborhood, and replaced it with the Music Center complex and, later, corporate office towers. The major fundraising force behind the Music Center in the 1960s was Buffy Chandler, wife of the publisher of the Los Angeles Times . It’s not hard to imagine that, arriving in Los Angeles at that moment, Broad got inspired to put up an institution or two with his own name on it. As he grew wealthy, and especially as he got into modern art, he donated ever more generous sums to many of the city’s cultural institutions, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Disney Hall, the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, and many others. Few major civic institutions in L.A. lack a plaque, room, or building with Broad’s name on it. In 2015, he completed his most singular and, arguably, most egocentric achievement: The Broad Museum, which houses pieces from his personal collection. Completed in 2015, the museum is on Bunker Hill, across the street from Disney Hall, and two blocks away from the Music Center. These contributions inspired all manner of encomiums: he was a “ kingmaker ;” he “poured his wealth into reshaping L.A. ;” his “ imprint is impossible to miss ” – to cite just three headlines of the nine articles and essays the L.A. Times ran on him over the weekend. That’s well and good. Cities have always relied on patrons. And yet, for all that Broad gave to the city, seeing his name on a wall unnerves me only somewhat less than would seeing Philip Morris, Sackler, or Getty. The Broad Museum (l.), with a friend, in downtown Los Angeles. Even as Broad destroyed significant portions of the American landscape -- creating places that are, by many accounts, pretty bereft of culture or “urban amenities” -- he clearly valued art, music, entertainment, education, and civic life. Moreover, he saw the big city – and particularly downtown – as their rightful home. Broad the patron was an urbanist. Broad the businessperson was not. But even Broad’s urban vision is more of a complement to sprawl. It treats downtown as a seat of power and a freeway-accessible central location, drawing in the occasional museumgoer from Hemet or Fontana or some other suburb that he built. But there’s little indication that Broad believed in a true urban fabric. Broad had the money to build his namesake museum literally anywhere he wanted and in any style imaginable. He chose Bunker Hill, and he chose a design that, like those of its neighbors, looks cool in photographs but is downright hostile to pedestrians. Fortunately, even if Broad’s vision for Los Angeles was not exactly progressive, it will do far less long-term harm than his developments will. Broad helped make it OK to go downtown. The institutions he supported have surely helped greater downtown mature into the multifaceted urban community that it is today. The grandfatherly personage of Broad is giving way to urbanists who are involved in efforts, both grassroots and top-down, to build more infill housing, reduce parking, promote equity, reduce segregation, and become more sustainable. Most auspiciously, Broad’s passing comes at the very moment when many cities (and perhaps the whole state) are pledging to abolish single-family zoning . Ultimately, I don’t think Broad deserves moral blame for his business model or for his egotism. He started out as a young guy from Michigan who got into the American Dream business, such as it was. He was good at it, and he could have spent his money on worse things. Needless to say, I am not about to send my resume to KB Home these days. And, as we mourn the Eli Broad and appreciate what he did for Los Angeles, let us also put to rest his version of development. KB Home headquarters image courtesy of Coolcaesar via Wikipedia . Broad Museum image courtesy of Joey Zanotti via Flickr .