CP&DR Vol. 34 No. 11 November 2019

San Pablo Avenue may not be the Champs-Elysees, but it does have a few things going for it. Running nearly 20 miles from Hercules to Oakland, San Pablo is essentially the main street of the East Bay — reverently  described by writer Abraham Woodliff as the "one street that seems to guide you through the East Bay’s many shifting realities." It’s a wide boulevard, with a median in some streches, and it parallels the Richmond BART line. It has some built-out stretches and some historic architecture, especially near its southern terminus. Otherwise, it is also an infill developer’s dream, with abundant parking lots, strip-malls, and undistinguished one-story buildings begging to be redeveloped. It’s the type of place where, with the right sort of infill development, the East Bay can meet regional housing and transportation goals and discourage driving — but progress has been slow. “It’s like, ‘Come on, East Bay!’ We're so progressive, but we’re so auto-oriented,” said Ann Cheng, interim co-executive director of TransForm and former mayor of El Cerrito. In true Bay Area form, though, many of the cities through which San Pablo Ave. runs do not exactly welcome density or new housing and have been content to let San Pablo be little more than a thoroughfare. The City of El Cerrito has taken a different approach — with dramatic results. In 2014, El Cerrito adopted the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan (SPASP), governing its three-mile segment. The plan is ambitious, seeking to dramatically increase densities along the avenue and accommodate significant residential growth. The plan area covers roughly 200 developable or re-developable acres along a two-and-a-half mile stretch of San Pablo Ave., which it divides into Uptown, Midtown, and Downtown sub-areas. While such plans can often take decades to come to fruition, developers have flocked to the avenue. The first phase of the SPASP is already spoken for, with roughly 1,800 housing units built or in various stages of development across 23 projects. Every project but one consists largely of residential units, with most projects falling between 50 and 170 units for a total of 1,238 market-rate units and 862 affordable units. Nearly 40,000 square feet of commercial space is included as well. “Our redevelopment and city council goal was for a long time, since our general plan update, to transform the corridor into a more vibrant place,” said El Cerrito Community Development Director Melanie Mintz. “We’ve tried to help people see what these projects are going to look like, and they really are a significant upgrade from what’s existing." This rapid growth has exhausted the number of units covered by the plan’s initial programmatic environmental impact report, which was drafted to be deliberately much smaller than the anticipated build-out of SPASP so that the city could amend the plan and adjust it as needed. The city is currently updating the PEIR to accommodate a second phase. “We didn't want to assume that every space gets built-up. We wanted to take what we thought was an ambitious number…I think it’s happening a little sooner than we expected,” said Mintz. The phasing enables the city to "update traffic studies and look at it from a fresh perspective now that it’s real." The PEIR itself has been one of the keys to the plan’s success thus far. Under the PEIR, developers are required to complete a checklist to demonstrate that their respective plans and their impacts conform with the PEIR. Beyond that, no environmental review is required, and all of the entitled projects in the plan area have been approved under the PEIR checklist. As well, by planning for a relatively large area, development has been spread out and the city does not feel like it’s under siege by developers. “One of the challenges is that because it's not collected in one area, it doesn’t totally transform the area all at once,” said Mintz. “What’s nice about that is that it’s spread out, so the impacts and opportunities are spread along the entire corridor.” The early success of SPASP, say supporters, has depended as much on its technical details as on El Cerrito’s civic spirit. To a large extent, the mere existence of a density-friendly, transit-oriented plan anywhere in the Bay Area could probably be enough to attract developers. But El Cerrito’s planners went to considerable lengths to ensure that the plan would serve the city and developers alike.

San Mateo Ruling Could Limit Effectiveness of Housing Accountability Act Renter and housing advocacy groups’ efforts to sue the city of San Mateo were stymied by a judge’s ruling that San Mateo did not violate SB 167, Housing Accountability Act (HAA), when the city rejected a condominium development proposal on the grounds the project violated the city’s multi-family design guidelines. In a petition to the judge, plaintiffs San Francisco Bay Area Renters Federation and California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund— YIMBY groups that have waged a campaign to “sue the suburbs” for more housing -- argued the San Mateo rejected the proposal on subjective, discretionary grounds --a precedent that would allow cities to reinterpret guidelines as a pretext to prevent new developments, precisely the outcome HAA is designed to forestall. The judge disagreed, calling the city’s guidelines objective, and said ruling against the city would be a sweeping negation of local agency discretion, interfering with the city’s core decision-making abilities and violating the home rule doctrine of the California Constitution. A petitioner wrote, “California’s housing shortage is a statewide catastrophic failure of local decisions over the last half century, that negatively impacts millions of Californians. Local decisions on housing development have been a major factor in preventing new housing to alleviate the shortage, so each local decision to disapprove of a development adds up to increased rents around the region.” The mayor noted this is San Mateo's first development proposal rejection in 30 years. Sacramento Area Transportation, Sustainability Plans Receive Approvals The Sacramento Area Council of Governments received federal approval for its 2020 Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS). The plan invests $35 billion into transportation by 2040 to accommodate projected growth of 620,000 new people, 270,000 new jobs and 260,000 new homes.In a separate action, both the SACOG board and California’s Department of Housing and Community Development (CDHC) have approved SACOG’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation Methodology. This year those allocations increased significantly. The CDHC commended SACOG for its methodology, calling it “clear and transparent.” “We are delighted that our Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy has been unanimously approved by the SACOG board. This plan lays the groundwork for the Sacramento region to prosper over the next 20 years by growing sustainably and making smart investments in our transportation network to help all people get to where they want to go more easily,” said James Corless, SACOG’s executive director. Homelessness Dominates Concerns of Los Angeles Residents  Homelessness and housing affordability top the list of Los Angeles’ most serious problems, according to a Los Angeles Times poll. Ninety-five percent of voters said homelessness was a serious or very serious problem; eighty-seven percent said housing affordability was a serious problem. By contrast, between 2% and 7% of voters said homelessness should be a top priority in 2005, and housing affordability didn't make the top five most important issues. Focus groups shed light on voter attitudes: “It’s all over L.A.,” said Justine Marine, a student who participated in a focus group. “You can be in a good neighborhood, and it could be right around the corner. You can’t escape it.” Veteran pollster Peter Hart said, "people are living with this on a daily basis. It's very direct and personal. It's not like crime, where people say it happened in this neighborhood or another part of town." Thirty-eight percent of respondents indicated homelessness or housing insecurity touched their lives personally or through someone they know. This year alone, homelessness increased by 12 percent to 59,000 in Los Angeles County and 16 percent in Los Angeles to 36,000. While those polled broadly agreed lack of affordable housing contributes significantly to the problem, many are skeptical and frustrated with the government’s inability to provide adequate shelter. Sixty-six percent of respondents said the Proposition HHH bond measure and the Measure H sales increase had been spent “ineffectively,” and 41 percent doubted Los Angeles could address the problem. Business Group Devises $4.2 Billion Investment Plan for Fresno At the California Economic Summit in Fresno, the Central Valley Community Foundation announced a 10-year investment plan to attract $4.2 billion in public, private and philanthropic investments to revitalize Fresno. The initiative , named Developing the Region’s Inclusive and Vibrant Economy (D.R.I.V.E.) is comprised of 18 projects, many of which focus on infrastructure and housing. Specifically, the plan calls for expanding the University of California San Francisco Fresno campus, building a 6,000-acre industrial park, an 11-mile transit corridor in north and central Fresno, and 12,000 affordable housing units. The initiative also calls for low- or no-interest loans for 20,000 minority households. Investment targets are $5.3 million investment in transportation/transit and 3.8 million affordable housing from public and private sources. As one of the fastest growing regions in the United States with 20 percent population growth since 2000, Fresno ranks last among 59 major cities in economic and racial disparity according to the Urban Institute. San Francisco Considers Vacancy Tax for Commercial Properties Commercial property landlords in San Francisco may have to pay a ‘ vacancy tax ’ for storefronts that are vacant for more than 182 days at a time. If the tax measure passes in March, the fee would start in 2021 at $250 per linear foot, rise to $500 in 2022 and then double to $1,000 for each year after that. Landlords would be allowed to apply for exemptions, such as after a disaster or if they are making improvements to the property, and the tax would apply only to the city’s 30 or so neighborhood commercial corridors. “We’ve been grappling with the issue for years and … it seems like nothing has been all that effective,” said Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee. The author of the proposal says a few “bad actors” are keeping buildings empty to inflate rent prices. Landlords disagree: “You can’t make us more motivated to fill that space than we already are,” said a local real estate investor, and an investigation by the San Francisco Chronicle found that many small business owners say San Francisco’s high cost of doing business are why businesses are moving out of San Francisco in the first place. CARB Releases Guidelines for Sustainable Communities Strategies The Air Resources Board staff released the Final Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) Program and Evaluation Guidelines, along with staff’s response to comments received. These Guidelines outline how CARB evaluates Metropolitan Planning Organization’s SCSs pursuant to the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008 (SB 375). The initial draft guidelines were released in early December 2018 and discussed in a public workshop on December 12, 2018 in Sacramento with satellite locations at Fresno and Los Angeles. In late March 2019, a second draft of the guidelines was released and a public workshop was held on April 3, 2019 in Sacramento to discuss comments received and CARB’s response to comments. In mid-September 2019, a final draft of the guidelines was released to solicit feedback on changes made to the Guidelines. Over the three week comment period, CARB received thirteen comment letters. Responses to comments are also released along with the Final SCS Program and Evaluation Guidelines. Quick Hits & Updates  The Compton City Council announced a new land use and development specific plan for the 760 acres surrounding its Artesia train station. According to the plan draft, the area will go from large commercial tracts of warehouses and vehicle retailers to small blocks, and include up to one million square feet of new development with 4,803 housing units, 219,187 square feet of retail space, 129,000 square feet of cultural facilities and 217,073 square feet of office space. Parks, paseos, and a restored creek are also part of the plan. The Gaslamp Quarter Association submitted a proposal to San Diego city officials to create an eight-block “pedestrian plaza” modeled off the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. If implemented, several blocks of Fifth Avenue would be closed to car traffic. The $40 million project has support from the district’s council member and the Circulate San Diego Director of Policy. The Anaheim City Council voted against making the Angel Stadium appraisal public and against a 30-day review of a final lease proposal. Mayor Harry Sidhu claims the proposals have already been vetted by the Council and no further review is necessary, but dissenters argue there’s a difference of hundreds of millions of dollars depending on how the eventual deal is structured, whether around enumerated or unenumerated land. The team’s net profit is estimated at $19 million a year. Under the current agreement, the city has netted $1.6 million from the stadium in the past nine years. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to double a fee on office development from $28.57 to $69.90 per square foot on large office developments. Biotech and smaller developments received special consideration and lower increases, but their fees will roughly double as well. Fee revenues are expected to total $385 million over the next five years, and will go toward affordable housing. The city expects a modest downturn in office space development and for development costs to increase by 6 percent.  The San Jose City Council is expected to approve a $93 million deal to purchase 937 acres in Coyote Valley . The city’s general plan allowed for up to 30,000 jobs there that will now need to be moved elsewhere, city planners say, but have not put forward alternative locations. San Jose will retain ownership of 296 acres, and the rest will go to the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority. Restoration plans and trail construction are projected to take 10 years and cost more than $100 million from a mix of public and private funds. Despite significant pushback from community residents, the San Francisco Planning Commission approved a 193-unit development in the Excelsior on Ocean Avenue The four-to-six story residential structure will be comprised of 193 homes, a 6,000-square-foot childcare facility and 121 underground parking spaces. A community group and critics of the plan claim the city bypassed appropriate review processes and with only 25 percent of units priced below market rate, the project exacerbates growing gentrification in the area. Despite increased tourism in recent years, approximately one-third of parking spaces in downtown Santa Monica remain empty at peak times. The data is from nine parking structures and the Main library parking lot in downtown Santa Monica. Five years ago there were 1,100 spaces available during the city’s busiest hours. Now that number is 1,800, raising questions as to whether downtown space is being utilized efficiently. The Los Angeles Transportation Department revoked the license of Uber’s motorized bike and scooter subsidiary Jump. Uber has until Friday to appeal the suspension, after which it can no longer rent electric scooters and bicycles. The permit limits how many vehicles Uber may have in circulation and bars them from riding in restricted areas. Los Angeles officials claim Uber violated the permit by refusing to share data necessary to determine whether the company was complying with city regulations. A Superior Court Judge ruled the Los Angeles Clippers will be allowed to build their proposed Inglewood stadium without having the city-owned land vetted as a potential site for affordable housing. The ruling essentially blocks affordable housing and park developers from bidding on the land. A community group sued last year, claiming the city violated the California Surplus Act, but the 22-acre site--acquired with Federal Aviation Administration’s grant money--is under the LAX flight path. The judge’s ruling is in line with the FAA’s opposition to residential redevelopment in that area due to noise exposure. The Army Corps of Engineers reports alarm after studying a dam that protects Victorville, Hesperia, Apple Valley and Barstow. Dam failure would endanger 16,000 people and $1.5 billion in property as many as 100 miles away, engineers who are calling for structural improvements including raising the dam, hardening the dam, or both. Experts say these findings and recommendations are especially urgent as climate change increases risk of severe storms. The Los Angeles City Council is taking steps to protect renters in a one-mile radius of new market-rate and “luxury” residential developments.The council member who motioned for the proposal argued that new developments often strengthen a neighborhood’s economy but negatively impact its residents. Proposed protections (the ordinance has not yet been drafted) include requiring new developments to reserve 30 percent or more units to Section 8 renters, a three-year cap on rent increases around new projects, and a website that would help tenants find affordable housing opportunities in their neighborhoods. Jeffrey Tumlin , founding director of Oakland’s department of transportation and current Director of Strategy at Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates, will be the new director of San Francisco Metro Transit Authority, According to the mayor’s office, Tumlin will be focused primarily on public transportation and on delivering safer streets beginning Dec. 16. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) In conjunction with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Democratic California representatives Jesus Garcia and Mark Takano launched the Future of Transportation Caucus. According to a press release, the new caucus is “dedicated to creating a vision for the future of our transportation system that emphasizes equity, access, and sustainability.” The caucus will hold briefings and forums to generate awareness and policy discussions. Four of the 21 rank-and-file caucus members are California representatives: Jared Huffman, Alan Lowenthal, Mark DeSaulnier, and Gil Cisneros. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a higher fee for developers that according to estimates will raise $400 million for affordable housing within ten years. The proposed fee hikes met resistance, but a graduated fee schedule secured broad support for the measure. Buildings approved before Sept. 10 will pay $52.50 per square foot; between Sept.11 and Jan. 1, 2021, $60.90 per square foot; and after January 1, $69.60 per square foot.

Stanford Backs Down from Campus Expansion  Stanford University withdrew its application for a long-term land use permit from Santa Clara County. The plan would have added 3.5 million square feet to the university’s campus, including over 2,000 beds. The university and county have tussled in negotiations for three years. Stanford made extensive--and expensive--community investment commitments trying to secure the deal, including $138 million over 40 years to the Palo Alto Unified School District, and a promise to build 2,172 new workforce units. But the university would not go forward without a long-term development agreement to ensure the county would not change land use laws for the duration of the contract, and multiple attempts to secure a contract failed. The county had demanded that any campus growth plan not add cars to local streets or put more pressure on the local housing market — by building one home for every additional employee represented by the plan. Stanford agreed to the housing but reportedly refused to comply stringent traffic mitigation measures that the county was seeking. Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne acknowledged obstacles while striking an optimistic note: “We have taken this step with regret, but with a clear-eyed understanding of the challenges before us in achieving a successful long-term permit at this time. While we are stepping back from this permit process, we will be launching a new phase of engagement with local communities." Attorney General Supports Suit against San Diego Carbon Offset Plan Attorney General Xavier Becerra recently filed an amicus brief with the 4th District Court of Appeal arguing that a carbon offset plan proposed in the San Diego County's climate action plan would “perpetuate current sprawling development patterns, which will impede the ability of the region and state to reach their long-term climate objectives,” which include cutting emissions by 40 percent over the next decade. At issue is San Diego County’s plan to approve thousands of new housing units far from public transit, city centers, and jobs using carbon offsets purchased through online registries. The Sierra Club, with support from other environmental groups, is suing, and the case is receiving notice from all over the state. “If San Diego’s approach is allowed to go forward, you’re going to see a lot of carbon offsets, especially in rural countries where growth means a lot more vehicle miles traveled, a lot higher emissions,” said Ethan Elkind, director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment. Before San Diego County appealed the decision, a Superior Court Judge sided with the Sierra Club, finding the county’s offsets program violates the county’s general plan, and, perhaps more worryingly, may jeopardize other jurisdictions’ ability to meet state requirements. For example, the San Diego Assn. of Governments is required by law to reduce emissions by 19 percent by the year 2035. Under Senate Bill 375, SANDAG would be on the hook to build miles of new rail system and potentially levy tolls across the county’s highways to meet emissions standards.  S.F. Giants Proceed with Waterfront Redevelopment  The San Francisco Giants unveiled plans for the 28-acre Mission Rock development, which will turn a parking lot south of Oracle Park into a mixed-use neighborhood. Plans center around the five acre China Basin Park, designed by landscape architecture firm SCAPE, which includes a plaza, a cafe, a promenade, and a lawn that cascades into the bay through “tidal shelves’”. The development will also include 1,200 residential units, 40 percent of which are affordable; 1.4 million square feet of office space; and more than 200,000 square feet of retail. Voters approved the initial plans for developing the Port-owned property in 2015. The plans for Mission Park have been 12 years in the making, as collaborators San Francisco Giants, Tishman Speyer and the Port of San Francisco tapped architecture firms MVRDV, Studio Gang, Henning Larsen, and WORKac to design the four buildings with a “distinct look and feel but would complement each other and the surrounding environment.” Oakland Drops Lawsuit over Coliseum  The City of Oakland dropped its lawsuit against Alameda County a day before a hearing with a Superior Court judge to block the sale of the county’s ownership stake in the Oakland A’s stadium. The suit was dismissed without prejudice, barring future suits. Dropping the lawsuit was a precondition for continued negotiations between the city and Oakland A’s, which will now move forward as the A’s attempt to buy the city’s share of the Coliseum. Alameda County may yet make a deal with the A’s to sell its share, but under California’s Surplus Land Act, affordable housing developers, local public entities, and other groups must be given the opportunity to match the A’s offer. Alameda County is reportedly preparing a notice announcing the bid. Groups have 60 days from the notice date to respond. State Releases $610 Million in Funds for Housing Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the availability of $610 million in funding to help California communities build more houses and public transit options close to job centers and services - actions geared toward meeting the state’s need for housing while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. This follows the release of $279 million from the Infill Infrastructure Grant program. The California Strategic Growth Council will award funds from California Climate Investments, an initiative that disburses monies raised through cap-and-trade allowances to programs that primarily benefit disadvantaged communities. “Sky-high housing costs are putting the squeeze on family budgets while long commutes contribute to dirtier air,” said Governor Newsom. “By bringing housing closer to jobs, we can fight climate change and create healthier, sustainable communities across California.” Quick Hits & Updates Newport Beach philanthropists have pledged $50 million to Banning Ranch Conservancy to protect 401 acres of Newport Beach’s Banning Ranch. The Coastal Commission and Banning Ranch Conservancy have both worked to block development on the property--the most recent proposal would have brought 895 homes, a 75-room hotel, a 20-bed hostel and 45,100 square of retail space to 62 acres of the property. A vulnerability report presented to San Clemente’s City Council warns that rising sea levels will significantly erode beaches as soon as 2030, and endanger seaside railways by 2080. California granted the Orange County Transportation Authority $460,000 to develop an adaptation for the railroad. The report wasn’t all bad news--most of San Clemente’s coastal buildings are not under direct threat. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to extend a ban on new oil wells in Oxnard. The ban was originally put in place in April due to unexplained gases in the Fox County Aquifer. The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting research into whether the method being used--injecting steam into the ground to loosen tar--poses environmental risks. It could be as long as six months before USGS completes the survey. In the meantime, officials are hesitant to give definite answers as to whether drinking water is safe or if the continued ban is warranted. The San Jose City Council voted, 6-5, to loosen the city’s rent control ordinance. Under the old law, developers who demolished or remodeled rent-controlled apartments were required to either match the number of rent controlled apartments or make half of the new units rent controlled, whichever was greater. New rules put a cap on the 50 percent requirement at seven times the number of previously rent-controlled units. Developers can get a waiver if 15 percent of the new units are affordable housing, and can increase rent by five percent on previously rent-controlled apartments. San Jose's East Side Union High School District voted  to put a $60 million general obligation bond on the March 3 ballot for a teacher housing project that would generate revenue for the school. District officials hope that affordable housing—with rent at about 70% of market rate—will help attract and retain new teachers.  The Fresno FC Foxes soccer team appears increasingly likely to vacate Fresno’s Chukchansi Park as the owner publicly declared . The start-up team lost $4 million and has explored myriad options in Fresno with no success--the Selland Arena parking lot at the downtown Fresno Convention Center, the parking lot on H Street across from Chukchansi Park, the Granite Park recreation complex in central Fresno, Fresno State’s soccer/lacrosse field and potential sites in Madera County. The owner says he’s had promising negotiations with California State University Monterey Bay to use the campus’s soccer-only stadium. The Hass Insititute at UC Berkeley has released a report, “Roots, Race, & Place: A History of Racially Exclusionary Housing in the San Francisco Bay Area." The report traces a history of racial exclusion and inequities—from who owned land, who had access to financing, and who held political power—that underpin the Bay Area’s displacement problem. Imperial County supervisors voted unanimously to declare a state of emergency at the Salton Sea , and supervisors say they will likely seek another emergency declaration with regards to polluted New River in coming weeks. The county is hoping to free up federal and state relief funds and to bypass lengthy environmental reviews for what officials claim are alarmingly overdue dust suppression and habitat projects. “This is an environmental crisis that has already occurred, that has caused a massive die-off of birds, and now we’re at a point where human health is being affected,” said board chair Ryan Kelly. About 400 species of birds are affected, and the county’s air pollution control officer, Matt Dessert, believes dust blowing from the receding shoreline is the main cause of higher than average asthma rates in Imperial County. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) LA is about to get cooler according to Mayor Eric Garcetti's office, which announced a pilot program Cool Streets LA that will add 14 new street trees, 35,000 square feet of cool pavement and four shaded bus benches. The pilot is in preparation for the installation of 750 new tree-shaded bus benches by December 2020; in addition, cool pavement, new trees, cool rooftops, hydration stations and energy efficient rebates to businesses are six “cool-neighborhood projects, slated to be completed by 2021. Conservation groups intend to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for not classifying the Humboldt marten --of which there are an estimated fewer than 400 in the wild-- under the Endangered Species Act. Over the years, Humboldt martens’ territory has shrunk from 800 miles of California and Oregon coastline to just three California counties. Increased wildfire frequency and the timber industry pose two major threats to the survival of the endangered birds.

My favorite new vehicle displayed at this week's CoMotion conference in Los Angeles was  Gita .  Think of BB-8 from the new Star Wars movies dutifully trailing Poe Dameron at knee height. Then imagine him carting around sports equipment, fresh produce, or a 30-pack. Billed as a “personal cargo robot,” Gita ("the Gita"?) is basically a motorized picnic cooler that optically recognizes its owner and follows at heel.  It’s adorable, impressive, and eminently useful — at least until someone trips on it at the farmers market and figures out whom to sue.  What I like most about Gita (notwithstanding its $3,250 price tag) is that I actually know what it is, who it can serve, and where it can go. I cannot say the same for many of the other prototypes, new products, and app-enabled concepts that, if the companies have their way, urban planners and transportation planners will be welcoming, regulating, and, in some cases, banning in the years to come.  A few samples:  Small electric vehicles (basically golf carts). An autonomous pod van. Sweet-looking electric big-rigs. A solid half-dozen, nearly identical electric scooter brands that clearly all came from the same factory in Guangzhou. An "experience showcasing the future of urban air mobility” that I thought was going to be a flying car. (It wasn’t. It was a helicopter that you summon with an app. Basically, Uber for helicopters.) An app promising a “thriving, connected ecosystem of businesses, cities and people,” whatever that means. A Starbucks cold-brew tap mounted to a bicycle. (Not kidding.)  An operational hyperloop . (Kidding.) These technologies are each cool and fun in their own way. But seeing them lined up together like battlebots just makes me feel anxious. I think the company reps (not to mention their investors) are probably anxious too. While the conference was full of techno-optimism, the overwhelming message I took away is that no one has the slightest idea which of these technologies will prevail — if any.  I get that we all hate the car, but there’s something to be said for simpler times. Sure, there were many experimental technologies even 100 years ago. But I have to imagine that the car prevailed in part because it represented linear, analog progress: faster than a horse, bigger than a bicycle, freer than a streetcar. Uber and Lyft have refined the use of the car but they aren’t new mobility technologies. They just married old engineering and existing infrastructure with mobile technology (and creative HR practices). Now that those services have reached peak usefulness, everything from here onward is uncharted territory.  Essentially, we’re now regressing — sort of. “Newer” no longer means bigger and faster. In many cases, it means smaller and slower. It means collective convenience rather than individual freedom. It means short distances and compact areas. That’s good thing for cities and good for sustainability. Cities have gotten about as big, fast, and wasteful as they should get. But, as we return to human scales and human speeds, between the rolling ice coolers and tall skinny scooters and squat fat-tired bikes and the flying machines, I’m not sure who I envy less: the governments who have to regulate this stuff, the companies that have to convince the planners that their favored mode should prevail, or the investors who are trying to pick winners and losers. All of these advances can be useful. But many of them depend on, and will create, circumstances and decisions that no one can foresee. At CoMotion, all of the classic tradeoffs were on full display. Helicopters for the rich or subways for the poor? Personal e-bikes for the last mile or ride-hailing carpools for all the miles? Droids to make your walk easier or AV’s so you never have to lift a finger or a toe? Replace car lanes with bike/scooter lanes? Replace parking lots with holding pens for TNC’s and delivery vehicles? Replace the 405 with a 10-lane field of daisies? Repair the damn sidewalks ? No matter how hard the planners, inventors, and engineers are thinking about this, I don’t think they know how this is going to play out. This is one case in which thinking does not necessarily yield answers. Now more so than ever before, planners cannot foretell the future. I’m pretty sure they’re not going to be sold on idealistic slogans and trade show displays. The problem is, many of these rapidly emerging technologies will be relegated to curiosities without changes in deeply entrenched infrastructure.  Don’t get me wrong: I know these advances can, and eventually will, be good for cities. They’ll facilitate density, cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, give architects more freedom, and open up public spaces. I just don’t think they’re going to be as good as the boosters think they’re going to be. And even if everyone starts scooting or e-cycling or sprinting across town in mechanical exoskeletons, it’s still going to take decades more for cities to figure out how built environments should adapt and then how to redevelop them accordingly.  That’s what Vishaan Chakrabarti, incoming dean of the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley, was getting at, I think, when he told me , “It's going to be a really interesting challenge to reconcile this heated impatience that young people feel to change the world – which I think is fantastic – with the demands of practice, which is often a long, hard slog."  In the meantime, I’m going to need a drink. Gita, bring me a beer.

Apple Pledges $2.5 Billion to Support Housing in Bay Area Apple has committed the largest sum yet by a tech giant to support affordable housing, pledging $2.5 billion in investments, land, and charitable donations. Of the $2.5 billion, $500 million will go towards local projects, including property in San Jose owned by Apple valued at $300 million, $150 million for Bay Area affordable housing, and a $50 million charitable donation to a Silicon Valley nonprofit committed to helping the homeless. The remaining $2 billion will benefit Californians state-wide, with $1 billion earmarked for an affordable housing investment fund. Apple says it will reinvest capital gains from the fund for five years. An additional $1 billion will contribute to California’s current efforts to help first-time home buyers with financing and down payment assistance. Apple’s plan declines to give a specific housing number target. ““When fall out of reach for too many, we know the course we are on is unsustainable, and Apple is committed to being part of the solution,” CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. Plumas County Adopts New General Plan The Plumas County  general plan has been adopted by county supervisors. Changes for the 10 county zones largely consist of new maximum building sizes relative to lot area. The suburban, secondary suburban, and rural zones now have relative maximum building sizes to the lot area of 50% except on large parcels.Heavy Industrial zones and mining zones allow for larger maximum building coverage of 70%, while general forest zone structures and Agricultural Preserve zones will now be limited to one acre. Height limits in light industrial zones increase maximum timber manufacturing structures from 60 feet in height to 125 feet. Lastly, timberland production zone restrictions are now in line with Article 32, a taxation reform act passed in 1976 that encourages the protection of immature tress by limiting structures to no more than an acre. A complete plan is available for public inspection at the Planning Department in Quincy. San Diego Considers Major Transportation Hub  The San Diego Association of Governments released a report envisioning plans for a "Grand Central Station" and underground airport transportation system that would cost at least $4 billion. The report considers four alternatives for transportation plans. The transit option most favored by local planners is a new transit center at the Navy property north of the airport, along with a nonstop underground trolley free to ride. Estimates show that it would reduce airport traffic by as much as 30 percent and could service 40,000 passengers a day. The second-best option proposes a 3.6-mile ground-level and elevated route to the airport. Today, 99 percent of trips to the San Diego International Airport are made via private vehicle.  SANDAG  will further study four alternatives for a mass transit trolley or “people mover” to the airport. The board has been considering four above and below ground alternatives, and have so far favored an underground “people mover” from a new transit center at a Navy yard north of the airport, which will likely serve the most people. Other options include an above-ground route from the Navy yard, an underground route from a different transit hub closer to the airport, and a trolley extension that does not include building a new station. All four options are costly: ranging from $2 billion to $5 billion. This more detailed analysis will likely cost between $2 million and $5 million, and SANDAG will choose the its favored alternative next year.  Housing Permit Approvals in Freefall Statewide  New housing permit approvals have declined statewide in 2019, with an especially steep drop in the Bay Area, according to a recent analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California. The new data, which belies Governor Gavin Newsom’s efforts to build 3.5 million new housing units by 2025, casts doubts on current policy and processes for new housing approval. According to state housing officials, California needs an average of 180,000 new homes every year to make up for current deficits. However, only 104,000 new residential permits were issued in 2018. And, according to the most recent measurement, the numbers are declining: by June 2019, permits were down 38 percent compared to June 2018. On an annualized basis, the numbers are down by 16 percent from 2018. In the Bay Area , this trend is especially striking: falling nearly 50 percent in San Mateo County, 30 percent in Alameda County, and nearly 10 percent in Santa Clara County. This comes despite a steady rise in new building permit requests since 2010. “At this point, it’s become a noticeable decline,” Hans Johnson, a senior fellow at PPIC in San Francisco, told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s the start of a worrisome trend.” Quick Hits & Updates  As the City of Napa gears up to submit its first general plan in more than 20 years, the volunteer committee helping craft the plan solicited residents’ opinions and discovered trends that will likely shift direction and focus of the city’s growth through 2040. Survey results revealed that Napans favor denser and taller housing than is usual for the city. mostly clustered in downtown hubs alongside busy streets. Pedestrian and bicycle-friendly roads also emerged as popular priorities.  LA Metro released development visions for all nine stations of the $6.6 billion West Santa Ana Branch light rail line—Pioneer, Bellflower, Paramount/Rosecrans, I-105/Green Line, Firestone, Florence/Salt Lake, Pacific/Randolph, Slauson, Arts District South, South Park/Fashion District, and Little Tokyo. Metro’s recommendations place a strong emphasis on ample parking, walkability, preventing displacement, and active preservation of local businesses. The City of Los Angeles is suing Figueroa Economical Housing Development Corp. and other prominent affordable housing developers for misappropriating city funds. Richard N. Hogan Manor, a 51-unit housing project on S. Figueroa St. property was financed through a $2.3 dollar loan issued by the city and distributed through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund program. The suit alleges that the defendants received $4.4 million in proceeds from the original loan through a series of loans and title changes, while further alleging illegal intent to remove the city from the project altogether. The lawsuit has implications beyond the case, as Figueroa Economical currently stands to receive $43 million from a Proposition HHH homeless housing bond. Tensions continue to escalate between top California Coastal Commission officials and Del Mar as Del Mar resists the commission’s recommendations to adopt managed retreat initiatives that address sea level rise. Del Mar officials contend that managed retreat, which would require removal of coastal structures, is simply not a viable option in a city with high coastal property values. Instead, Del Mar submitted for review last year a plan that relied on maintaining existing seawalls and sand restoration. Coastal Commissioners lambasted the plan as one with outdated, short-lived solutions, and returned the plan to the city with recommendations that included what Del Mar viewed as “back door” triggers for managed retreat. The issue remains unresolved as Commission Executive Director Jack Ainsworth granted Del Mar’s request to postpone a hearing. San Diego State University ’s satellite desert campus wants to stand and deliver as a true four-year university San Diego’s tiny Imperial Valley branch campus is taking steps to become a four-year university to better serve a county in which 25 percent of people live in poverty and 21 percent are unemployed. This fall, the university accepted freshmen for the first time in a decade and hopes to double enrollment to 2,000 in the coming years. “High school graduates who are eligible to go to a four-year school should have the option of coming here,” said Gregorio Ponce, the dean of SDSU Imperial Valley. “And they should be able to save money. Leaving the county to go to college can cost at least $30,000 a year. Here it costs $6,000.” The largest ever settlement in a class-action lawsuit over insufficient disability access is pending before a federal judge in San Jose. The San Francisco 49ers and Santa Clara have agreed to pay $24 million to as many as 6,000 disabled individuals who have encountered physical access difficulties while attending games. From buying tickets to using the restrooms at Levi Stadium the plaintiffs lawyers cite 2,700 “access barriers,” in the suit. As part of the settlement, the stadium will remove barriers, install additional accessible parking spaces, provide shuttles and golf carts, and allow on-line ticket purchases. Sonoma County officials hope to shave a year off environmental review time for approximately 50 housing projects by consolidating them into one environmental review. To achieve this, Sonoma would need to rezone—a process that would typically occur with the country’s general plan update. But wildfires have twice delayed a plan update and county officials think the review work could contribute positively to general plan developments. Regional director Teri Shore says rezoning now is premature. “The general plan update—that’s the opportunity to look at the bigger picture.” After nearly a year-long delay, the city of Eureka formally transferred lands on Indian Island back to the Wiyot Tribe . The tribe lost the land through an illegitimate sale to a dairy farmer in 1860, followed by a massacre of Wiyot people. “Today is a good day to be alive,” said tribal chairman Ted Hernandez at an emotional ceremony. A separate 40-acre parcel of land was returned to the Wiyot Tribe in 2004. East Palo Alto is considering congestion pricing to ease commuter traffic on University Avenue. Even with broad council interest, the proposal faces an unlikely path forward. To charge tolls, local agencies need permission by the legislator. A councilman in communication with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission was told getting legislative support is unlikely. Vice Mayor Regina Wallace-Jones expressed optimism, pointing to legislative support garnered for San Francisco’s Lombard Street toll. Still, legislative support is no guarantee. The Lombard Street toll passed the state Senate and Assembly but was ultimately vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom. After 20 years of negotiations, a conservation group  agreed  on a $15.6 million deal for a 530-acre sequoia grove in Northern California. The group does not yet have the funds and must raise all $15.6 million by Dec. 31. If the Save the Redwoods League successfully purchases the grove, plans are to gift it to the U.S. Forest Service, where it will become part of the Giant Sequoia National Monument. Only 22 percent of Californians support banning reconstruction after wildfires, a survey by Stanford University found , but more than 60 percent oppose new construction in wildfire prone areas. Other noteworthy findings: over half of Californians think homeowners should do controlled burns on their own property, and a quarter of those surveyed have been either personally affected by wildfires or know someone who has. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is suing the City of Los Angeles, alleging the city wrongly denied the foundation $25 million in funding. If it had been disbursed, the money would have been from Proposition HHH to build more than 200 “microunits” to house homeless people in skid row. The city claims the foundation had “poor financing structure and cost efficiency,” and insufficient “organization structure, experience and capacity. The Foundation president counters the foundation is uniquely poised to complete the project as it already owns the land and had the lowest cost-per-unit bid.

Coastal Southern California must prepare for a tsunami. It’s not a tsunami of seawater, and it’s not going to come from the west. It’s a tsunami of residents, and they will come from the east.

Typical of off-year elections, Nov. 5 was a quiet Election Day across California. Only a handful of jurisdictions voted on measures related to land use.

The tangle of highways and freeways that cover California may effectively connect Californians to each other. But they also create barriers for other residents of the state – especially four-footed ones. Countless roads in the state’s rural and suburban areas cut through important habitat for animals. The problem isn’t just the roads themselves and the dangers of speeding vehicles but also the fact that slice habitats in half. Roads, highways, and even fences can bisect natural habitat and prevent free movement of animals like mountain lions, bobcats, foxes and other megafauna as well as smaller rodents and amphibians. As development has eaten away at intact habitats, creating “biological islands,” animals have increasingly needed to cross highways in order to hunt, forage, breed, and enjoy their natural ranges. Several jurisdictions are exploring and planning wildlife corridors to link these islands to each other. Wildlife corridors are infrastructure in reverse -- bridges, and sometimes tunnels, of green space that allow animals to traverse highways without encountering cars or other impediments. They can save animals from isolation and protect natural resources like clean air, soil integrity and more. Proponents argue that they protect the creatures that travel them, but also benefit human populations—which is why they are being proposed from Santa Monica to Sonoma. They solve the problem by connecting existing open spaces to each other and allowing animals to maintain at least some of their natural movements and breeding patterns. California policymakers have considered corridors for years—the state released a cross-agency report on them in 2010--but they have been embraced only recently. Advocates and planners are beginning to realize that corridors are a possibility even in intensely urban environments. The most striking example is the Liberty Canyon Crossing, a $60 million project planned for western Los Angeles County.

An initiative prohibiting residential development in a hillside area of Richmond created an impermissible inconsistency with the city’s general plan, an appellate court has ruled. Overturning a Superior Court ruling, however, the appellate court did not invalidate the initiative but said the city merely needs to amend the rest of the general plan to conform with the initiative. Since the City Council adopted the initiative without a vote in 2017, it is reasonable to assume that the city will now rewrite the general plan to conform to the initiative.

Google Provides More Details on Downtown San Jose Plan  Tech giant Google submitted its first proposal for a San Jose transit village, dubbed “Downtown West.” The proposed development at the 80-acre site near Diridon Station would create add a massive transit oriented development to the growing area near the tech headquarters. Plans include 6.5 million square feet of office space; up to 300 hotel rooms; 3,000 to 5,000 residential units; 300,000 to 500,000 square feet of commercial and active uses; event center space totaling 100,000 square feet; and up to 800 rooms for short-term Google employee visits. Diridon Station will grow in the coming years, too: in addition to its current Caltrain, Amtrak, ACE, and Capitol Corridor services, it expects to add a BART station and potentially a high-speed rail line. The project has generated mixed reactions from the community: many city council members celebrate the boon to the local economy and the construction of much-needed units. However, groups like Silicon Valley Rising have said that Google needs to do more to address the potential displacement of existing San Jose residents as local housing prices rise. Both the San Jose Planning Commission and the city council will conduct planning, environmental, and policy reviews, and vote on the proposal in late 2020. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Environmentalists Seek Protection for Joshua Trees The Center for Biological Diversity will ask the California Fish and Game Commission to designate the western Joshua Tree as threatened under the Endangered Species Act – a designation that would curb development on thousands of acres of private desert property. The petition argues that populations of the species are “likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future,” without special protection and management. Warmer, drier conditions have been hurting the species, which can live for as long as 200 years. Recent studies show that Joshua trees have almost all stopped reproducing, and that the range of Joshua trees is contracting. In Joshua Tree National Park, an estimated 2.5 million Joshua trees will likely lose upward of 90 percent of their current range in coming decades if warmer, drier conditions continue. In 2015, the conservation group WildEarth Guardians similarly petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list Joshua trees as threatened – and the service found the listing unwarranted. Conservation Director of the Center for Biological Diversity Brendan Cummings sees that rejection as a partisan result. “Given the failures of the federal government on climate change generally, and the Joshua Tree specifically,” he told the Los Angeles Times “action by California remains the best hope of saving this iconic species from extinction.” Developer Fees Impede Construction Statewide  High developer fees slow housing construction statewide, according to a new report released by the state Department of Housing and Community Development and the UC Berkeley Terner Center. The study was part of 2017 legislation that aims to identify how state lawmakers could cut fees on new homebuilding. Similarly, a 2018 U.C. Berkeley Terner Center Report found that in 2015, California’s local government fees on housing construction were nearly three times the national average. The most recent study finds that fees charged by developers statewide vary greatly per municipality, and can amount to as much as 18 percent of median home prices. However, the study also notes that local governments often depend upon these fees for infrastructure and services – in part because of property tax restrictions put in place by Proposition 13 in 1978. The study recommends that statewide legislators ask cities and counties to set standards for services and make their fees public. “At first glance, this study confirms what we have long suspected,” said Assemblyman Tim Grayson. “If we have any hope of lifting our communities out of this crisis, then our local fees must be aligned with our statewide production needs.” Ranking California Cities’ Transit Access  California metro areas top CityLab’s new public transportation ranking , with the San Francisco Bay Area coming in first, and the Los Angeles area landing at number ten. Notably, however, one California metro area got the second-worst ranking for public transportation: the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area. The ranking is based on four variables: the share of households without access to their own vehicle, the share of commuters who take transit, the share of commuters who bike, and the share of commuters who walk. Data was pulled from the American Community Survey’s five-year estimates for 2017, covering all 382 of U.S. metropolitan areas. Though New York led on almost all metrics, it has a far smaller share of commuters who bike to work than most other cities. The ranking’s authors note that the top ten cities are much larger, denser, more expensive, and more congested, whereas the lowest-ranked metro areas are mainly younger, sprawling places in the Sunbelt. The authors also found that living in a car-free metro is positively correlated with the share of adults who are college graduates and the creative-class share of the workforce. Meanwhile, WalletHub ranked cities according to three key dimensions: accessibility and convenience, safety and reliability, and public transit resources. San Francisco nabbed the third-best spot for public transit, and Oakland and Los Angeles also came in high at 13th and 14th. California cities bottomed out the list as well: with Sacramento at 70th, Fresno at 79th, and Bakersfield at 87th. However, San Francisco’s number 3 rank doesn’t tell the full story: it ranked first in accessibility and convenience, indicating many people use transit, and that it’s often over capacity. But it ranked 80th in public transit resources, meaning it has fewer and older vehicles per mile traveled.  Quick Hits & Updates In a unanimous vote, the Los Angeles City Council approved an emergency moratorium on evictions as a stop gap measure before Assembly Bill 1482 takes effect on Jan. 1. The bill bans “no-fault” evictions and contains a provision that will cancel rent increases above the new limit 5% plus inflation rent cap, a measure Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Oct. 8. A wave of evictions in advance of the law alarmed tenant groups, prompting the emergency vote. The North San Fernando Valley Bus Rapid Transit project, which would provide bus service from North Hollywood to Chatsworth, was considered at by the L.A. Metro board recently. The board decided to move forward with preliminary BRT studies after hearing from more than 70 speakers. Comments reflected widespread institutional support from groups including area Neighborhood Councils, Cal State Northridge groups, area healthcare institutions, climate groups, and area commerce groups. Those opposed were largely unaffiliated with formal groups. County Supervisor Shiela Kuehl, Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti were in attendance and spoke in support of the project. As part of his "Green New Deal" for the city, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti appointed Rachel Malarich to the position of forest officer and mandated planting 90,000 new trees by the end of 2021. The project will grow what’s already the largest urban forest in the country. This project is part of the mayor’s effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2025. Other measures include a mandate for all new city-owned buildings to be all-electric and a goal to phase out styrofoam.  The Coastal Commission unanimously approved Southern California Edison’s plans to dismantle the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, where canisters loaded with nuclear waste are being moved from “Wet storage” to “dry storage”. The permit will allow Edison contractors to begin removing major structures at the facility. Edison officials said the complete dismantlement will take eight to 10 years. Community members have been pushing for the dismantling of the station, which has not produced electricity since 2012 but continues to hold nuclear waste. Los Angeles Metrolink released a report to the California High-Speed Rail Authority stating that it could double ridership, introduce zero-emission trains, and offer faster and more frequent trains – should it receive $9.4 billion in funding through 2028. These improvements to the rail lines from Burbank to Anaheim would be aimed at paving the way for the planned high-speed trains to eventually serve the corridor. The high-speed rail authority’s board will discuss the Metrolink report, as well as reports from the Central Valley and the Bay Area in Sacramento. The California Department of Housing and Community Development announced that it wants input on implementing the Prohousing Designation Program, and has made a framework paper and survey available. The program is intended to incentivize jurisdictions to adopt policies that accelerate housing production. Prohousing jurisdictions will also be awarded additional points and preference in programs like the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities, Transformative Climate Communities, and Infill Infrastructure Grant. The paper and survey seeks feedback on HCD’s approach to prohousing policies. A U.S. District Court judge dismissed Stanford University’s lawsuit against Santa Clara County’s affordable housing requirements. The county’s 2018 inclusionary housing ordinance requires that 16 percent of new market-rate housing units built on Stanford lands in unincorporated areas to be made affordable to low-income residents. The university sued, saying that the law was unconstitutional. However, the judge found that Stanford had not provided any basis to determine unconstitutionality.  The Coastal Commission rejected a staff recommendation to exempt a section of Pacific Beach from San Diego’s new zero-minimum parking policy. This new policy allows developments within “transit priority areas” t build only as many parking spots that they think are necessary – including none at all. The policy also requires developers to provide transportation facilities like bike parking or bus stops, and to unbundle rental costs for parking spots from housing. Staf claimed that this reduction would reduce beach access, and recommended exempting Beach Impact Areas – but the commission sided with the city.

CP&DR Vol. 34 No. 10 October 2019