No president in more than 40 years has been better positioned to reshape American urban policy than Barack Obama. But the new president faces three challenges in dealing with urban policy.
A referendum on a redevelopment plan for San Francisco's Bayview and Hunters Point districts will not appear on the ballot. The First District Court of Appeal upheld a Superior Court judge's ruling that referendum proponents violated elections law by not including a copy of the redevelopment plan in referendum petitions.
This month's roundup of land use news: SunCal places two more projects under bankruptcy protection; Desert Hot Springs finally gives up on a controversial resort development; Klamath River dams may crumble; Westlands Water District told to solve irrigation drainage problem; Caltrans launches policy plan website.
When Pasadena first began to transform its moribund downtown into Southern California's premier urban destination, neighboring Glendale took a more cautious approach to urban renewal, which is to say that it did very little.
But that's changing. Earlier this year, the city's Planning Department established it own Urban Design Studio with the intent of enhance existing urban character.
A Bush administration proposal to streamline the Endangered Species Act has met with stiff opposition from California environmentalists and state Attorney General Jerry Brown. A November letter signed by Senior Assistant Attorney General Ken Alex and Deputy Attorney General Tara Mueller to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accuses the agency of "flouting the public review process" as it rushes toward "a decision apparently already reached."
Two recently released studies warn that California is not moving quickly enough to prepare for climate change, while a third study found that the San Diego region is not adapting. Meanwhile, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order directing state agencies to study the situation and recommend actions quickly.
Balloting on local land use measures during the general election provided the usual mixed-bag of results, but also a number of surprises. Overall, slow-growth forces won 22 of 39 classifiable elections.
Despite the poor economy, the electorate demonstrated a willingness to spend money and even raise taxes for transit, roads and schools.
A state appellate court has sided with a city attorney who declined to prepare ballot titles and summaries for proposed ballot initiatives because they were unconstitutional. The court rejected the initiative backer's arguments that the Ojai city attorney acted too late, that judicial review at the "pre-petition" stage was inappropriate, and that a lawsuit filed by the city attorney was a SLAPP.
