After decades of discussion, the Sacramento Planning and Design Commission approved plans to redevelop the city’s historic downtown railyard. The proposal for the 244-acre site includes a major-league soccer stadium, hospital, and a mix of housing and shops. It would include up to 10,000 residential units and over 3 million square feet of commercial space. Some issues such as noise and schools to serve over 2,000 students who might move to the area must still be resolved but eight of the commissioners endorsed the project. The City Council is expected to vote on the project in November.
Los Angeles Reconsiders Garage Podiums for High Rises
Los Angeles Department of City Planning is pushing for new high-rise development to be more pedestrian friendly by reforming policy surrounding above-grade parking. LADCP staff have acknowledged that the zoning code has lead to the proliferation of above-grade parking by not including garage space in allowable floor area. This loophole results in large garage podiums that create dead areas along streetfronts, especially in the South Park area of downtown. The staff report argues that reducing parking minimums will further limit the need for garages. Other solutions include free standing parking structures that serve multiple buildings, eliminating the requirement for parking for smaller businesses, allowing unbundled or shared parking, and introducing parking maximums.
Bay Area Worries About Changes to AHSC Guidelines
Impending changes to California’s cap-and-trade program formula may mean some Bay Area cities will no longer qualify state grants that have brought $106 million to the region’s disadvantaged, polluted communities, according to an analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle. These grants, funded under the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program, are used to improve public health and the environment by funding affordable housing near public transit, planting trees and encouraging car-sharing programs. Communities in the San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles basin are overshadowing cities such as Richmond, Pittsburg, Antioch, San Jose, Rodeo and Oakland. The agency revised its qualification criteria to add high housing costs to the 200 indicators used to determine which communities are most in need. In the current formula the Bay Area has 4.2 percent of communities in the state that qualify for grants, this number would fall to 2.8 percent.
San Diego to Chop Down New Construction in Pt. Loma
The San Diego City Council voted to close a loophole in Point Loma that allows developers to construct 40-foot structures in 30-foot limit areas. The city will close the loophole next summer in La Jolla, University City, Pacific Beach, Otay Mesa and Nestor. The 30-foot limit was approved by voters in 1972 as Proposition D. The leniency stems from where the height of the building is measured, grade before or after construction. While most of the community now has eliminated the loophole, the areas governed by the state’s Coastal Act will remain vulnerable until the California Coastal Commission approves the new law.
Water Board Seeks to Replenish Tuolumne River
California State Water Resources Control Board wants San Francisco water users to help save the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by leaving 40 percent of the water in the Tuolumne River. The river is currently running at 20 percent of its natural flow. This means reduced water supplies for the city and its suburbs. Two salmon runs and several fish are threatened with extinction in the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced rivers.
Army Corps Revises Flood Estimates for L.A. River
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report found the Los Angeles River, usually just a trickle in a concrete-walled riverbed, could flood more than 3,300 parcels north of downtown Los Angeles in the event of a 100-year storm. Neighborhoods such as Atwater Village and Elysian Valley could be submerged by an average of 5 to 10 feet of water. Other areas such as Griffith Park, Glendale and Burbank could see significant flooding as well. These findings mean property owners with federally backed mortgages will be required to purchase flood insurance and developers may face restrictions on first floor heights for certain properties. However, officials remain convinced the nearly $1.6 billion restoration of the river can move forward without heightening the flood risk.
Quick Hits & Updates
The City of Palo Alto is creating an ordinance to prevent retail space from being converted to office space. The new ordinance would follow an interim one that expires in April and would foster a mix of stores that allow passers-by to peer into.
The California High Speed Rail Authority has announced the system will have shorter trains and smaller station platforms than originally planned, reducing the capacity of individual trains by roughly 50 percent, from 20 cars to 10. High speed rail stations will presumably be downsized accordingly.
In March, actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly announced that he backed Los Angeles’ Neighborhood Integrity Initiative. He recently clarified that he is neutral on the measure and never supported it. The campaign director for the ballot measure took responsibility for the endorsement confusion.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District’s efforts to stop development of the World Logistics Center in Moreno Valley were dropped after negotiations between the two groups. The developer, Highland Fairview agreed to pay millions in mitigation fees to the pollution regulator. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
In May 2016, the American Planning Association launched the Comprehensive Plan Standards for Sustaining Places Recognition Program Pilot. It recently announced eight plans as examples of excellence in comprehensive planning. Los Angeles County General Plan received a bronze level.
Bay Area rents are falling in San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland around 3.4, 3.3 and 0.6 percents respectively. However national trends have increased 2.6 percent from September 2015.
Opponents of a ballot measure to allow a new high rise on the site of the Beverly Hilton have asked Los Angeles County prosecutors and elections officials to investigate allegations of voter registration fraud. The accusation is that more than 300 Beverly Hills voters are registered illegally to post office boxes rather than home addresses.
The Anaheim City Council voted unanimously to put referendums on the November 2018 ballot to revoke development agreements for two luxury hotel projects that have become controversial because of generous tax subsidies attached to them. The referendums were originally supported by hotel workers’ unions until the developer, Wincome Group announced they would not agree to hiring union labor at the hotels.
Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved,13-0, a business plan to boost job creation. The dozens of reforms include a one-stop service to assist businesses, an open door at City Hall for business input, more streamlined regulations, business incentive zones and up to 5,000 new city jobs for workers from low-income neighborhoods.
