A long-running conflict between environmental groups and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has ended with an appeals court upholding the controversial TRPA plan, which sets regulations for future development in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Earthjustice appealed the lawsuit to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit after U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez dismissed it in April 2014. Plaintiffs Sierra Club/Friends of the West Shore felt the 2012 Regional Plan did not do enough to protect Lake Tahoe’s environment and TRPA felt the plan was a good combination of conservation and revitalization of communities. The residents in the area largely support the 2012 Regional Plan for its more walkable, bikeable and stormwater protecting vision. However, the challenge of affordable workforce housing is a complex issue with median home prices of $500,000 on the North Shore and $400,000 on the South Shore. This means many workers commute long distance, which causes a rise in pollution and traffic. TRPA believes by focusing on redevelopment of existing town centers will restore the outlying areas back to their natural function. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
Report Suggests Coastal Homeowners Pay Lower Taxes, Due to Prop. 13
An analysis by real estate site Trulia found that homeowners in coastal California cities with higher home values tend to pay lower property tax rates than those in low-priced inland cities thanks to Proposition 13. Under Proposition 13, property tax increases were capped with assessments only being reset to actual market values when homes were resold. This means the longer people own their homes, the more they benefit form the 1970s tax measure. The study finds that owners closer to the beach tend to stay in their homes longer and have home values rise faster than Riverside and San Bernardino counties. To gather this information, Trulia analyzed tax records, census data and home prices. If homeowners were paying 1 percent tax on their homes’ true values, local governments would have received $12.5-billion more in revenue. The study found more than 71 percent of Californians pay less than 1 percent effective tax rate and more than 40 percent pay an effective tax rate of 0.5 percent or less. Additionally half of the top 10 California cities with the lowest effective tax rates are in Silicon Valley where median home prices are above $1 million and four of the cities with the lowest rates are in coastal Southern California.
SANDAG Threatens Eminent Domain over Trolley Station Site
The San Diego Association of Governments has threatened to invoke eminent domain on a piece of land at the site of a planned trolley station in Clairemont. The agency would like to build a parking lot there, while developers who own the property had planned a transit oriented project. The development includes roughly 40 condos, retail space and commuter parking for the new trolley station near the new $2.1- billion Mid-Coast Trolley set to open in 2021. SANDAG and Protea Properties will go to court Dec. 9 over the eminent domain case; SANDAG says it can force Protea to sell the land because it has an overwhelming need for 155 parking spaces. A principal at Protea feels he’s reached an agreement with SANDAG officials. Protea proposes 155 parking spaces, and give SANDAG the land as a construction yard for the trolley station for three years and allow an electrical station to be built on site for the trolley station. For that, SANDAG would pay $7.9 million instead of seizing the property and building those things for an estimated $15-million.
State Auditor Slams Irwindale over Spending, Housing Programs
The California State Auditor investigated the City of Irwindale and concluded it continued to overspend and made questionable decision in the way it administers its housing programs. The city had not developed a long-term financial plan, not adjusted generous and costly programs it offers for its small population and city’s employees were paid salaries and benefits that consume 51 percent of the city’s general fund budget. Additionally the city forgave nearly $9.1 million in loans to low-income residents and planned to forgive another $10.2 million-and gave longtime residents an unfair advantage in these housing programs. Irwindale, known for gravel and sand pit mines, has received millions of dollars in mining tax revenue and thusly failed to develop a long-term financial plan to help weather future financial crises, instead the city has survived off one-time gains and revenue from the sale or redevelopment of pit mines. The California State Auditors’ recommendations are: the city should seek long-term solutions to balance its budget; the city should reduce its employee benefits; revise purchasing policy for contracts; and the Housing Authority should consider alternative options in providing low-income housing.
Plan Forming to Upgrade Oakland Coliseum, Keep Raiders
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has announced a vague financing plan to keep the Raiders from moving to Las Vegas. The $1.3-billion plan includes $600 million in private money from former NFLer Ronnie Lott’s investment group, $200 million in public money, $200 million from the NFL, and $300 million from Davis (owner of the Raiders). The deal is being shuttled between the Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for approval. The city money, with help from the county, would upgrade the infrastructure at the Coliseum site. The city and county would lease 125 acres of Coliseum property to the Oakland City Pro Football Group. Around 90 acres would be reserved for the new 55,000-58,000-seat stadium, plus about 8,500 parking spaces. The last 35 acres would be devoted to a mixed-use retail development. The NFL will be voting as early as January on the Raiders possible move to Las Vegas.
Los Angeles Streetcar Gets City Approval
The Los Angeles City Council approved, 12-0, the EIR for the proposed Downtown Los Angeles Streetcar through the city’s historic core. Measure M sales tax, that voters approved three weeks ago, includes $200 million to complete the streetcar project’s funding plan. The project is 3.8-miles of fixed-rail modern streetcar system targeted to open in 2020. The City Council certified the environmental findings and selected the 7th Street alignment without an extension to Grand Avenue as the final route to be built. Ridership is expected to be approximately 6,000 riders per day with a car coming approximately every 7 minutes during peak hours. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
Quick Hits & Updates
The San Diego City Council voted unanimously to permanently maintain the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee under the city charter after three years operating as a temporary panel. The motion was partly because the city’s Climate Action Plan calls for a sharp increase in commuting by bicycle. The permanent mechanism will advise the city on its evolving bicycle network, policies regarding bicycle safety, and infrastructure to improve bicycling as a form of mobility and recreation.
Redondo Beach slow-growth activist Jim Light is suing the city and developer behind a $400-million renovation of its waterfront. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and alleges violations of CEQA. Light won a previous lawsuit, and $313,000, against the city in 2010 over the right to vote on harbor development.
Remnants of abandoned piers, wharves and warehouses in San Francisco Bay are poisoning the Pacific herring with creosote, a distillation of coal tar used as a wood preservative and pesticide. The Pacific herring is a critical species to the ecosystem and described as a keystone species because it feeds many other animals in the Bay. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is spending millions of dollars to remove pilings.
The Anaheim City Council gave the Anaheim Performing Arts Center Foundation exclusive right to negotiate with the city to develop and possibly purchase the site of the City National Grove and develop into a much larger performing arts center. The council voted 3-2 to approve the project.
BART's new people mover connecting the Coliseum station to the Oakland airport has not made the projected $2-million profit in its first two years. It has instead cost the agency $860,000. Data from the Mercury News finds that ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft have consumed nearly all the new business from the airport’s growing passenger traffic. One obstacle is the $6 one-way fare to ride the connector.
Los Angeles Metro has agreed to pay $297.8-million to the contractor of the 405 Freeway expansion at Sepulveda Pass after year-long disputes over responsibility for schedule delays, design changes, and cost overruns. The 10-mile lane opened more than a year behind schedule. Metro directors will be formally asked to increase the project budget to nearly $1.61-billion.
A group of residents are suing Laguna Beach and the California Coastal Commission on the recent decision to ban short-term rentals in residential areas. The group, known as BEACH Vacation Coalition (Backing Everyone’s Access to Coastal Housing), alleges the two agencies are violating land-use laws. The lawsuit states the city failed to comply with CEQA and its guidelines and violates California planning and zoning law.
