Recently appointed Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has ordered a stop payment on the $647 million grant for electrification of the Caltrain right of way in the Bay Area until a full audit is done on high-speed rail. The move essentially kills the electrification process for the foreseeable future as contracts were set to be issued March 1. The current Caltrain system runs on diesel and is costly to operate and slow. Officials had seen electrification as a way to increase ridership and save money on operating costs. Caltrain has already spent $150 million on the project but needs the federal funding to move forward. Electrification of Caltrain is also a crucial component of the state’s planned high speed rail system, which will share the Caltrain right of way from San Jose to San Francisco. Withholding of these funds is seen as a significant blow to that project.
Developer Proposes Thousands of Units, Soccer Stadium for Qualcomm Site
A La Jolla-based investment group, FS Investors, presented the most detailed proposal yet for the redevelopment of the Qualcomm Stadium site to the city. The proposal includes a new river park, commercial development, and a Major League Soccer stadium. Additionally there would be 480 units of on-site affordable housing, 800 units of on-site student housing, and 3,520 units of market rate residential. The group has also planned for $50 million worth of mitigation to balance the traffic impact. The $1 billion redevelopment, dubbed “SoccerCity” would either include an MLS stadium with seats for 22,000 or a combined San Diego State Univ. football and soccer stadium with up to 40,000 seats. FS Investors would set aside 15 acres for an NFL stadium to be built in the next five years if another city’s team wants to relocate and replace the Chargers. The plan will be presented to the City Council soon. Developers will ask to fast-track the process, rather than refer the initiative to voters, in time to meet MLS deadlines for granting new franchises this year. Meanwhile, San Diego developer Doug Manchester has contacted the NFL expressing a desire to build a privately financed 70,000-seat NFL stadium at the Qualcomm Stadium site.
Tahoe Regional Transportation Plan Seeks to Reduce Car Use
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency released the draft 2017 Regional Transportation Plan/ Sustainable Communities Strategy, calling it “Linking Tahoe” (pdf). The plan addresses congestion and environmentally friendly alternatives to the current car-centric approach. TRPA wants to prioritize spending on bicycling, walking and transit in the coming decades to allow more seamless around-the-lake bus service. New initiatives considered under the plan include a $44 million water taxi between north and south shores, $74 million to realign Highway 50 through South Lake Tahoe and Stateline, and $44 million to improve car, bicycle, and pedestrian travel through Fanny Bridge area of Tahoe City. The goal is to have free transit throughout the lake Tahoe Basin, with service every 30 minutes, by 2021. Area officials estimate Tahoe will have access to $2 billion in federal, state and local transportation funds over the next quarter century.
Former Palm Springs Mayor Ensnared in Development Scandal
Former Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet has been accused of accepting bribes of $375,000 from two developers whose projects he promoted. The three men were charged with a combined 30 felony counts of corruption, including bribes, conflict of interest, perjury, and conspiracy to commit bribery. Ex Mayor Steve Pougnet served for eight years and stepped down in 2015. Pougnet could face up to 19 years in state prison, while the two developers each face up to12 years. The money was sent from the developers through Union Abbey or Mitchell-Brix Design group, the first company having very little corporate footprint. Many of the major developments in downtown Palm Springs must now be untangled and evaluated. These projects are worth between $500 million and $1 billion and include the revitalization of downtown and the new Dakota Community. The projects that have been approved by the city and will move forward are Kimpton Hotel, Virgin Hotel, Block A, B, and C, and downtown park.
Proposal for Linkage Fee Advances in Los Angeles
The City of Los Angeles Planning Commission voted unanimously to support a plan to make real estate developers pay a linkage fee to generate funds for affordable housing. The fee is estimated to generate $75-$92 million per year that would fund construction of new units, and rehabilitation and maintenance existing housing. In 2014, the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing found Los Angeles County was short 490,340 affordable housing units. Other cities in California including San Francisco, Oakland, and San Diego impose linkage fees to spur new development of lower-income housing. LA’s fees would apply to both residential and commercial developments, although exception such as small mixed-use projects and single-family homes exist. Developers in city of LA would have to pay $5 per square foot of commercials pace and $12 for residential.
Draft Guidelines Issued for Agricultural Lands Program
The Strategic Growth Council (SGC) and the Department of Conservation (DOC) released draft program guidelines for the third round of funding for the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALCP). Part of the SALCP funds easement on agricultural lands at risk of sprawl and rural ranch development, as well as funding for local governments adopting land use policies that protect at risk agricultural lands. The funding levels for SALCP are not yet decided, as a portion is dependent on auction fares from the cap-and-trade auction. Public comments on guidelines are due March 17 and DOC will host a workshop on March 2. The SGC will meet on April 11th in Sacramento to discuss SALCP program guidelines and funding levels for 2017.
LAO Evaluates Brown’s Transportation Funding Package
The Legislative Analysts Office released a report Transportation Funding Package, which addresses several transportation system challenges the state faces. They include aging highways, aging local roads and transit systems, increased traffic congestion, increased demand for transportation alternatives, and increased goods movement, and realizes that there will be a lack of funding. The governor’s proposed Transportation Funding Package for 2017-18 is estimated to generate an annual average increase in transportation funding of $4.2 billion over the next ten years. The funds would come from a mix of sources including a new $65 vehicle registration tax, increases to gasoline and diesel excise taxes, cap-and-trade auction revenues, and the early repayment of certain transportation loans.
S.F. Makes Peace with ‘Google Buses’
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency directors voted unanimously to adopt a permanent plan to accommodate corporate shuttles in the city. These tech-industry private buses, most notoriously those run by Google, are praised for taking cars off the streets, but are also represent gentrification in the changing city. The approved plan allows shuttles to use a maximum of 125 bus stops, some shared with Muni, in exchange for a $7.31 fee charged every time they stop to pick up or drop off passengers. The new policy also restricts larger buses to wider streets and requires operators to phase in newer, less-polluting vehicles, provide tracking data to MTA, and avoid labor disputes. MTA Director Joel Ramos noted that the program gives the city control in exchange for use of Muni stops and city curb space.
Tribe Granted Sovereignty, Moves Ahead with Casino in Elk Grove
The Wilton Rancheria Native American tribe has been granted sovereignty by the federal government, clearing the way for the tribe to build a casino on recently purchased land in Elk Grove. The U.S. Department of the Interior considers the property sovereign tribal ground for the Wilton Rancheria tribe. The 36-acre parcel was part of the 100-acre plot that was planned to be an outlet mall but wanted a larger casino to drive traffic to the area. The tribe may now build its casino along Highway 99 without city approval. Boyd Gaming, which runs 24 casinos in seven states, financed the $36 million land purchase and will pay for the development. The tribe will repay its partner with profits from the casino’s operations as well as $132 million over 20 years to the city for infrastructure, police, schools and nonprofits. The grand opening of the casino is scheduled in three to five years.
Quick Hits & Updates
Democratic Assemblyman Miguel Santiago has drafted AB 943, which would increase the threshold from a simple majority to a two-thirds supermajority for passage of any local ballot measure that would block or delay development. Santiago says the legislation would help address the housing supply issue in the state. More than two-thirds of coastal communities in the state have adopted growth-limiting measures such as caps on population or height limits on buildings.
The Orange County Transportation Authority has begun a study to analyze 12 transit options along the Central Harbor Boulevard Transit Corridor. The study will look at bringing a streetcar or more effective rapid bus system to a section of Harbor Boulevard that runs through Garden Grove, Anaheim, and Fullerton.
The San Francisco Planning Commission voted to lower a proposed five-story, 28-unit condo development by 5 feet to prevent a bar’s backyard from losing sunlight. The commission also directed the developer to make the building’s rooftop parapet transparent, to further reduce the shadow it casts on Zeitgeist bar. This vote was significant because CEQA only requires cities to analyze shadows cast on public spaces.
Oakland DOT’s Progress Report: Telegraph Avenue Complete Streets shows huge benefits from the project, which was implemented last year. The report cites zero pedestrian crosswalk collisions and 40 percent reduction in collisions along the corridor. The redesign included parking-protected bike lanes. There has been a 78 percent increase in people biking and 100 percent increasing in walking along the corridor.
Advocacy group Fix The City is suing the City of Los Angeles over approval of a Frank Gehry-designed development on Sunset Bl. The group claims to have found decades-old covenant on the property that limited development on the site to no more than 45 feet. City Council had allowed a portion of the residential and retail project to reach 178 feet.
Costa Mesa Councilwoman Sandra Genis plans to ask the City Council to remove a newly reappointed planning commissioner Chair Stephan Andranian. In January, the City Council voted to dismiss all commissions and appointed new members in early February with a 5-0 vote. Genis now claims she market her nomination forms incorrectly, and Andranian should not have made it onto the commission and instead Teresa Callo Drain would be appointed.
Angels owner Arte Moreno told reporters that he’s committed to remaining at Anaheim Stadium through 2029 and he would continue investing in improvements. This year, the club spent $1.5 million on installing new lights. Other improvements would be paint, concession stands, bathrooms, and new players.
Inrix, a transportation analytics firm, ranked Los Angeles as the most congested city in the world with a driver spending 104 hours per year during pea travel periods last year. Moscow was second at 91 hours, New York City next with 89 and San Francisco was fourth. The authors of the study find the stable U.S. economy, urbanization of big cities, employment growth and low gas prices have led to increased traffic and congestion worldwide.
The 2017 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence has announced five finalists for the $50,000 award. La Kretz Innovation Campus + Arts District Park in Los Angeles is one of the finalists for a demonstration facility promoting clean technologies and the city’s green economy. The RBA prize seeks to recognize “transformative places that positively impact the economic, environmental, and social make-up of American cities.”
A report released by the City of Santa Monica shows the city has struggled to meet its affordable housing quota for the third year in a row. Of the 175 brand new apartments for rent in 2016, only 34 were below market-rate or 19 percent. Proposition R requires 30 percent of all new multi-family housing go to middle or low-income households.
