Following President Trump's vow to pull out of the Paris climate accord, dozens of states and hundreds of cities across the country have vowed to fulfill the U.S. commitment without Washington. Fifty California cities — out of 292 nationwide -- have joined the effort known as #ClimateMayors, which is led by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. They include Alameda, Arcata, Berkeley, Chula Vista, Culver City, Cupertino, Davis, El Cerrito, Encinitas, Fremont, Hayward, Healdsburg, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Malibu, Menlo Park, Milbrae, Morro Bay, Mountain View, Napa, Oakland, Palo Alto, Petaluma, Rancho Cordova, Redwood City, Richmond, Sacramento, St. Helena, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Leandro, San Luis Obispo, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Monica, Santa Rosa, Stockton, Sunnyvale, Torrance, Watsonville, West Hollywood, West Sacramento, Windsor, and Woodland. The states and cities would need to meet 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. According to some estimates, federal withdrawal from the Paris Accords may have limited impact because 70 to 80 percent of the work on reducing emissions happens at the state and local level, regardless of federal policy. Bloomberg, has pledged to personally cover the $15 million the U.S. is reneging on for operations fund of the U.N. agency overseeing the Paris accord. These cities have agreed to intensify efforts to meet the current climate goals for the city, but also push to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, and work together to create a clean energy economy. In California, the most significant climate change policies related to land use relate to Senate Bill 375, which encourages compact, transit oriented development.
Feds Join Lawsuit Alleging Los Angeles over Disabled Housing
The U.S. is joining a whistle-blower lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles that alleges the city illegally brought in $933 million in federal funding over six years by falsely claiming it provided sufficient housing for people with disabilities. The law requires 5 percent of units in certain federally funded apartment projects to be accessible to people with mobility impairments and an additional 2 percent for those with vision and hearing impairments. The lawsuit was originally filed six years ago by nonprofit Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley and wheelchair user Mei Ling from North Hollywood. The case has been settled and the city promised to spend at least $200 million over a decade to address complaints that publicly funded housing did not include enough apartments accessible for those in wheelchairs or other disabilities. LA also agreed to pay $4.5 million to the nonprofits that sued the city, plus other fees. The federal government is coming into the case a year after the settlement was reached. LA City Attorney Mike Feuer promised to fight the lawsuit, calling it an “abuse of power that would deprive the city of crucial funds needed to address our housing crisis”.
California Cities Receive EPA Grants for Brownfields
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded $56.8 million in grants nationwide to 172 recipients to assess and clean up brownfield sites, help local governments redevelop vacant and unused properties, transforming communities and local economics. Of all the funds being distributed by the EPA, $17.5 million will benefit small and rural communities with populations of less than 10,000. Northern California received $1.9 million in grants to five cities. City of Arcata received $300,000 grant for a former lumber mill and industrial sites throughout the city. Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District received $200,000 to remove contaminated debris piles associated with a former pup mill site in Samoa, CA. City of Grass Valley was awarded $598,312 for mine-scarred lands and former mill sites surrounding multiple cities in the Sierra Foothills. Plumas County Community Development Commission will receive a $200,000 grant to complete an assessment and develop a cleanup plan for a 28-acre former lumber mill site. The last city in Northern California to receive a grant will be the City of Yreka with $600,000 to support assessments and redevelopment planning for Yreka, Weed and Siskiyou County. In Central California, the City of Bakersfield will receive $300,000 to assess contaminated properties for cleanup and redevelopment in the city’s Economic Opportunity Areas. These areas include downtown Bakersfield, Bakersfield Airport, Highway 58/Mount Vernon, and four other corridors or sections of the city.
Report Investigates Inequality Across California
Fair Shake Commission on Income Inequality in California, a think tank founded by billionaire and environmental activist Tom Steyer, released a report outlining the root causes behind the state’s widening wage gap and solutions for closing it. The goal is that all Californians have a “fair shake” at opportunity because it is not only just, but essential to growth, prosperity, social stability and democracy. The report includes input from Democratic political operatives, academics, and labor leaders. The report maintains the state has the highest GDP in the nation and more “millionaires, billionaires and families living in poverty than any state in the nation.” The report also covers wage stagnation, loss of manufacturing and middle-class jobs, and low-wage work with high housing, education, transportation and childcare costs. According to the report, a growing number of people are part of the “gig economy” meaning contractual, part-time work without access to disability and unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation. Solutions included in the report are “establishing greater protections and workplace benefits for contract workers, strengthening enforcement measures against wage theft, and supporting greater access to education and vocational training, as well as increasing affordable housing and more opportunities to immigrants. However, as one Republican political consultant remarked: “the report didn't offer anything groundbreaking or particularly helpful. He’s someone trying to position himself for higher office.”
Judge Rules in Favor of Spending GHG Funds on High Speed Rail
A Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled that California regulators did not abuse their discretion when they decided to pay for the state’s HSR project with money from a GHG emissions program. The Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund, which opposes the bullet train, argued that the $64 billion project would create more pollution than it would eliminate for at least a decade. The group alleges the CARB underplayed the train’s harmful environmental effects and exaggerated its environmental benefits. The TRANSDEP group hasn't decided whether to appeal the decision.
QUICK HITS & UPDATES
Santa Rosa voters rejected, with 52.5 percent of voters opposed, the rent control law passed by the City Council last summer. These results show the residents want the city to take more steps to solving affordable housing and homelessness instead of placing restrictions on existing rental housing. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
Los Angeles Metro’s Board of Directions passed a motion, unanimously, to eliminate a long-discussed tunnel through South Pasadena and Pasadena as a solution for closing the 6.2 mile gap between the end of the 710 Freeway in Alhambra and the 2 Freeway North in Pasadena. The motion recommends re-allocating the nearly $150 million for new mobility improvement projects in the area surrounding the tunnel project.
California’s regional water districts are working with Gov. Jerry Brown to take on more responsibility for designing, building, and arranging financing for the $15.7 billion WaterFix tunnels. The joint-powers authority, JPA, would speed up the project and critics who oppose the tunnels say it could allow cutting of corners on issues of public safety and the environment.
The Palm Springs Neighbors for Neighborhoods has filed an initiative to put short-term rentals on the ballot. The group wants voters to decide whether STR's should be allowed in single-family residential neighborhoods in the city. The city just passed a new vacation rentals ordinance which limits how many times a year a home can be rented but the psn4n group is looking for an outright ban.
According to a new appraisal, Qualcomm Stadium land is worth $110 million. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer must now decide if investors pay “fair market value” for the land, and if he goes ahead with this figure will the SoccerCity team still want the deal? San Diego City Council voted not to spend $5 million for a November election for the SoccerCity redevelopment and raising hotel taxes to expand the Convention Center and fund homelessness and infrastructure. However, this appraisal may change the Council’s Democratic majority’s minds.
Caltrans last week agreed to accelerate its allocations of funds for approved Active Transportation Program (ATP) projects. This is possible because SB 1 included an annual increase of $100 million for the ATP, which is 80 percent more than the current funding levels. The ATP has been oversubscribed and underfunded, with only about a third of the projects applying being approved for funding.
A week after Los Angeles officials announced a 57 percent rise in homeless veterans, the group Vets Advocacy announced that the Veterans Affairs is stalling on development of its sprawling West Los Angeles campus. The advocacy group is saying the VA has dragged out termination of commercial leases on the property and blocked the group’s oversight of negotiations with renters.
Real Estate Research Council released a report saying homebuilding was down in the first three months across Southern California, but nowhere more than San Diego County. In the seven-county region, residential building permits were down 10 percent compared to same time last year but San Diego County was down 37 percent. The biggest drop in San Diego County, 50 percent, was in multi-family construction.
Developers of San Luis Ranch in San Luis Obispo are proposing to build 580 homes to reduce commutes and provide affordable housing. The twist is: first dibs go to those already living or working in the city. The homes would range from 250 square feet efficiency apartments to a 2,200 square feet home with prices ranging from $350,000 to $600,000. The plan includes 40 acres for housing, 60 acres for organic farming and open space, 200,000 square feet commercial, 150,000 square feet of office and a 200-room hotel. This proposal heads to the City Council July 5.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera issued a subpoena demanding access to four years worth of data from Uber and Lyft. In the statement released the data was explained to “include miles and hours logged by drivers, incentives that encourage drivers to ‘commute’ from as far away as Fresno or Los Angeles, driver guidance and training, accessible vehicle information, and the services provided to residents of every San Francisco neighborhood.” This information is already available to the California Public Utitlities Commission, their state regulator, but now the two companies have 15 days to comply with San Francisco or face penalties.
