The Strategic Growth Council released its Annual Report (pdf) to the legislature for the 2016-2017 Fiscal Year. The SGC has seven programs that award funding with a majority of the funding coming from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program awarded $291 million in October 2016, Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation gave $40 million in awards last August, and this December the Transformative Climate Communities and Transformative Climate Communities Planning Grants will award $140 million and $1.5 million respectively. The Technical Assistance Pilot for CCI’s will award $2 million this fiscal year as will the Sustainable Communities Planning Grants & Incentives Best Practices Pilot award $250,000. The Integrated Regional Conservation and Development Program awarded $290,000 in February of this year.

Report Analyzes Impact of AHSC Grants
A trio of nonprofits released a report assessing the stat’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant program. “Collaborative Investments to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Strengthen Disadvantaged Communities” (pdf) was compiled by the California Housing Partnership Corporation, Enterprise Community Partners, and TransForm, which contribute to the AHSC program in technical assistance, research, advocacy, and financial consulting assistance to applicants. The report examines the climate and community benefits of AHSC developments and urges California to make a long-term commitment to provide continuous and stable levels of funding to the AHSC program beyond 2020.The AHSC program was established in 2014 and invests in affordable homes and transit infrastructure developments in disadvantaged communities to improve economic well-being and physical health for underserved Californians while also reducing GHG emissions. The program selected 58 out of 236 applications to invest $443 million throughout the state. The developments will reduce 1.1 million metric tons of CO2 over the course of their operating lives, which is essentially removing 8,000 cars from the road. More than 80 percent of total AHSC funds will be located within or will directly benefit disadvantaged communities. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)

Feds Propose Repeal to ‘Waters of U.S.’ Rule
The U.S. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers proposed to repeal a controversial Obama administration regulation that extends the federal government’s oversight over smaller waterways, known as the “Waters of the United States” regulation. Under the proposal federal officials would go back to enforcing guidance documents from 2008 when deciding whether a waterway is subject to federal oversight for pollution control purposes. This is the first formal step to fulfilling Trump’s campaign promise to repeal the 2015 “Waters of the United States” regulation, which opponents have argued is costly and time-intensive. The goal is to return power to the states and provide regulatory certainty to farmers and businesses says EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. Supporters of the regulation say the Clean Water Rule is vital for protecting small streams and wetlands that families, communities and businesses depend on. The new proposal will be published in the Federal Register within days and then the public can comment. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)

Harvard Study Looks at Displacement in Los Angeles, San Francisco
Data-Smart City Solutions at Harvard University released a report, “Where is Gentrification Happening in Your City?”, which focuses on six cities nationwide, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. The report looked at multiple cities and the demographic and physical changes that occur in neighborhoods that lead to an influx of wealthier residents, greater investment and more development. The report combined maps and information from six cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Seattle, Portland and Boston. Los Angeles’ analysis came from Mayor Garcetti’s Los Angeles Innovation Team (i-team) and the Urban Displacement Project from UCLA and UC Berkeley. The i-team came out with the Los Angeles Index of Neighborhood Change in 2016 that allows users to explore degree of gentrification for various zip codes between 2000 and 2014. The Urban Displacement Project tracks neighborhood change in Los Angeles using census data, Geolytics’ neighborhood change database, and LA’s open data they mapped trends in gentrification from 1990-2013. In the Bay Area the project initiative studied displacement risk, analysis trends and potential policy solutions. The group found that 48 percent of census tracts and 53 percent of low-income households lived in neighborhoods at risk or already experiencing displacement or gentrification.

Los Angeles Proposes Streamlined Approvals for Large Developments
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to look into updating a 1990 ordinance that requires developers with proposals that include 50 or more units to go through site plan review. The current process can take years, especially if lawsuits related to CEQA review are filed. The proposed update would increase the 50-unit threshold and help streamline the approval process. Principal city planner Ken Bernstein told the Los Angeles Times, “Currently, even if a project conforms to zoning and other city codes, if it calls for 50 or more units, it must go through site plan and CEQA review.” Removing smaller housing projects from CEQA review will hopefully help LA’s affordability and housing crises. However, an overwhelming majority of public comments submitted in regard to the policy are in opposition of the proposed changes.

Lawsuits Filed over Proposed Water Tunnels
The Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, Bay Institute and Golden Gate Salmon Association filed two lawsuits over the $17 billion plan to move water under the Sacramento Bay-Delta via a series of water tunnels. The environmental and fishing groups challenged approvals given earlier this week by the Trump administration that said the project wouldn't cause significant harm to salmon, smelt, and other fish and wildlife. Environmentalists, Delta farmers and some northern California lawmakers are calling the tunnels a water grab by Los Angeles and corporate farmers that would harm water quality in the San Francisco Bay and Delta and drive some fish to extinction.

Water District Sues State over Delays to Flood Control Project in San Jose
The Santa Clara Valley Water District filed a lawsuit against state officials claiming they are threatening the completion of a flood control project near Coyote Creek with too much bureaucratic delay. Coyote Creek flooded this year causing $100 million in damages in San Jose. The $35 million project is designed to provide 100-year flood protection to 2.2 miles of Upper Berryessa Creek between North San Jose and Milpitas. While the Upper Berryessa Creek did not flood this year it is located in a heavily urbanized area and overflows every 10-20 years, the last of which was 1998. The project was approved in 2014 but in April, state regulators told SCVWD that they had to restore 15 acres of wetlands or nearly 3 miles of creek somewhere in the South Bay to offset the harm to the environment from the project. The water district sued the regional water board saying the decision was unfair, illegal, and likely to cost millions.

Quick Hits & Updates
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, sponsor of this year’s failed slow-growth Measure S in Los Angeles, agreed to drop a lawsuit again a planned Hollywood office complex after developer Hudson Pacific Properties promised to scale down the size from 15 stories to 13. The developer has also abandoned plans for a supermarket on the ground floor. Foundation President Michael Weinstein sees the agreement as a legal victory for the organization saying there will be less traffic impact on local streets.

The City of Irvine hired its first transportation director in an effort to relieve traffic congestion in the city. The new director is Mark Linsenmayer, former deputy executive officer of countywide planning for LA County Metro. He will develop and implement transportation initiatives, including a plan to promote more pedestrian and bicycling activities. There is also a new five-member Transportation Commission, which held its first meeting May 16.

The City of Santa Monica has proposed a plan to conserve water by requiring new or remodeled properties to use no more water than what the property required on average over the previous five years. According to city officials, water usage is at its lowest levels since 1990s and the new rules are meant to keep consumption low. The new requirements will be enforced for major remodels and new constructions and, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press, 75 percent of projects affected will be new single-family residences and large-scale renovation projects.

The City of Oakland plans to use some of its $500 million in bond money approved by voters to purchase at least one downtown single-room occupancy hotel to house homeless residents. One organization, EveryOne Home, estimates Oakland has more than 1,900 people living without shelter. The city would use $14 million of Measure KK to purchase the hotel, which could serve a few hundred people a year.

The City of San Juan Capistrano is suing the California Public Utilities Commission over a proposed $350 million electrical transmission line that critics argue is unnecessary and costly. The city asked the court to stop the project, citing reports of excess power on the state’s electric grid. The initial evidence comes from a Los Angeles Times report that detailes how California regulators continue to approve new power plants even though the state is producing more electricity than it needs. Similar cases are pending in Oxnard in Ventura County and Porter Ranch near Aliso Canyon.

The Los Angeles City Council approved unanimously, 14-0, the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art which may begin construction this year at Exposition Park. Ma Yansong of MAD Architects will design the museum, which is expected to open in 2021. The museum is estimated to cost $1 billion, which the Lucas family will pay for.

The California Coastal Commission reached an agreement with Cemex to shut down the Lapis Sand Plant, an 8-acre operation on a remote beach in Monterey County. The agreement allows the plant to extract smaller amounts for the next three years, and at the end all equipment must be removed from the beach. Cemex would also be required to restore the land and protect sensitive species and sell the land for less than market rate to a nonprofit or governmental entity that would open it up to the public.

TPS Parking Century and TPS Parking Management, which run the Parking Spot near LAX, are suing the city in an attempt to overturn approval of $5 billion ground transportation improvements. The parking lot operators argue the EIR does not adequately address the potential effects of the project and how to mitigate them.
Trident Winds is proposing 60 to 100 wind turbines off the coast of San Luis Obispo.

The farm could generate 1,000 megawatts and would be more than 20 miles offshore, out of sight except for the Hearst Castle hilltop. The power would reach the mainland through underwater transmission lines to the PG&E substation in Morro Bay. The project is subject to 33 permits and leases, and could be operational in 2025.