The City of Los Angeles released its first citywide Resilience Strategy to help prepare for natural disasters and other stresses that the city might face. Mayor Eric Garcetti also signed an executive directive that commits city departments to appoint Chief Resilience Officers who will take the lead in making the city stronger and safer. The city worked with 100 Resilient Cities pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation. The Los Angeles Resilience Strategy features 96 immediate actions that give residents the tools to plan and prepare from earthquakes and flooding to homelessness and climate change. The plan is organized around four main pillars which includes 15 goals: Safe and Thriving Angelenos, Strong and Connected Neighborhoods, Prepared and Responsive City, and Pioneering and Collaborative Partner. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
Bay Area Landfill Areas Vulnerable to Sea Level Rise
UC Berkeley and Arizona State researchers released a new study in Science Advances that indicates the threat of climate change-driven sea level rise will be a threat particularly for landfill developments such as Treasure Island and Foster City. The research was based on data collected via satellite-based synthetic aperture radar (inSAR) and GPS monitoring from 2011 to 2017. According to senior author Roland Bürgmann, the vulnerability of landfill zones, which are sinking due to soil compaction, means buildings and roadways are sinking as sea level is coming up. Earlier studies on the vulnerable San Francisco Bay shoreline did not take land subsidence into account.
S.F. Seeks to Charge TNCs Infrastructure Impact Fees
San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution from Supervisor Aaron Peskin that urges state legislators to enable San Francisco to impose infrastructure impact fees on transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft. Peskin pointed out that cities like New York City, Portland, and Philadelphia have “been getting fees in some instances and taxes in others from transportation network companies to ameliorate the impacts they have.” The resolution will be communicated to San Francisco’s state representatives: Senator Scott Weiner and assembly Members David Chiu and Phil Ting.
Report Examines South L.A. 50 Years after Unrest
According to a new study by the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge at UCLA Luskin school, it’s been 50 years since the Kerner Commission’s report on urban unrest and South L.A. has experienced little economic progress. In the 1960s, South LA workers made 80 cents on the dollar compared to the average LA County worker and today it’s closer to 60 cents. The pay gap is widening in part by a steady decline of male wages. The report also finds inequalities in homeownership, car ownership, educational attainment, and early childhood preparation.
Facebook Pitches New Campus to Menlo Park
Facebook presented to Menlo Park Planning Commission its plans for a new 59-acre campus that would accommodate an additional 9,500 workers. Facebook executive John Tenanes said the social media giant would have roughly as many employees as the city has residents once its fully built out. Tenanes said Facebook plans to employ approximately 35,000 people east of Highway 101 and the city’s population last year was roughly 35,670. The new campus, Willow Village, would be constructed in four phases and some offices would be occupied by 2021. Willow Village would include 1.75 million square feet of offices, minimum 1,500 housing units, 126,500 square feet of retail, 200 hotel rooms, 18 acres of open space, and a cultural and visitor center. A fear with the project is that it will exacerbate the area’s jobs/housing balance especially as the offices would open before the housing units are completed.
Lawmakers Seek to Head Off Displacement in South L.A.
Three Los Angeles council members have introduced new measures to prevent displacement in South Los Angeles. The motion notes neighborhoods in South LA are especially vulnerable to displacement, unemployment, wage stagnation, and urban blight which has been reinforced by practices such as historic redlining, foreclosures, and predatory lending. The motion would direct the Chief Legislative Analyst, Community Investment Department, Economic and Workforce Development Department, and the City Attorney to report back with a feasibility study on the former Redevelopment Agency of San Francisco-style program.
Survey Claims Downtown Los Angeles Is Fastest-Gentrifying Neighborhood Nationwide
A new survey from RentCafe found Downtown Los Angeles (90014) took the number one-spot for fastest gentrifying zip code in the country and 90013 which encompasses parts of Skid Row came in 12th. Between 2000 to 2016, median home values in downtown rose roughly 700 percent. The report used 2000 census and 2016 American Community Survey to examine 11,000 zip codes for median home value, median household income, and population that holds a bachelor’s degree or higher. One downtown resident and broker at the Agency, Maranda Blanton, said it became evident in the new grocery stores that started popping up, “Now we have a Whole Foods, Ralphs, and every dining establishment is looking for a property in Downtown.” The majority of the survey's fastest-gentrifying zip codes are on the East Coast.
Quick Hits & Updates
San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott released a 15-page opinion on the proposed ballot initiatives from SDSU for the former Qualcomm Stadium as major concerns of continuing city control. Earlier this year, Elliott’s office issued a similar analysis of SoccerCity’s initiative. The memo notes if the city sells the site to SDSU, it would lose control over the property because the city’s development regulations and processes would not apply. Although terms of a purchase and sale agreement could be made, but are currently unknown until after the election. The environmental review also would not be conducted until after the election.
Riverside County transportation officials are considering adding additional westbound lanes on 91 Freeway toll lanes in Corona because the lanes opened almost a year ago have far surpassed expectations. Since the 91 toll lanes open in March, they’ve been used by 1.2 million vehicles, about 40 percent more than the agency projected.
Several communities in California are suing oil and gas companies over climate change. U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled the far-reaching scope of issue puts the matter in federal jurisdiction. The judge denied the request by San Francisco and Oakland to move their cases to state court. The seven cities and counties are seeking to recoup billions of dollars from fossil-fuel-energy producers to compensate for past and future damage incurred because of rising sea levels.
Snap Inc, which owns 14 locations and 163,000 square feet of office space in Venice Beach, has announced it will begin leasing more than half of its Venice office space so that it can consolidate hundreds of employees inside a corporate office park near Santa Monica Airport. The company signed a long-term lease for the 300,000 square feet Santa Monica Business Park last year. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
San Bernardino County Transportation Authority is looking at a $425 million project to add express toll lanes on a 12-mile stretch of the 15 freeway from Duncan Canyon Road to Cantu Galleano Ranch Road. The route is heavily used with about 223,000 vehicles a day of which 20,000 are commercial trucks. The authority is now accepting public comments on the draft environmental documents for the project. The comment period will close March 16.
Transportation Agency for Monterey County board is set to begin the search for an environmental review and project development consultant for the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway. This 24-mile, 12 foot-wide biking and walking trail would run in two giant loops from Del Rey Oaks to Marina, through the former military base. The $1 million scope of work, funded by state and local money, will start in late June. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
Pacific Grove City Council passed an ordinance, 4-1, that turns the city's short-term rental policy to include a lottery system which would get the number of STRs down from 290 to 250 and make it so only 15 percent of housing per block is dedicated to such rentals. The lottery will also include the adoption of a 55-foot zone of exclusion to address density problems.
The California State Historical Resources Commission voted unanimously to support the City of Norco’s efforts to get a World War II-era naval hospital and missile research laboratory on the National Register of Historic Places. A previous attempt to get the building recognized was rejected in 2013 after a Navy survey disagreed with the city on the property’s merited inclusion. This time, the city hired a consultant who spent three years documenting the history and compiling thousands of records along with support from historic preservation groups.
The Developer of a $72 million apartment project in LA Harbor Gateway neighborhood is being charged with making illegal campaign contributions to local politicians while seeking a zone change for his property. Prosecutors with LA County District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s office charged Samuel Leung with one felony count of conspiracy to commit campaign money laundering and one felony count of offering to bribe a legislator. If convicted, Leung could face up to four years and eight months in state prison.
The Long Beach Harbor Commission recently approved plans to build a $820 million railyard that supporters say will cut pollution and speed up cargo handling at the nation’s second busiest port. The 171-acre project is forcing 39 businesses out of the area and with little land available due to marijuana growers moving in. The Port officials say they have already identified spaces for the owners and tenants to move to and will offer fair price for their land. Construction on the railyard could begin in 2020 and will take several years.
Rancho Cucamonga City Council approved, 4-1, plans to transform Empire Lakes golf course into a high-density, urban community with new homes, community center, and shops. The Golf Course will be sold May 31 to the Lewis Group of Companies, which plans to build between 2,650 and 3,450 homes and 220,000 square feet of nonresidential uses. The site is a 15 minute walk from the Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink station.
Local transportation advocates hope to place a ballot measure before voters in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange Counties in 2020 that could fund the electrification of Metrolink. This would allow for higher-frequency service such as four trains per hour between Irvine and Union Station and eight trains per hour between Union Station and Burbank.
The opening of Milpitas and Berryessa BART stations will be delayed to January or March 2019 due to delays in testing, breakdowns in communication, and lack of personnel. Ratcliffe did say the project is still within budget.
Almost a year after Metro pronounced the 710 freeway extension dead, South Pasadena hired an outside attorney to help the city redouble its efforts to fight the tunnel extension. On March 1, a letter to Caltrans listed four historic structures would be damaged by drilling. Caltrans is the lead agency on the project and until Caltrans signs the environmental analysis the project is not official decided. In May of last year, Metro unanimously voted not to build the tunnel saying the $3-5 billion price tag was prohibitive.
San Francisco water officials will begin charging property owners a new “storm-water fee” to help with the upkeep of the city’s aging sewer system. However, for the first time 500 vacant lot owners will be included. One resident was notified that starting July 1 he will be assessed $31.46 per month for runoff on his vacant lot. According to the Public Utilities Commission, every inch of rainfall on the 47-square-mile city puts about 430 million gallons into the stormwater runoff system.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously supported, 9-0, the San Francisco Giants’ 28-acre development at Mission Rock which includes stores, cafes, markets, offices, and up to 1,500 housing units on an existing surface parking lot. The housing would be 40 percent affordable to low-and moderate-income people and include eight acres of open space.
Residents in Fresno have asked a judge to overturn the city council’s January approval of a development permit for a proposed industrial park. The South Central Neighbors United filed the lawsuit in Fresno Superior Court and alleges the city did not fully evaluate the potential environmental effects that the project would have on nearby residents. Attorneys for the residents believe the project requires a full EIR to comply with CEQA.
