San Jose became the first city in California to receive Platinum LEED certification in a pilot program for green cities offered by the US Green Building Council. The city was recognized for it’s Zero Waste Strategic Plan, new transit metric Vehicle Miles Traveled, and Climate Smart San Jose – a plan to reduce air pollution and save water among other goals. In all three projects, community input was shared in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese to encourage collaboration. The certification will give San Jose access to Arc software, which tracks data about sustainability and environmental health in a central platform. The city will also receive a grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation along with five other cities in the US.
PPIC Poll Finds Support for State’s Climate Change Efforts
According to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, the majority of Californians (54 percent) say that it is very important that the state is a world leader in climate change. Approximately 65 percent of those polled said they are in favor of the state acting independently of the federal government to combat global warming. Two-thirds of Californians (67 percent) say the effects of global warming have already begun. Asian Americans are most likely to say the effects have already begun (78 percent) while white (12 percent) are most likely to say the effects will never happen. Most polled, 80 percent, view global warming as a very serious or somewhat serious threat to the state’s future economy and quality of life. The polls found most Californians support state efforts to address global warming, specifically supporting SB 32. Many Californians, 62 percent, say the issue of global warming is important to them personally.
SPUR Looks into Future of Bay Area
San Francisco Planning and Urban Research released its Regional Strategy, “Four Future Scenarios for the San Francisco Bay Area” which aims to develop a vision for the Bay Area in the year 2070, along with strategies needed to make it a reality. The report focuses on adding new housing and creating a functional transportation system in parallel with the economy’s expansion. The report looks at four uncertainties: the economy, housing, transportation, and the physical form that growth takes. The four resulting scenarios show potential long-term outcomes of today’s choices. It includes external forces such as climate change, earthquakes, and the federal government. The four scenarios are the "Rust Belt West," with economic decline and social inclusion; "Bunker Bay Area," with economic decline but social exclusion; "Gated Utopia," with social exclusion and economic prosperity; and "A New Social Compact," with high social inclusion and economic prosperity.
Residents Sue to Stop Transit Oriented Development in Millbrae
A group of residents in Millbrae are suing the city for improperly preventing them from filing a referendum seeking to stifle development of a new mixed-use development at the city’s train station. Better Millbrae alleges in the documents filed in county Superior Court that their petition to impede progress of the Gateway at Millbrae Station was unjustly denied by City Hall. City officials maintain the more than 1,400 signatures collected were filed outside the 30-day window, which opened following councilmembers approving the project. The disagreement revolves around the uncertainty determining which day the officials signed the documents and started the clock ticking on the referendum process. Millbrae City Council voted April 10 to approve 150,000 square feet of offices, nearly 30,000 square feet of retail space, 400 new housing units and a hotel abutting the city’s train station.
UC Berkeley Paper Analyzes Impacts of Prop. 10
UC Berkeley economist Kenneth T. Rosen released a study, “The Case for Preserving Costa-Hawkins: Three Ways Rent Control Reduces the Supply of Rental Housing” which warns that repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act would worsen the state’s housing shortage. The paper focuses on impacts of Prop 10, which would give cities and counties the opportunity to adopt extreme forms of rental control, including rent caps on new apartments and single-family homes. The three primary ways that rent control decrease overall supply of apartments includes: incentivizing property owners to convert rental units to other uses such as for-sale housing units or non-residential buildings; reduces the effective supply of available rental units through an inefficient allocation of housing; and limits the creation of new rental supply by discouraging development activity. Rosen said, “California cities need more rental housing at every price level, but rent control is a major road block to solving the statewide housing shortage”.
Los Angeles County Adopts Interim Rent Control Ordinance
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved, 4-1, a policy designed help tenants living in unincorporated county communities by capping rent increases at 3 percent per year. The policy also requires that landlords cite legitimate reasons for evictions. The interim ordinance is meant to protect older people on fixed incomes from becoming homeless or unable to meet their basic needs. According to nonprofit California Housing Partnership Corp., Los Angeles County’s inflation-adjusted median rent increased 32 percent between 2000 and 2015 while median renter income decreased three percent. The proposed law would come to the board for approval in two months. County officials estimate the ordinance would apply to approximately 57,000 households. The ordinance will be in place for six months while the county devises a long-term ordinance. The county is the first county in California to institute rent control.
Long Beach Proceeds with Upgrades for 2028 Olympics
City of Long Beach City Manager Pat West released the first six-month update of the progress of Mayor Robert Garcia’s “8 by 28” plan for the 2028 Olympics. The city is a large part of LA’s plans to host the summer Olympics. Long Beach is set to host water polo, handball, triathlon, marathon swimming, BMX racing, and sailing. The eight projects are Belmont Veterans Pier rebuild, Belmont Pool, lifeguard towers, beach concession stands, Long Beach Arena improvements, a Pine and Ocean hotel airport improvements, and Metro Blue Line improvements. A schedule for the $1.2 billion Blue Line improvements has already been announced with the south half of the line closed for four months early in 2019 and the north half closed the next four months. Update reports are expected every six months until projects are completed.
Quick Hits & Updates
The California Coastal Commission has released a public draft of its Environmental Justice Policy for public review. The report is based on initial feedback from stakeholder meetings held throughout the state. available for review. The Commission will take public testimony on the draft policy until November 7, with a goal of revising and adopting the final policy by the end of the year.
The Urban Land Institute will award its Open Space Award to one of five parks at the ULI Fall Meeting in Boston in October. The award recognizes “open and transformative spaces that promote healthy, sustainable and equitable outcomes in their communities.” Ricardo Lara Linear Park in Lynwood is the only park in California and is located in a densely populated neighborhood that for years lacked open space. The city used a $5 million grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation to fund the project.
Placer County Superior Court Judge Michael W. Jones ruled in favor of Squaw Valley Real Estate and Placer County in the second of two lawsuits filed by Sierra Watch against the county’s approval of the Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan. The plan includes new lodging, indoor recreation area, commercial space, leveled parking and employee housing on 93.3 acres of developed land and parking lot. The plan was approved by Placer County Board of Supervisors in 2016 but has since faced lawsuits from environmental groups. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
The City of Costa Mesa Planning Commission voted 3-0 to recommend eliminating a controversial two-year-old program that opened the door for potential high-density residential development at designated locations along Harbor and Newport boulevards. The commission decided to send the issue to City Council, which will make a decision on whether to eliminate the “residential incentive overlay” at a future meeting. The overlay permits building up to 40 housing units per acre at certain sites.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that the City of Los Angeles complied with state environmental law and did not abuse its discretion by changing local zoning laws to allow a Target store on Sunset Boulevard. The store was half completed with the project was stalled by litigation brought by neighborhood groups opposed to the height. The neighborhood group is planning to appeal the decision. The City Council first approved the store in 2010, but Target withdrew its application and agreed to more extensive review after some critics challenged the project. The project was approved again in 2012 but was sued by two groups.
The State Lands Commission voted 3-0 to set up a program to accept donations from the public, government agencies, non-profit groups, and others that could be used to purchase a route through billionaire Vinod Khosla’s land on Martins Beach in San Mateo County. The state agency may use its power of eminent domain to require Khosla to sell the easement, or public right-of-way, over a path from Highway 1 to the beach. A 2016 appraisal by the agency valued the 6.4 acres of Martins Beach Road at $360,000 but Khosla has said he would only sell for $30 million, nearly as much as he paid for the entire 89 acre property. The U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to take up the high-profile case that has come to define whether wealth residents in California can limit the public from the shoreline.
The California Coastal Commission approved a modified version of the original Downtown Specific Plan for the city of Manhattan Beach. The agency had 27 amendments, which ranged from allowing short-term rentals in residential, commercial, and mixed-use zones to removing plants from a suggested plant palette. The City Council then had one meeting to discuss the alterations before the Coastal Commission hearing and submit a response. City Council now has the option to either approve the Coastal Commission’s amendments or reject them. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
The California Apartment Association reports that the state is at least 1 million housing units short of what is needed to meet current demand. The group said they are concerned about rent control as it will only shrink the supply of available housing.
New analysis from Zillow foundthat residents in LA and Orange counties would have to put aside nearly 47 percent of their income (earning close to the area’s median income) to afford rental payments for a median-priced home or apartment. This was the highest amount among all 35 metro areas studied. Between 1985 and 2000, a typical rental would have required about 36 of a middle-earning resident’s salary. Lower-income residents (Zillow defines as those in the bottom third of LA earners) would need to spend about 121 percent of their income to afford a typical rental.
Housing advocates are demanding Caltrain withdraw from exclusive negotiations with developer Sares Regis to build housing on Caltrain-owned land at the Hayward Park Station. Caltrain has been negotiating with the developer for years about a TOD project, which would include removing underused parking and build 189 units. Housing advocates argue that the amount is not enough and Caltrain is violating the Surplus Land Act by only negotiating with one developer.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced the city is pledging to spend $100 million on affordable housing orders from a proposed modular building factory in the coming years. The first phase of an economic feasibility study is currently underway for a proposed factory to be built on industrial land overseen by the Port of San Francisco. The second phase would involve developing a business plan for the factory, which could start operation within a few years.
Housing and Community Development announced a request for proposal for a Technical Assistance Consultant to “aid local governments with streamlining their planning and permitting activities, facilitating housing supply.” SB 2 signed by Governor Brown in 2017 directs the HCD to use 50 percent of first year revenue to establish a program that provides local governments planning grants to help accelerate housing production. The deadline to apply is October 5.
Sacramento City Council conducted a public workshop on rent control and eviction policies. After, they proposed an ordinance that would offer new protections to tenants without restricting rent levels. Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he supports temporary rent control in the city. Steinberg said he would support a five percent rent increase cap for three years that would apply to units that are at least 20 years old. The mayor also said he does not want the council to take action on rent control until after the November election. If the repeal of the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act passes it would make it possible for cities to expand rent control policies.
According to Rentcafe, Los Angeles’ 90024 (Westwood neighborhood around UCLA) was the third most expensive zip code in the nation. San Francisco’s 94105 was sixth with average rent of $4,666. Manhattan had the eight other slots in the top ten list. Silicon Valley claimed seven spots among the top 50 most expensive areas for renting including Redwood City, Menlo Park, Mountain View, San Mateo, Cupertino and Sunnyvale with apartments between $4,025 and #3,609.
