The San Diego City Council approved a plan to develop the area surrounding an aging Sports Arena in the Midway District into a district of more dense housing, modern commercial projects, 30 acres of parks, and a bay-to-bay trail. The population of the district would rise from 4,600 to 27,000 because land with large commercial projects would be re-zoned for housing thus increasing the number of units from under 2,000 to more than 11,000. The staff report on the plan contends that 89 percent of area residents will drive to work, with transit use increasing from 6 percent today to 8 percent in 2035. The plan calls for the city to work with state and local agencies to build new connector ramps between I-8 and I-5, and to pursue creation of a special district that could generate tax revenue for infrastructure projects. Officials say while traffic would increase in the area, it would only be about a one percent increase from a 1991 development blueprint for the area. Critics would like the plan to include more subsidized housing for low-income residents and say the plan should do more to help the city achieve its climate action goals.
3,000-Bed UC Davis Housing Plans Face Lawsuit
Numerous groups filed a lawsuit against UC Davis and UC Regents to delay proposed housing expansion plans by saying that CEQA requirements were not met. The environmental concerns are inadequate analysis for agricultural resources, air quality, biological resources, greenhouse gas emissions, noise, traffic, housing and population, and aesthetics of the 3,000-bed project. In a response to the lawsuit, UCD wrote: “We are perplexed and profoundly disappointed by AFSCME’s California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit related to the UC Davis Long Range Development Plan. We have previously made a series of generous offers to AFSCME that would have benefited UC Davis’ represented service workers and enabled UC Davis’ housing projects to move forward. Despite agreement that more student housing is a benefit to all, AFSCME’s suit will likely prevent UC Davis from building affordable student housing in the near term.”
OPR and LAFCO Promote Sustainable Communities
Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and the California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions released "Creating Sustainable Communities and Landscapes: Recommended Practices and Tools for Local Collaboration on Climate-Smart Growth,” which is intended to help support coordination among local entities to advance efficient growth and conservation of natural resources. The document highlights case studies in which LAFCOs, cities, counties and special districts successfully partnered to reduce suburban sprawl and increase the conservation of natural and working lands, while also considering how to improve community resilience. The paper also aims to raise awareness of available tools and resources that can be used to create more environmentally and economically sustainable communities throughout California.
San Diego Considers New ‘Mobility Board’ to Advise on Transportation
San Diego City Council Rules Committee voted unanimously to advance a plan to create a new “city mobility board” that would advise officials on efforts to improve transportation. The proposal would dissolve the two existing board—the Parking Advisory Board and the Bicycle Advisory Board--and create a new board that would approach the topics of mobility more holistically. However, bike advocates are concerned the action would dilute the voice of cyclists and slow down the progress towards a safe bike network. The goal of the board would be “to inform transportation decision-making and ensure that people driving, walking, bicycling, taking transit, or using other transportation modes, will have safe, connected, easy to use choices to move around the city." The committee action directed city staff and the city attorney’s Office to prepare a draft ordinance that would likely be ready for full City Council vote before the end of the year.
L.A. Transit Lines May Get New Names
Los Angeles Metro officials are considering an overhaul of the agency's transit map that would replace the system’s color names with letters or numbers. The agency hopes to begin eight major bus and rail projects over the next decade, including extension of the Gold Line to Montclair by 2026, San Fernando Valley rail line by 2027, and a 20-mile light-rail route between downtown LA and Artesia by 2028. The maps would still show the current hues, but would also show a letter or number to help differentiate between similar colors. Metro board of directors will hear the naming proposal later this week and the agency plans to return to the board end of the year with a cost estimate for changing thousands of signs at 93 rail stations and creating a countywide public awareness campaign.
Bay Area Council Envisions ‘Megaregion'
The Bay Area Council recently convened in the Central Valley city of Merced to discuss potential future connections between Merced, UC Merced, and the Bay Area. UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland said, “Today we are focusing on the economic potential of building greater interconnectedness, which would have major benefits to both regions. It’s not just about creating a bedroom community here. We will be attracting businesses and industries that will help lift Merced, the Valley and the state.” The group discussed the “Megaregion” which includes 21 counties in Northern California being groups into four regions: Bay Area, Sacramento Area, Northern San Joaquin Valley, and Monterey Bay Area.
Quick Hits & Updates
The California Department of Housing and Community Development released the SB 2 Planning Grants Draft Guidelines. The program is part of the Governor's 15 bill housing package aimed at addressing the state's housing shortage and high housing costs. SB 2 establishes a permanent source of funding intended to increase the affordable housing stock in California. The legislation sets-a-side 50 percent of the revenue in the first year to make grants available to local governments. The grants will be available to update a variety of planning documents and processes to streamline housing approvals and accelerate housing production.
Last week, the two candidates for California governor faced off in a “wide-ranging conversation” on San Francisco public radio station KQED. Both Gavin Newsom and John Cox said they support building more housing, Newsom wants to see 3.5 million homes through 2025 while Cox wants developers to build 3 million over the next decade.
Researchers at USC Dornsife Institute released a report, “Rent Matters: What are the Impacts of Rent Stabilization Measures?” The report covers how rent stabilization is one tool used to address the housing crisis with far fewer negative impacts than was previously thought. The research found moderate rent controls do not constrain new housing, do promote tenant stability, may lead to condo conversion (which can be limited with other tools), and may deter displacement from gentrification.
Sen. Scott Wiener said he plans to introduce a new version of his controversial housing bill SB 827 next year in the legislature. The wildly contested transit density bill will be transformed to include input of advocates to the original bill. Particularly Wiener has been taking a hard look at anti-displacement provisions. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
The City of San Jose is reviewing its downtown height limits which are currently between 120 to 200 feet due to flight paths of San Jose International Airport. San Jose officials due to many new towers downtown and major expansion by Google and Adobe Systems in the urban core have launched a major study of raising the heights of some buildings. The city is considering four scenarios which were unveiled at a recent city council meeting.
A report released from the City of San Francisco found between 50 and 65 high-rises in the city used a specific type of steel welds that were later found to fracture during the 1994 Northridge earthquake in LA. These structures should be inspected for previously undetected damage they might have sustained during the Loma Prieta earthquake three decades ago. The document, “Tall Buildings Safety Strategy” recommendations include conducting intensive inspections and creating a special program that would notify and provide guidance for building owner and tenants.
A Voice of San Diego analysis found over the last 15 years, developers in the city have paid about $120 million to satisfy a policy meant to combat a shortage of affordable housing. The city has helped subsidize more than 2,000 affordable-housing units. However, the analysis revealed nearly a quarter of the roughly $85 million in inclusionary funds doled out by city housing officials over the last 15 years have supported programs to aid first-time homebuyers and homeless San Diegans, or covered administrative costs at the San Diego Housing Commission, rather than simply bankroll the housing the policy aims to deliver.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Timothy B. Taylor agreed with the Sierra Club that San Diego County is temporarily forbidden from approving certain types of new development if they rely on potentially flawed parts of the Climate Action Plan. The Board of Supervisors are set to vote this week on whether to allow Newland, the 2,100-unit project. Taylor’s ruling has set the project into limbo. However, the county and Newland think the ruling doesn’t apply even though Newland uses an “offset: scheme similar to the one the county has.
The Southern California Association of Governments prepared a new technical study that encourages transportation authorities in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties to explore a variety of options to improve transit between the two counties and Ontario International Airport. The Los Angeles and San Bernardino Inter-County Transit and Rail Connectivity Studyprimary purpose was to assess connectivity to ONT, which has experienced significant growth since returning to local control end of 2016. Some options assess are expanding BRT between the future Montclair Gold Line Station and San Bernardino, expanding Metrolink, or extending the Gold Line from Montclair.
Hundreds of students enrolled in the Beverly Hills School District took part in a district-organized protest against the construction of the Purple Line subway, whose current alignment would run under Beverly Hills High School. The protest calls on President Trump and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to rescind already approved federal funding for the subway extension. District officials have fought the alignment for years, claiming that tunneling under the school would disrupt the campus and endanger students. The district has already exhausted its legal remedies. (See prior CP&DR commentary.)
