The San Francisco County Transportation Authority released a report, “TNCs & Congestion” which found that the single biggest factor in increased congestion on city streets is the arrival of tens of thousands of ride-service vehicles such as Uber and Lyft. In comparing data from 2010 and late 2016, SFCTA found that the ride-service firms are responsible for about half of the increased congestion on city streets during that time period. The report also includes an interactive map that shows the congestion impact of ride services, population, and employment growth and the resulting changes in the city’s street network. Uber says the study failed to account for a dramatic increase in tourism in recent years or traffic bottlenecks caused by more frequent freight and e-commerce deliveries into the city. Lyft point to studies that suggest TNCs may actually reduce congestion. The report acknowledges a host of unknowns such as a lack of data on how delivery services, freight traffic, and construction activity on city streets might be affecting congestion. Both Lyft and Uber are working with the city to impose a new tax on ride-service trips, the proceeds would go to funding transportation improvements.

San Diego Transit Reconsiders Development of Parking Lots
The board of San Diego’s Metropolitan Transportation System (MTS) voted unanimously to update its policies on developing parking lots it owns. MTS accepted the recommendations made by Circulate San Diego in a recently published paper that urged the agency to allow its underutilized surface parking lots to be developed for affordable housing. The report, “Real Opportunity”, estimated that MTS has about 57 acres of property that could be made available for development. This could result in enough space for 8,000 new homes, of which 3,000 should be made permanently affordable for low-income families. The recommendations in the report include creating  joint development program that actively solicits development partners, requiring a certain percentage of any residential development to be made permanently affordable for low-income families, and eliminating the requirement for new developments to replace or maintain any underutilized parking.

‘Split Roll’ Property Tax Ballot Measure Advances
Supporters of a bid to increase taxes on commercial land — through a “split roll” -- announced they’ve collected more than 860,000 signatures to force a vote on the issue in 2020. The initiative would make a change to the existing tax system established by Prop. 13, which caps how much property tax bills could increase every year. The proposed measure would boost property tax revenues from commercial and industrial properties by assessing them at their current market value. Residential property tax would remain unchanged. The change could net $6 to $10 billion annually in new property tax revenue statewide according to an estimate from the Legislative Analyst’s Office. However, the report from LAO also warned the measure could have significant downsides for the state’s economy by causing businesses to leave or decide not to relocated to the state.

Report Analyzes Potential Impacts of Prop. 10
According to the California Budget & Policy Center, Proposition 10, which would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Act and give cities broad latitude to enact rent control measures, would address the more than half of Californian renters and over a third of homeowners with mortgages with high housing costs and workers’ earnings that have not kept up with rising rents. According to the research group, Prop. 10 would allow cities to choose to limit rent increases within a broader range of rental homes, including single-family homes and apartments built since 1995. However, potential disadvantages of rent control include incentivizing landlords to neglect maintenance of their rental properties, discourage developers from building as much new rental housing as they otherwise would have, and reduce expected profits from renting out single-family homes or newer apartments.  

Del Mar Rejects Coastal Commission’s Approach to Sea Level Rise
The Del Mar city council voted, 3-1, to submit a sea level rise plan to the Coastal Commission that omits the state-mandated managed-retreat approach. Instead of retreat, the city will rely on existing seawalls and future sand replenishment programs to protect the hundreds of vulnerable homes near the beach and the mouth of the San Dieguito River. City officials say the required study of managed retreat was completed but found to not be workable for the city. This puts the city at odds with the Coastal Commission and means without an approved sea-level-rise plan the City could become ineligible for millions of dollars in federal grants. 

Quick Hits & Updates 

According to a survey from USC Dornsife/LA Times poll, Prop. 10, the initiative that would expand rent control in California, faces uncertainty. The survey found that 41 percent of likely voters favor Prop. 10 with 38 percent opposed and 21 percent undecided. Prop 10 has its strongest support among Democrats and younger voters. 

The Vallco Mall redevelopment has begun demolition, but not without continuing the controversy surrounding it. Neighbors accused developer Sand Hill of starting demolition without proper clearance. Sand Hill responded saying they complied with the city’s demolition permit process and agreed to implement mitigation measures. The city says the permit it issued was only for the two parking structures near the old Sears, and such work does not require noticing. The Better Cupertino group is collecting signatures to qualify a measure on next year’s ballot that would place the approved plan for Vallco in jeopardy. Sand Hill has threatened to proceed with its own plan or toss out some of the benefits associated with the community plan if it encounters delays. (See prior CP&DR coverage.) 

A San Francisco judge turned town a request by startup Lime to block the city’s e-scooter pilot program, which is schedule to start Monday with 1,250 scooters from two rival companies: Scoot and Skip. Lime was one of the dozen companies that vied for up to five permits to operate electric scooters through the SFMTA permit process. Lime (and other companies) were dinged in the selection process for past bad behavior. Lime, Spin and Uber’s Jump all filed an appeal. Lime has now followed up with a temporary restraining order to stop the rollout until it could argue why it should have been selected. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)

San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts’ office commissioned a report to study the feasibility of using a “skyway” to connect people from the convention center to San Diego International Airport with a few stops along Harbor Drive. The report cost $75,000 and was prepared by consulting firm WSP Global with help from SANDAG.  

HCD released the availability of approximately $400 million in Round 1 Competitive Allocation funds for the No Place Like Home (NPLH) program. The NPLH program provides deferred payment loans to counties or their Development Sponsors for the development of permanent supportive housing for people living with serious mental illness who are experiencing homelessness, chronic homelessness, or are at-risk of chronic homelessness. Round 1 Competitive Allocation funds are due to HCD on January 15, 2019. HCD will release a few training workshop dates and Technical Assistance sessions. 

The Los Angeles City Planning Commission recommended the City Council adopt the Department’s Processes and Procedures Ordinance, designed to significantly streamline the planning process. The proposed changes would consolidate over 100 existing processes to about 50. This lays the groundwork for a more user-friendly, transparent, and predictable set of rules for project review. 

The Legislative Analyst’s Office evaluated the Property Tax Postponement Program (PTP). The program is for homeowners who are over the age of 62, blind or disables; have household incomes less than 35,500; and own at least 40 percent equity in their home. The report evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of the program and found challenges in eligibility, participation, affordability, budgetary, and administrative. For instance, PTP only has around 1,000 participants compared to the one million Californians who would quality. A key advantage of the program is that it does not carry a cost to taxpayers, however there is a high administrative cost which PTP participants must pay. 

According to Census data analyzed by Apartment List, more than 220,000 households in the Central Valley spend at least half their monthly incomes on rent. The report found one in every four rental households in the nation spends at least 50 percent of their income on rent. In Central Valley, that number jumps to 27.5 percent of renters. The percentage of Central Valley renters severely burdened by rent has decreased slightly form 2016. 

Placer County Judge Michael Jones ruled in August against Sierra Watch’s claim that the county violated public meeting laws when it approved Alterra Mountain Co.’s expansion at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows. The conservationists were ordered to pay more than $225,000 in attorney bills over the ski resort legal battle. Sierra Watch is appealing to the California Court of Appeals seeking to overturn the judge’s earlier ruling. 

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced plans to find a director of housing delivery. The person would be responsible for tracking housing developments and guiding them around bureaucratic logjams as they bounce among city departments. The new position would hopefully be filled by the end of the year. 

The Coastal Commission scored an appellate court victory in its long-running battle with the Port of San Diego over the state agency’s right to require low-cost lodging in connection with a proposal to develop new hotels on Harbor Island. In a ruling issued in September, state appeals court reversed an earlier Superior Court decision that the Coastal Commission had wrongly rejected plans to develop up to 500 hotel rooms on East Harbor Island. 

The third phase of Los Angeles's Purple Line Extension, connecting Century City and the West LA VA Hospital, received reimbursement from the FTA for early work on the project. This means the phase can be completed quicker and for much less money than previously anticipated. According to Metro, this decision means the agency can take advantage of competitive bids for boring the tunnel. These bids could save Metro an estimated $130 million. The tunneling bids were set to expire on October 3, but the FTA approval allows Metro to avoid having to re-bid the tunnel delay which would have cost an additional $200 million and delayed the project by nearly two years. The phase is expected to be completed by 2026.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and three Bay Area nonprofits announced a new $9 million pilot program that would provide support services for low-income city residents. Oakland residents at risk of homelessness could qualify for emergency rent checks and legal representation under Keep Oakland Housed.