The Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors approved a $43.4 billion plan, Designing Tomorrow, that would serve as a blueprint for how people move throughout the county for the next two decades. The county develops a Long-Range Transportation Plan every four years. The plan projects that by 2040, an additional 1.7 million daily trip would occur in Orange County. That’s a 12 percent increase compared to now. Without the OCTA plan and implementation of the projects, congestion is expected to increase by an estimated 66 percent. The plan identifies projects to improve roadways, public transit, and bike paths while also considering evolving technologies such as autonomous vehicles and on-demand ridesharing. To help shaped the plan, OCTA received input from an online survey completed by more than 1,200 people, telephone town hall with nearly 1,000 participants, and a quantitative survey with more than 2,500 people. The plan will be submitted to SCAG where it will serve as Orange County’s input into the Regional Transportation Plan.
San Diego Considers Overall Reform Parking Regulations
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer proposed a set of reforms to the city’s parking requirements that would allow construction of housing projects without parking spaces as long as they’re within a half-mile of a planned or existing transit stop. Construction in these “transit priority areas” could save between $35,000 and $90,000 per unit if no parking were required. Faulconer said, “We know that more and more people are choosing to live without a car and are demanding quality housing near transit. This plan gives builders the freedom to be smart and creative with their projects, while contributing to our housing supply and our climate action goals by getting more cars off the road." The city would also require that new housing developments in these areas offer secure bike storage and repair stations, transit passes, and storage and locker facilities for delivered packages and other items. The mayor’s office intends to send the proposed plan to the City Council’s Smart Growth and Land Use Committee early next year.
San Jose Seeks Public Benefits from Google Downtown Campus
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and several City Council members say they plan to seek significant concessions from Google as it develops its massive downtown campus. Some of the benefits include new affordable housing requirements, including a potential fee on commercial development to pay for some of that housing, along with public transportation and other improvements. The City Council is expected to approve the sale of city-owned land to Google on Dec. 4. The four coucncil members say they will push to required 25 percent of the overall housing built in neighborhoods around Diridon Station be affordable. Google’s plan for the area is to build 6-8 million square feet of office and retail space and bring in about 20,000 jobs. Google says they are interested in helping create “an open, mixed-use neighborhood that is an integral part of the city”. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
OPR Invites Input on Updated Environmental Justice Chapter in General Plan Guidelines
The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) is inviting public input on a revised Environmental Justice (EJ) Chapter in the General Plan Guidelines. OPR was in the midst of the comprehensive General Plan Guideline (GPG) update when Senate Bill 1000 (Leyva, 2016) passed requiring local jurisdictions with disadvantaged communities to incorporate a separate EJ element or integrate goals, policies and objectives. OPR has done significant outreach across the state with EJ groups, city and county planning departments, state agencies, and many other stakeholders to provide additional guidance on the new statute. The revised EJ Chapter will be open for public comment until December 20 via SB1000@opr.ca.gov. This revised chapter reflects input that OPR received on the discussion that was included in the 2017 GPG as well as additional discussions during public outreach sessions on areas where more guidance was needed to implement SB 1000. The revised proposal contains: (1) a process by which to determine if a local jurisdiction is subject to the new SB 1000 requirements, (2) new considerations regarding partnership, (3) additional information about updates when cities and/or counties have some of the policies for SB 1000, (4) example policy language and data sources, and (5) updated discussions on thematic areas to include under SB 1000.
Big City Mayors Urge Newsom to Take Statewide Action on Homelessness
The mayors of Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, and Sacramento presented a rare united front in the fight against homelessness at a recent event sponsored by the California Dream Project. The mayors called for Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom to revive a controversial funding source for affordable housing and make it easier for cities to build shelters. Although two statewide initiatives that promise $6 billion in fresh affordable housing and homelessness dollars were passed, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer argued that more affordable housing dollars are still desperately needed. All mayors discussed the difficulty of finding neighborhoods willing to accept new homeless shelters and permanent supportive housing. Mayor Garcetti called on the Legislature to revive a possible compromise over expanding rent control.
Quick Hits & Updates
The Department of Housing and Community Development released the Housing for a Healthy California (HHC) program draft guidelines. The goal of HHC program is to “reduce the financial burden on local and state resources due to the overutilization of emergency departments, inpatient care, nursing home stays and use of corrections systems and law enforcement resources as the point of health care provision for people who are chronically homeless or homeless and a high-cost health user.” Public comment period ends December 8, 2018. Two workshops will be held: Riverside November 27, and Visalia November 30.
Superior Court Judge Ronald Frazier said that, while the court is giving the City of Encinitas two more weeks for the final vote of Measure U to be tallied, it will be necessary to find “a remedy”. Lawsuits brought against the city by San Diego Tenants United and the Building Industry Association of San Diego center the city’s failure to enact a Housing Element, especially for low-income residents. The City voters have failed to pass Measure T in 2016 and now most likely Measure U, two ballot initiatives that intended to get the city compliant with California housing law. However, Judge Frazier said it is now clear that the court must intervene. In a closed session last week, Encinitas City Council discussed the possibility of mediation with its housing attorneys.
The City of San Diego will install 4,200 sensor nodes built by CityIQ as part of an internet of things (IoT) project that will also include new apps to improve parking and traffic and a lighting controls interface that could boost streetlight efficiency by 20 percent. The City will also work with San Diego Gas & Electric to implement a Lightgrid system which can interface wirelessly to transfer streetlight energy use to the utility’s billing system.
The City of San Diego is considering a proposal that would create a master plan for tackling an estimated $39 million in needed sidewalk repairs. The City Council’s Infrastructure Committee endorsed the proposal during a public hearing. San Diego has had more than $11 million in injury payouts during the last five years in lawsuits over damaged sidewalks. The city is facing greater liability as more people ride bicycles and electric scooters on sidewalks. The proposal would require property owners to fix any damaged sidewalk adjacent to their property before they can sell. This is modeled on a similar policy in Pasadena.
Nine plaintiffs are suing Bird and Lime scooters as a result of “gross negligence” due to they or their properties having been injured or harmed by one of the scooters. The class-action lawsuit was filed late last month in LA County Superior Court. The complaint also notes the scooters on sidewalks and streets is a “public nuisance” that is in violation of California Civil Code.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved the Central SoMA plan area after eight years of hearings, amendments, and negotiations. The plan proposes 8,800 housing units and will create an estimated 31,000 jobs.
LA County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance, 4-1, that offers eviction protections and temporary rent caps in unincorporated areas of the county. The ordinance places a six-month moratorium on evictions without a just cause as well as on rent increases that exceed three percent. Approximately 200,000 renters would be protected by the new ordinance.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority board voted to agree with staff recommendation for the 82-mile route between Palmdale and Anaheim as the preferred route out of the three possible segments. The 38.4-mile portion between Palmdale and Burbank has been the most contentious segment of the project with multiple route options being considered over the years. The route, known as SR-14, would tunnel under Sylmar and Pacoima and run along the surface or at an elevation into Sun Valley before going underground again near the Burbank Airport.
Environmentalists are asking that San Diego’s proposed redevelopment of Mission Bay Park’s northeast corner include significantly more marshland. Local groups concerned about sea level rise included three “feasible” scenarios one which calls for 200 acres of marshland, more than double the 84 acres proposed by the city, and limits new amenities and shrinks the Mission Bay Golf Course. However, other proposals include leaving the golf course intact and adds several new amenities while increasing the marshland area.
Los Angeles Metro officials confirmed the Crenshaw/LAX light rail line won’t beginning service until summer of 2020, it had initially been scheduled for fall 2019. The construction of tracks and structures supporting them is moving on schedule but the electric work is taking longer than expected. The project is approximately 87.5 percent complete. Construction would most likely be completed next December and then safety testing and training would take place for four to six months.
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board unanimously approved the US 50 South Shore Community Revitalization Project proposed by the Tahoe Transportation District. The project realigns approximately one mile of US Highway 50 to run behind Heavenly Village and the Stateline casino core to significantly reduce traffic congestion in that area and reduce cut-through traffic in some neighborhoods. The project also expands on past redevelopment to create a bike, pedestrian, and Transit-oriented main street corridor.
A San Francisco couple agreed to pay a $2.25 million settlement to the city for turning 14 city apartments into illegal hotels through Airbnb. Darren and Valerie Lee are also barred for at least seven years from offering STR in any of the 17 building they own or manage. Airbnb said in a statement that, “These are not the type of hosts we want on our platform and are glad the city has the tools it needs to enforce the rules.” In 2014, the couple evicted tenants under the Ellis Act to convert a property into a STR. Now Airbnb enforces a “one host, one home” policy.
