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California Forever Submits Formal Application for Annexation into Suisun City
California Forever, the proposed new city northeast of the Bay Area, has submitted a formal application to Suisun City for the Suisun Expansion Project. The documents submitted include a cover letter, a formal application form, a General Plan Amendment, Area Plan, Specific Plan, Vesting Subdivision Tentative Map, and other related documents. Collectively, these provide detail on the plan for a major new employment center, with a focus on advanced manufacturing at the Solano Foundry; well-planned, walkable neighborhoods with homes at a range of price points; as well as a full set of public services, infrastructure, and amenities. The plan is designed to protect and strengthen Travis Air Force Base, provide housing for military families and establish the Travis Protection Zone to support the base’s operations. On X, California Forever CEO Jan Smarek promised that it would bea "real city, not a bedroom community: with "a new downtown, and over a 40-year build out, walkable neighborhoods with 175,000+ homes. The proposed Solano Shipyard, 7 miles south, remains in unincorporated Solano County." “We have taken in the application. We have taken in the applicable fee,” Suisun City City Manager Bret Prebula wrote on X. “I really appreciate the work that California Forever has done to this point in the months that we have been having high-level conversations with them about our interest in jobs and housing and transportation and the need to have open space.” (See related CP&DR coverage.)
San Jose to Purchase Site for Sports and Entertainment District
San Jose approved the $13.5 million purchase of a 3.56-acre downtown site at 447 S. Almaden Blvd., once intended for a major tech campus, to support future plans for a convention center expansion and a sports and entertainment district. The property, situated between the convention center and Discovery Meadow, was sold by developer BXP after it abandoned plans for twin office towers amid a weak office market. City officials say the acquisition gives San Jose strategic control over a key parcel for potential mixed-use development that could include hotels, retail and cultural venues. The purchase will be financed through the city’s commercial paper program, with repayment drawn from parking and convention center revenues, bringing total costs to about $15.7 million. Leaders view the move as a rare opportunity to guide downtown revitalization, complementing ongoing efforts to create entertainment zones and retain the San Jose Sharks through a new long-term agreement.
Southern California Auto Travel Reaches 97% of Pre-Pandemic Levels; Public Transit Still Lags
The Southern California Association of Governments' bi-annual Transportation Trends Report reviews data on 27 transit agencies through June 2025. The report found that transit usage is still in rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, with bus ridership rates recovering the fastest, followed by light and heavy rail. Commuter rail has been the slowest transit type to recover. Overall automobile miles travelled is at 97% of pre-pandemic levels. The report names remote work as a key contributor to transit trends, with 34% of workdays being performed at home over the past year. Across all transit modes, bus ridership has led the recovery, followed by light and heavy rail, while commuter rail has been the slowest to return to pre-pandemic ridership levels. Bus ridership has shown a steady recovery, with 76 percent of pre-pandemic ridership recovered as of June 2025; most months ranged between 86 percent and 89 percent, suggesting relative stability before the decline observed June 2025. Light and heavy rail ridership recovered 74 percent of pre-pandemic ridership as of June 2025, despite recent service expansions. Commuter rail has recovered 63 percent of pre-pandemic ridership and experienced ridership gains month over month, averaging a growth of 1.4 percent the last year.
Repeal of Roadless Rule Could Endanger 4 Million Acres in California
The Trump administration moved forward in repealing the Roadless Rule that protects 58.5 million acres of wild areas in national forests nationwide, including more than 4.1 million acres in California. USDA Secretary Brooke Collins announced that the agency would publish a statement of intent thus starting a 21-day public comment period. The 2001 rule protects specified national forest areas from logging and road-building, which are known to destroy habitats and increase erosion and drinking water pollution. Scientists and environmental groups slammed the decision as a potentially disastrous move that would open untouched land to logging and mining.
CP&DR Legal Coverage: Infill in Roseville; Mobile Home Park in Jurupa Valley
A suburban-style Roseville shopping center properly qualifies for an Article 32 infill exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act, an appellate court has ruled in an unpublished decision. The shopping center’s exemption had originally been challenged by nearby residents because a fast-food restaurant was included, saying that was an “unusual circumstance” that permitted as exception to the exemption. When the fast-food restaurant was removed from the project, the residents switched to the argument it would generate traffic. But the Third District Court of Appeal ruled for the city, writing, “the record contains no factual foundation supporting the proposition that the approved project will create significant traffic-related safety issues.”
A Jurupa Valley landowner seeking to build a 10-unit-per-acre mobile home park in a 2-unit-per-acre residential zone doesn’t need a general plan amendment to move the application forward, an appellate court has ruled. The court seemed to place the zoning code above the general plan, but it also found provisions in the general plan that seemed to support the project. The court also ruled that the community development director didn’t have the discretion to make the decision not to move the application forward. The appellate decision is unpublished, meaning it cannot be used as precedent in other cases.
Quick Hits & Updates
UCLA and LADWP released the report "Innovation Opportunities for a Resilient L.A.", the result of a UCLA-hosted workshop in June 2025 attended by over 100 utility representatives, public officials, and scientists. The report identified four areas for innovation: undergrounding power lines, strengthening water infrastructure, smart metering infrastructure, and wildfire risk assessment and detection.
Tulare city officials are planning an entertainment district with dining, shopping, and hotels on a 100-acre site off Highway 99. City officials said to expect at least two years before any project breaks ground, and that the project would be funded with visitor tax dollars.
The City of San Diego has determined that historic mitigation requirements have been completed for the half-acre site of the California Theatre in Downtown San Diego, opening the site for redevelopment. Developers called the site a rare opportunity for development that will advance the city's goals for the Civic Center district.
A Carlsbad homeowner is facing a $1.4 million fine from the California Coastal Commission and is being ordered to remove a gate blocking public access to the Buena Vista Lagoon and the beach south of the Carlsbad border.
Eight months after the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed 11,000 homes across Los Angeles County, rebuilding remains slow, hindered by high construction costs, insurance shortfalls and bureaucratic delays. While cities and counties have introduced faster permitting systems, including AI-assisted plan reviews and self-certification by architects, only a fraction of affected homeowners have secured permits, leaving many to sell their lots or relocate, even as officials and utilities pledge new funding and compensation programs to accelerate recovery.
Anaheim’s tourism district, which includes 93 hotels near the city’s resort area, has proposed directing about $3 million annually—or 9% of its revenue—toward affordable housing for hospitality workers. The City Council voted unanimously to begin the process of amending the district’s rules, including creating a five-member housing committee with authority over how the funds are allocated across programs for first-time homebuyers, rent assistance and affordable housing construction, with final approval expected later this year after a public review and hotel vote.
