CP&DR News Briefs February 7, 2023: Surplus Land Map; Oakland Coliseum; Concord Base Reuse; and More

Oakland Taps African-American Developer for Coliseum Site
The City of Oakland entered into an exclusive development agreement with Oakland developer AASEG to redevelop the 200-acre Oakland Coliseum site into a $5 billion mixed-use community focused on equity, with generous amounts of affordable housing for low-income, and especially African-American, residents. AASEG is owned by African-American businessperson Ray Bobbitt, who grew up in Oakland. The redevelopment is predicated on the Oakland A's departure from the Coliseum, and it could include an arena to host a WNBA or other professional sports team. But the focus would be on housing; "We're talking about affordable housing, so that we can keep those who have lived here in Oakland for generations, so their families can continue to live here," said Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao told ABC News. Any redevelopment would require the assent of the A's asset, which owns about half of the site. The A's have not commented on the AASEG development agreement. (See related CP&DR coverage.)

Analysis of RHNA Progress Awards C- to Cities Statewide
According to a study by the Southern California News Group most counties and cities statewide are falling behind state mandated goals on affordable housing as of 2021. The average rating, under California’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment program, statewide was a C-. Low-income housing projects, as displayed by these study results, fell behind market-rate development statewide. According to the study, only 29 out of 538 state cities and counties were on track to provide housing for very low-, low-, moderate-, and above moderate-income residents according to their previously decided upon goals. Deputy Director for housing policy at California’s Housing and Community Development Department “complained that cities fail to take the initiative in promoting new housing. In some cases, she said, they obstruct development.” Cities in the state argue that they are at the whim of a difficult market. Others claim the state itself is not creating enough financial resources or incentive to local governments for the construction of low-income housing. One California city — Norwalk — met and exceeded the Southern California News Group's rating standards and received an A-plus in 2021.

CP&DR Coverage: Fulton Considers CEQA Appeal
Based on recent cases, Bill Fulton wonders whether California's appellate courts are getting tired of hearing cases about the California Environmental Quality Act. In the Bay Area, home to the First District Court of Appeal, where justices have recently lamented that “something is very wrong” with CEQA, insisted that environmental documents don’t have to be perfect, and even allowed a malicious prosecution case to move forward against a prominent CEQA plaintiffs’ lawyer. In the Sacramento-based Third District, however, things appear to be different, as evidenced by the outcome of the recent appellate court involving the proposed new annex to the State Capitol. In the Save Our Capitol! Case, the Third District first said that the Department of General Services should have included visual representations of the new annex in its environmental analysis. Recently, a tentative ruling from the First District in the People’s Park case seemed to indicate that noise from students and potential problems associated with homeless persons could be viewed as environmental impacts under CEQA. Fulton concludes that it's "a confusing time for CEQA, where many courts are really resisting expansion while others are facilitating it. If ever there was a time that called for comprehensive legislative reform, it’s now."

Interstate 980 in Oakland has been listed as a “Freeway Without a Future” according to the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU). CNU argues that instead of investing in costly repair and expansion of the 980, money should be put toward city streets, housing, and green spaces. 

Clovis City Council approved a new 1,000- acre development of single family homes just beyond the city limits. Development of the homes had been halted previously due to the presence of an endangered salamander. The site will not include any affordable housing, and the city still needs to study the fiscal impact of the development as it considers annexing it into Clovis city limits.

Assemblymember Alex Lee introduced AB 309, which would promote mixed-income "social housing" statewide. Social housing is protected from being sold to a private for-profit entity for the duration of its life, and residents are granted the same protections (if not stronger) as tenants in private properties, and residents are able to participate in decision making.

Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry and his wife Ayesha weighed in on the tense housing debates in the San Francisco Peninsula. The couple wrote a highly publicized letter to the Atherton City Council asking the council to oppose upzoning of properties adjacent to their home. Atherton is known for large properties exceeding one acre.

A new Oceanside development along the Sprinter rail-line received approval Jan. 12 after a heated City Council meeting. An appeal by impassioned residents concerned about looming traffic issues was denied, enabling the development. 

Cerritos Mayor pro tem Bruce Barrows filed a lawsuit that could delay construction of a light rail line extending from downtown Los Angeles through southeast Los Angeles County. The suit alleges that LA Metro violated the Public Records Act for failing to fully discuss its plans for a "cut-and-cover" segment in Cerritos.