California, Enviros Sue to Block Development of Cargill Salt Ponds
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Bay Area conservation groups separately sued the federal EPA for its failure to protect Redwood City’s salt ponds under the Clean Water Act. Earlier this month, the Trump administration rolled back language from the Obama-era Waters of the State definition – disqualifying many waterways like the Bay Area salt ponds from key protections. In these separately-filed lawsuits, Becerra and the environmental groups argued that the change would allow for development and therefore violate the Clean Water Act. Protection of the salt ponds, owned since 1978 by Cargill Inc., have been the subject of controversy for years. In 2012, Cargill proposed a 12,000-home development on the site, but community opposition halted the plans. Environmental groups are pushing to permanently protect the wetlands, but the administration’s new rulings would reclassify the marshes as “land” and therefore developable. However, in April, the state anticipated such a rollback by passing a sweeping state-specific wetlands policy that secured state oversight of waterways. “It’s a sad day when the country’s ‘environmental protection agency’ looks at San Francisco Bay and doesn’t see a body of water it should protect,” Becerra said in a statement. “This unlawful proposal is simply an attempt by the EPA to overlook its obligation to protect our nation’s waters in order to fast track development.” (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
Newsom Appoints Progressives to Transportation Commission
In a definitive alignment of the state’s transportation and climate goals, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Tamika Butler and Hilary Norton to the California Transportation Commission and ordered the State Transportation Agency to direct investments in ways that decrease fuel consumption. Tamika Butler, former Executive Director of the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition and current Director of Equity and Inclusion at Toole Design Group, is known for championing inclusive access to multi-mobile transportation options. Norton currently runs Fixing Angelenos Suck in Traffic (FAST), rallying for a broader range of transportation choices for southern Californians. The governor’s executive order further mandates a focus on transportation investments near housing, and to measure climate risks for all transportation spending. This will likely increase spending on transit, rather than on highway projects, with a prioritization on fewer cars rather than more space for cars. Further, the governor signed two vehicle emissions reduction bills: SB 210, requiring song checks for heavy diesel trucks, and SB 44, calling for a comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gases from medium and heavy-duty vehicles.
California Files Suit to Protect Endangered Species Act
In yet another state challenge of a Trump administration policy, California filed a lawsuit against the federal EPA for weakening the Endangered Species Act. Under the proposed rollbacks, the federal government would be able to reduce the amount of land set aside for wildlife and to disregard the possible effects of climate change when predicting the future dangers species might face. And the changes require the monetization of every species protection. Now, California and 16 others states are suing the administration, making over 60 lawsuits by State Attorney General Xavier Becerra against the Trump Administration. Several environmental and wildlife advocacy groups in the Northern District of California have filed similar suits. In a statement, Becerra noted that California has more than 300 species listed as endangered or threatened – more than any other mainland state. “As we face the unprecedented threat of a climate emergency, now is the time to strengthen our planet’s biodiversity, not to destroy it,” Becerra said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “The only thing we want to see extinct are the beastly policies of the Trump administration putting our ecosystems in danger.” (See prior CP&DR commentary.)
Sacramento to Overhaul Bus Network
As part of Sacramento’s multiyear effort to strengthen its transit offerings, the Sacramento Regional Transit District unveiled the biggest bus route redesign in its history. The project, called SacRT Forward, includes extended service hours and better coordination between buses and light rail trains. The agency has seen ridership erode over the past decade even as core metro areas became denser; with more people using ride-sharing services and commuting over crowded highway routes. These new routes are based on an analysis of population and job centers as well as travel routes, and discontinues the lowest-performing lines. The service also plans to offer free rides to all students through high school this fall. “This is much more than changing bus routes; this is about reimagining what mobility means for the diverse communities in which we serve and getting people to places they want to go,” SacRT General Manager Henry Li told the Sacramento Bee.
Quick Hits & Updates
The Santa Clara City Council unanimously approved a developer for a proposed teacher housing project in Palo Alto across five school districts. The developer, Mercy housing Management Group, will build an affordable facility catered toward school employees starting or in the middle of their careers. Since its proposal in January 2018, the estimated $36 million project has gained $6 million from the Santa Clara County Board, $3 million from the Palo Alto City Council, and a combined $3 million from the five school districts. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
Contrary to a key 2018 campaign promise, Governor Gavin Newsom dropped plans to appoint the state’s first homelessness czar – and will instead consult with a task force he appointed in February. Data shows that the homelessness crisis is increasing statewide: a biennial count conducted earlier this year showed double-digit increases in major cities, including a 17 percent increase in San Francisco. To justify his decision, the governor highlighted a major increase in state budget dollars toward the issue: including $650 million for cities and counties, and $120 million for supportive housing and service programs.
Two mega-development projects may be coming to a single area on the San Fancisco-Brisbane border, combining the former Badlands landfill site and the Schlage Lock warehouse site for a single 4,000-home residential neighborhood. The plan, spanning two counties and a combined 675 acres, would turn the two sites into a walkable, bikable neighborhood near a Caltrain station and the T-Third Muni Line. Construction would begin on the first phase on the San Francisco side in June, on 574 homes of a planned 1,674 homes on the former Schlage Lock site. On the Brisbane side of the development, local opposition has been strong against the planned 2,200 housing units and 7 million square feet of office space. San Francisco Mayor London Breed says she is putting full efforts into keeping the project on track.
An earthquake fault along the Los Angeles County coast long considered dormant is in fact active and potentially catastrophic, according to new research from the U.S. Geological Survey. The Wilmington Blind-Thrust fault, which stretches 12.5 miles from Huntington Beach, under Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, and toward Santa Monica Bay, could cause a 6.4 magnitude earthquake if it ruptured.
The University of Southern California is launching a data project to show how Los Angeles neighborhood crime intersects with other policy areas like homelessness, housing, education, and economic development. The Neighborhood Data for Social Change Initiative will take place over the course of the year. Regional law enforcement will share crime data sets with the public to engage the community in conversations about promoting services to create healthier communities with less crime.
Marking the agency's first public-private partnership for a major project design, L.A. Metro will begin working with a private company for its multi-billion dollar line connecting the San Fernando Valley to Westside through Sepulveda Pass. Officials launched the partnership model, called a Pre-Development Agreement, in response to the difficulty and expenses of planning the pass through the Santa Monica Mountains. The four alternatives proposed by Metro for the line include three subway lines and one monorail. The private partner will provide some of the funds for the line which could be as costly as $13.8 million. Metro expects to receive proposals by January 2020 and finalize selection by mid-2020.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority, the California State Transportation Agency, and L.A. Metro signed an agreement to commit more than $400 million in Proposition 1A funds toward the Los Angeles Union Station Link project. The project will substantially increase the capacity of Southern California’s biggest multimodal transit hub by allowing trains to enter and exit from the north and south. It will also accommodate future high-speed rail cars. Through the agreement, the agencies will assemble a Steering Committee and create a funding plan in the coming months.
After over two decade of obstacles, the proposed 60-acre Ferrari Ranch development in Salinas Valley is closer to construction after a state Supreme Court ruling in the developer’s favor. The proposed plan would create 168 market-rate homes and 17 moderate-income units. To comply with the county’s inclusionary housing ordinance, normally requiring 20 percent of residential units to be affordable for lower to middle income earners – developers will pay $4 million in fees. The county approved the development’s Environmental Impact Report in 2014, but a series of CEQA lawsuits against the county have delayed construction. The state Supreme Court rejected appeals from advocacy groups, and the developer hopes to break ground in the next two years.
San Francisco Supervisor Mark Haney proposed researching a car ban in parts of the Tenderloin to avoid more traffic mortalities. The Tenderloin has some of the most fatal streets in the city: just last week a 12-year-old boy was struck by a driver at the same intersection where a pedestrian was struck and killed in March. Additionally, most traffic is “through traffic” from commuters, and not from local residents. Now Haney is proposing a study to choose which Tenderloin streets could become bus, pedestrian, and bike-only. No law has yet been proposed.
Rents in Los Angeles and Orange counties are rising at nearly twice the inflation rate, according to last month’s data from the Consumer Price Index. The data shows rental costs were rising at a staggering 5.5 percent rate, the highest in over 12 years – whereas inflation just 3.3 percent. That means that the both regions’ rent is growing 83 percent faster than its broad cost of living. This has been a rapidly accelerating trend of the past two decades: in the 2000s, rents rose 5.1 percent while the CPI was up 3 percent yearly, a more modest 71 percent disparity.
Most salaries are higher in small metro areas after adjusting for the cost of living, according to a recent analysis from Hiring Lab. The organization examined job postings between April 2018 and April 2019 that included salaries, and cost-adjusted for living in the 185 target U.S. metropolitan areas. They found that the highest salaries are clustered around the San Francisco Bay Area, in San Jose. However, the highest adjusted salaries are in Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas, Fort Smith, Arkansas, and other cities in the middle of the country. Additionally, the only two California cities to top the list – Modesto and Visalia-Porterville – are in the Central Valley, far from the pricier coast.
