Blogs

The California Environmental Quality Act has long been driven more by the courts than by the Legislature. And 2013 is likely to be a big year in court for EQA. Five pending cases before the California Supreme Court -- and a sixth that might be heard -- could significantly affect how both localities and colleges apply the California Environmental Quality Act.

End of Redevelopment Helps Balance Budget

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor has described Governor Brown's budget proposal as "roughly" balanced. Brown was able to save money from major cut backs- like last year's dissolution of redevelopment agencies, and voter-approved tax increases, like Prop 30. 

Now that DOF has decided 240 redevelopment appeals, the next step shouldn't surprise anybody: The lawsuits are beginning to roll in:

Murietta sues over affordable housing, city loan

Murrieta has sued DOF over its decision to invalidate two payments – one a $3 million payment to the city from the RDA and the second a $1.2 million payment to developers on an affordable housing project called Monte Vista

Almost 60% of lawsuits filed under the California Environmental Quality Act challenge environmental review projects in infill locations as opposed to greenfield locations, according to a new analysis of 95 recent cases by two lawyers at Holland & Knight.

The new analysis comes on the heels of three other recent studies concluding that CEQA actions are struck down by courts between 40-60% of the time, compared to virtually zero for NEPA.

A couple of months ago, we reported on four post-redevelopment models emerging in California, based on a presentation by Paul Silvern of HR&A: Alhambra, Oakland, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Now Silvern and his colleagues at HR&A -- along with ICF and Renata Zimril -- have proposed a whole new post-redevelopment economic development structure for Los Angeles.

As cities around the state are still stinging from the state's decision to deny many of their 240 redevelopment appeals, redevelopment skirmishes still continue around the state -- often about affordable housing projects that cities claim are nearing completion. Here's a sampling:

Santa Ana sues DOF over affordable housing project

KABC

Approximately one-third of new housing units constructed in California's metropolitan counties between 2000 and 2009 were built in infill locations, according to a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency. 

There's been a lot of redevelopment news around the state this week:

DOF at your service:

Santa Barbara ordered to sell parking lots and train depot.

Modesto can't use redevelopment funds to pay off bonds for downtown projects.

Exploiting a subtle difference between AB 32 and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2005 Executive Order that preceded the bill, environmentalists have successfully persuaded a San Diego Superior Court judge to strike down the environmental impact report for the sustainable communities strategy adopted by the San Diego Association of Governments.

Now that Ray LaHood has finally announced he is stepping down as President Obama's Secretary of Transportation, speculation has immediately focused on whether outgoing L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will succeed him.

Wendell Cox, my favorite anti-anti-sprawl researcher, is at it again. This time, he's on New Geography, taking on the oft-quoted forecast of Southern California's future housing market by Professor Arthur C. Nelson of the University of Utah, which found that future demand will be mostly for multifamily housing and small lot (under 5,000 square feet)  detached homes.

With the demise of redevelopment in California, one idea put forth -- by me, among others -- is using publicly owned land as equity in a real estate deal as a way of subsidizing it. If you can't "write down" private land (selling it to a developer for less than your bought it), maybe you should look at real estate assets your city – or some other public agency – already owns.

Here's CP&DR's roundup of recent events around the state regarding the redevelopment wind-down. Just click on the headline to read more -- sometimes from us, sometimes from other sources.

West Sac passes Chiang's test, Hercules struggles, Morgan Hill sues
CP&DR

If skepticism about growth is an indication that the economy is on the rebound, then Tuesday's land use elections throughout California might be called good news.

About a dozen land use measures were on the ballot Tuesday and most cases the anti-growth forces won. Most of those that did win were focused on job creation. Several measures focused on downtown development in small cities, with mixed results.