CP&DR

Land-Use Initiatives Fill Ballots

Oct 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 10 Oct 2000

The November 7 election is shaping up as a potential landmark in ballot-box planning in California. Voters are scheduled to decide an even 50 local ballot measures, the most since the November 1990 election. Although ballot measures are concentrated in the Bay Area and along the Southern California coast, the collection of cities and counties where land-use measures will appear is as diverse as California itself. Lassen County voters will consider a mountain resort and subdivision. Monterey County wil...

Legislature Strengthens LAFCOs, But Fiscal Reform Remains Elusive

Sep 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Legislation, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 09 Sep 2000

The state Legislature completed its two-year session with a flourish during the last week of August but appeared to leave Sacramento without adopting major land-use policy changes. Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg's overhaul of the Cortese-Knox Local Government Reorganization Act was among the year's highlights, although he watered down the measure from early drafts. The broad-based Jobs-Center Housing Coalition, which has focused on the Bay Area housing crunch, saw three of its nine bills approved.

Increased Scrutiny Slows Dairies: Legal and Political Challenges Strike at Central Valley Expansion Plans

Aug 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 08 Aug 2000

Although Wisconsin may be home to the "cheeseheads," California is actually the nation's largest dairy state. In fact, with annual production at $3.6 billion and rising, the dairy industry is the largest agricultural sector in California. But these are not the best of times for the industry. The Chino dairy preserve in San Bernardino County, the center of Southern California's dairy industry for decades, is pegged for urban development (see CP&DR Local Watch, March 2000). And building new fa...

Indian Casinos Sweep Across State: Locals Have No Jurisdiction, But Some Tribes Are Negotiating Anyway

Jul 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

With the approval last March of a statewide initiative and the signing of a pact between the governor's office and 63 Indian tribes, development of Indian casinos is taking off. Proposals for major new casinos are introduced seemingly every week, and tribes that operate many of the existing 39 casinos have expansion plans. The casino boom is passing by local government officials, who have no say over what happens on lands held in trust for Indian tribes. "If it's reservation land, they pretty much do ...

Jobs are Plentiful, Homes are Not: Effects of Silicon Valley Housing Shortage Spread over Vast Region

Jun 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 06 Jun 2000

A proposal from Cisco Systems to build a 6.6 million-square-foot campus for up to 20,000 workers in south San Jose has focused attention on the Silicon Valley's housing shortage. Cities and counties south of San Jose feel threatened by the continued industrial development in Silicon Valley because more and more technology employees are commuting from places like Hollister, Salinas and Santa Cruz. The City of San Jose, however, says it has long carried more than its fair share of the housing load...

Local Planners Resist OPR Mandate: Annual General Plan Progress Reports Are a Source of Contention

May 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 05 May 2000

The Governor's Office of Planning and Research is insisting that cities and counties file annual general plan progress and implementation reports, but many local planners are questioning the mandate. Some planning directors do not want such reports to become political fodder because they have the potential to reflect badly on a local jurisdiction. Others say preparing an annual report is a bureaucratic exercise that takes time away from more worthwhile planning. The California County Planning Di...

Housing Bills Receive Broad Support: More Than 100 Land-Use Bills Alive in State Legislature

Apr 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 04 Apr 2000

Business owners, labor leaders and housing advocates have formed an alliance to promote a package of nine bills intended to ease the approval process for new homes near job sites. The bills would, variously, modify the California Environmental Quality Act, provide financial incentives to local governments, address liability hurdles to construction of condominiums, and even allow additional analysis of growth-control initiatives. The coalition has formed because of the affordable housing shortage...

Coastal Builders Have Rough Time at Commission: Appointments, Decesions, Budget Point Toward Resource Protection

Mar 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 03 Mar 2000

With more funding headed its way and a stated emphasis on protection of natural resources, the California Coastal Commission appears to be tightening its control over development. Gov. Davis's proposed budget contains more money for enforcement and assisting with Local Coastal Plan implementation. Davis also replaced Coastal Commissioner Nancy Fleming, the pro-development mayor of Eureka, with Humboldt County Supervisor John Woolley, an appointment that pleased environmentalists. Commissioners ...

New Partnership Tackles Bay, Valley Growth Questions: IRP Urges Better Jobs-Housing Coordination in 5-County Region

Mar 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Vol. 15 No. 03 Mar 2000, William Fulton

A five-county "Inter-Regional Partnership" between the Bay Area and the Central Valley is taking more tangible form. The Partnership will ask the Legislature this year for a pilot project to designate housing and job "incentive zones" — similar to enterprise zones — that would include a re-distribution of existing property tax revenue and streamlined environmental review to encourage better jobs-housing balance. The Partnership is also seeking $625,000 in state funding to integrate computer mappin...

Swap of Sales Tax for Property Tax Will Get Hearing: Assembly Speaker's Commission, Others Support Finance Reform

Feb 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 02 Feb 2000

A commission appointed by Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa has recommended local governments swap sales tax revenue for a bigger cut of property taxes. The proposal is one of several intended to reduce city and county dependence on sales tax. However, it remains unclear whether lawmakers and Gov. Davis will take meaningful steps toward altering the complex fiscal system this year. It is a two-handed situation. On the one hand, recommendations of the Speaker's Commission on State and Local G...