CP&DR

Housing Proposal Forces Tough Choices on Green City

by Paul Shigley on Oct 1, 2002

Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 10 Oct 2002

Conflict over a proposed housing project in the Sonoma County city of Sebastopol offers proof of just how politically difficult infill development can be.

Infrastructure Fee Shortfall Plagues Modesto's Village I

Sep 1, 2002

Local Watch, Modesto, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

An infrastructure fee shortfall for an 1,840-acre project in the City of Modesto could reach into the tens of millions of dollars and has become a major controversy in the Central Valley city.

Sacramento County Approves 10,000-Unit Specific Plan

Aug 1, 2002

Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Sacramento County, Specific plans, Vol. 17 No. 08 Aug 2002

One of the largest housing developments ever proposed for the Central Valley received approval from the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors in July. After about a decade of planning, environmental reviews and public hearings, supervisors backed the 2,600-acre, 10,000-unit Sunridge Specific Plan — a detailed subset of the 6,000-acre Sunrise-Douglas Community Plan, which supervisors also approved in July.

Infill Housing Project Is San Jose Style Smart Growth

Jul 1, 2002

Larry Sokoloff, Local Watch, San Jose, Vol. 17 No. 07 Jul 2002

Construction is underway on San Jose's Communications Hill, a 500-acre infill project that supporters are promoting as a large-scale, walkable, urban neighborhood. Early indications are that there is a great demand for the new houses, townhouses and apartments, but the easy access to transit and retail areas that might make the neighborhood truly walkable are lacking thus far.

Chino, Ontario Move Forward On Developing Dairy Preserve

Jun 1, 2002

Infill development, Local Watch, Paul Shigley, San Bernardino County, Vol. 17 No. 06 Jun 2002

Once the largest concentration of dairy cows in the United States, the San Bernardino County Dairy Preserve is on the verge of becoming home to more than 200,000 people. The City of Chino is finishing work on a specific plan for 5,435 acres, and City of Ontario officials are refining a development fee schedule, the last document needed before the city begins processing development applications for 8,200 acres on the south end of town.

Fight Between Developers Threatens El Segundo Project

May 1, 2002

Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 05 May 2002

Not often does one developer slug it out with another developer at the ballot box and in a courtroom. But that is the case in El Segundo, where Kilroy Realty is trying to block Thomas Properties Group from developing 2.175 million square feet of office and retail space on the site for a former aerospace factory near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Petaluma Marks 30 Years Of Growth Control

Apr 1, 2002

Initiatives and referendums, Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Sonoma County, Vol. 17 No. 04 Apr 2002

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first voter-approved growth control initiative in California. In 1972, voters in the City of Petaluma — in Sonoma County, 40 miles north San Francisco — capped approval of new homes at 500 units per year, or about half the previous year's total. Growth has remained a hot issue in Petaluma, but today it lacks the urgency it had during the 1970s.

Resort Development Pressue Confronts High Sierra Valley

Mar 1, 2002

Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Placer County, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Vol. 17 No. 03 Mar 2002

Development pressure in the Martis Valley, just north of Lake Tahoe, is as great as anywhere in the high Sierra. Straddling the Placer and Nevada county line about 20 miles southwest of Reno, the area appears to be evolving into a high-end resort destination. Several thousand homes and vacation units are proposed in unincorporated Placer County and the Town of Truckee, as are at least half a dozen golf courses.

Azusa Jumps Off the Suburban Downward Spiral

Feb 1, 2002

Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 02 Feb 2002

City leaders in Azusa believe they have their community on a more prosperous track after years of political fighting and questionable land use decisions. Downtown redevelopment is finally taking hold, builders are constructing upscale houses, and an exhaustive planning process for a prized 400-acre parcel appears to be settling old disputes.

Redondo's Heart Is at the Beach

Jan 1, 2002

Coastal Zone, Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Redondo Beach, Vol. 17 No. 01 Jan 2002

As early as February, the Redondo Beach City Council could adopt a specific plan for about 150 acres of waterfront real estate that planners believe could become a new downtown. The "Heart of the City" specific plan envisions a broad mix of stores, offices, apartments, townhouses, live-work flats and parks in a part of town that has been dominated by a huge power plant and cut off from the ocean.

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