CP&DR

North Livermore Plans for Homes and Farms, But Initiative Looms

Jun 1, 2000

Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 06 Jun 2000

The City of Livermore and Alameda County are close to completing a specific plan that provides for the development of 3,200 acres and the conservation of 10,300 acres of farmland and open space. However, a Sierra Club-backed urban growth boundary initiative that appears headed for the Alameda County ballot in November could throw the project into question. The city and county are in the midst of conducting approximately 17 workshops and public hearings on the North Livermore Specific Plan. Cit...

Santa Monica Buys Key Parcel for Potential Park, Affordable Homes

Jun 1, 2000

Paul Shigley, Public Development, Vol. 15 No. 06 Jun 2000

Available land is a rare and, therefore, valuable commodity in Santa Monica. So city officials are pleased with the opportunities they now have after purchasing about 11 acres, owned for decades by a prominent think tank, that lie adjacent to Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, City Hall and Palisades Park. "It's an incredibly strategic area," said Andy Agle, Santa Monica's deputy director of planning and community development. The city could eventually develop parks, affordable housing and office ...

Santa Clara Watershed Planning Still Moving Ahead

May 1, 2000

Environment Watch, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 05 May 2000

A four-year-old pilot project intended to improve the quality of water flowing into the southern end of San Francisco Bay continues to move forward. Interests ranging from builders to environmentalists to regulators are participating in the Santa Clara Basin Watershed Management Initiative (WMI), and a detailed watersheds characteristics report — an important baseline document — is due out this month. Although the broad-based approach to dealing with entire watersheds is happening in an urban a...

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...

Regional Malls, Big Boxes Flood Sacramento Retail Market

May 1, 2000

Economic Development, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 05 May 2000

There is no doubt that the Sacramento metropolitan area is awash in retail shopping development, but whether or not the region is facing an excess of retail stores is subject to debate. The question arises while a 1.1-million-square-foot regional mall prepares to open in Roseville this summer, and regional malls of similar size are proposed in Folsom and Elk Grove. Plus, the City of Sacramento continues to consider large-scale downtown retail development. In three recent studies performed fo...

Frank Taylor

Apr 1, 2000

Paul Shigley, Q&A, Vol. 15 No. 04 Apr 2000

Frank Taylor served as executive director of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency for 20 years before retiring in 1999. Prior to his work in San Jose, Taylor held a similar job in Cincinnati. A Boston native, he is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati's School of Architecture. With a tight control over the Redevelopment Agency, Taylor's task was to revive San Jose's downtown, from which developers, businesses, residents and even city government had been fleeing since the 1950s. At times h...

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...

Redevelopment Proposed for Massive Strech of ‘The Valley'

Apr 1, 2000

Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 04 Apr 2000

An 11-square-mile portion of the northeast San Fernando Valley could become the City of Los Angeles' largest redevelopment project area. Planners have been at work on the project for about three years, and the City Council is expected to decide whether to create the project area this summer. However, the area is so large — and suffers from such widespread decay — that some people wonder whether a redevelopment project can provide meaningful change. While other cities have giant redevelopment ...

San Diego Addresses Zoo Expansion in a Finite Park

Apr 1, 2000

Paul Shigley, Public Development, Vol. 15 No. 04 Apr 2000

A proposal to expand the San Diego Zoo has forced city officials, civic activists and the Zoological Society to reexamine the zoo and its relationship to Balboa Park, where the facility is located. San Diegans consider both the zoo and the park civic treasures, and finding a compatible mix is proving to be a time-consuming and politically sensitive project. Although the issues are complex, the questions are relatively simple — how large to make the zoo, and how to solve traffic congestion and p...

Ontario, Chino Plan Growth As Dairy Cows Move North

Mar 1, 2000

Infill development, Local Watch, Paul Shigley, San Bernardino County, Vol. 15 No. 03 Mar 2000

Large-scale urban development will soon replace the San Bernardino County Dairy Preserve. Last December, the city of Ontario completed its annexation of more than half of the 15,000-acre swath of farmland, and the City of Chino either has annexed or plans to annex the remainder. Ontario's plans for what the city has tabbed the "New Model Colony" call for development of 31,000 homes, 5 million square feet of retail space and 5 million square feet of industrial space.