Focus
Huntington Beach denies it is ‘anti-housing’ after group sues over rejection of 48-unit project
Los Angeles Times – October 29
Huntington Beach’s city attorney is disputing a nonprofit organization’s claims in a lawsuit alleging that the city rejected a 48-unit residential project because of complaints by nearby residents, even though the proposal complied with zoning laws. Californians for Homeownership said the lawsuit, filed Monday, is its first under the state’s Housing Accountability Act, also known as the anti-NIMBY law, referring to the acronym for “not in my backyard.” The law is designed to prevent cities from denying housing projects that comply with zoning rules. The project at issue is a residential-commercial project that sought to develop 48 residential units and a coffee shop in a four-story building, with five units set aside for affordable housing.
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News
San Francisco approves fee hike on office development to fund more affordable housing
San Francisco Examiner – October 29
After some last minute adjustments, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a higher fee for developers of San Francisco office buildings, which is expected to generate $400 million for affordable housing in under a decade. Supervisor Matt Haney had spent the past five months pushing to raise the Jobs-Housing Linkage Fee, which dates back to 1996. The fee is meant to fund housing construction to offset the demand for housing that new office employment creates. Haney initially proposed raising the fee from the current $28.57 per square foot to $69.60 per square foot, amending the plan after pushback from labor unions and developers. Instead of charging the full $69.60 per square foot on all office projects, the fee will now gradually increase. The board will take a second and final vote on the legislation next week.
Opponents vow to defeat March ballot measure regulating San Diego housing
The San Diego Union-Tribune - October 29
Firefighters, police officers, business leaders, local officials, and even an avocado grower joined Tuesday to kick off a campaign to defeat a ballot measure they say would worsen the region’s housing shortage and cripple the economy. Backers of the No on SOS campaign vowed to fight the citizens’ initiative that would require public votes before large housing developments could be built in the unincorporated areas of the county. The SOS measure, which stands for Save Our San Diego Countryside, was placed on the March 2020 ballot after more than 110,000 signatures were gathered in 2018. It seeks to take final approval of large housing projects out of the hands of the Board of Supervisors and place it under the control of voters.
State appeals court gives Richmond a workaround to prevent development of hillside areas
San Francisco Chronicle - October 28
A state appeals court has revived a measure by preservationists and Richmond city officials to prohibit new housing development on 430 acres of hills overlooking the town. Foes of development collected signatures for an initiative in 2016 that would bar new residential construction in the area, while allowing owners of hillside property to build homes elsewhere in the city. Rather than sending the initiative to the local ballot, the City Council voted unanimously in January 2017 to enact the measure into law as an amendment to Richmond’s general plan. Developers who owned property in the area sued Richmond, arguing that the initiative was inconsistent with the city’s general plan. Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Barry Goode in 2018 ordered the city to rescind its support of the measure. Last Friday, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco agreed with Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Barry Goode’s 2018 ruling that the two documents were inconsistent, but prescribed a different remedy: The city, which adopted the general plan in the first place, could rewrite it to coincide with the initiative or could decide to send the issue to the voters.
San Diego plans to expand city dump despite zero-waste policy
Los Angeles Times – October 28
San Diego officials say they plan to increase the capacity of the Miramar Landfill by allowing waste to pile up 25 feet higher into the air — a significant policy shift coming less than five years after the city adopted a “zero waste” plan. Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced in 2015 that the projected life of the city’s main dump had been extended from 2022 to 2030 thanks to new city recycling policies, trash compaction methods, and other innovations. But recently city officials launched an environmental analysis of the potential impacts of increasing the height of the 1,400-acre dump from 485 feet above sea level now to 510 feet above sea level. The city’s proposal to expand the dump comes in the wake of China’s decision in 2018 to sharply limit the amount of recycled goods it buys from the United States.
Los Angeles cooling initiative built for city's hottest, most vulnerable neighborhoods
Smart Cities Dive – October 22
Los Angeles has launched Cool Streets LA, a program seeking to address the effects of climate change by implementing measures to help lower temperature and add shade in the city's hottest and most vulnerable neighborhoods. The program will pilot 10 cool neighborhood projects in vulnerable communities by 2025. Cooling measures include planting trees, installing cool pavement, building bus benches with shade structures, expanding cool roofs, providing hydration stations, and offering energy efficiency rebates to businesses.
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