Sustainable Development Focus
SOLAR POWER WORLD - Jun 22 Solar industry, renewable energy, and environmental justice organizations and advocates applauded a decision this week by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that will increase opportunities for low-income households to go solar, lower their utility bills, and participate in the state’s growing clean energy economy. Following a multi-year process prompted by Assembly Bill 327, the CPUC approved a 12-year solar rebate program for low-income homeowners living in disadvantaged communities that expands on California’s long-standing Single-Family Affordable Solar Homes program.
WATER DEEPLY - Jun 22 A “use-it-or-lose-it” system of water allocation has historically required growers in California to irrigate their land or lose their water rights, whether market forces compelled them to grow crops or not. Now, in a breakthrough for the state’s water economy, a community of farmers near Ventura is about to join a new groundwater market. The buying and trading system, expected to begin by July 1, will allow farmers under the purview of the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency to fallow their own land and sell groundwater to other users willing to pay more than their crop sales would generate. This small-scale water market is being launched as a pilot project that could eventually serve as a model for the rest of California.
PRESS-TELEGRAM - Jun 19 A project underneath Long Beach Airport that will use stormwater to replenish the water supply received $7.5 million last Tuesday from Los Angeles County supervisors. The project will gather stormwater from the streets of Long Beach and Signal Hill in underground galleries, clean it using machines called hydrodynamic separators, and return it to the groundwater. The endeavor had been long talked about, but had not come to fruition until a grant became available in 2015. Phase 1 of the project, which will have a capacity of 14 acre-feet of water, is underway and is expected to be complete in a few months.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY EXECUTIVE - Jun 21 Retail REIT Simon Property Group is partnering with Electrify America to install a new line of fast-charging facilities at more than 30 of its malls and outlets around the country. Of note, the installations will include the first certified cooled-cable chargers that can provide 150 to 350 kilowatts, a first in the U.S. The products can provide as much as 20 miles of driving range per minute, seven times as quickly as a 50-kilowatt charger. The fast-charging EV stations are slated for properties from coast to coast, including numerous centers in California.
CURBED LOS ANGELES - Jun 25 A plan to allow denser residential development around five Expo Line stations on the Westside could set an important precedent for how Los Angeles might tackle its housing crisis. The Los Angeles City Council’s planning and land use management committee approved an amended version of the Exposition Corridor Transit Neighborhood Plan on Tuesday. Five years in the making, the plan focuses on allowing for taller, mixed-use buildings on major streets and changing zoning to allow housing and offices to be built in industrial areas within a half-mile of the train stations in Palms, Westwood, and West Los Angeles. If approved by the City Council, the plan could lead to 4,400 and 6,000 new housing units and between 9,400 and 14,300 new jobs across the entire plan area by 2035.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL - Jun 18 The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada will consider in September whether to spend $750 million on an 8.7-mile light-rail line that would run primarily along the Maryland Parkway in Clark County by 2025. Less costly options include a $29 million road improvement project and a set of bus rapid transit lanes that could cost up to $335 million. Preliminary appraisals show that $2.8 billion in new housing, dining, retail, and office development could be built around three of the proposed light-rail stops near UNLV, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, and the Las Vegas Medical District.
EAST BAY TIMES - Jun 25 A plan to transform the defunct Vallco Mall in Cupertino into a massive housing complex, complete with shopping and a roof-top garden, is one step closer to breaking ground after clearing its first hurdle under California’s controversial new development law. The project, which would include 2,402 housing units, 1.8 million square feet of office space, and 400,000 square feet of retail, is eligible for the fast-track under SB 35, which requires California cities to approve certain residential and mixed-use projects. City officials had 90 days to review the application and reject it if they found major defects that would make the project ineligible — such as running afoul of the city’s big-picture zoning and planning rules, or failing to include enough affordable housing. Cupertino officials have until September 24 to give the project their final approval.
