News
Governor Newsom signs ‘Housing Crisis Act of 2019’ aimed at speeding up homebuilding
 The Mercury News – October 10
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill this Wednesday aimed at boosting homebuilding in California by capping fees, slashing the time to get new developments approved, and banning local governments from imposing population and housing caps. The bill’s author, state Senator Nancy Skinner, added that a failure to build adequate housing “has resulted in the highest rents and homeownership costs in the nation and has deepened homelessness.” It was one of 25 housing bills signed this week, including Assembly Bill 1482, including measures aimed at boosting construction of “accessory dwelling units,” or granny flats, and laws encouraging stepped-up construction of affordable housing. Senate Bill 330, effective for five years starting January 1, bans housing construction moratoriums, forbids density reductions, and allows demolition of affordable and rent-controlled housing only if the demolished units are replaced.
California will miss emissions goals without drastic action, study warns
San Francisco Chronicle - October 8
According to a new study from the 11th California Green Innovation Index, California would have to reduce carbon dioxide from cars and factories by an average of 4.51 percent every year to meet the goal set by Senate Bill 32, which requires car and factory emissions to be 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80 percent lower by 2050. The year 2017 marked the first time more of the state’s power came from renewable sources like wind and solar than from fossil fuels. But the early success may be deceiving, according to the study, which closely tracked California’s climate policies and their impacts on the economy. Since 2000, the electrical grid has been the only economic sector that has had continuous declines in greenhouse gas emissions. Industry, housing, and transportation recorded reductions of less than 5 percent, but the commercial sector, which includes all businesses not involved in manufacturing or transport, increased emissions 64 percent in the 17 years following the turn of the century.
Del Mar and California Coastal Commission clash over climate change plan
KPBS – October 7
Del Mar’s local coastal plan for future development is up for a review, and there is a difference of opinion about what the plan should say. California Coastal Commission staff are only recommending approval of the plan if the city makes 25 amendments. City officials looked at and rejected the plan, known as "managed retreat," which calls on the city to back away from the ocean when rising ocean levels start flooding city neighborhoods or undercutting local bluffs. Del Mar officials hope adding sand to local beaches will help cope with rising sea levels in the coming years. City officials have stated that the city’s high home value makes it impractical to buy back threatened land from private homeowners.
Modesto’s Frito-Lay plant to employ sustainable fleet of vehicles
The Modesto Bee - October 3
Modesto’s Frito-Lay plant will become the company's first facility to use an entirely sustainable fleet of vehicles, including some of the first electric Tesla semis to hit the road. The move is part of a $30.8-million project at the southeast Modesto facility to reduce its carbon footprint. The multi-pronged plan calls for replacing the whole diesel-powered distribution fleet with zero/near zero-emission vehicles, installing more solar panels and storage, and creating on-site charging stations. The project is funded in part by a $15.4 million grant from the California Air Resources Board, which taps into the statewide cap-and-trade program, designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from major corporations, utilities, and other sources.
City of San Diego concerned with SDSU’s analysis of Mission Valley stadium and campus
The San Diego Union-Tribune – October 7
San Diego State University’s speedy timeline to erect a new football time stadium on land it does not yet own may have hit a procedural speed bump. San Diego’s planning department last Thursday submitted 36 pages of comments in response to the university’s draft environmental impact report for a proposed satellite campus in Mission Valley, concluding that “critical elements” of the document are “inconsistent” with city policy and do not match up with the ballot measure approved by city voters last year. The environmental study, required by state law, considers the effects of the university’s proposed development plan — a campus master plan — for the 132 acres of land it plans to purchase from the city of San Diego. Most notably, the city is “concerned with the underlying methodologies” behind the university’s traffic analysis.
Saving S.F. Bay may mean filling parts of it in, agency says
San Francisco Chronicle – October 3
The state agency created in 1965 to protect the San Francisco Bay voted last Thursday to do something that might seem counterintuitive — to prepare for the threat of sea level rise by making it easier to fill in portions of the bay. The unanimous vote by the Bay Conservation and Development Commission is part of a larger effort to create marshes and restore habitat that can serve as a buffer against rising sea levels. In some cases, this would mean filling what now are shallow waters so that native vegetation can take root and establish itself. The decision comes after four years of study and 50 years after adoption of the Bay Plan, the legislation that put a halt to decades of development that had converted nearly 200,000 acres of the bay into developed land.
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