California Planning & Development Report back issues from Monday, April 1:
March's statewide ballot proved to be a popular place to raise money and make budget decisions. (In brief).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... March's statewide ballot proved to be a popular place to raise money and make budget decisions, and voters can expect to make similar decisions in November. In March, 57% of voters approved Proposition 40, which, at $2.6 billion, is the largest parks and environment bond ever ...
The eight-year battle. (In brief).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... The eight-year battle over reuse of the Tustin Marine Corps base appeared to be drawing to a close in March. The Navy, which owns the 1,600-acre site, transferred 1,000 acres to the City of Tustin. It plans extensive residential and commercial development. The Rancho Santiago Community ...
The Belmont Learning Complex. (In brief).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... The Belmont Learning Complex in downtown Los Angeles may get built yet. The Los Angeles Unified School District board voted in mid-March to complete the half-built high school. In January 2000, the district suspended work on the 34-acre campus designed to serve 4,600 high school ...
A 572-home subdivision. (In brief).(Glendale City Council rejects new housing project)(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... A 572-home subdivision proposed for the Verdugo Mountains was unanimously rejected in March by the Glendale City Council. Area residents had rallied in opposition to the "Oakmont View V' project, which called for building luxury homes on steep hillsides above existing neighborhoods. ...
City of Los Angeles voters. (In brief).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... City of Los Angeles voters could decide no fewer than three proposals to carve new cities out of the existing city this November. Separate proposals for secession of the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood and the harbor area all could appear on the ballot at the same election. In ...
A permit for a gravel mine on federal land. (In brief).(opposed by Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors)(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... A permit for a gravel mine on federal land in the Soledad Canyon, just outside the City of Santa Clarita, was denied unanimously by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in late February. The decision cheered city officials and residents, who ...
Groundbreaking for the University. (In brief).(University of California Merced)(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... Groundbreaking for the University of California, Merced, campus has been postponed from May until September because of a lawsuit filed by three environmental groups. The groups say ...
Water quality regulators. (In brief).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... Water quality regulators have begun reviewing Central Valley farms' longstanding exemption from the state Clean Water Act. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, which has jurisdiction over the valley and foothills from Redding to Fresno, announced in March it would ...
The Southern California Association. (In brief).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... The Southern California Association of Governments has hired Calthorpe Associates to lead a six-county "growth visioning" effort. The project will attempt to bring together government agencies and private enterprise to address ways to ...
Slow-growth advocates win elections: Proposed El Toro airport loses again; Big boxes find mixed results.(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002; ... Slow growth advocates won eight of 14 easily classified local land use ballot measures in the March primary election. However, development supporters won elections in some long-time strongholds of slow growth, including Napa County and the City of Scotts Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains ....
Players in Endangered Species Act enforcement become as important as the law. (Insight).(Column)
Apr 01, 2002; ... The Interior Department has announced plans to withdraw temporarily "critical habitat" designations for 19 different species of salmon and steelhead throughout the West. The March revelation came in the context of a federal judge's decision to order economic impact analyses of the critical ...
Central Valley chokes while regulators point fingers. (Environment Watch).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002; ... Quietly, while no one seemed to be paying much attention, the Central Valley has become one of the smoggiest places in the nation. Kern, Fresno and Tulare counties rank third, fourth and fifth among those counties that exceeded federal ozone standards the most days from 1997 to 1999, ...
Petaluma marks 30 years of growth control. (Local Watch).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 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 ...
Cities pressure San Francisco to repair Hetch Hetchy. (Public Development).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002; ... Worried about water reliability and feeling neglected, Bay Area water agencies that get water from San Francisco's Hetch Hetchy system are taking the situation into their own hands. The agencies are working with state lawmakers on various approaches that would force San Francisco to repair ...
State Supreme Court holds the line on takings law: Court bolsters Ehrlich decision, defers to city on matter of policy. (Legal Digest).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... In its first takings case decision in three years, the state Supreme Court has upheld a San Francisco law that regulates the conversion of residential hotel rooms to tourist use. In a 4-3 decision based largely on its 1996 Ehrlich decision, the court ruled that exactions that are part of a ...
Formation of extra-territorial district for water system is upheld. (Assessment Districts).(Solano County)(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... The controversial formation an assessment district that includes territory outside the water district that will receive the money has been upheld by the First District Court of Appeal. The court rejected arguments that Solano County manipulated the formation and election processes to ...
Water connection charge is ruled exempt from election requirement. (Proposition 218).(Shasta Community Services District)(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... A water connection fee charged by a special district is a development fee not subject to the constraints of Proposition 218, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled. However, a "fire suppression" assessment levied by the same district is subject to Proposition 218 and required ...
Court rules water treatment plant not exempt from local ordinances. (Zoning).(Santa Cruz County)(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002 ... A public agency's proposed water treatment plant is subject to local zoning and building ordinances, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled. The court held that the Government Code exemption to local zoning for "facilities for the production, generation, storage or transmission of ...
Property owners reposition vacant offices. (Trends).(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002; ... Remember the "see-through" office building phenomenon that hit Houston during the mid 1980s and then Los Angeles in the early 1990s? Well, it's back. This time, it is the Bay Area that is afflicted with empty office buildings. For anyone who has followed the economy during the ...
Train moves New Urbanism forward. (Places).(architecture of Del Mar Gold-Line Station)(Brief Article)
Apr 01, 2002; ... Welcome to Celebrity Architectural Boxing. In this corner is the reigning champion, the New Urbanism. (Cheers.) Although he looks older than his years, this youngster is a good citizen when it comes to walkable streets, parks, open spaces, human scale and contextualism. (Yay!!) On the ...
Q & A: Dawn Serpa.(Surland Companies)(Interview)
Apr 01, 2002 ... Dawn Serpa is president of The Surland Companies, a private 13-year-old residential and commercial developer that builds 100 to 200 houses per year. It is currently building Redbridge in Tracy. a 450-home project that mixes an array of housing sizes and styles in one subdivision, and plans ...
Complete results of local election in March. (Election).(Statistical Data Included)
Apr 01, 2002 ... Alameda County * Oakland. $59 million bond to pay for zoo, museum and science center expansion and renovation. Measure G -- Yes: 40,099(75.0%), No: 13,332(24.9%). Alameda and Contra Costa counties * East Bay Regional Park District. 12-year tax ...