In California land use news this week:

  • The Monterey Herald is reporting that Cal American Water has settled with landowner Cemex ahead of its Coastal Commission appearance on Wednesday to seek permission to drill a test well under the City of Marina. The well would go under the sea floor to check if water could be taken from that area for a desalination plant proposed for the Cemex sand mining site in North Marina. Cal Am and Cemex had been on the point of litigation. Marina officials have criticized the plan because they feared that it might worsen saltwater intrusion into groundwater and that, once dug, it might be used permanently for extraction, not just for testing. The Commission's agenda packet as of this writing showed a staff recommendation for conditional approval. For prior coverage see http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3610.
  • The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has proposed to cut two BART stations planned for San Jose and Santa Clara. The station in San Jose, on 28th Street in the Alum Rock area, has been popular with its proposed neighbors, who worked willingly with public officials on a transit-oriented development project. Details via Planetizen at http://www.planetizen.com/articles/node-71983 and in the San Francisco Business Times.
  • The HomeAway vacation rental Web site has sued San Francisco over the city's recently passed law legalizing certain vacation rentals, saying it favors Airbnb over other companies. Carolyn Said reported on the dispute in the San Francisco Chronicle. As she noted, City Attorney Dennis Herrera posted a statement saying he would "vigorously defend" against the suit, and complaining, "HomeAway's challenge pushes a dubious legal theory that the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause somehow prohibits local jurisdictions from making local land use decisions."
  • The VTA issued an environmental assessment on its planned Bus Rapid Transit project along El Camino from Palo Alto to San Jose. See http://www.vta.org/el-camino-brt.
  • Reports of the death of "dinosaur planning" may be exaggerated. The LA Times reported last week on the opening of a partly built first "neighborhood" of a 1200-unit "community" to be known as Park Place, in the enormous planned "New Model Colony" town in Ontario, California. The paper describes it as "the first New Model Colony project to debut since the financial crisis." Economist Gerd-Ulf Krueger told the paper, "The dinosaurs... have come alive."
  • Los Angeles Metro held a groundbreaking on the Purple Line. For initial reactions see the #purpleline Twitter hashtag. Ethan Elkind posted a bittersweet note of celebration. The LA Times reports the line that was once dreamed of as the "subway to the sea" will in fact most likely stop at the VA hospital in Westwood. It's a long if pretty walk from there to the ocean.
  • The Sacramento Bee reported the Kings basketball team released plans for mixed-use residential, commercial and office construction ancillary to their new arena in downtown Sacramento.
  • A Modesto group, Stamp Out Sprawl, started a petition drive to place an urban growth boundary limit on the November 2015 ballot to steer big-box retail stores away from the Wood Colony area. The Modesto Bee has details at http://www.modbee.com/news/local/article3545807.html.
  • The LA Times reported the Zillow real estate site found 47.9% of working-age adults in Los Angeles and Orange Counties live with a roommate or adult family member other than a spouse. On the real-estate-oriented HousingWire site, that story led to a somewhat different headline: "Zillow: Millions of potential houses lost to 'doubling up'". The original Zillow report refers to the doubled-up people as "hidden households."
  • As anyone knows who was at the APA-California convention in September, the Disneyland area of Anaheim could use a smoother transportation setup between the theme parks and convention center, and the many blocks of hotels that serve them. Now Planetizen reports some critics are seeing connections between Disney's political contributions and a proposal for a streetcar in the area.
  • A hearing is set for November 12 on Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approval of the Antelope Valley Area Plan and its EIR, discussed in our recent news feature at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-3603. For plan materials see http://planning.lacounty.gov/tnc/. For the Board of Supervisors agenda see the November 12 entry at http://bos.co.la.ca.us/BoardMeeting/BoardAgendas.aspx. Links to the Board's agenda materials are at http://file.lacounty.gov/bos/supdocs/89590.pdf and include a 118-page draft Statement of Overriding Considerations.
  • An initial hearing was held November 5 on a draft renewable energy ordinance for unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, including some large high desert tracts where large solar arrays have been controversially proposed. See http://planning.lacounty.gov/energy. The Sacramento Bee reports the solar industry is rebounding after losing ground during the home mortgage crisis.
  • Investigative freelancer Darwin Bond Graham writes on his blog that the exclusive city of Piedmont is willing to allow affordable housing in its Housing Element, but principally by encouraging owners of large houses or lots to add second units -- in some cases by re-converting actual former servants' quarters into -- yep, servants' quarters again.
  • The Los Angeles Times reports the statewide plastic bag ban is actually kind of popular.
  • Last week the LA Times reported in detail on seismic protections in the New Wilshire Grand tower.
  • Los Angeles is in a quandary over increasing costs of privately contracted street tree maintenance.
  • Planetizen has a roundup at http://www.planetizen.com/articles/node-71873 of attempts by the City of Lancaster to close its Metrolink station, which serves 400 commuters, based on claims that it brings homeless people to the city.
  • Planetizen picked up a plan to spend $2.8 million developing a rail trail along Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles. See www.planetizen.com/articles/node-71893. And The Planning Report has an interview with Esther Feldman of Community Conservation Solutions about Zev Yaroslavsky's work creating a missing link for walkers in the LA River Greenway Trail.
  • Stockton is officially out of bankruptcy.