The city of Bakersfield reached a settlement December 19 with the California High-Speed Rail Authority in which the rail agency agreed to consider a different route than originally proposed. The L.A. Times reported the new route "travels through the northern section of Bakersfield, arriving at a downtown station a few miles from the existing Amtrak station." The paper quoted the rail authority's spokeswoman, Lisa Marie Alley, as saying the settlement was unrelated to the December 12 decision by the federal Surface Transportation Board saying the California Environmental Quality Act didn't apply to high-speed rail projects. For the STB decision click here, courtesy of the California High-Speed Rail Blog, which advocates for the project. As CP&DR partly noted online last week, the issue of railroad preemption of CEQA has been raised in an implicit conflict between the First District Court of Appeal's Friends of the Eel River v. North Coast Railroad Authority -- which the state Supreme Court has now accepted for review -- and the Third District's Town of Atherton et al v. California High Speed Rail Commission, to which the state Supreme Court denied depublication in October.
Monterey Downs EIR Delayed After Mistaken Release of Water Supply Document
The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Monterey Downs Specific Plan was expected out December 19. But the Monterey Herald reports the previously delayed document has been delayed again, following the unintentional release of a confidential legal document in which outside counsel advised the city of Seaside to address "uncertainties" about water supplies for the project in the EIR. The Monterey Downs project would create a racetrack and surrounding real estate development on a portion of former Fort Ord land.
Cal American Goes Ahead With Test Well
The Monterey Herald reported that California American Water was at work on its desalination test well although the Ag Land Trust and Marina Coast Water District were both suing to stop it. The Coastal Commission gave its permission for the project in November.
Marin County Wins Landfill Expansion Litigation
Marin County has defeated a CEQA challenge to the EIR for expansion of the Redwood Landfill, which receives most of Marin's solid waste. The decision, which followed extensive litigation, was in an unpublished First District appellate ruling, No Wetlands Landfill Expansion v. County of Marin. Among other unpublished holdings, the court found it was acceptable for the project proponents to present an off-site alternative landfill location in unidentified, hypothetical form, though opponents argued they couldn't comment meaningfully on a site that wasn't physically identified to them. It also found the EIR did not fail sufficiently to address sea level rise, groundwater effects, air pollution health effects or greenhouse gas emissions. Marin County's statement on the case is here.
Los Angeles Creates Barriers to Demolitions of Older Buildings
The Shepherd Mullin law firm has noted that, as of 2015, the city of Los Angeles will be imposing new notice requirements for demolitions of most buildings more than 45 years old. Before demolishing such older buildings, property owners must post a notice on the property, write to abutting neighbors, and advise the office of the local City Council member. Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell said on his blog that the ordinance "will go a long way toward protecting non-designated local landmarks and architectural gems that are significant to the rich history in the 13th District." The City Council Web page for the legislation is here.
L.A. Streetsblog panning 'Option 1A' for Glendale-Hyperion Bridge
Writer Joe Linton at L.A. Streetsblog is in full dudgeon over a renovation proposal by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation for the Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct between Silver Lake and Atwater Village. He writes that the currently proposed version of the plan, "Option 1A", jams together bicyclists and pedestrians, redesignating the sidewalks as "shared use paths," in order to keep enough room for four auto lanes. The viaduct project has its own city Web site at http://www.glendalehyperion.com/.
Gate at Paradise Cove is Open Again
The Coastal Commission and State Lands Commission have settled with the Paradise Cove Land Co., owner of a beachside mobile home park where non-resident surfers complained they were being charged $20 "walk-in fees" and blocked from carrying surfboards across the sand. Complaints had included some from members of the Black Surfers Collective. The L.A. Times has details. The agencies' press release is here.
California King Tides Project Documents a Future of High Water
Some of the highest tides of the year washed the Pacific coast at the winter solstice, and a network of cell phone photographers were waiting for them. The California King Tides Project, a partnership of nonprofits and agencies including the Coastal Commission, invited Californians to photograph how exceptionally high "king tides" looked on the waterfront landscape. The project works on the prediction that the current highest tides of the year should look a lot like the ordinary daily tides of the global-warming future. For images see #KingTides on Twitter.
