Podcast: Future of Housing with Diana Lind

Yes, the rooftop deck near the University of Southern California doesn't create a significant impact under CEQA, as per the People's Park case. But the City of Los Angeles still must find that the project conforms with an old redevelopment plan.

The small North Coast city is seeing an expensive battle over whether to develop downtown parking lots are required by the Housing Element and try to shift housing elsewhere and retain current downtown parking.

If it includes a disposition and development agreement with a specific development program, the answer is yes, according to a San Diego judge.

Populations change even if they don't grow. That's why California needs more housing even though the population is stagnant. 

Altogether the governor signed more than 40 planning and development bills, vetoing only one bill designed to encourage conversion of old office buildings to housing, apparently because off the labor standards contained in the bill.

Legislation includes everything expanding SB 9 to guardrails on builders remedy to clarifying how a housing element can be deemed compliant. About 15 planning and development bills remain on the governor's desk.

The city was already allowing a controversial project to move forward and paying $2.3 millino to the developer in attorneys fees. Now it must subject itself to five years of HCD monitoring and pay $150,000 in attorneys fees to teh state.

San Diego judge rules that Santee couldn't end-run a voter referendum by repealing approval and then passing an emergency ordinance moving the project forward. SB 330 was no help.

Nevada officials want Las Vegas to expand even further, by opening federal land to development. As too many places in California illustrate, that's a recipe for sprawl, but not for a better city. 

The governor has a new infill housing initiative that includes a proposal to use housing as CEQA mitigation. But this play is only partly about housing. It's mostly about getting transportation projects adequately mitigated under SB 743. 

Insurance in wildfire areas is becoming harder to get -- which should be a good thing for the state's growth management policies. But it's getting in the way of meeting the state's housing targets.

In case challenging Flower Growers high-rise proposal, court finds that city properly adopted Appendix G as its CEQA checklist.