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This article is brought to you courtesy of the paying subscribers to California Planning & Development Report. You can subscribe to CP&DR by clicking here. You can sign up for CP&DR’s free weekly newsletter here. American Canyon Annexation Spurs Lawsuit from Developer A Watson Ranch project developer has sued in Napa Superior Court to block a proposed 281-acre expansion of American Canyon's city boundary, arguing it violates a 2008 voter-approved measure barring urban limit line expansion without voter approval through 2030. The disputed annexation, sought by landowners the Hess and Laird families rather than the city, would add to a separate 86-acre expansion already approved on June 1. Although the larger expansion still needs approval from the Napa County LAFCO, the lawsuit seeks to address already approved county and city related tax-sharing and housing-allocation agreements. This dispute follows an earlier, ongoing lawsuit filed by Watson Ranch entities in October accusing the city of breaching development agreements, particularly over delays in extending Newell Drive as a relief route for Highway 29. Budget Trailer Bill Goes After Impact Fees The big budget news on housing was a trailer bill (AB 179) that created a new Cabinet-level housing agency as well as the Housing Development and Finance Committee, which is designed to consolidate consideration of affordable housing funding from different state programs. But the bill also contains a kicker involving impact fees: If a city or county is applying for funding for an affordable housing funding but doesn’t wait impact fees, then the state will reduce the funding by the amount of the fees. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the trailer bill on June 30. State Releases Guidelines to Promote Transit-Oriented Development The Department of Housing and Community Development and the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation has released the 2026 Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines to implement the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Program created by AB 130. The guidelines establish a framework for funding affordable housing and related infrastructure in transit-accessible locations while giving local agencies a new option to mitigate transportation impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act. Under the new program, CEQA lead agencies may contribute to the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Fund, a statewide Vehicle Miles Traveled mitigation bank administered by HCD, instead of pursuing project-specific VMT mitigation measures. HCD will use those contributions to fund affordable housing projects in locations that promote lower driving rates and greater transit use. Fresno Streamlines Approvals for 20% Affordable Developments The Fresno City Council adopted a policy that will allow housing developments that set aside at least 20% of units for low-income renters to enjoy a streamlined approval process, even bypassing review by the Planning Commission and City Council in certain areas. The measure will keep the city in compliance with its state-mandated Housing Element, which outlines how the city will address a housing shortage. Mike Karbassi cast the lone dissenting vote, citing concerns that ministerial approval reduces opportunities for public input and appeals. Failing to adopt the policy, however, would have meant risking losing state funding eligibility or facing litigation from the California Attorney General. Downtown Los Angeles, San Jose Score Poorly on Survey of Global Downtowns A new 2026 survey found that downtown Los Angeles ranks among the least vibrant urban centers in the world, with only about 65% of residents describing it as vibrant compared with more than 80% in cities such as New York City, Chicago, Sydney, and Shanghai. In the same survey, San Francisco ranked seventh for vibrancy nationwide. The Gensler Research Institute City Pulse report highlighted several shared qualities between successful downtowns, including a mix of housing, jobs, shops, and entertainment, walkable streets, attractive public spaces, strong after-hours activity, good lighting, and a sense of personal safety. Researchers also found that thriving downtowns encourage visitors to stay and socialize rather than simply arrive for errands or events and leave. On three aesthetic measures--”beautful,” “memorable,” and “iconic”--downtown San Jose finished dead last among major U.S. cities. Downtown Los Angeles continues to struggle with post-pandemic office vacancies, business closures, and declining foot traffic, with nearly 40% of office space in the Financial District and 30% of retail space sitting vacant. Concerns about safety, along with parking costs and availability, have further discouraged visitors, even as crime is down 10% from last year. For Los Angeles, the report suggests that restoring a critical mass of residents, workers, and businesses will be essential to rebuilding the downtown’s vibrancy. CP&DR Coverage: Fulton on CEQA-Busting Ballot Measure The California Chamber of Commerce initiative revising the California Environmental Quality Act has qualified for the November. If it passes – which in my view is likely – it will fundamentally alter the CEQA process for certain types of projects, including apparently all housing projects. But even if it doesn’t pass, it’s the end of an era. It probably means that the importance of “significance” – and the judgment of lead agencies and their environmental scientists about what’s significant and what’s not – goes away. In fact the whole idea of impact analysis – the crux of both CEQA and NEPA – will go away. In that sense, CEQA as we know it will be dead. Quick Hits & Updates The Trump administration suspended federal funding for Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, citing concerns about financial mismanagement. Federal funding accounts for about 7% of LAHSA’s budget and primarily supports permanent housing subsidies through HUD’s Continuum of Care program, which promotes community solutions to homelessness. The agency warned that losing federal support could jeopardize housing assistance for thousands of formerly homeless residents and increase the risk of people returning to homelessness. A feasibility study found that redevelopment of Alameda Point's 31-acre Main Street Neighborhood North could be financially viable if the city secures between $164 million and $240 million for infrastructure improvements. The estimated costs include about $176 million for backbone infrastructure and site improvements, plus $64 million for Main Street infrastructure, shoreline stabilization, and levee construction, although those costs could be reduced by up to $75 million through phased infrastructure work and grant funding. After talks of rolling back Los Angeles’ “mansion tax”, the Los Angeles City Council approved a $544.3 million spending plan funds, the largest single-year allocation since the measure took effect in April 2023. The plan is the largest single use of Measure ULA funds so far, calling for $381 million toward affordable housing programs and $163.3 million for homelessness prevention programs. A study Measure ULA finds that it creates a sizable hidden cost by suppressing property transactions. California reassesses property values only at the time of sale, so fewer transactions mean fewer reassessments slowing growth in the broader property tax base. The study, led by Daniel Green of Harvard Business School, estimates about 80 percent of Measure ULA revenue is offset by lower future property-tax collections. The California Water Commission approved $268.9 million in conditional supplemental funding for the proposed Sites Reservoir Project in Colusa County, bringing the project's potential state funding through the Water Storage Investment Program to nearly $1.4 billion. The reservoir would provide 1.5 million acre-feet of water storage by capturing excess Sacramento River flows during wet years for use during droughts, while also supporting flood protection, wildlife refuges, recreation, and up to 200,000 acre-feet of emergency drought water supplies. Los Angeles County Metro's $400 million Vermont Avenue bus lane project can proceed without bike lanes for now, denying a preliminary injunction sought by Streetsblog LA editor Joe Linton who argued the proposal triggers Measure HLA, the 2024 law requiring street safety upgrades whenever the city repaves qualifying stretches of road. Palo Alto has adopted zoning changes aimed at revitalizing commercial districts by allowing a broader range of businesses that previously faced zoning barriers to occupy storefronts. The reforms streamline permitting, ease parking requirements, and expand allowable ground-floor uses as the city works to reduce downtown vacancies and adapt to shifts in retail demand. City officials say the changes are helping attract new businesses while preserving restrictions on traditional medical offices and other non-retail uses. San Diego, which has maintained a place in the top ten most expensive cities in the U.S., has fallen to 12th place with median one-bedroom rents dropping 2.2% annually to $2,200 a month. Analysts attribute the slide primarily to a surge in apartment construction, as San Diego County built more multifamily housing per capita than any other California metro and ranked second nationally as a share of total construction, after New York. Oakland home values are at their lowest in a decade according to data from Zillow. Oakland has seen the starkest home value drop among U.S. cities with at least 100,000 residents, tied with Cape Coral, Florida, which was dubbed the worst housing market in America last year. In March the typical home value in Oakland was about $716,000, reflecting a drop of more than $90,000, or 11.4%, after adjusting for inflation. Larger such as emptying downtowns, crime rates and a shift toward the suburbs combined with high mortgage rates have hurt demand for homes in both San Francisco and Oakland. The Urban Institute published a new interactive tool which allows users to explore where and how effectively states and urban areas have invested in transit-oriented development. The study found that better transit leads to higher ridership, and residents of places like New York City, San Francisco, and DC travel on transit more than seven times as frequently as people living in those other regions. It also found that housing near frequent transit sites encourages better ridership, with areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco performing best, each providing transit service within a half mile of at least 90 percent of homes. Humboldt County residents have launched a ballot initiative to ban large industrial warehouses from the county's Coastal Zone, a direct response to a proposed Amazon distribution center in McKinleyville. The measure would cap new warehouse facilities at 20,000 square feet, effectively blocking Amazon's roughly 40,000-square-foot proposal, while exempting marine-dependent industries like fishing and aquaculture. Organizers submitted the measure through Indivisible Trinidad and must collect 4,874 verified signatures from registered county voters before the Board of Supervisors can adopt it or place it on the November ballot.

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Huntington Beach Loses Anti-SLAPP Motion Against State

The original verson of this story incorrectly stated that the location in question is the site of the Bay Meadows racetrack. That was incorrect. Bay Meadows is in San Mateo.

This article is brought to you courtesy of the paying subscribers to California Planning & Development Report. You can subscribe to CP&DR by clicking here. You can sign up for CP&DR’s free weekly newsletter here. Ballot Measure to Curb Local Special Taxes Pulled; Los Angeles ‘Mansion Tax’ Remains Intact After talks of rolling back Los Angeles’ “mansion tax”, the Los Angeles City Council pulled a plan to reform the measure from the November ballot -- which would have exempted new multifamily projects from the tax -- approved a $544.3 million spending plan funds, the largest single-year allocation since the measure took effect in April 2023. Measure ULA has generated more than $1.24 billion in the last three years for affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs. But, critics say it has backfired and discouraged developers from building, effectively reducing availability of apartments and general property tax revenues. In part to neutralize Measure ULA--and reduce local taxes generally--the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association had qualified an initiative for the November ballot that would have capped transfer taxes at 0.11% and retroactively overturned special taxes that passed with less than two-thirds support, which Measure ULA's 58% approval in 2022 would not have met. After negotiation with lawmakers, the Jarvis Association agreed to pull the measure. In exchange, lawmakers agreed to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot raising the voter threshold for future special taxes to two-thirds, while leaving existing taxes like Measure ULA intact. Some critics of Measure ULA have called the outcome the “worst possible scenario.” (See related CP&DR coverage.) Legislators to Place $11 Billion Housing Bond on November Ballot The Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026 will appear on the November ballot, pending formal approval by the legislature and the governor's signature. The $11.25 billion housing affordability measure includes $1.25 billion in self-supporting revenue bonds for the CalVet Home Loan Program and $10 billion in general obligation bonds for affordable housing construction, rehabilitation, and preservation. Only 17% of California households can currently afford a median-priced single-family home, and more than half of renters spend over 30% of their income on housing. The bond is projected to assist over 40,000 Californians with down payment assistance and affordable mortgage financing, while also funding the creation or preservation of affordable rental units and creating thousands of construction jobs. Targeted populations include veterans, seniors, farmworkers, college students, tribal communities, and people experiencing homelessness, and affordable units funded through the measure must remain affordable for at least 55 years. State officials estimate for every $1 invested by the state, an estimated $4 in federal tax credits, local funding, private financing, and resident rents will assist in financing and development. California Forever Seeks Expedited Approvals for Shipyard Project California Forever, the billionaire-backed venture seeking to build a new city on Solano County farmland, is pushing for legislation that would fast-track environmental reviews and ease regulatory hurdles for a planned shipbuilding facility and dense urban development. The legislative push is tied to efforts to land a lease with Saronic Technologies, an Austin-based defense contractor weighing a $3.2 billion autonomous vessel shipyard between California and Texas, where officials recently approved a $211 million tax-abatement package for a competing site. California Forever has hired former Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg to pitch a package of concessions. The new legislation would cap CEQA challenges to 270 days and rely on a 2008 environmental impact report for the shipyard site, allowing Suisun City to annex California Forever's agricultural land if local governments fail to produce sufficient housing. (See related CP&DR coverage.) California Sues Feds to Maintain Vehicle Emissions Standards California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's attempt to roll back the state's vehicle emissions standards, calling the federal actions illegal and dangerous to public health. The Clean Air Act has allowed California to set stricter vehicle emissions standards than federal minimums since the 1970s through a waiver system that has been upheld by administrations of both parties for more than 50 years. The EPA has granted California more than 75 such waivers, and expressly reaffirmed the process under President George W. Bush in 2004 and 2008. Two weeks ago, however, Trump's EPA declared that each of those waivers is now a "rule" subject to congressional review, which the lawsuit argues has no legal basis. Among the specific standards are California's 2013 rules reducing emissions from new cars and light trucks, its 2008 greenhouse gas standards, and a 2024 waiver upholding the state's ban on most gas-powered lawn equipment. The lawsuit argues that overturning these protections would mean "more pollution, poorer air quality, more market uncertainty, and greater health risks" for communities already bearing a disproportionate emissions burden. The EPA declined to comment on the lawsuit. CP&DR Coverage: HCD Supports Midway Rising’s Proposal to Violate San Diego Coastal Height Limit In the wake of two court cases striking down voters’ decision to eliminate a coastal height limit in San Diego, developers of the city’s sports arena site have now taken the position that they can violate the height limit under the Density Bonus Law. And now the California Department of Housing and Community Development has issued a letter that would appear to validate that position. The Midway Rising project would include more than 4,000 new housing units as well as a new sports arena, hotels, and other amenities. The question San Diego posed to HCD was whether the Density Bonus Law, which deals with housing, could override the voter-approved 30-foot height limit even on the non-residential portions of the property, including the new sports arena. HCD responded in the affirmative. Quick Hits & Updates Humboldt County residents have launched a ballot initiative to ban large industrial warehouses from the county's Coastal Zone, a direct response to a proposed Amazon distribution center in McKinleyville. The measure would cap new warehouse facilities at 20,000 square feet, effectively blocking Amazon's roughly 40,000-square-foot proposal, while exempting marine-dependent industries like fishing and aquaculture. Organizers submitted the measure through Indivisible Trinidad and must collect 4,874 verified signatures from registered county voters before the Board of Supervisors can adopt it or place it on the November ballot. The Western Association of Wildlife & Fish Agencies released its Monarch Butterfly Conservation Plan, responding to a dramatic population collapse that has seen monarch numbers fall 86% since the 1980s and hit a record low in 2020. The updated plan spans nine western states, outlines population targets, incorporates new science, and proposes conservation actions aimed at stabilizing the population. The revision follows a December 2024 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to list the monarch butterfly as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Los Angeles County Superior Court rejected United Water Conservation District’s challenge to protections for Southern California steelhead trout. Judge Tiana Murillo upheld the California Fish and Game Commission's listing decision to protect the trout, which has been pushed to the brink of extinction by urban development, water diversions, climate change, and dams like those operated by Ventura-based United Water Conservation District. East Bay lawmakers are moving to block the Trump administration's plan to fund a long-contested coal export terminal in West Oakland. The moves follow President Trump's June 4 announcement directing $75 million toward the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal. The proposed terminal would be able to export up to 10 million short tons of coal annually, with trains passing through West Oakland, a neighborhood that already ranks among the highest in the state for asthma-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to industrial pollution. L.A. County Metro and the city of Los Angeles are planning improvements to the Vermont Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) after at least a decade of planning. Plans include removing some on-street parking and omitting areas for bike lanes. Advocacy group Streets For All has submitted a letter and is considering legal action, claiming that the project does not comply with Los Angeles’ Measure HLA and Mobility Plan. Oakland home values are at their lowest in a decade according to data from Zillow. Oakland has seen the starkest home value drop among U.S. cities with at least 100,000 residents, tied with Cape Coral, Florida, which was dubbed the worst housing market in America last year. In March the typical home value in Oakland was about $716,000, reflecting a drop of more than $90,000, or 11.4%, after adjusting for inflation. Larger such as emptying downtowns, crime rates and a shift toward the suburbs combined with high mortgage rates have hurt demand for homes in both San Francisco and Oakland. San Diego, which has maintained a place in the top ten most expensive cities in the U.S., has fallen to 12th place with median one-bedroom rents dropping 2.2% annually to $2,200 a month. Analysts attribute the slide primarily to a surge in apartment construction, as San Diego County built more multifamily housing per capita than any other California metro and ranked second nationally as a share of total construction, after New York. The Trump administration has suspended federal funding for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, citing concerns about financial mismanagement. Federal funding accounts for about 7% of LAHSA’s budget and primarily supports permanent housing subsidies through HUD’s Continuum of Care program, which promotes community solutions to homelessness. The agency warned that losing federal support could jeopardize housing assistance for thousands of formerly homeless residents and increase the risk of people returning to homelessness. The EPA announced more than $15.3 million in Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup (MAC) grants, with funds split across four categories. Grants are intended to accelerate redevelopment of long-contaminated properties, and include $7 million for environmental assessments, $6.38 million for cleanup activities, $2 million for multipurpose grants, and $500,000 in supplemental revolving loan fund support for the City of Fresno. The Brownfields Program has awarded more than $3 billion in total grant funding since 1995, leveraging over $45 billion in cleanup and redevelopment investment and supporting more than 228,900 jobs.

In a ruling that could significantly broaden the California Environmental Quality Act, the California Supreme Court has ruled that the decision to award a Class 1 categorical exemption to a project– the exemption permitted for “minor alterations” -- turns not on the risk of environmental harm but on the “nature or degree of a structure of facility’s use.”

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This article is brought to you courtesy of the paying subscribers to California Planning & Development Report. You can subscribe to CP&DR by clicking here. You can sign up for CP&DR’s free weekly newsletter here. Imperial County Enacts Moratorium on Data Centers On a unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors, Imperial County will impose a 45-day moratorium on pending and future data center projects, despite three months ago advancing plans for the largest data center in California. Huntington Beach developer Sebastian Rucci’s company Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing has spent over a year seeking approval for a nearly one-million-square-foot AI complex that would require roughly 750,000 gallons of water per day for cooling. Despite months of public assurances from Rucci and IVCM that the project would rely solely on recycled wastewater and not draw from the already strained Colorado River, the company recently sued the Imperial Irrigation District seeking access to 260 million gallons of river water annually, enough for 7,300 county residents use each year. The pause was enacted under an urgency ordinance and can be extended for nearly a year, while a newly formed 19-member advisory committee studies the issue and delivers zoning and policy recommendations by January 2027. (See related CP&DR coverage of 'Lithium Valley' and data centers.) Los Angeles May Exempt Multifamily from Controversial Transfer Tax The Los Angeles City Council moved to request the City Attorney to draft a proposal exempting new apartment buildings in Los Angeles from Measure ULA, or mansion tax. Measure ULA, approved by voters in 2022, imposes a 4% tax on most property sales above $5.3 million and a 5.5% tax on sales above $10.6 million, generating revenue for affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs. Under the proposed amendment, multifamily housing developments would be exempt from the tax if sold within 10 years of construction, a change supporters say would reduce costs for developers and correct a recent decline in apartment construction. The council also unanimously advanced a separate proposal to exempt homeowners affected by the Palisades Fire from paying the ULA tax for five years on property sales dating back to January 2025. (See related CP&DR coverage.) Sacramento County Approves Major Greenfield Development The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved the Upper West Side Specific Plan, facilitating construction of 9,350 homes with over 25,000 residents across roughly 2,000 acres of mostly farmland in the Natomas Basin north of downtown Sacramento. The project has been in development since 2018. The Sacramento City Council voted against the project last year and denied supplying city water infrastructure for the project, so the project may need to rely on the Natomas Mutual Water Company, whose water mostly serves agricultural purposes in the area. Another central point of conflict is a 2002 agreement between the city, Sacramento County and Sutter County that capped total development in the Natomas Basin at 17,500 acres, which city officials say the project violates without proper environmental analysis. Residents appeared to express their support for the project as a means of alleviating housing pressure, while others expressed concerns about potential traffic congestion or wildlife destruction. California Could Suffer Significant Job Losses due to A.I. Artificial intelligence could displace approximately 9.3 million U.S. jobs over the next two to five years, with potential income losses ranging from $200 billion to $1.5 trillion annually depending on the pace of adoption, according to The American AI Jobs Risk Index introduced by Tufts University. California is expected to experience the largest absolute impacts, alongside Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois, with these five states accounting for roughly 40% of AI-related job losses nationwide. The study identifies major technology and innovation hubs as particularly vulnerable, with the San Jose metro ranking first nationally in percentage job losses at 9.9% or 104,664 jobs at risk annually, followed by significant impacts in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area is projected to lose 381,388 jobs, the 2nd-largest displacement of any U.S. metro. Industries facing the greatest disruption include information services, finance and insurance, and professional and technical services, while occupations such as writers, computer programmers, and web designers are among the most vulnerable. The report estimates that occupations at high risk account for $757 billion in annual labor income, with software developers, management analysts, and market research analysts facing the largest aggregate income losses. In contrast, agricultural regions and states with smaller knowledge-sector workforces are projected to experience comparatively limited effects. SCG Accepting Applications for $150 Million in TCC, CRC Grants The Strategic Growth Council released Notices of Funding Availability (NOFA) are open for the Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Round 6 and Community Resilience Centers (CRC) Round 2, totaling $153.4 million in awards between the two programs. TCC will provide approximately $98.4 million in funding across three grant types including planning grants up to $300,000 (two-year grant term), project development grants up to $5 million (two-year grant term), and implementation grants up to $27.5 million (six-year grant term). All TCC Applications are due: Sept. 30, 2026. The CRC program funds the planning, construction, and retrofit of community centers and infrastructure and protocols for climate emergencies. Like the TCC, the CRC focuses on local, neighborhood-level involvement and organization. There will be approximately $55 million available in funding for two grant types including Planning Grants between $100,000 to $500,000 (two-year grant term) and Implementation Grants of $1 million to $10 million (six-year grant term). CRC planning grant applications are due Sept. 4, and implementation grant applications are due Sept. 25. CP&DR Legal Coverage: Judge Stops Builder's Remedy Application in Santa Barbara The battle over a proposed eight-story apartment building behind the historic Santa Barbara Mission is continuing – most recently with a judge’s ruling that the developer did not make a clear enough case for a builder’s remedy solution in correspondence with the City of Santa Barbara. The proposal has generated significant controversy both in Santa Barbara and statewide. First, a law passed last year – SB 158, intended to be a “cleanup bill” for AB 130, the budget trailer bill that exempted infill housing – continued provisions requiring environmental analysis that appeared to apply only to the Santa Barbara project. Then, the developers of the project sued in federal court claiming the law singled their project out. That case is still pending. Now, in a local lawsuit, a Santa Barbara judge has ruled that the developer did not make a convincing case that the city had denied the project in spite of a pending builder’s remedy application. Quick Hits & Updates The House Appropriations Committee approved $875 million in federal funding for public transportation at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The money still must pass through the full congressional appropriations process. LA Metro had sought $2 billion total to execute an ambitious transit plan capable of handling an estimated 1 million additional daily trips during the 16-day Games. USC Price School Ph.D. student Yuquan Zhou won the Western Regional Science Association's Charles M. Tiebout Prize for research that proposes new methods for planners to measure access to essential services according to both location and operating hours. Zhou's "people-based" approach combines anonymized smartphone GPS data, time-varying travel networks, and service operating hours to create a more realistic picture of accessibility than traditional static maps based on Census tracts. Using Los Angeles County as a case study, her research found that conventional location-based measures significantly overestimate real-world access, particularly to services like food and healthcare. Palo Alto's City Council rejected an urgency ordinance that would have immediately shielded the city from the full effects of Senate Bill 79, which will allow denser housing near transit stations effective July 1. Council members voted against the urgency ordinance out of fear it would expose the city to litigation and jeopardize its application for a state pro-housing designation. Instead, SB 79 will operate unchecked in Palo Alto for a two-week window before the city's own exemptions kick in on July 16. Los Angeles County seeks to transform the long-vacant General Hospital building and its surrounding 30.8 acres in Boyle Heights into a mixed-use "healthy village" including affordable and market-rate housing, retail, food halls, clinics and gardens. The 19-story hospital closed in 2008, and the new project is estimated to take roughly 15 years to complete. Current estimates hover around $1 billion to $2 billion, but only $120 million has been secured so far for seismic retrofits and grading work. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood abandoned a proposal to cut transfer taxes on high-end real estate deals, backing down amid pushback over the city's $634 million two-year budget deficit. They introduced "Foreclosure Tax" in its place, a November ballot measure that would close a loophole dating to 1984 by applying a transfer tax to foreclosed commercial and residential properties. The 3% to 6% tax, which exempts single-family homes and small buildings, is projected to generate roughly $67 million annually in its first three years. California and Santa Clara County are suing the Trump administration over a proposed ICE facility on farmland near Gilroy. The lawsuit argues that federal officials bypassed required state and local review, and would strain the limited waste disposal and drinking water infrastructure and threaten the endangered and threatened species that call the farmland home. Though the agency claims the structure would serve only as offices, officials believe the property would also be used for short-term detention of up to 150 people. A ballot initiative that would have allowed 3,000 permanently affordable housing units on roughly one-quarter acre of the site of the Santa Monica Airport will not appear on the November 2026 ballot after organizers failed to secure the necessary number of signatures. Supporters have until August 12 to collect enough signatures for consideration on the 2028 ballot. The airport is scheduled to close that year, and discussions around development will continue as the deadline approaches. The California Transportation Commission rejected Los Angeles' request for a six-year extension on three state-funded mobility projects in Boyle Heights, Skid Row and Wilmington, putting over $100 million in grants at risk of lapsing at the end of June. The CTC declined to place the extension request on its June agenda, with a spokesperson saying the timeline LA sought exceeded what the grant program allows. The city cited staffing and funding shortfalls as potential reasons why it could not meet state-mandated deadlines for the sidewalk, bike lane and traffic-calming projects. The Department of the Interior will pay energy company Invenergy $765 million to scrap our wind leases off the coasts of New York, California and Maine and pivot to develop natural gas power plants in four Midwestern states and geothermal projects in the Western United States. The deal is part of a larger Trump administration effort to stop development of U.S. offshore wind projects and increase domestic fossil fuel production, scrapping policies that support clean energy development. Onni Group has filed an application with the City of Los Angeles to construct twin 67-story residential towers at the site of the Wilshire Courtyard complex near the recently completed D Line Miracle Mile extension. The project includes 2,586 units. They would be among the city’s five tallest buildings and the tallest outside of downtown Los Angeles. San Diego Gas & Electric is proposing constructing a transmission line that would run from southeastern Imperial County to the Orange-San Diego county border, cutting through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The 140-mile Golden Pacific Powerlink is projected to cost $2.3 billion. Opponents warn the project would threaten endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep, 1,500 plant and animal species, dark-sky designations, and cultural sites tied to the Kumeyaay people. The Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria has acquired 450 acres of ancestral land in the Big Chico Creek watershed in Butte County, funded through the California Natural Resources Agency's Tribal Nature-Based Solutions Program. The properties hold cultural significance for the Mechoopda as part of Ótakim Séwi and support salmon recovery, habitat connectivity between Bidwell Park and surrounding open space, and broader Sacramento River watershed restoration.

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear a followup to the Sheetz ruling – essentially choosing not to weigh in on one of the most important issues the justices left hanging as a result of their 2024 decision: whether a broad, mathematical calculation, rather than a project-specific calculation, can be used in determining impact fees.

Facing the possibility of more fines and more losses in court, the Huntington Beach City Council has finally approved its 2021-2029 Housing Element.