Search Results

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. Redondo Beach Adopts Housing Element after Years of Tension with State The Redondo Beach City Council unanimously adopted a revised Housing Element Tuesday night in an effort to comply with California housing law and avoid triggering Builder’s Remedy. The new plan replaces the city’s previous proposal for “overlay areas” that allow alternative development uses, instead increasing density on five designated housing sites and removing a sixth site, as well as requiring that 50% of its floor space in these buildings be residential. At South Bay Marketplace, located at Hawthorne Boulevard and 182nd Street, the city approved the largest density increase in the plan, raising allowable residential capacity from 55 to 80 dwelling units per acre while keeping the existing seven-story height limit unchanged. City officials said the revisions were necessary after a California appeals court ruled last year that Redondo’s 2022 Housing Element failed to identify “realistic” sites capable of meeting the city’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment requirement of 2,490 new housing units by 2029. San Diego Finalizes Diverse Package of Development Reforms The San Diego City Council unanimously adopted a 134-item zoning and land-use code update Monday, including wide-ranging updates that soften development rules, loosen rules for Old Town sidewalk cafes, roll back an incentive for building small apartments, ban cannabis outlets from using leaf images in their signage, allow more child care businesses in Miramar and clarify that property owners may have to honor wider setbacks to help fight wildfires. Three controversial proposals were removed prior to the vote, including requirements for some hotels and apartments to upgrade pool heaters, new restrictions on shrubs, and requirements for softer transitions from high-rise housing to low-rise housing and open space. Thirty-one of the code changes apply only to downtown, including more lax rules for farmers markets, rules to preserve old-growth trees, and incentives for buildings with rooftop gardens. The package significantly increases fines that had not been changed since 2006, raising maximum penalties for municipal and building code violations to $10,000 per violation and up to $100,000 annually for abandoned properties. Appeals fees for planning decisions were also raised, though reduced rates will apply to appellants from low-income neighborhoods. Settlement Enables Palisades Tahoe to Proceed with Scaled-Down Base Redevelopment After more than a decade of conflict, conservation groups League to Save Lake Tahoe and Sierra Watch reached an agreement with Alterra Mountain Company and Palisades Tahoe after significantly scaling back redevelopment plans for the base area of the Olympic Valley ski resort near Lake Tahoe. The revised project, which includes 1,500 hotel rooms, 896 lodging units and 222,000 square feet of commercial space, cuts the number of bedrooms by 40% from the most recent proposal and nearly 60% from the original 2011 plan, reduces commercial space by 20%, permanently protects sensitive open space near Shirley Canyon, and eliminates the controversial indoor waterpark in favor of a smaller Mountain Adventure Center. The agreement prevents Alterra from pursuing additional development on the property for 25 years while maintaining plans for 296 workforce housing beds for resort employees. Conservation groups said the scaled-back project could reduce projected daily vehicle trips by as much as 38%, lowering anticipated environmental impacts on the Lake Tahoe Basin. In exchange, the conservation groups agreed to withdraw their 2024 lawsuit, pending county approval of the revised proposal. HCD Drafts Guidelines for Conversion of Commercial Sites to Housing The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) released Draft AB 2011 Guidelines designed to make it easier to build housing on commercial sites near jobs and transit. AB 2011, known as the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act, first took effect in 2023 and has since been updated through additional legislation in 2025 and 2026. The law aims to address California’s housing shortage by allowing eligible housing developments to go through a faster, streamlined approval process instead of lengthy discretionary reviews. The guidelines clarify requirements and explain areas of the law that have previously caused confusion in an effort to support more consistent implementation across California cities and counties. CP&DR Coverage: Cities Contemplate Massive Upzoning Wrought by SB 79 The largest upzoning in the history of California will drop on select cities July 1. Collectively, SB 79 will increase the state’s zoned capacity by several million units. Some cities will gain so much that, upon full build-out, their populations could more than double. The point of SB 79 is to force transit-heavy cities statewide to simultaneously accept more housing and sidestep anti-housing sentiment. It does, however, give cities some latitude through TOD Alternative plans, which allow cities to reduce densities in certain areas by up to 50% and increase them in other areas by up to 200% as long as the total new capacity does not diminish. While most affected cities appear to be either ramping up to comply with the law or quickly submitting TOD Alternative plans, the Los Angeles City Council stands in opposition to SB 79, and the board of L.A. Metro voted against implementing it. Quick Hits & Updates The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Association of Bay Area Governments adopted Plan Bay Area 2050+, a long-term regional plan focused on transportation, housing, economic resilience, and environmental sustainability through 2050. Over 17,600 Bay Area residents and other organizations contributed to the plan’s development, which outlines 35 strategies aimed at making the region more affordable, connected, equitable, and climate-resilient, including investments in affordable housing, improved public transit, and protections against sea level rise and wildfires. The Imperial County Board of Supervisors approved a new Lithium Valley Construction Workforce Ordinance establishing labor, hiring and workforce standards aimed at ensuring local residents benefit from jobs created by future lithium industry development. The ordinance requires covered projects to submit workforce plans with local hiring goals, apprenticeship participation, and strategies to support small businesses and disadvantaged workers. (See related CP&DR coverage.) The Los Angeles County Supervisors voted unanimously to advance a housing ordinance update for unincorporated areas, including provisions that expand affordable housing incentives, create a new “Acutely Low Income” category for households earning under 15% of area median income, and require 1:1 replacement of demolished affordable units. The city of San Diego and the San Diego Community College District will evaluate the potential redevelopment of a 62-year-old arena downtown that has been vacant since 2024. City leaders and community partners envision transforming Golden Hall into a space with classrooms, museums, arts programming, and public gathering areas as part of a broader effort to revitalize the Civic Center. The Santa Maria City Council unanimously adopted the Santa Maria 2045 General Plan, a long-term development strategy designed to accommodate nearly 60,000 new residents and over 16,000 housing units by 2045. The plan emphasizes higher-density housing, downtown development, and annexing additional land while balancing growth with agricultural preservation and community needs like a new high school. The council also approved applying for a roughly $30 million grant from the California Department of Transportation to build a new transportation loop for pedestrians and cyclists. President Trump appointed six new members to the Presidio Trust Board a month after removing the Biden-appointed trustees, selecting several political allies and prominent business figures, including Lynne Benioff, who previously served on the board during Trump’s first term. Trump previously threatened to significantly reduce Presidio operations, even though the Presidio Trust largely funds itself through real estate and hospitality revenue rather than federal appropriations. A report from the California Policy Lab finds that hundreds of thousands of residents have left California in recent years in search of more affordable housing in other states. The study found that people who leave tend to have lower credit scores, more student and auto debt, and slightly weaker financial profiles than those who stay, however within about seven years of moving are about 11% more likely to own a home than similar people who remained in California. Most Americans prefer less dense, more spread-out communities. About 55% of adults say they would rather live where homes are larger and farther apart, even if schools, stores, and restaurants are several miles away, according to a Pew Research study. 44% prefer smaller homes in walkable neighborhoods with nearby services. Nearly 59% of white adults prefer spread-out housing, compared with 69% of Asian adults who prefer denser, walkable areas, while Black and Hispanic adults are more evenly split. Republicans favor larger, more distant housing (71%), while Democrats are more likely to prefer smaller homes closer to services (60%). Jared Huffman of the House Natural Resources Committee has launched an investigation into the Trump administration’s involvement in discussions about a Southern California water district potentially acquiring two dams on the Eel River in Northern California. Los Angeles issued the Homes for L.A. Notice of Funding Availability, the first large-scale deployment of funds generated by Measure ULA, which adds a 4 percent property transfer tax on all real estate over $5.3 million and a 5.5 percent tax on sales over $10.6 million. The action will allow the Los Angeles Housing Department to assign $361 million to create over 5,200 units across 80 projects.

The California Chamber of Commerce initiative revising the California Environmental Quality Act seems sure to appear on the November ballot.

A San Diego judge has hit Huntington Beach with a $160,000 fine – with $50,000 per month going forward – for not adopting its housing element in time.

Located along 1.7 miles of southern California’s coast and just 22 miles north of San Diego, the 3.5 square mile beach community of City of Solana Beach (population approximately 13,000) is home to a lifestyle defined by beautiful beaches, active parks, a thriving arts scene, and a walkable downtown. The entire City of Solana Beach is within the Coastal Zone. The community is known for bicycling along the scenic Highway 101, surfing, beaches and outdoor activities, neighboring lagoons and open spaces, and the Cedros Design District and Highway 101 District comprised of boutiques, galleries, cafes and shops, and restaurants. The City seeks a creative, innovative, hands-on collaborative and approachable team builder, leader and Executive Team member as Planning Director for finding efficiencies; maintaining / improving the City’s high level service expectations; addressing changing state legislation / regulations; working with neighboring cities; oversight of the processing of coastal-related projects; handling department and inter-department entitlement reviews; and achieving the City Council’s priorities. The typical experience, education, knowledge and abilities to serve as the Planning Director includes a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in urban planning or closely related field, at least 10 years of increasing responsible municipal planning experience including at least 5 years of supervisory (staff and consultants) and administrative experience. It is highly desirable to have a master’s degree, AICP certification, and coastal city experience. The salary range is $164,216 to $255,132 with placement based on experience and qualifications. The City provides an excellent benefit package. For this exciting career opportunity, please confidentially apply through our website by June 12, 2026 at: Peckham & McKenney PeckhamAndMcKenney.com/searches Resumes are acknowledged within two business days. Call Tony Dahlerbruch at (866) 912-1919 for more information. A detailed brochure is also available at www.PeckhamAndMcKenney.com.

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. San Francisco to Adopt SB 79 Local Alternative San Francisco is moving forward with a local alternative to California’s new transit-oriented housing law, Senate Bill 79, which takes effect July 1. The state law requires taller and denser housing within a half-mile of transit stops, but San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a modified plan backed by Mayor Daniel Lurie that exempts large parts of the city. Officials estimate about 80% of parcels in the city fall within SB 79 transit zones, but argue San Francisco already has high housing capacity due to earlier zoning reforms. Pro-housing groups such as SF YIMBY and GrowSF say the exemptions for “low-resource” neighborhoods where officials say residents face higher risks of displacement could limit thousands of potential homes in transit-rich areas as the city struggles to meet a state requirement to permit 86,000 new homes by 2031. (See related CP&DR coverage.) Los Angeles to Consider Package of Streamlining Reforms Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is advancing a package of reforms aimed at speeding up housing construction and making it easier to open businesses in Los Angeles. The initiative focuses on reducing delays, simplifying permits, and modernizing city approval systems to address the city’s severe housing shortage. Speaking at the Department of Water and Power, Bass said Los Angeles needs “structural change” in how housing and business projects are approved. The reforms include launching the city’s first standard pre-approved home plan program with an online portal for single-family homes. The city will direct LADWP to reduce delays in power connections and create a project tracking system for developers and applicants. Developers have criticized the department for delaying projects. The reforms include implementation of AI tools to connect city departments into one digital permitting system so reviews can happen simultaneously instead of sequentially. State Proposes VMT "Mitigation Credits" as In-Lieu Fees The California Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation released draft rules for a new statewide program that would let developers pay into a fund to offset transportation impact from new projects under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The program would allow developers to buy vehicle miles traveled "mitigation credits" instead of relying only on project-specific traffic reduction measures. The money would help fund affordable housing projects in transit-friendly and infill areas, based on the idea that residents in these locations drive less than average. Affordable housing projects funded through the program would be required to remain affordable for at least 55 years. Credit prices would vary widely by region, ranging from about $1,515 per daily vehicle mile reduced in parts of Madera County to $6,682 in the Santa Barbara region, with most areas falling between $2,000 and $4,000. (See related CP&DR coverage.) LAO Report Assails High Speed Rail Business Plan A new report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office criticizes the California High-Speed Rail Authority for lacking transparency in its latest business plan. The report says the agency failed to clearly disclose assumptions about relocating stations in Merced and Bakersfield, which could significantly affect costs and planning. The 171-mile Merced-to-Bakersfield segment boasts a potential cost of $34.76 billion, and is predicated on changing the Merced and Bakersfield stations without specifying how. The HSRA board has delayed a vote on the 2026 business plan on grounds that it may violate state law due to a lack of required details on costs, timelines, and how the full San Francisco–Los Angeles system will be completed. The board, which is facing widespread criticism, will consider the plan on May 20th and procure the finalized version by June 1. CP&DR Coverage: Cities Consider Warehouse Restrictions Amid Concerns About Tariffs As the global economy has wobbled in the face of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, the California logistics industry has followed suit. The promise of jobs and economic development has pushed jurisdictions to embrace warehouses by the millions of square feet -- totaling over 1.17 billion square feet of warehouse space in Southern California alone and sprawling further into desert territories. Meanwhile, local opponents remain vigilant, citing concerns of environmental damage and job insecurity that may follow such expansion. The tension between expansion and restriction plays out against the backdrop of 2024’s AB 98 (and a 2025 cleanup bill, SB 415), requiring jurisdictions to impose buffer zones between warehouses and sensitive uses, create truck routes, use solar power, and adopt a host of other measures designed to reduce pollution and lessen other impacts on residential neighbors. Quick Hits & Updates Environmental groups are asking a judge in Oakland to stop a major expansion of Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, arguing the project was approved without adequate environmental and public health review. Three lawsuits claim the Port of Oakland violated state environmental law and is relying on outdated data to justify a large modernization plan that would add 16 new gates, a roughly 55% increase in capacity. Eureka City Council will consider approving $50 million in bond financing for two of the city’s largest affordable housing projects this week. One proposal would allocate $20 million for the eaRTH Center Apartments, a 46-unit affordable housing mixed-use building with a transit hub; the second would provide $30 million for the Green Phase Apartments, which is part of a larger redevelopment plan expected to replace 106 existing units with 256 new ones. A state judge has ruled that a Trump administration executive order does not override state environmental and regulatory laws in a dispute over oil pipeline operations off the Central Coast. The decision upholds a state order blocking Sable Offshore Corp. from restarting a pipeline system that closed in 2015 after a major spill until it complies with California permitting rules and other legal requirements. According to the 2026 State of the Air report, 82% of California residents live in counties affected by unhealthy air, as compared to 44% nationwide. Of the fifteen counties most impacted by smog last year, eight were in California. Los Angeles remains the most ozone-polluted metro area in the nation, and has ranked worst for ozone in 26 of the 27 years the ALA has conducted the study. Despite building over 677,000 new housing units statewide in the past six years, demand for housing has increased due to demographic change, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. As the number of people sharing a household has been falling over the past five years, more units are needed to house the same number of people. Despite new construction and higher incomes, the study estimates that 14% of homeowners and 28% of renters spend more than half of their income on housing. Brisbane, a city of fewer than 5,000 on the San Francisco Peninsula, is considering a major redevelopment that could nearly double its housing supply and significantly reshape its shoreline. The 684-acre plan proposes about 1,800 to 2,200 homes, up to 7 million square square feet of non-residential space, over 100 acres of new parks, and transit-oriented development near the Caltrain station on the edge of the San Francisco Bay. The 2026 Draft Specific Plan is scheduled to be released the week in May, with the Planning Commission review expected to begin in mid-June. A recent study by SmartAsset found that nine out of eleven American cities with the highest salaries needed to live comfortably are in California. The study used the cost of necessities such as housing, groceries, utilities, and transportation and discretionary costs and the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, assuming 50% of your post-tax income goes to needs, 30% to your wants, and 20% gets set aside for the future. The average cost of living in the top 10 most expensive cities hovers between $130,000 and $150,000 for single adults, and over $400,000 in some places for families. While New York had the highest individual salary needed to live comfortably, the rest of the top-5 consist of San Jose, Irvine, Anaheim, and Santa Ana. A January 2026 study argues against the common assumption that restrictive regulations limiting housing supply are to blame for lack of affordable housing. The study found that even major deregulation leading to large increases in market-rate construction would take decades to significantly improve affordability in high-cost U.S. cities. Instead, they argue that rising inequality and uneven demand growth across regions and income groups are the primary drivers of worsening affordability. The study concludes that relying on supply-side deregulation alone would deliver benefits too slowly and insufficiently for cost-burdened households. The Pasadena City Council unanimously adopted most elements of the “Reconnecting Pasadena” plan for redeveloping the 50-acre "710 Stub" site, a former freeway project area left undeveloped after the 2017 cancellation of the 4-mile extension connecting the 710 to the 210. Approved items include a goal of about 1,800 housing units along with transit and infrastructure changes in the unused patch. California’s Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has proposed new wildfire “Zone Zero” landscaping rules that establish a “Safety Zone” around homes in high fire-risk areas where flammable materials such as plants, mulch, and grass, would be prohibited.

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.

Six months after it came, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Sheetz case is beginning to have an impact on land use planning in California. But – typical of Supreme Court rulings these days – Sheetz leaves a lot of question unanswered and practicing planners and land use lawyers are still wondering, or maybe hoping, that future court rulings will clarify things. Sheetz overturned California’s longstanding Ehrlich doctrine, which said that if exactions and impact fees are adopted as part of a legislative decision such as a General Plan update they don’t have to follow the “rough proportionality” rule of the so-called Nollan/Dolan legal doctrine. That doctrine, which emerged from the U.S. Supreme Court rulings in the Nollan and Dolan cases, says that exactions must be both reasonably related and roughly proportional to the impact of a development . But California had stubbornly held on to the Ehrlich doctrine, which constituted an exception to the rule. The Sheetz case – involving a traffic impact fee imposed on a homeowner in El Dorado County – struck down the Ehrlich doctrine. (CP&DR’s coverage of the Sheetz ruling can be found here.) Unfortunately, the court didn’t say what California jurisdictions should do instead, which led to a wide variety of interpretations. More than one planner has reported that, starting the day after Sheetz was issued in April, developers started calling up and saying they didn’t have to pay impact fees anymore. The big question is whether California’s method of calculating fees – essentially by using an average – conforms to the Sheetz ruling. As we explained last spring here, the typical exaction or impact fee regime spreads the cost of infrastructure and other impacts evenly across all development – essentially dividing the cost by the number of units (or the square footage) to arrive at a number. This is essentially what El Dorado County did in the Sheetz situation. But are averages okay? Or must cities and counties actually engage in what the Supreme Court has called an ‘individualized determination” for, say, every single home or building in the entire jurisdiction – a huge departure from the past practice of averaging? At the California Chapter, American Planning Association, conference in Riverside last month, several practitioners had some preliminary answers. But everybody agrees that more clarification from the U.S. Supreme Court – or other courts in California – would help a lot. “What we don’t know is whether … in 3-4 years we’ll get a new clarification ,” said Teifion Rice-Evans, a managing principal with EPS. The consensus was that there’s probably some middle ground between the current practice of averaging and the “individualized determination” the Supreme Court might have in mind. “The question is whether a permit condition imposed on a class of properties must be tailored with the same degree of specified as a permit condition that targets a particular development,” said Lufti Kharuf, an attorney with Best Best & Krieger. Referring to a concurring opinion by Justice Neil Gorsuch, Kharuf added: “Gorsuch suggested yes, but no other justice joined him.” Among the suggestions from the panel were:

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. Modesto to Expand Sphere of Influence by Over 12,000 Acres Modesto will move forward with the most aggressive growth option for its 2050 general plan, expanding the city’s sphere of influence by about 12,240 acres. City officials argue that growth is needed to increase revenue as Modesto’s general fund lags behind neighboring cities, $153.3 million in 2022 vs. $311 million in Bakersfield and $255.8 million in Stockton. Residents of Wood Colony and leaders in Salida fear the expansion could lead to annexation of historic agricultural land and parts of neighboring areas. Critics also question whether such large-scale growth is necessary given California’s slow population growth and demographic trends. The City Council approved the expansion on a 5-1 vote. State Park System to Establish Three New Parks in Central Valley California is aiming to establish three new state parks in the Central Valley in what would be the largest state expansion of the park system in decades. The three parks would include Feather River Park in Yuba County, San Joaquin River Parkway near Fresno, and Dust Bowl Camp in Bakersfield, bringing the total number of state parks to 283, the highest of any state. The initiative aims to provide recreation and preserve history in communities that have historically had limited access to parks. The expansion is part of the broader “State Parks Forward” initiative, which seeks to grow the state’s 1.6-million-acre system and add 30,000 acres by 2030. Officials say the effort supports the state’s goal of conserving 30% of its land and coastal waters by the end of the decade, and the plan will now move into a public engagement and approval process before final decisions are made. Los Angeles Mayor Proposes New Climate Action Plan The City of Los Angeles is considering a new Climate Action Plan outlining how Los Angeles will reduce emissions and adapt to climate change, including doubling local solar power by 2030, transitioning city buses away from fossil fuels, and cutting greenhouse gas emissions at major hubs like the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles International Airport. The plan sets goals for water use, addressing risks from extreme heat, and expanding green spaces and includes 14 objectives and over 50 actions, “designed to deliver concrete, measurable climate outcomes.” Key goals include reaching 100% renewable energy by 2035, fully electrifying city buses by 2028, and installing 120,000 EV chargers by 2030. The city also plans to boost sustainable aviation fuel use, ban new oil and gas drilling, and phase out existing extraction. Water initiatives include recycling projects and increasing local water reliance to 70% by 2035 while cutting per-person usage. CP&DR Coverage: New Laws Lead to Flurry of High-Rise Proposals A recent confluence of new laws and economic conditions has resulted in high-rises being proposed, approved, and built in some unusual places. With the gradual resurgence of downtown areas after the pandemic, developers have looked to create towers in relatively low-rise areas -- as many as 24 in Beverly Hills, a half-dozen in Santa Monica, a 23-story tower near Pacific Beach in San Diego, a 22-story tower in San Francisco's Outer Sunset, and notably, a 25-story, 800-unit tower in SF's Marina District. With the overwhelming demand for new housing, some of these projects may come to fruition if they can survive the backlash. Quick Hits & Updates The Trump administration will pay $885 million to two energy companies, including Golden State Wind, to abandon offshore wind leases, such as a planned project off Morro Bay in California. In exchange, the company has committed to invest up to $765 million in a U.S. based liquefied natural gas facility. Officials say the agreements are part of a broader effort to move away from offshore wind, which the administration argues is heavily subsidized and unreliable. California is joining the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest environmental network, bringing together governments and organizations to advance solutions that protect ecosystems, wildlife, and communities. California is one of the first subnational governments to join the organization’s effort to expand tribal stewardship, scale nature-based solutions, build climate resilience, and protect marine ecosystems. Redwood City civic leaders have submitted thousands of signatures to qualify a November ballot measure that would impose stricter rent control and new landlord fees to fund a tenant protection program. The “Fair and Affordable Housing Ordinance”, which would apply to all buildings constructed before 1995, would cap annual rent increases at 5% or 60% of inflation, require relocation payments for certain evictions, and fund tenant protections through per-unit fees on landlords. The Campbell City Council has moved to close a loophole in California’s Starter Homes Revitalization Act that had allowed developers to replace occupied single-family homes with multifamily projects. The council voted to require that new single-family homes be built when existing homes are demolished, and now residents are considering legal action against 108 already-approved units. The law previously defined “vacant” as lots without usable structures but does not clearly say when the property must become vacant, a gray area that critics argue has allowed developers to buy and demolish existing homes to qualify for higher-density projects. A Los Angles couple has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming the historic designation of Marilyn Monroe’s final residence is an unconstitutional taking of private property. Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank, who purchased the property for $8.35 million in 2023, argue the city reversed previously approved demolition permits under public pressure and later declared the home a historic-cultural monument, effectively preventing them from using or redeveloping it. They claim the decision violates the Fifth Amendment by turning their property into a public attraction without compensation. A proposed $700 million solar project in near Soda Mountain Solar in the Mojave Desert has received state approval after nearly two decades of delays and environmental opposition. The California Energy Commission voted unanimously to clear the 2,670-acre project, citing its role in helping California reach 100% clean electricity by 2045 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The project still requires approval from the federal Bureau of Land Management before construction can begin. A new report from Circulate finds California Density Bonus Law was used to approve over 140,000 affordable homes between 2021 and 2024, and it was used 10 times more than every other housing streamlining law combined in 2024. In the same year, Bonus Law was approved for use in 47% of all homes in multifamily projects and 78% of homes in completely affordable projects. Bonus Law contains incentives for builders who include permanently affordable homes in new projects, giving developers permission to build up to twice the number of units that zoning would allow if they provide enough affordable units. New campaign finance disclosures reveal that Cloverdale Councilmember Todd Lands, who is set to weigh in on the largest land-use action in the city’s history, received major contributions from individuals tied to powerful real estate interests. His position on the Sonoma County Airport Land Use Commission means he will be asked to weigh in on the Revised Esmeralda Specific Plan, planned to be built adjacent to the Cloverdale Municipal Airport. The development includes 605 housing units and 177 acres of open space along the Russian River. While no specific builders have been chosen yet, the plan would create the zoning and regulatory framework for major future development. Research from UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies analyzes California’s definition of transit stops, and how adjusting the definition of where the stops themselves begin and end could create more opportunity to take advantage of housing bonuses. Currently municipalities count only the precise area of the station, but researchers argue that considering the surrounding land could make over 1.3 million additional acres eligible for bonuses. No city or agency currently uses this broader definition, but state law doesn’t explicitly prohibit it.

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.

Subscribers -Log In to read the CP&DR Vol. 41 No. 4 April 2026 Report

Development Services Director City of Oceanside, CA