Commission grants extension for review of potential burrowing owl protections

Allen Matkins – June 21

As detailed in our previous Legal Alert, six conservation groups filed a petition with the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) on March 5, 2024 to request the implementation of legal protections for five populations of the western burrowing owl as a threatened or endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act. If the burrowing owl is granted such protections, it will have far-reaching impacts on development projects in south and central-western California; the San Francisco Bay Area; and the Central, Coachella, and Imperial Valleys. Pursuant to California Fish and Game Code section 2073.5, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) requested a 30-day extension to complete its evaluation, which the Commission unanimously approved at its June 19 meeting. With this extension, the Department’s evaluation is now due July 16, 2024, and the Commission will formally receive the Department’s evaluation and recommendation at its August 14-15, 2024 meeting.

News

Affordable housing construction underway in San Francisco

Patch – June 27

Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Joel Engardio joined housing developers to celebrate the groundbreaking of an affordable housing development in San Francisco's Sunset neighborhood on Wednesday. Construction of a seven-story building with 90 residential units is underway at 2550 Irving St. It is expected to be completed in late 2025 with a lease-up beginning in summer 2025. The site on Irving Street is only the second affordable housing project in District 4 to break ground in the last decade, according to the April 2023 San Francisco Housing Balance Report.

California lawmakers exempt their new office building from state environmental law

Yahoo! News/Los Angeles Times – June 27

Tucked into a sprawling budget plan the California Legislature approved on Wednesday is a last-minute exemption from the state's landmark environmental law that lawmakers granted to themselves. In what they said was a cost-saving measure, Democrats rushed a bill to exempt a $1.1-billion renovation of the state Capitol from the California Environmental Quality Act — a move they hope will expedite the project, which has been tied up in litigation amid concerns from environmentalists and preservationists. As part of a $297.7-billion spending plan the Legislature sent Governor Gavin Newsom, a bill created just days earlier allocates $700 million to the Capitol renovation and exempts the project from the environmental law.

San Diego built more housing last year than it did in the past 17 years

The San Diego Union-Tribune – June 27

Last year, 11,673 building permits were pulled across the county, a 21 percent increase from 2022, said the Construction Industry Research Board. The majority of residential construction was in multifamily buildings, with 9,100 permits, including apartments, condos, and townhouses. There were also 2,573 single-family permits, which includes accessory dwelling units. San Diego County had been permitting around 9,000 to 10,000 homes a year, on average, since 2015. The last time the region crossed the 11,000 mark was back in 2005 when 15,258 residential building permits were issued.

Biden administration awards $85M to ease affordable housing development

Reuters – June 26

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced the award of $85 million in housing funds to 21 state and local governments for a new program aimed at helping them remove barriers to the development and preservation of more affordable housing units. Vice President Kamala Harris and Department of Housing and Urban Development Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman said the awards from HUD's initial Pathways to Removing Obstacles (PRO) to Housing program would help update state and local housing plans, revise land use policies, and streamline the permitting process for new developments. The list of awards includes $6.7 million for Los Angeles County.