Latest News
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the news items cited here do not necessarily represent the opinion of Catalysts for Local Control. We try to present a balanced picture of the news on the subject of housing and legislation.
Investors are gobbling up homes in one of California’s last ‘affordable’ regions
By Ariana Bindman
March 4, 2024
California’s Inland Empire is the type of place that most people drive through and quickly forget about.
Flanked by fading strip malls and Amazon warehouses, the arid region, which includes San Bernardino and Riverside counties, is an often overlooked part of Southern California that supposedly provides one of the last vestiges of affordable housing in the state. Recent data, however, suggests this may no longer be true.
Frustration with single-party Democratic rule is rising in California
By Zachary Faria
February 28, 2024
Californians are not feeling all the prosperity that California Democrats are often boasting about, and they are letting them know about it in a variety of ways.
Despite mailing ballots to all registered voters and moving its primary date up in the presidential calendar, California is currently on track for the lowest voter turnout in a primary in its history.
Opinion: Proposition 1 Is a Policy Disaster That Won’t Put a Dent in Homelessness
By Luke Tasker
Feb 25, 2024
Proposition 1, the “Behavioral Health Services Program and Bond Measure, is a policy disaster. From funding involuntary treatment to gutting county programs, the measure fails to even put a dent into the homelessness crisis while actively worsening conditions for mental health. It’s a bloated, cruel, and ineffective bill masquerading as a necessary reform.
State wants to limit Huntington Beach’s development authority
By MICHAEL SLATEN
February 24, 2024
A San Diego Superior Court judge heard arguments Friday over whether she should suspend some of Huntington Beach’s development authority, which could prevent the city from issuing building permits and making zoning changes, as part of the state’s lawsuit to get the city to build more housing.
“The city is standing in the way of the entire region meeting its housing need,” Deputy Attorney General Matthew Struhar said during oral arguments. “Because the city is doing that, the law requires accountability.”
California housing lawsuit making ‘political statement,’ Huntington Beach says
SAM RIBAKOFF
February 23, 2024
The city of Huntington Beach argued in a San Diego courtroom on Friday that California is trying to make a “political statement” with their request to kickstart the approval of building affordable housing in line with state laws as temporary relief in their lawsuit against the city.
California’s feud with Orange County’s famous coastal town over its housing laws has been bitter and multifaceted.
Developer wants to ‘supersize’ S.F. project under new state housing law — while it’s being built
By Laura Waxmann
Feb 15, 2024
Oakland developer oWow is the latest builder planning to “supersize” a previously approved project in San Francisco due to a recent change in state law. Developer oWow purchased the site, that was long home to a small industrial building, in 2019 and has nearly completed the three-story office component of the plan. It is now seeking to add a total of 16 stories of high density housing.
San Jose to fight developers using ‘builder’s remedy’ to DOWNSIZE housing projects
By KATE TALERICO
February 5, 2024
This week, the city sent letters of rejection to developers who used the builder’s remedy after June 20, including to some who tried to scale back previously approved housing projects, telling them that they will not proceed with their applications. The move opens the door to a legal battle over the future of major urban development projects around the city.
Another top S.F. landlord parts with housing portfolio. Why the city’s rental market is in trouble
By Laura Waxmann
Feb 2, 2024
Much has been made about the distress plaguing San Francisco’s downtown in the wake of the pandemic — with increasing office vacancy rates, retail decline shuttering stores and prominent hotels defaulting on loans. The fallout from remote work and maturing debt has caused a number of office owners to hand the keys to buildings back to lenders, or sell once highly valuable properties at bargain prices.
Rezoning plan sparks backlash in this quiet S.F. neighborhood: ‘We were blindsided’
By J.K. Dineen
Jan 27, 2024
When Lakeside residents saw the proposed rezoning map, they were baffled to discover that nearly half of their neighborhood — an enclave of narrow one-way streets and single-family homes with lemon trees and white picket fences across 19th Avenue from Stonestown Galleria — was targeted for eight-story buildings.