Streamlining CEQA

1. Streamlining CEQA November 11, 2011 Urban Land Institute--San Francisco District Council Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

2. Charles A. Long • Charles A. Long Properties, LLC • Oakland, CA • Developer specializing mixed use development in California, US • Consultant on real estate development, redevelopment, capital finance and economic development • Instructor for ULI Real Estate School on development process, public-private partnerships and sustainable development • Former city manager of Fairfield, CA and interim manager in Mammoth Lakes, Pinole, and Hercules, California. • Author of “Finance for Real Estate Development” published April 2011 and contributing author to ULI Retail Handbook. • Served on 14 ULI advisory panels, chairing panels in Salem OR, Boise, ID and Dallas, TX • Masters in Public Policy, UC Berkeley; platoon sergeant, US Army 2 Site Selection and Due Diligence

3. Development today is transformative "Transformation from a car-dominated tangle of offices, malls and auto dealers into a livable city." East 14th St., San Leandro, CA 3 Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

4. Development is more complicated physically and economically • More urban and mixed use • Public benefits more important • More complicated economics • More conversions from old uses • Less leverage and no “value add” financing • Density confusion Appleton Mills, Lowell, MA West End Commons, Oakland, CA Lakeside Steel Plant, Chicago 4 Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

5. Mixed use is hard to do Community acceptance Entitlement risk Parking costs and layout Resizing the infrastructure Financing challenges Conflicts among uses Getting the density right for the community and the economics Silver Spring Town Center Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

6. Entitlement process now is more challenging • More public involvement • More review steps • Skepticism about density. • Development impacts must be funded • Pre-development risk results in missed opportunities. Alameda NAS, Alameda, CA Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

7. Development today is inherently public private • 665 rental units; 25 percent affordable • New, one half acre park • $160 million private cost • $50 million public investment Uptown, Oakland, CA 7 Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

8. Development is… a separate self financing enterprise that goes from small to large. • 8 Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

9. 80% to 90% of project value is created in the pre-development phase Acquisition, design, entitlement, financing, risk management Project Value 9 Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

10. Principles • Include all stakeholders • Base the plan on the market • Analyze all the impacts • Develop implementation tools • Identify public infrastructure needs • Imbed flexibility • Develop knowledge/skill in real estate • Use the RFQ Community planning reduces entitlement risk Livermore, CA downtown specific plan Walnut Creek, CA downtown plan Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

11. High quality, consistent standards are less risky and produce high value • Developers prefer to compete on value, not cost. • Policies may cost more but make the community more valuable. • First, create a great place to live: education, parks, transportation and the long term value will pay for the costs. " Simplify the process for developers. By streamlining permitting and construction processes, getting departments to work together to promote infill, and ensuring requirements are consistent, cities can smooth the way for good development." --Bay Area Greenbelt Alliance Background material\Smartinfill executive summary.pdf Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

12. Should cities be able to exempt sustainable projects from CEQA and to implement projects that are consistent with a specific or area-wide plan without additional CEQA review? 55% 87% Strategies to implement AB32 and SB375

13. SB375: Connects transportation funding to land use plan = reduces VMT • U.S. CO2 emissions = 1.51 billion tons/year (CE) • GHG emission reduction targets 2020 and 2035 under AB32. • 18 MPOs prepare Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) linked to Transportation Plan & Housing Allocations. • Projects consistent with SCS exempt CEQA review • Projects inconsistent with SCS denied funding. • 34% • 27% • 21% • 19% • Source: Precourt Institute

14. Conclusions of ULI Panel: June 2010 Funding Alignment Greater Certainty Transit CEQA Streamlining

15. How CEQA Actually Works • A tool for opponents of infill • A way to impose time, cost and complexity. • Focus tends to be on service delivery issues • Mitigation measures usually do not relate to environmental issues but on infrastructure and service deficiencies such as traffic, noise, and school service shortages. • Piecemeal application • Encourages incremental, project-by-project analysis and fails to address regional impacts of individual project decisions. Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

16. CEQA Streamlining Work Group—May 2011 • TIERING • Projects consistent with previous specific or community plans require no additional CEQA analysis EXEMPTIONS • Projects consistent with SB375 Sustainable Community Strategy are exempt. Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

17. CEQA Streamlining Work Group—May 20115 issues • Broaden criteria for projects qualifying for an exemption either as a Transit Priority Project (TPP) or a residential infill project with prior CEQA analysis . • Broaden and clarify authority to exempt a project with prior CEQA analysis • Clarify authority to exempt a project already analyzed in a Regional Transportation Plan, Sustainable Community Strategy, or Alternative Planning Strategy Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

18. CEQA Streamlining Work Group—May 20115 issues • Enhance ability to exempt infill projects within specially designated infill development opportunity areas (such as priority development areas in the Bay Area, or smart growth centers in the San Diego Area) • Enhance ability for projects to qualifying for tieringor exemptions in wetlands, hazardous waste, building code compliance, toxic exposure and seismic safety fails through incorporation of design elements that address these concerns. Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

19. Legislation signed in 2011—Three Bills • AB 900: Leadership Projects: • Minimum investment $100 million • LEED certified • 10& trip reduction • Infill • Consistent with SCS • High job production • No new GHG • Accelerated appeal directly to Court of Appeal Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

20. Legislation signed in 2011—Three Bills • SB 292: Los Angeles football stadium • Litigation goes directly to Court of Appeals • Streamlined CEQA process with time frames and dispute resolution • Focus of litigation only on disputed mitigation measures • Limits on comments. Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

21. Legislation signed in 2011—Three Bills • SB 226: Streamlining for solar and infill • Limited exemption for solar energy systems • Allows concurrent regional CEQA and land use scoping meetings • Preserves exemptions for projects with GHG emissions. • Enhances tiering authority for “urban infill” and limits further review solely to: • Site specific issues • New information Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining

22. What are you doing to streamline CEQA? Suggestions? Urban Land Institute CEQA Streamlining