SR-01-22-2013-13A1®
January,; 2013
21-11
Council Meeting: January 8, 2013 Santa Monica, California
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE - MEMORANDUM
To: City Council
From: Councilmembers McKeown, Vazquez and Winterer
Date: January 8, 2013
13 -13: Request of Councilmembers McKeown, Vazquez, and Winterer that staff
provide information, options, and recommendations regarding the impacts
on Santa Monica's various sustainability goals of recent state and SCAG
actions on CEQA rules for transit- oriented development, including but not
limited to land use discretion, availability of information to assess project
impacts on traffic, mobility, and air quality, and protection and retention of
existing affordable housing stock.
2013
22-1
About NRDC
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is a national nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.3 million
members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to
protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in Newyork City, Washington,
D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Montana, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org.
About Move LA
Move LNs mission is to build a broad constituency that will advocate for the development of a robust public transportation
system in L.A. County and for prosperous and healthy neighborhoods around stations where people of all ages and incomes
can live, work, and thrive.
Acknowledgments
The authors want to thank Senator Darrell Steinberg, author of SB 375, and the many supporters of the legislation,
especially the leaders of the "impossible coalition ":
Audubon Society of California
California Building Industry Association
California Building and Construction Trades Council
California League of Cities
California Major Builders Council
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California State Association of Counties
Housing California
Sacramento Area Council of Governments
We would also like to recognize the staff and board members at the three Metropolitan Planning Organizations who have
adopted Sustainable Communities Strategies to reduce their emissions: the San Diego Association of Governments, the
Southern California Association of Governments, and the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Additionally, the staff
and Board of the Air Resources Board deserve recognition for their work to implement the law to date.
The authors would like to thank the following funders for helping to make this paper possible: the Surdna Foundation,
The Rockefeller Foundation, the Oak Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund, and several anonymous donors.
The authors would also like to thank the reviewers of this paper: Deron Lovaas, Mike McKeever, Tom Adams, Rick Cole,
Denny Zane, Alm Notthoff, Nina Bohlen, Kacey Lizon, and Christina Swanson.
NRDC Director of Communications: Phil Guns
NRDC Deputy Director of Communications: Lisa Goffredi
NRDC Policy Publications Director. Alex Kennaugh
NRDCPublications Editor: Carlita Salazar
Design and Production: TanjaBos
0 Natural Resources Defense Council 2012 Coverphoms Santa Monica, Oc noiyhhnihoads.oy
TABLE OF T
ExecutiveSummary .......................................................................................................................... ............................... 2
Chapter 1. Senate Bill 375: Fighting Climate Change through Smarter Transportation
andLand Use Planning ......................................................................................................................... ..............................6
Chapter 2: The Evolution of Support for Sustainable Communities in Southern California ................. ..............................9
Chapter 3. The Sacramento Region: The Place Where It All Started ................................................. .............................18
Chapter4: Policy Recommendations ................................................................................................. .............................27
Chapter5: Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ .............................32
AppendixA ......................................................................................................................................... .............................33
PAGE 11 A Bold Plan foe Sustainable California CornmunitPes: A Report on the Implemenicticn of Sew to P 1 375
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ver the past year, Southern California, Sacramento, and San Diego have become
the first three regions in America to adopt transportation plans specifically
designed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. These regions are doing
their part to implement California's landmark Sustainable Communities and Climate
Protection Law (Senate Bill 375), passed in 2008. This report tells the story of how
Southern California and Sacramento have tackled implementation of this new law, and
provides a brief update on the San Diego plan, which other reports have discussed in
greater detail.'- In each region, the process of creating a long range transportation and
land use plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to achieve a state assigned target
brought unique challenges and successes. As intended by SB 375, each legion created a
tailored mix of land use decisions, transportation investments, and policies to achieve
its target.These Sustainable Community Strategies (SCSs) lay the foundation for smarter,
more efficient growth and healthier communities, each of theta offering lessons for other
regions to follow.
o197"ktERN CALIFORNIA
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)
is the largest metropolitan planning organization in the
country, representing more than 18 million people, close
to 6 percent of the nation's population. In the midst of a
recession, facing severe state funding cuts to transportation
and redevelopment, as well as a depressed housing market,
many members of SCAG initially greeted SB 375 with
skepticism. Through the efforts of SB 375s proponents and
the leadership of staff and board members, SCAG came to
recognize that good regional planning could benefit not only
the environment and public health, but also the economy,
lowering costs for households and local governments. This
consensus gave way to the unanimous adoption of a $524
billion plan in April 2012, which has been hailed in the Los
Angeles Times as "a model of sustainability."2
PAGE 2 1 A Bold Plan for Sustainable California C mmonities: A. Repm on 4he ImplornentaPipn of senato 9 ➢l 375
SACRAMENTO
In many ways, Sacramento's original blueprint— adopted in
2004 —was the inspiration for passage of SB 375.3 It comes
as no surprise then that Sacramento's SCS under SB 375 is
the best of its kind to date, setting the bar high for the rest
of California. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments
(SACC G) focuses development in'IYansit Priority Areas
(TPAs), aiming to significantly increase use of transit, biking,
and walking. For the first time in the region's history, and
despite a 39 percent population increase, the plan manages
to reduce traffic congestion.
AN MEW
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) faced
unique challenges. It was to create the nation's very fast
SCS even though it was well into the process of updating
its Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) once it received its
state assigned greenhouse gas targets. While SANDAG chose
to spend some of its few uncommitted resources on active
transportation, many feel it failed to revisit some long held —
and possibly dated — spending priorities, and that the plan is
still too focused on highway expansions in its early years. The
agency also failed to conduct the truly integrated, iterative
land use and transportation planning that SB 375 envisioned.
The biggest concern is that the emissions reductions are
temporary, peaking in 2035, and then backsliding in 2050.
Despite these challenges, SANDAG took some important
steps forward with this plan; and the commitments it made
upon adopting the plan set it up for a stronger SCS the next
time around, in three years.
* A 6 percent decline in congested vehicle travel per capita despite
adding 870,000 new residents by 2035 (compared to a planned
22 percent increase in the 2008 metropolitan transportation plan
(MTP), and 58 percent increase in the 2002 MTP)
* A projected increase of 32.8 percent in trips by public transit,
biking, or walking
* Expands bike lanes by 77 percent
® Accommodates 39 percent population growth while only
expanding the urban footprint by 7 percent
sl Nearly doubles transit service, cutting congestion
01 Meets 2020 and 2035 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets
Is Dedicates more funding for transit than any previous regional
transportation plan (RTP); increases bicycle and pedestrian funding
threefold over the last RIP
W Eighty -four percent of new residential growth will be in multi-
family housing, more than 80 percent of which will be in Transit
Priority Areas
PAGE 3 1 A cord Plan for Sustainable California Convnunitns: A Roport on the Implementeeion of Senate Mfl: 75
FOSTERING STRONGER
COMMUNITIES IN CALIFORNIA
Nearly four years into California's grand experiment in
regional planning, it seems communities will be stronger,
healthier, and more resilient as a result of SB 375. All of the
SCSs, both adopted and pending —the Bay Area's will be
adopted in April 2013 have shifted their planning practices
in similar ways:
Less land will be developed to accommodate each new
resident
* More public transportation options will be available
* More people will be given the option to live near transit
of Commutes will get shorter
Is Bicycling and walking will be easier and safer
W More communities will experience a mix of uses, making
life easier and more convenient
These changes will not happen overnight, nor will they
happen on their own. But the regional agencies charged
with implementing SB 375 have made one thing clear: urban
growth and development in California will adapt to the
times. Transportation systems built to serve growth will be
more balanced, and less polluting. A pivot in the direction of
sustainable communities is the clear choice.
In the coming months and years, the state needs to focus on a
three -fold policy platform to ensure it achieves the potential
of this law:°
I) Reform redevelopment to provide a focus on SB 375
implementation
2) Provide resources for transit and active transportation;
planning, and affordable housing
3)- Develop a policy package designed to eliminate barriers
to infill development through parking reform and other
measures
Elliot Has., Autumn Reappear antl Stuart Cohen, 'San Diego and SB 375:lessme, from California's First Sptainabllity Communi era SUamgy; Climate Plan and TransFmm. December 1. 2011. wwrv.climateplan.mgMycomenpmW
loads /2011 /12 /S"marl- FINAL -12- 1411- Imvras pdf.
' Rick Cole,'Southem California hailed as model of sustainabiliry; LwAngeles Lmes, Aml 17, 2012, hOp: / /aniales.latimes mnV2012/apr/17Apinionpa oecolcsoommable-smal- vision - 2012W17.
' Sacramento Area Council of Gowmennts,'Sacmmenm Region Blueprint; http: / /sacregionbluapiMmoJ.
For a mom mmprehansive list of policy recommendations , please review Chapter 4.
PAGE 4 1 A could Plan for sustainable California Coroo unities: A Report wt 01e Implementation of amats Rif:i /5
�E
hen California Senate President Pro Tempore and Senate Hill 375 (SB
375) autuor Darrell Steinberg addressed the inaugural gathering of [lie
California Infill Builders }Association in November 2010, he reminisced
about the "good old days" of the original SB 375 negotiations. In light of the recent
devastating cuts the state legislature was facing for education and other social
programs, he recalled the optimism and sense of possibility that characterized the
crafting of SB 375 —the nation's first law to fink transportation and land use planning
with climate change.' Ile fondly recalled the "coalition of the impossible " -- builders,
environtisentalists, af`iordable housing advocates, cities, and counties --a seemingly
miraculous collaboration to assure this bill's passage. And he lauded the infill builders'
presence as a powerful new voice lobbying in Sacramento for better growth, and
thanked them for their commitment to implementing this groundbreaking new
law.' Now, nearly two years later, three of California's four major urban regions- -
representing two- thirds of the state's population —have done their part to implement
SB 375 by adopting Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCSs), which contain a set of
transportation rnvestirrents and land use strategies designed to meet state - assigned
greenhouse gas reduction targets. In each region, remarkable things have been
achieved, and there is more to be done.
SENATE BILL 375: THE SUSTAINABLE
COMMUNITIES AND CLIMATE PROTECTION
ACT OF 2008
Passed in 2008, SB 375 marked the first law in the country
with the explicit goal of designing better cities to fight climate
change. The underlying idea of SB 375 is that how and where
we develop land and the transportation systems we create to
get around have direct impacts on how we travel. In short, the
more we drive, the more the public spends on the increasing
costs of roads and other infrastructure, and the more
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions we cause. SB 375s
aim is to guide our regions toward more sustainable patterns
of growth and investment, decreasing the amount of time we
spend in traffic and the resulting cost of driving, and cutting
air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions?
Of course, no region can require that individuals drive less.
What a region can do is plan to make driving less necessary
through approaches that have been shown by research and
experience to reduce driving rates and distances.' Under SB
375, each of the 18 regions must complete a transportation
and land use plan called an SCS that will achieve a target
assigned by the California Air Resources Board (CARE) for
2020 and 2035. Each SCS is prepared in conjunction with a
Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which determines how
transportation funds will be spent in the region, and with
a Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), whereby the
State assigns housing goals for every region at every level
of affordability. The regions then distribute these housing
goals to their local jurisdictions. Under SB 375, these local
housing allocations must be consistent with the SCS, and
local housing elements and zoning must be updated under a
new schedule to accommodate the RHNA numbers. Finally,
CARB must certify that each region's SCS is adequate to meet
its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
Once a region's SCS is approved, it sets a clear framework
for moving forward. It guides local governments on how
to shape their general plans and zoning, includes a list of
PAGES I A Bold Nun for Sustainable California Comrnueriiles: A flepoa on iha implememation of Se, ate, B1fl W5
SB 375 is just one part of California's overall effort to reduce greenhouse gases through AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions
Act of 2006. Since transportation accounts for 40 percent of California's total greenhouse gas emissions, California has adopted
a three- pronged approach to improve this sector's performance: a) reduce the total amount Californians have to drive through
SB 375, b) increase the fuel economy of California's vehicles, and c) cut the carbon - intensity of the state's fuels through the Low
Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is responsible for implementing AB 32, and, under SB 375, assigns greenhouse gas
reduction targets to each of California's 18 federally- designated metropolitan planning regions. Each region is responsible for
achieving a reduction in car and light truck travel that will reduce emissions to meet CARB's targets for 2020 and 2035.
transportation projects to reduce the need for vehicle travel,
and provides incentives for developers to build projects
that are more sustainable in the long run and will help each
region meet its targets. All SCSs must include:
R Maps representing the general land uses within the
region, indicating residential and commercial areas,
densities, and building intensities
a Analysis of the impacts on farmland and open space
U A plan that accounts for the housing needs of the region's
entire population, at all income levels
While each SCS will be unique, many of them will share
common themes, such as calling for deeper investments in
public transportation, biking and walking, to provide real,
competitive alternatives to driving. They will encourage more
walkable development patterns while minimizing the use of
land, water, and gasoline. And most will include strategies to
conserve land by directing future development into already
urbanized areas.
The purpose of this report is to provide a detailed analysis of
the latest SCSs to be adopted under SB 375, first providing
a summary and brief update on that for San Diego, the first
region in America to complete a land use and transportation
plan with the explicit purpose of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions. Next, the report tells the story of the Southern
California Association of Governments, an 84- member
body of elected officials from across the political spectrum
representing half of California's population, that came
together to unanimously approve an SCS that has the
potential to be truly transformational. Finally, it discusses
the Sacramento region SCS, which is based on its nationally
renowned regional planning Blueprint.
While AB 32 and SB 375 focus on greenhouse gas
emissions, the Air Resources Board's implementation of
these laws has focused on strategies that maximize the "co-
benefits" of emissions reductions. That is, while agencies
evaluate strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
they should also consider the other benefits these strategies
offer: Do they improve social equity and reduce local air
pollution? Can they create economic opportunity, improve
public health, or preserve sensitive habitat and ecosystems?
SCSs provide a wide array of co- benefits, and these co-
benefits will undoubtedly be SB 375s most noticeable
legacy. By reducing vehicle miles traveled, SCSs will reduce
local air pollution and cut auto collisions and collision - related
injuries, improving public health and saving money. By
concentrating growth in developed areas, SCSs conserve
open space, preserve agricultural lands, and protect sensitive
habitat. Walkable and bikable communities encourage
physical activity, combating obesity and improving health.
Diversifying transportation investments provides access to
education, services, jobs or recreation without the need, or
cost, of owning a car. And, of course, SB 375 has an explicit
commitment to affordable housing.
PAGE 6 1 A Bold Plan for sustainable California Communities: A PeppR on the Imp!ementatian of Senate Bi11375
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) was
the first California region to implement SB 375 and prepare
an SCS.a The process was an education for planners and
advocates across the state, and provided many important
lessons for the regions that followed. Under considerable
fiscal and political constraints, SANDAG approved an
SCS that is strong in some important ways and clearly
disappointing in others.
The region was already in the middle of updating its Regional
Transportation Plan (RTP) —a process that typically takes
two to three years —when it received its greenhouse gas
reduction targets from CARE. As a result, certain key
decisions —such as the forecasted land use pattern for
the region —had already been finalized before SANDAG
received its targets, thereby limiting its ability to conduct truly
integrated land use and transportation planning scenarios.
Within these constraints, SANDAG's plan takes some
important new steps:
la Achieves its 2020 and 2035 greenhouse gas emissions
reduction targets, and dedicates more funding for transit
than any of its previous RTPs.
al Increases bicycle and pedestrian funding three -fold over
the last RTP, and cancels two proposed lanes of Interstate
5 widening. The resulting $800 million will be dedicated
towards transit, active transportation, and smart growth
programs.
a Plans for 84 percent of new residential growth to be
accommodated in multi - family housing, more than 80
percent of which will be in Transit Priority Areas.
Despite these accomplishments, SANDAG's SCS contained
one major flaw: its emissions reductions are temporary.
After achieving its 2020 and 2035 greenhouse gas targets —
reducing emissions by 13 percent per capita by 2035 —the
plan reverts back to 9 percent by 2050. AB 32 and SB 375
clearly call for permanent emissions reductions. Many
felt that SANDAG failed to conduct the kind of integrated,
iterative land use and transportation planning that SB 375
envisioned .b In addition, the plan included an abundance of
highway spending up front and postponed the bulk of transit
spending until the later years of the plan.
Several parties, including the California Attorney General and
the Sierra Club, joined a suit brought by a local group, the
PAGE 7 1 A Bold Plan for SusWnabla California Communifies: ARenortonthe ii mentation of Senate Rll37r.
Cleveland National Forest Foundation, charging that there
was inadequate environmental review under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). (It is important to clarify
that the plaintiffs did not argue that SANDAG had failed to
meet its obligations under SB 375. Similar to the last few
RTP cycles, the challenge was made on the grounds of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). (It is worth
noting thatthis local group had sued SANDAG over the last
two RTPsJ`
In response to these concerns, the SANDAG Board has
committed itself to a number of initiatives that will lay the
groundwork for better implementation of the current SCS
and set the stage for much improved sustainable community
development going forward. SANDAG will:
by Analyze scenarios that address their temporary emission
targets. SANDAG acknowledged this as a key problem with
the SCS and committed to addressing it next time around.d
in Develop a transit - oriented development (TOD) policy
that will set guidelines for effective and efficient TOD to
ensure that funds supporting transit and development
near transit will result in the biggest possible gains for
mobility and the environment, and save residents money.
in Develop an "active transportation" early action program
to ensure that funds committed for bicycle and pedestrian
programs are spent in the early years of the plan.
go Establish a complete streets policy, to meet the needs
of all road users — pedestrians, bikers, transit users, and
drivers. Complete streets are safer, fairer, and provide
the underlying backbone for walkable, mixed use
communities ,e
SANDAG based much of its SCS analysis on its Regional
Comprehensive Plan (RCP), a nonbinding "blueprint" for
regional growth and development that shares many of
SB 375's smart growth goals. SANDAG has committed to
evaluating alternative land use scenarios in its next RCP that
can, in turn, be used in the development of the next SCS.
This will be a major improvement over patching together
local jurisdictions' individual general plans. These are
important measures, and SANDAG won an $885,000 grant
from California's Strategic Growth Council in May 2012 to
carry them out.
The treatment of the SANDAG plan is briefer than the otm SCSs in this mport random of a preexisting report
anteing SANDALS SCS:
bttplAwnvtlimateplan pgN,p content/ uploads /2011 112 /SD geport FINAL-12-14 11
a hdp //s vow. satdagorWirooxasp 7pmjecfid -360&fumaction= pojects detail
b While the region examined th ree different damage region icomemoent scenarios, On land use was inre do ad
fixed aaoss all Mom, an assumption that is as unlikely as it is unWr, to the intent of 58375.
c While SANDAG is regulariysued on its Miles, Me Attemey Generals action against SANDAG after the
passage of the SCS caughmther regions attention. While the laweetchallangosthe want of the
reeimnmantal review of the plan (as opposed N Me plan's contents or lire plans compliance with SG 375), it
nomMelre, shows that high level leadms am paying attention to SCS development and Nat they are willing
to net a legal challenge in tetwako of an SCS's passage it it does notcomplywit existing Inv
it To the formation of many, SANDAG however did Makes. faros to comail N adopting a fuNm plan Nat
would averse the backslidink, merely commihed to "opened to address" the backsliding nog on around.
a The SANDAG board committed to house actions an the day of RP/SCS adoption, October 2R, 2011. As of this
smiting, More is no foNn information available about the outcomes of the lawsuit.
' To read more about SB 375, please see Communities Tackle Global 144.1poke: A Guide to Caliihmia's SB 775 rare mnwnrdcnrg/globaNvarmirg/sb3/5/
' California faith BuiWersAssociation inaugural mooing, Nocmber 19,2010. Sacrament.
' D/rvingmpresaes 15 percent mind household mpendtarms in the United States ,bhp: /Avow. bit .gov /ox/2010 /Staadaopegion.pit
' Research shows that inf estmcters expansion is associated with increases in moral driving, an planning common, are an impartareptedicter of real savings.
PAGE 8 1 A Boles Plan for Sustainable California C teuku ritie a A Hoport on the Implementation v( Senate Bill 275
UNNIZZENamm
,
A MODEL OF SU TAIIIIABILITY
On April 4, 2012, in the dimly -lit grand ballroom of the Los
Angeles Westin Bonaventure Hotel, the Southern California
Association of Governments (SCAG) the largest metropolitan
planning organization in the country— unanimously adopted
its first Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable
Communities Strategy (RTP /SCS) to implement SB 375. That
an 84- member Board —which represents a full range of places
and political preferences, from isolated desert and mountain
towns to urban centers with densities: approaching those of
Chicago and Newyork —could agree to anything at all is itself a
feat. That SCAG's Regional Council could unanimously agree to
adopt a $524 billion plan that was heralded in the LosAngeles
Times as a "model of sustainability" is extraordinary.' This
chapter tells the story of what SCAG managed to accomplish,
and how it did so:
Endorsed by environmentalists, public health advocates,
businesses, and developers alike, the Council's approved plan
would achieve the following, if implemented:2
A 24 percent reduction in congestion per capita despite
adding 4 million residents
14 Public transportation spending totaling $246 billion —
nearly half the plan's total revenue
III The construction of 12 key transit expansion projects in
Los Angeles County during the next 10 years under Los
Angeles MayorVillaraigosa's- 30 /10plan
N Creation of 60 percent more housing than is currently
available near transit
® Creation of 4.2 million jobs in the region, with 87 percent
of all jobs (not only new jobs) located within a half mile of
transit by 2035
Is A 350 percent increase in funding for biking and walking —
from $1.8 billion to $6.7 billion
M Reduction of pollution-caused respiratory problems by 24
percent, resulting in $1.5 billion annual health care savings
® Savings of more than 400 square miles of open space —
equal to more than one -third ofYosemite —from
development by shifting to a more compact development
pattern in the region
Is Annual household savings of $3,000 due to lower auto,
fuel, water, and energy costs
OFF TO A ROCKY START
While SCAG's achievements are impressive, the planning
process suffered from an inauspicious start.
When SB 375 discussions began with setting the regional
greenhouse gas targets in September 2010, many elected
officials were unhappy with state government because
the California Legislature had re- appropriated transit and
redevelopment funding —that would have otherwise gone
to cities —to plughol_es in the state budget_ Cities were
unhappy that the state was simultaneously asking the
region to undertake a major planning task —the SCS —while
eliminating funding that could be used for SCS planning and
implementation. As a result, SB 375 was initially greeted with
skepticism by leaders and planners in Southern California .4
'this overall discontent around SB 375 led to what appeared
to be a major setback at a Regional Council meeting on
September 2, 2010: while SCAG staff had recommended
that its SB 375 targets be set at 8 percent in 2020 and 13
percent in 2035 —in line with the targets set by the other large
metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) —the Southern
California Building Industry Association (BIA) had lobbied
Regional Council members and SCAG staff with their concerns
about SB 375s impact on an already depressed housing
market. As a result, several council members argued that SCAG
should push back against the state's environmental laws until
transit and redevelopment funding was restored, and the
targets should be reduced.
Already frustrated with the state over recent funding cuts,
the Board, which had appeared ready to endorse the targets,
made a surprising about -face, voting that the targets should
be reduced to 6 percent in 2020 and 8 percent in 2035, which
would essentially mean business as usual.'1'o supporters of
SB 375, this was a devastating blow. It signaled that the region
with more than half the state's population and transportation -
related greenhouse gas emissions would ignore the promise of
this new law, rendering its successful implementation unlikely.
Fortunately, after some consultation with SCAG staff, the Air
Resources Board adopted the higher targets, choosing to base
their decision on the months of technical analysis conducted
by staff rather than a last minute recommendation made as
a result of a political process. Part of the Regional Council's
willingness to accept the higher targets came from a letter of
complaint that was sent from SCAG to the Air Resources Board
that chastised the behavior of the governor and legislature
and demanded that their concerns about transit and
redevelopment funding be addressed, in exchange for SCAG's
decision to honor the higher targets.
PAGE 9 1 A Bold Elan for Sustainable California Communities: A Beprnt m the Implenre;itetiort or Senate Bill 375
A DIFFERENT FOCUS FOR PLANNING
„Th1s is the first rime In my professional
career that we've had a real conversation
about regional planning, "
— Ron Loveridge, mayor of Riverside, California Air Resources
Board Member, SCAG Council Member
Some regional council members recognized that there
were reasons beyond greenhouse gas emissions to adopt
an effective SCS because of more than a decade of smart
growth discussions during the Compass Blueprint regional
planning process that began in 2000. These reasons included
a significant savings in transportation, improved air quality
and public health, and infrastructure costs. Over the long
winter that followed the target- setting process, SCAG
consulted with renowned experts to further research and
quantify these potential
co- benefits.
Planner and New Urbanist Peter Calthorpe, who led the
original Compass Blueprint effort from 2002 to 2005,
returned to talk to the Regional Council about how smart
growth would lower greenhouse gas emissions while
achieving other important benefits, such as reducing costs
for both households and local governments, consuming less
land, reducing fuel, water, and energy consumption, and
improving public health. The presentation was very well -
received, and Calthorpe Associates became part of the team
working with SCAG on public outreach.
At each of the agency's 18 SCS public outreach meetings, the
co- benefits of better land use and transportation investments
became the focus of discussions (see Appendix A). SCAG 's
efforts to make the RTP —a highly technical and non -
transparent planning process —more easily understandable
to the public played an important role in its success, and the
staff should be commended.
SCAG has less authority over transportation funding
decisions than any of the other metropolitan planning
organizations in California, and the agency's power and
influence lies largely in its ability to provide the technical
analysis that leads to informed decision - making, in building
consensus around these decisions, and in incentivizing
activities through grant programs. For example, the Compass
Blueprint Demonstration Project program funds planning
efforts that help achieve the goals of the regional blueprint
vision, and its importance in terms of broadening support
for smart growth strategies and promoting an understanding
of their applicability in cities large and small has been
immeasurable.
But while SCAG is responsible for compiling and submitting
both a federally mandated 20- year -RTP and the federal
Clean Air Act's mandated State Implementation Plan, it
is the county transportation commissions (CTCs) –in Los
Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial and
Ventura counties –that have the primary decision- making
power. In the past SCAG has merely compiled the six CTC
project lists to create the RTP. As a result, SCAG has been
perceived as a weak agency compared to the state's other
big MPOs, and generally has drawn little attention from the
public or the media. The SB 375 - mandated SCS, however
changed this dynamic, resulting in an unexpected outcome.
The public engagement process required by SB 375 created
an unprecedented opportunity to talk about the region's
future. Because of the organizing activity around the SCS,
hundreds of people turned out for SCAG's Regional Council
and public outreach meetings to express their interest
and concerns, ranging from enhancing transit investments
to improving public health to building safe bike lanes and
pedestrian projects to preserving affordability and avoiding
the displacement of low- income residents. Moving ahead, it
seems likely that SCAG will assume a greater leadership and
coordinating role for the entire region.
' Five of Were member CiCs awwell endowed'miraelp" munties with Mairown transportation sales
W Measures: to County has those halreeetturepada0on sales taxes —two of which Met only Fable
transportation. while the must recent Measure B sales tax devotes seat 20 pervont of fureiig for highways.
Riverside, sun Bernardino, arrogaand mpadal counties also have transporWtionsa es Mr.; only Ventura
County has none. Because We language of the sales For bolotmeesoms lists We projects W be funded in order
to help win We approval of volers, many of the dotlars available to the counties to Mind tarspodaVOn projects
am considered "mmmided"
PAGE 10 1 A Bold Plait fire Sustainable Cvlifoenia communities: A Report un taro !rnplerrlentettenr of SenaTc Rill 373
SCAG thought it was important to address the criticism
that the state's environmental regulations were affecting
California's economic recovery. It brought in national real
estate expert Arthur C. Nelson, director of the Metropolitan
Research Center at the University of Utah. Nelson presented
the results of a recent market analysis he was completing,
for the Urban Land Institute, revealing that the demand for
conventional large -lot single - family housing had dried up in
Southern California, and that there was already an oversupply
of approximately 1 million units compared to likely 2035
demand. In contrast, Nelson said that the market for
compact, walkable development near transit had escalated to
the point that even if all new development was located near
J Z
Q O
~ J
z
fn
W
transit over the next 25 years, the region would still fall short
of meeting its demand (see figures 1 and 2).
Nelson is among a number of prominent national experts
who argue that the economy cannot recover until the housing
market is supplied with the kind of housing that home -
buyers and renters want. SCAG staff believed that this was
a helpful discussion and incorporated Nelson's findings into
their presentations on the RTP /SCS, making a persuasive case
that changes in the housing market portended the need for
different decisions about regional planning and investments.
SCAG Executive Director Hasan Ikhrata began noting when he
talked about the RTP /SCS that "the urban form of the past is .
not the urban form of the future."
Multifamily
Townhouse /Plex
Sources :Southern California Association of Guwmmene;; Arthur C. Nelson, The New California Dream How Demographic and
Economic Trends May Shape the Housing Market: A Lund Use Scenario for 2020 and 2035, Urban Land Institute, 2011, hnp: / /la.ulL
org/wpcentent/uploads /2011 /12/ULI- Nefsun- The - New - Calif omia-Dmam - exec- summconcivaima -Ur cermher- 2011.pdf
H
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Q O
F �
w �
O
I OA UH I I do[ In LU3a IZIAbUPP ly LU I All INHw Units, IbfA bUPPly ZB IU
2010 to 2035 +All New Units
Sources: Southern California Association of Governments; Arthur G Nelson, The New California Dream How Demographic and
Ecmimnic Trends May Shape the Housing Markel A land Use Scotsman for 2020 and 2035; Urban Land Institute, 2011, http: / /la.uli.
orgiwpcontent/uploads /2011 /12/ULI Nelso r- The -New California - Dream - exec - summconclusions- December- 201list
PAGE III A Bold Plan for Sustainable California Curunrunieies: A Senate Bi1137n
'Single -(ami
EXISTING HOUSING BY TYPE 2008
NEW HOUSING 2008to 2035
As a result of this discussion, the housing mix contained in
the final SCS is a significant departure from current land use
patterns, with a much greater emphasis on multi- family,
attached, and small -lot single - family housing. In the plan,
only 4 percent of the region's projected increase of 4 million
residents will be accommodated in new large -lot single -
family housing, suggesting the SCAG plan is responsive to
market realities (see figure 3). It was SB 375 that created the
opportunity for this robust and well - informed discussion,
which helped build consensus for a strong plan that will help
revive the housing market at the same time that it yields the
co- benefits discussed previously.
SCAG staff, meantime, was negotiating with cities to shift
growth and development away from the fringes of urban and
suburban communities and nearer to transit. Currently, there
are more than 300,000 jobs located in downtown Los Angeles,
but approximately only 25,000 housing units. After successful
discussions with SCAG, the City of Los Angeles agreed to add
another 50,000 residents to downtown, nearly tripling the
downtown supply of residential units in an area with a rich
transit network, as well as walking and biking options. The
additional units will help correct the jobs - housing imbalance,
with 15,000 additional households (occupied housing units)
added for 2020, and 50,000 for 2035.
This is precisely the type of planning SB 375 envisioned:
regions and local governments working together to make
land use decisions that give people the choice to drive less.
Ultimately, SCAG's SCS will locate 52 percent of new housing,
and 53 percent of new jobs, within a half mile of "high- quality
transit," defined here as rail or bus service with headways
of 15 minutes or less during peak periods. When existing
housing and jobs are added to the equation, 82 percent of all
homes and 87 percent of all jobs will be located within a half
mile of transit by 2035.a
RGE SE*
4%
One of the most noteworthy innovations of SCAG's RTP/
SCS is that the projected land use pattern is not simply a
compilation of existing local general plans. Instead, SCAM
plan is transparent about the fact that its land use assumptions
go beyond what is contained in local general plans — which
are frequently dated and sometimes do not even reach the
2035 target year. SCAG's SCS instead builds on observed real
estate trends over the past 20 years, which emphasize housing
in walkable, hM areas near transits While SB 375 expressly
acknowledges the land use authority of local governments,
in crafting a place to reduce emissions, SCAG found that a
different housing mix was more advantageous and responsive
to market conditions, and set forth an optimal land use pattern
to guide the region's development.
JUST INHAT T HE DOC T OR ORDERED
To further underscore the value of walkable communities
near transit, nationally renowned health expert Dr. Richard
Jackson addressed SCAG's policy committees with a powerful
pitch about the link between public health and the built
environment, a topic that galvanized support for investments
in "active environments," where residents and workers have
more transportation options, such as walking and biking.
Public health advocates made a compelling case for active
living at Regional Council meetings, with so many testifying
at hearings that public comments had to be reduced from
three minutes per person to one minute to leave time for
discussion by Regional Council members. As a testament to
the importance of public health to the planning process, at
the final hearing, the most public comment time was reserved
for California Endowment President Robert Ross, who praised
SCAG's plan for contributing to healthier communities.
PAGE 12 1 A Said Plan in, Sustainable California ComanunitCes: A Deport on the !mplememawn o Senate 6111375
Los Angeles Times:
Poll says most voters in
L.A. region favor more
public transit NOVEMBER 3,2011
"If Southern California voters were in
charge ofour transportation plans,
the region would look verytlifferent...
Voters understand what so many
studies have told us: Widening roads
will notsolve traffic congestion,"
Eaken said. `Instead, designing
communities that increase our
mobility and freedom — helping us
to get out of our carsis what will
ultimately solve the problem.''
"Voters prioritize expanding public
transportation as the most effective
means of reducing traffic congestion
and air pollution; "said Denny Zane,
executive director of Move I A.c
To place the RTP /SCS in the context of regional attitudes about growth and
transportation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Move LA, and the
American Lung Association conducted a poll of Southern California voters in
October 2011 a The poll found strong support for greater investment in public
transportation and for walkable mixed -use development. Some of the high
points include:
sal Voters surveyed prioritized expanding public transit over roads and
highways by a more than 2 -to -1 margin.
M Voters would choose to live in walkable mixed -use communities (64
percent) over conventional auto - oriented residential neighborhoods
(34 percent), and in communities with smaller houses on smaller
lots, and with commutes of 20 minutes or less (65 percent) rather
than communities with larger houses on larger lots and with longer
commutes (31 percent).
When asked about the most effective ways to reduce traffic congestion,
the #1 response was to invest in public transportation; the #2 response
was to design better communities; and the #3 response was to invest
in making walking and biking safer. Last on the list was to build and
widen roads.
When survey respondents were asked to imagine being in charge of
their region's hypothetical $100 transportation budget, they chose to
allocate 14 percent of funding to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
This compares to the 0.5 percent allocated for this purpose in SCAG's
last regional transportation plan (2008).
The survey results helped underscore the comments made by many
members of the public: residents of Southern California are tired of long
commutes, and very interested in communities where it is safe and
convenient to walk and bike and take public transportation.
a maloark. Mandin. Msellin, Meh &Assoolates, Keyhodusis from Hecent Sessions Wifnonia Survey on Tampo ratemaM Land Use
Planning, Utak131.2011; hhg / /docs.nrdc.mg/smanGromh /hies /sma 12001M1h.pdf.
b 'Pall says mostvo[ers in L A. region iavotmom pvblichansiC las Angeles Times, November3, 2011, htlp' / /IatimesMOgs.latimesmM
lanow/2011 /11 /pall -says most - voters mia region bar a rrome publichaeithhnl.
c Idd.
To further convince SLAG of the need to rethink the policy
and investment choices made in the past, Move LA, the
Natural Resources Defense Council, and the American
Lung Association conducted a survey in the fall of 2011.
(see "Southern Californians Want More Housing and
Transportation Choices "). At the December meeting following
the release of the survey —the meeting at which the draft
RTP /SCS was released —the topic of active transportation
dominated the discussion, with several Regional Council
members advocating the cause. Former SCAG President Larry
McCallon, mayor of Highland in San Bernardino County,
told the council, "Our community is investing in active
transportation and safe routes to school because it makes
sense. You've got to get out there and protect your children."
One SCAG staff member remarked, "We've never had a real
conversation about bicycles as a form of transportation in the
SCAG region. SB 375 has mainstreamed the issue."
The outpouring of support for bike and pedestrian
investments resulted in a near quadrupling of funding for
active transportation, from $1.8 billion in the 2008 plan to
$6.7 billion in the final plan.
As the RTP /SCS planning process began drawing to a close
in early 2012 it became clear that over nearly two years,
PAGE 13 1 AA Bold Plan for sustainable California Comrnunificas: A Repat on fio mp11F1!W etinn If Senate 81113/5
SCAG staff and Regional Council members had come to
agree with this wide range of advocates: Southern California's
single- minded focus on building single -use, single - family
neighborhoods connected by highways had reached a point
of diminishing returns. People in Southern California wanted
more housing and transportation choices.
PROVIDING BEAK,
TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES
The plan provides options for both housing and
transportation: nearly half the transportation funding —$246
billion —is for public transportation. Approximately 20
percent of this amount will be used to upgrade Metrolink
lines to high -speed capacity and begin construction of
California's high -speed rail line. Fixed -rail projects include:
* `IWelve Measure R- funded rail and bus rapid transit
projects in Los Angeles County
® San Bernardino County's first light rail line
* An extension of commuter rail to southern Riverside
County
* An upgrade of the Metrolink commuter rail system to
improve speed and performance
* Bus rapid transit projects in San Bernardino and Orange
counties
The centerpiece of the RTP /SCS is the significant expansion
of the rail system funded by Measure R —one of three Los
Angeles County half -cent sales taxes for transit. Measure R
will double the size of Los Angeles County's rail system, from
121 miles of rail and 103 stations to 236 miles and about
2100 stations, creating a center of gravity at downtown Los
Angeles' Union Station unlike anything since the days of the
impressive Red Car trolley system (see Metro 30/10 Initiative
map). Also, an extension of the sales tax measure will be on
the 2012 ballot, enabling an acceleration of the construction
program to o start construction on 7 rail lines in the next 5
years and complete them within the decade.aThis expansion
of the rail system, together with SCAG staff- negotiated
agreements during the SB 375 planning process to increase
density and development in transit -rich places such as
downtown Los Angeles, will play a significant role in helping
achieve the adopted greenhouse gas reduction targets,
whether or not construction is accelerated.
The business - labor - environmental coalition that drove the
successful Measure R campaign was led by Move LA and
its executive director Denny Zane, a former mayor and city
councilmember in Santa Monica. Move LA, NRDC, and the
American Lung Association, in partnership with a statewide
coalition called ClimatePlan, led the coalition of nonprofit
organizations that worked on the RTP /SCS. This coalition,
which included public health, affordable housing and bike
and pedestrian advocates, as well as environmentalists and
infill developers, convinced SCAG leadership to include
an ambitious expansion of transit in the strategic plan, an
addendum to the fiscally constrained official RTP, from which
future RTPs draw their projects.
Also under consideration as a result of these discussions is
a "regional Measure R sales tax" to fund a build -out of the
strategic plan, which includes a commuter rail line from
Indio and Palm Springs to downtown Los Angeles, expanded
investment in clean goods movement, an extension of
Los Angeles County's Gold Line into the Inland Empire,
continued investment in upgrading Metrolink and Bus
Rapid Ransil (BRT) lines that connect Metrolink stations to
downtowns and neighborhoods and help make first -mile/
last -mile connections for transit riders, and rail connections
to both the Ontario and San Bernardino airports —which are
both significant potential job centers.
Lastly, the Regional Council adopted a transit expansion
motion, which directed SCAG staff to look for new sources
of revenue to accelerate investment in active transportation,
Metrolink, and clean goods movement, and to develop
and track more and better health and equity performance
measures so that it is easier to understand the health and
PAGE 141 A Boid Plan for Sustainable California Cammunitiee: A Repmt on the Implem, tatnn er Senate U2137
Metro 30/10 Initiative
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equity outcomes of RTPlSCS planning and implementation
decisions. The motion was sponsored by Move LA, NRDC,
the American Lung Association of Southern California, the
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, and the Southern
California Safe Routes to School Partnership, and was
an important victory because it set the stage for future
conversations about additional revenue needed to complete
a robust regional transit system.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
The plan is not, of course, perfect. Preliminary estimates of a
$75 billion funding gap in the $524 billion plan increased to
$120 billion shortfall upon closer -e- xamina ;ion, but agency
staff chose to investigate funding options for closing the gap
rather than vetoing transportation projects.s Some of the
funding measures proposed were controversial and included
congestion pricing, tolling, and a potential vehicle miles
traveled (VMT) fee. Some critics charged that the plan relied
too heavily on these speculative revenue sources.
PAGE 15 1 A Bold Elan for Sustainable California Communities: A Report on the Implemantation of Senne BiII b
Regional Council members were aware of conversations
occurring around the United States about the declining
purchasing power of the gas tax as cars become more
fuel - efficient or electric. When members of the Council
were critical of the idea that the plan would rely on a
5 cent VMT fee that would be imposed by Congress in
2024 to compensate for lost gas tax revenue, Ontario City
Councilmember and RTP Subcommittee Chair Alan Wapner
informed them that, "The true societal cost of driving is
probably closer to $10 a mile." With this reminder, and facing
a strong desire to identify sufficient funding to maintain the
system, the board approved the plan with the VMT fee.
The SCAG plan would be more sound if, in light of the
budget deficit, the agency had vetted the RTP project list
to determine whether certain projects would increase or
decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and whether the plan's
focus on walkable neighborhoods near transit would render
certain capacity expansion projects— particularly those
predicated on continued sprawl— unnecessary.10 SCAG
can still work with the county transportation commissions
through the four year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP)
process to re -order their project lists to prioritize projects
that would keep the highway system in a state of good repair
and projects that reduce the need to drive.
SCAG has the power to veto projects in the six County
Transportation Commission (CTC) project lists but it has
rarely exercised this authority. SCAG's power and influence
lies largely in its ability to provide the technical analysis that
leads toward informed decision - making and in building
the consensus required to make these decisions —as it did
with the 2012 RTP /SCS. In view of the power of the CTCs
and the difficulty that marked the beginning of the RTP /SCS
planning process, vetoing projects would have been risky at
the very least.
It should be mentioned that SCAG added very good language
in its Federal Transportation Improvement Plan (FTIP)
guidelines, directing its member CTCs to accelerate projects
for programming in the first four years that reduce the need
to drive, and help to create transit oriented development"
While our preliminary review of the draft TIP suggests that
Southern California has a long way to go to realize the vision
in the SCS, this guidance from SCAG is a step in the right
direction. It is going to take leadership from SCAG and its
member CTCs to deliver on the promise of the SCS. For
example, the $6.7 billion in active transportation funding
hailed as a victory by public health advocates currently relies
on some of the less certain funding sources identified in the
plan's outer years. In the coming months and years, SCAG
and its CTCs need to re- prioritize their spending programs
to advance the truly sustainable transportation projects
contained in the plan.
The SCAG plan has also been criticized for not doing enough
to analyze, monitor, and improve equity and environmental
justice outcomes. This makes the unanimous adoption of
the motion to adopt more and better equity and health
performance measures a particularly important win.
Flaws notwithstanding, SCAG's SCS received significant
attention in the media. Ventura City Manager Rick Cole, one
of Southern California's leading thinkers on sustainability and
smart growth, told the LosAngeles Times that the plan "points
the way to a better future. "12 Atlantic Cities entitled their story
"Is SoCal America's next Environmental Success Story ? "13 And
California Senate President Darrell Steinberg, who authored
SB 375, wrote in the Wall StreetJournal that SCAG's plan
was "a bold plan for sustainable California communities. ""
Whether or not it was the intention of SCAG's planners, it is
clear that cities and regions across the country are beginning
to wonder, "If Los Angeles can do it, what about us ?"
N CONCLUSION
The new SB 375 - mandated requirement to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions through transportation and
land use strategies laid out in an RTP /SCS came into
play at a challenging time for public agencies —with the
recession, widespread city budget deficits, city employee
layoffs and, as mentioned above, the state budget crisis and
state appropriation of transit and redevelopment monies.
Moreover, reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a highly
technical exercise, and given the press of other problems,
the additional task of planning the SCS initially engendered
resentment from the cities.
However, in the end, the RTP /SCS became a vehicle for a
comprehensive transportation and land use vision that was
in sum a significant departure from convention —thanks in
great part to Los Angeles County's Measure and the emphasis
on multifamily and attached, small -lot single - family housing.
Moreover, SCAG leadersbip successfully negotiated shifts
in future growth and development away from the fringes of
cities and into downtowns or neighborhoods near frequent
transit. This not only helps meet the region's greenhouse
gas reduction targets, but saves money for residents
on transportation expenses and local governments on
infrastructure spending.
The fact that subregions could opt out of the regional SCS
planning process to produce their own SCS provided an easy
way out for the strongest critics of SB 375 and caused them
to be less critical of the process as it moved forward. This
changed the dynamics of the Regional Council, and more
PAGE 161 A Bold elan for sustainable California Communities: A Report on the Implamentetian of Senate NIM3
progressive members spoke up, perhaps emboldened by the
compelling public comments and testimony by experts.
The SCAG leadership, especially Executive Director
Hasan Ikhrata, played a key role in bringing everyone to
consensus by seriously considering all sides of every issue
and accommodating all concerns to some degree, while still
keeping true to the vision of the new plan. The SCAG staff
were firmly committed to an inclusive public process on the
RTP /SCS and worked tirelessly to meet with all 197 member
cities to broker a consensus. This plan would not have been
possible without the incredible dedication of Hasan Ikhrata,
whom ARB Chair Mary Nichols argued should receive
the "hero of the year" award. Pam O'Connor, a longtime
progressive thinker, Santa Monica City Councilmember, and
Los Angeles Metro Board member, proved a very effective
Regional Council president who helped steer meetings
toward positive conclusions.
Current and past SCAG Presidents Glen Becerra and Larry
McCallon also deserve credit for building support for the
final plan, helping to ensure the plan received a unanimous
vote of approval. And of course Riverside Mayor, Air Board
member and SCAG elder statesman Ron Lovendge deserves
recognition for diffusing controversy and appealing to
agreed -upon principles and mutual interests. It was a process
appreciated by many, confirmed by Mayor Loveridge's
comment, "This is the first time in my professional career
that we've had a real conversation about regional planning. "'h
]lick Cola,'Soulhem Calitomia bailed as model of sualmbnc bility.' Loo Angeles Lures, Anvil 17, 2012, h0p// amdes. IaeimasmrN2012 /ap /I] /opiniaMaue- role - sustainable seenkinins 20120417.
' Southern regime. Association of Gmemmes. flagimul TiamnsHathem P/ en/ Sust awah /e Cwnmunitiw SVategy, Alan) 2012.
' 30 /101nieiative, LOS Angeles County Matropolitan Transportation AoOmiry(Meted, 2011, hBp : /Aawwomn net/prajects/thm /.
' In addition, the business camnvity and building industry had lobbied the Regional Coucil against Calitemiasenwoonme oal statutes including AB 32 and SB 375. this boafiity halted fuel decisions by Mange County and the Gateway Cities,a
subregion Nat includes Long Beach and other cities mer the purls of Lang Bosch and Los Angeles, ro opt out of Me regional planning precoes —which the lax allows if cuhsegions are willing to wW.t than. SCS planning Processes.
° Whenreviiongthese aodawmaflm arlicularlytho comeptaf rNmelirgpmM Dan, transit -it is impottantto acknowledge Me importance of pewious elanningeflons, aspecialty Me Compass Blvapridwsioningand Sound. planning
Process. Begun In 2000, Compass Bluepint's final vision resulted in a "2 Percent SVaeegy' b implements gmwrhvision almg egnihrantlransponatim wooden, comprising just food percent of the region's land. By 2000, srna lgetwlh s4ategies
like Nos. Mat old be exoneweaded in the Compass Blueprint plan were already Wing employed by same cities in the mullion. SCAB iwtituted a Compass Blueprint Demonstration Project funding program to help cities plan pmjamo necessary to
achieve the goalsaf the Compass Blueprintplan.
' Sauthem California ASSwlaVa0 of Gorernments, Regions /Tmnspormfian Plan/Sus2irable Communities Sba[egg Api120I2. 0.124.
' "Marta Welbome on Balancing Planning Respeaublimse Goals, and Constraints at Met.," The Planning Rapmt March 212012, help /Aplamementent dnJ2012/ 03/ 21/ marlha welhomabalaneiocmlanninq ma,mobililiw goals and
constraints -meVa.
° JasonSanq,'LA Counrysupendsors OK eaxepemion for fall Wllut,"( osAnga/ as Rmos AUguse82012, hnpy /aNCles,la6mes rpM2072/aug/08Racal/lame- measure+- 20120A90.
° Hasan lkhmta,'OmR2012 flTP /SCS Gieiral Issues," Ipresenlation, OCTA Board of Direnors ,flange, CA, Octaher], 20111.
10 Pon mars infprmadon about Niskindotprojectanalysis, sw ChapRr4, wlicyrecommenda0on 6.
" Southern Calitomia Asswiatlen of GaVxrnmenls, kNeal Transportationlmpmvemen (Program GmR1013 Guidelines, July 2012.
" Rick Cole, "SoWmm Wilms. handed as, mdol atsuslainabiliry.'LasAngeles Times, Apil 17,2012, surtanablasdral- vision - 2012041].11
Kaid Benfield, "IS Wal Amanita's Nest Environmental Success Story ?," IDs, Atlantic Cities, Apil 122012. hap common mA environmental -success- stury/1]43/.
d Danell Swinbmry.'A Bold Plan for Suslainable Calitomia Communities; The Wa115VeatJouma( May 12012, http: // online. wsj. roMadide/ 58100111424p52T 023W01131145 77367992120602090unal.
"'Regional Manning: Move LA. Mtp. /)jeunuffognmMmov eta /our worklegionalylannirg/.
PAGE 17 1 A bold Plaee for SuseainaGle caliioynia fComenunities: A Report on the !mplententatl3n o; Senate h3111 375
0
a
CHAPTER 3. THE SACRAMENTO REGION-THE PLACE
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
In many ways, Sacramento's original Blueprint — adopted in
2004 —was the inspiration for the - passage -of SB 375. In 2002,
the Sacramento region faced a projected population increase
of more than 50 percent by 2025, and increasingly worse air
pollution based on proposed growth patterns. To address
these challenges, the Board of the Sacramento Area Council
of Governments (SACOG) —the transportation planning
agency for the six- county region— initiated the Sacramento
Region Blueprint Project, an extensive study of the linkages
between transportation, land use, and air quality. Thousands
of community members participated in jointly envisioning
their region's future.
In 2004, the SACOG Board of Directors adopted the Preferred
Blueprint Scenario, a vision for growth that promoted
compact, mixed -use development, and more transit choices
as an alternative to low- density development. As is depicted
in the base case versus blueprint maps in figure 4, SACOG's
Blueprint Scenario significantly reduced Sacramento's
urbanized foot print— saving 360 miles of open space from
development —cut traffic congestion, and improved air
quality. The SACOG experience was instrumental to the
passage of SB 375, and has inspired dozens of policy makers
with the potential for the law's success.
Given this history, it is no surprise that SACOG's SCS is
exemplary, setting the bar high for other regions.
"This as the plan you have wanted for a
long -time."
- -Pete Hathaway, former deputy director, California
Transportation Cor'nmission
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PAGE 18 1 A Surd Plan for Sustainable California Communifies: P. Report on (he Iniplemeni2tion o(Sennte Bill 376
One of the most important achievements of SB 375 is that it
introduced a performance -based approach to an existing RTP
process, assigning a. greenhouse gas reduction target to each
region. Many of the regions have elected to adopt additional
performance measures to guide their planning and decision -
making. SACOG evaluates the performance of its plan based
on a number of indicators:
Decline in congested VMT per capita. For the first time
in the region's history, it is projected that the long -range
transportation plan will result in a 6.9 percent decline in
congested vehicle travel for each resident. This is the first
plan in the region's history to actually reduce congestion,
and it accomplishes that reduction while adding 870,000
new residents by 2035. (This compares to a planned 22
percent increase in congestion in the 2008 Metropolitan
Transportation Plan (MTP), and a 58 percent increase in
congestion in the 2002 MTP, see figure 5).1
U Increased travel by transit, bicycle, and walking. The
SCS is forecast to increase trips by public transit, biking,
or walking by 32.8 percent. This compares to an 8.1
percent increase for the 2008 MTP.
Reduces per capita passenger VMT by 8.8 percent. By
incorporating city plans that allow for new residents
to reduce the need to drive, SACOG manages to
substantially reduce its average driving per resident when
compared to 2008 levels. For example, by locating new
housing near transit, and bringing new transit to existing
housing, the plan achieves the equivalent of serving
all new housing and jobs with high quality transit. The
plan will spend 8percent of total revenues on bicycle
and pedestrian infrastructure, resulting in an expansion
of bike lanes by 77 percent. Notably, this percentage is
2.5
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W
2.0
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O d
1.0
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zo 0.5
significantly higher than any of the other large regions,
most of which only spend, on average, l to 2 percent for
active transportation.
o A per capita and absolute reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions below 2005 levels. Not only does the SCS meet
SB 375 per capita reduction targets for greenhouse gas
emissions, it also demonstrates an overall decrease in
greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and all
other sources.
le Flips commuting trends into the Central Business
District. Currently, 60 percent of commuters drive single
occupant vehicles (SOVs) into downtown Sacramento,
while 20 percent take transit. By 2035, this plan aims to
reverse that ratio, with 60 percent taking transit, and only
20 percent driving SOVs,2
® Accommodates strong population growth with little
urban footprint expansion. The Sacramento region's
population will grow by 39 percent by 2035, but its
urbanized footprint will expand by only 7 percent.
* Transit service nearly doubles, cutting congestion.
Modeling shows that a 1 percent shift in travel, from
driving to transit, results in a 5 percent reduction in
heavy congestion — malting investing in transit a lasting
strategy for congestion relief.
® Increased housing growth near job centers.
Sacramento's existing transit infrastructure does not
compare to that of Southern California or the Bay Area,
and while the region's SCS plan nearly doubles transit
service, much of the innovation in this plan focuses
on locating housing growth near job centers. As a result,
the ratio of housing provided compared to jobs available
improves in 14 out of 15 regional employment centers.
2000 2005 2008 2025 2035
PAGE 19 ] A Bold Plan far Sustainable California Cm"enanttiesv A 14ep m cn the Implementaton of Sunate B11i 375
SACOG has been working for more than three years to ensure
the success of this plan, and many of its innovative strategies
can serve as models for other regions. This chapter reviews its
key elements.
A FOCUS ON TRANSIT PRIORITY AREAS
SB 375 contains a statutory bias supporting development
near transit stations, bestowing an easier environmental
review process on residential and mixed -use residential
development projects in Transit Priority Areas (TPAs). These
designated areas are defined as being located within one-
half mile of a major transit station or a high quality transit
corridor. In SACOG's SCS, transit use in the TPAs is three -
times higher than in other parts of the region. Residents of
the region who both live and work within one -half mile of
transit drive on average 20 to 30 percent fewer miles than
residents outside of TPAs. Since the aim of the law and plan
is to provide residents with cost - saving choices that enable
them to reduce driving and encourage other transportation
modes, a focus on locating additional housing and jobs in
TPAs is appropriate.
SACOG's SCS provides more opportunities for new residents
to live near transit by encouraging growth in TPAs. In 2008,
only 14 percent of housing units and 27 percent of jobs in the
region were located within TPAs. In its SCS, SACOG plans for
38 percent o_f_new homes and 39 percent of new jobs hi these
TPAs. For a region where only 2.8 percent of commuters use
public transit, this is an important step.
Some might argue that locating only 38 percent of new
housing near transit —when the latest market studies
indicate all new growth should locate near transit —is not
enough. Figure 6 outlines how Sacramento's SCS expands
50,000
00,000
50,000
0
&isting (20001aM projacted (2035( jobs and homes in he SACOG region served by Vaesit
access to transit. SAGOG's investment in new transit service
not only brings high quality service to new homes and
employers, but also serves an additional 152,216 existing
dwelling units and 240,013 existing employees that do not
currently have transit service.
The bottom line is that by locating newhousing near transit,
and bringing new transit to existing residents, SACOG
achieves the equivalent of locating all new development
near transit. This is a substantial part of the way SACOG
reaches its greenhouse gas target. They project that travel
by transit, bicycle, and walking increases by 32.8 percent. As
a comparison, the 2008 MTP projected an only 8.1 percent
increase in ridership, even though that plan was based upon
the very popular and widely - hailed regional Blueprint, which
was itself a substantial improvement over business as usual.
AN EVOLVING MIX OF HOUSING CHOICES
The SACOG region has no natural geographic barriers to
development or expansion, so it is no great surprise that
growth has largely taken the form of large -lot, single -family
housing. Before the Blueprint was adopted in 2004, the mix of
housing in the region broke down as follows;
a Sixty -eight percent large- lot /single family housing (lot
sizes are one - eighth of an acre or larger)
Three percent small lot /single - family (lot sizes are less
than one - eighth of an acre)
* Twenty -nine percent multi - family /attached single family
SACOG considered the same Urban Land Institute (ULI)
demographic projections that informed Southern California's
planning process. In Sacramento, a similar story emerged
(see figure 7).
PAGE 20 1 A Bold Plan for Sustainable California A Report on the Implementallor, oi Senate BIII 376
Small Lot Conventional Lot
Sources: Sacramento Association of governments; Arthur C. Nelson, The New California Dream How Demographic and Economic Trends
May Shape the Housing Market: A Land Use Scenario for 2020 and 2035, Urban Land Institute, 2011, http: /fla.uli.org/wp content/
uploads /2011 /12/UL1- Nelson -Vie- New- Califomia-Dream - exec- summconclusions- December - 2011.pdf
The ULI report, The New California Dream, found that the
region is already oversupplied with large -lot, single - family
homes.' While the final adopted RTP /SCS does not go as
far as the ULI report suggests it should, the housing mix is
essentially a reversal of historic trends. The SCS expects:
ca Seventy -one percent of new housing to be attached and
small4ot, single- family housing
a Twenty -nine percent large -lot, single -family housing and
rural residential
The fact that so many more residents will have the option to
live in small -lot and attached homes means that the region
will develop much less land with every new household.
Whereas 333 acres of land were developed to accommodate
each 1,000 residents in the recent past, the SCS requires only
42 acres per 1,000 residents. The urban footprint expands by
only 7 percent to accommodate 39 percent more people.
A FOCUS ON JOB CENTER
While planning for growth near job centers to reduce
commute distances is a sound strategy, regional governments
like SACOG cannot control the location of future development;
SR 375 expressly preserves local government's authority
over land use decisions. What a regional agency can do is
use its transportation investments to catalyze the types of
development and modes of mobility it believes will help
achieve the region's goals. With limited funding available,
SACOG has done sound job in this respect. One of the
most innovative strategies in the SACOG plan is a focus
El Dorado
Placer
Placer
Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento
Sutter
Yale
Yale
Yale
Yuba
Latrobe Business Park
Roseville - Douglas Corridor
Sunset Industrial Area
Downton Sacramento
East Sac /UC Davis Medical Center
Power Inn /Florin - Perkins
Rancho Cordova
Folsom
Elk Grove /Laguna Springs
Expo- Arden -Point West Area
Northgate /North Market Area
Yuba City /Hwy 20
UC Davis
West Sacramento /Harbor /Industrial
Area
NE Woodland Industrial Area
Downtown Marysville
0:98
0.98
0.98
2.25
1.92
1,34
1.52
1.38
0.61
1.80
1.14
1.08
1.31
1.12
1.17
2.00
1.72
1.18
1.44
1.41
0.75
1.68
1.22
1.10
1.30
2.16 1.87
1.47 1.44
1.09 1.11
All of the SACOG region's major employment centers are projected to move towards
the ideal 1.2 jobs -to- household ratio between 2008 and 2035. Jobs to household ratio
is a common metric employed by planners to determine whether the region is providing
an appropriate balance of employment and housing opportunities. Past plans have only
examined job - housing balance at a regional scale. For the first time with this plan,
SACOG examined this indicator within the 4-mile radius of its 15 major employment
centers, aiming to reduce commuting distances and improve convenience.
PAGE 211 A cast elan for Sustainable California Communities: A fleport on the Impkmiontatioo of Senate 31113 ?`0
on clustering growth in sub - regional job centers. SACOG
identifies 15 employment centers in the region. The plan
manages to improve the balance of jobs and housing in 14 of
the 15 job centers. Today, one -thud of workers live and work
in the same area, so their commute trips average less than
five miles. The SCS would improve that potential scenario by
accommodating the majority of new growth near regional job
centers: as a share of all growth in the region, 78 percent is
accommodated within four miles of one of these 15 regional
job centers. As a result, the average commute nip length
would be reduced by9- percent, from 20.5 miles in 2008 to
18.7 miles in 2035.
Going forward, SACOG has been working with affordable
housing advocates to analyze not just jobs- housing balance —
which strives to balance the total number of jobs with the
total number of housing units —but jobs - housing fit, which
emphasizes matching housing costs with likely wages in the
job market. With its U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) Sustainable Communities Regional
Planning grant, SACOG is developing data to create and
test a jobs- housing fit methodology, a long time request
of the:affordable housing community. Ideally, SACOG's
methodology can be adopted by other regions struggling to
provide convenient, affordable housing for all residents.
SACOG'S INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO
ENVIRONMENTAL AL REVIEW
A fundamental premise of SB 375s environmental review
provisions is that certain environmental impacts can and
should be analyzed at the regional scale. That way, when a
proposed project is consistent with that regional review, the
project sponsor is spared the time and expense of redoing
environmental review. This practice, referred to as tiering,
allows a project to benefit from environmental review
completed for previous planning documents — typically at
a larger scale. Clearly, then, it is essential that the regional
environmental review document be comprehensive and of
very high quality.
More than any other region to date, SACOG took pains
to ensure that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
for its RTP /SCS was sufficient to make tiering available
to those projects that wished to take advantage of it.4 For
Transit Priority Areas (TEAS) in particular, SACOG included
definitions of what types of projects would qualify, and
tried to ensure the SCS's EIR was analyzing projects in such
a way that would promote worthwhile projects while also
protecting the environment. SACOG structured its EIR
to follow the specific structure of its SCS, which classifies
growth into community types: 1) centers and corridors; 2)
established communities; 3) developing communities; and 4)
rural residential communities. In addition, the EIR uses the
transit priority area as an overlay. It then takes careful steps to
ensure that the tiering provisions of SB 375 are available for
each community type and all TPAs.
Since SB 375's CEQA provisions and SACOG's efforts to
conform their EIR to them are completely new, SACOG
applied for and secured a HUD grant to develop this tool
more fully. SACOG has selected five transit priority projects
throughout the region with which to partner to create
case study SCEA documents. The idea is to work through
the environmental review process with local government
partners to ensure others can access this new streamlining,
all with an eye towards tipping the development scale in favor
of growth near transit s
SACOG's EIR contains a number of mitigation measures that
are based on performance instead of specific, rigid measures.
For example, rather than requiring a specific Transportation
Demand Management (TDM) measure to reduce congested
VMT, the plan lists a suite of TDM strategies from which a
local agency could select the most appropriate mix given
a project's location. The goal was to give locals flexibility
depending on the situation.
The importance of SACOG's work cannot be overstated.
SB 375 has created a completely new tool under CEQA to
incentivize growth near transit, and it is appropriate that the
bill give an easier environmental review process to projects
near transit as this type of development has been proven
repeatedly to reduce the need to drive and the associated
greenhouse gas emissions. But unless the region's plan and
EIR are sufficiently detailed, developers will not be able to
benefit from these new provisions, and theincentivewill
be lost. SACOG's pioneering work here is critical to ensure
that SB 375s new CEQA provisions deliver their intended
incentives, and that growth occurs in the right locations.
FISCAL CONSTRAINT
In contrast to some other regions, the budget in SACOG's
plan is 13 percent smaller than its predecessor. This exercise
in fiscal self- restraint is commendable, particularly as other
regions assume substantial amounts of new revenue rather
than do the harder work of re-assessingthe need for certain
projects. SACOG operates within its means with this plan,
itself a model for future SCSs. Ultimately, the question the
SACOG region asked was: "How can we do more with less ?"
SACOG spreads the cuts wisely, with a 20 percent decrease
in capital projects versus a 9 percent decrease in operations
PAGE 22 1 A Bold Plan for Sustainable California Communities: A Repor- o .he, hnnolem ntat o i f Sei)atc 8111375
and maintenance, consistent with a "fix-if- first" investment
strategy. Road capacity investments decline by 30 percent,
reflecting this plan's focus on operational improvements to
improve system productivity over capacity improvements.
Added freeway lane miles account for only 3 percent of the
total new road way capacity, likely the smallest proportion of
funding committed to freeways by any region in the history
of RTPs.' Instead, the 97 percent of road projects that focus
on surface streets emphasize access to milli areas, congestion
relief, and access by transit, bicycle, and pedestrian modes.
E
a
E
The single largest budget item in SACOG's $35 billion plan is
road maintenance and rehabilitation, at $11.5 billion. Transit
is second at $11.3 billion, and road capital and operations are
third at $7.4 billion. One of the most impressive things about
this plan is that bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure receive
$2.8 billion, or nearly 37 percent as much as the plan spends
on roads, and 8 percent of total plan revenues. No other plan
in California, and possibly no other plan in the United States,
save perhaps the Portland metro, can make such a claim,
PAGE 23 1 A Bold Plan for sustainable Cal darn !a Ccrmouusil.s: A Repot n H mo'emi,ntatloi i 0 sennic, Bill 376
Year of Expenditure$ $16.4 $20.2
Maintain Caltrans Highways and Freeways
Maintain Local Streets and Roads
Safety Investments as Part of Rehabilitation Projects
Road Capital and Operations Projects (Current Year $)* $7.4 $9.3 -20% -14%
Year of Expenditure$ $10.5 $15.7
New and Widened Roads, River Crossings, Interchanges ($5.9 billion, 30
percent lower than 2008 MTP total)
Safety Projects
Technology and Operational Improvements
Transit (Current Year Sr $11.3- $13.6 -17 %- -10%
Year of Expenditure$ $15.9 $229
Bus and Rail Operations and Maintenance (70 percent of total expenditures)
Strategic Bus and Rail Infrastructure Expansion
ADA Paratransit Services
Bike/Pedestrian (Current Year $)* $2.8 $2.9 -1% "5%
Year of Expenditure$ $4.0 $4.9
Bicycle Facilities
Pedestrian Improvements
ADA Retrofits
Programs, Planning, Enhancements (Current Year $)* "$2.2 $2.4 -8% 0%
Year of Expenditure $ $3.1 $4.0
Project Analysis and Development
Community Design Program
Air Duality Programs
TOM and Traveler Information
Landscaping and Transportation Enhancements
�Si& l!N 1{iPr`i�t dAld3Y6 „C r�^x "r,: -= '.;.at.... "a %z -�,�. "m' �y(" �'s1{9k, , ^" a �� ✓`,��5�
..� .. .m 'J ����...�- y�,l�i ....,..v%Y..' i`�Iv2��"th
Year of Expenditure$ $49.8 $67.7
PAGE 24 1 A cord Pfan for Sustainahie Canfrorda Cmnmunities: A Report on the Implememaiion of Senate ail! 275
TRUE INTEGRATED TRANSPORTATION ION AND
LAND USE SCENARIO PLANNING
One way SACOG could afford to reduce the scope of its road
and highway portfolio was by iterating integrated land use
and transportation scenarios — reflecting the planning model
SB 375 envisioned —to show that transit, walking, and biking
could bear an increased share of the region's transportation
demand, bringing into question the need for various road
projects contained in the 2008 plan.
The SCS increases transit coverage region -wide, but places
particular emphasis on corridors with land uses that support
productive transit service. By focusing on areas that have the
highest number of likely riders, the SCS increases the number
of transit trips by more than 250 percent even though the
number of service hours is only doubled. To make dollars
available for this ambitious transit expansion, the SCS shifts
more than $2 billion from road to transit purposes.
To achieve similarly strong performance from the road
system with reduced revenues, right- sizing or value -
engineering of roadway investments emerged as an
important strategy. The plan achieves a reduction in
congestion for the first time in the region's history, but does
so with 13 percent fewer resources than the last plan.
Several proposed road widenings from the 2008 plan are
scaled back from six lanes to four. Many other road projects
planned for construction in the 2008 plan are included only
for project analysis in the 2012 SCS? A specific example is
the Placer Parkway widening west of Watt Avenue — slated
as a four lane road between state routes 65 and 70. SACOG's
modeling showed that its preferred growth scenario would
obviate the need for this investment, so the project was
scaled back significantly, and its phasing was revisited so that
a projected widening would not occur until the later years of
the plan.
ALWAVS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
For all its accomplishments, there are areas in which SACOG
could improve its performance for the next plan:
M Schedule road construction to occur later in the plan
to avoid triggering growth outside existing urban areas.
SACOG adopted this approach with the Placer Parkway
project. Any capacity increases at the urban edge
should be phased to occur during the plan's later years
to ensure they are not growth - inducing. An example
is the proposed widening of Highway 99 north of the
Sacramento airport towards Sutter andYuba Counties.
As this area is primarily used for farming, a capacity
expansion would be growth inducing, as opposed to
accommodating demand for travel.
Ensure sufficient densities and strong ridership potential
prior to initiation of costly capital transit projects. The
fact that that such an exceptional plan has been embraced
in a region with mixed political views is a powerful
indicator of the potential for similar efforts elsewhere, not
simply within California, but across the country.
improve parking policies to support walkable
communities and transit use. The SCS notes that
parking policies maybe a barrier to realization of
SACOG's desired land use pattern. It also recommends
conducting studies on the potential to modify current
parking regulations, as well as explore parking pricing
opportunities to support other modes of travel.' These
recommendations can help address what is surely one
of the most powerful drivers of the decision to drive
in the SACOG region— abundant and free parking —
and SACOG should prioritize these research efforts,
and move towards implementation of their findings.
Modifying current parking regulations can help to ensure
that developers are _able to deliver the walkable, transit -
oriented housing the market is demanding. Well designed
parking pricing policies can help pay for business
improvement districts and shuttles, boost returns for local
merchants and support increased transit use.
Prioritize transit investments in high - density arterial
corridors. High-density arterial corridors with no or
limited transit service present strategic investment
opportunities and should be prioritized to receive
funding. SACOG should flag any sufficiently dense
arterial corridors that currently lack this transit service
and work with local jurisdictions and transit operators to
accelerate service there. In arterial corridors where transit
service does not currently exist, service introduction
should be commenced once there is a sufficient density of
homes or jobs along these arterial corridors.
PAGE 251 to Sold Plan for sustainable California Connnunitios: A Repu! on the Implomenietion of Senate bill M
CONCLUSlON
SACOG has demonstrated that smart planning provides a
multitude of benefits to the community, and is an issue that
can transcend party lines. The fact that such an exceptional
plan has been embraced in a region with mixed political
views is a powerful indicator of the potential for similar
efforts elsewhere, not simply within California, but across the
country.
Sacramento's plan sets a very high standard for regional
planning. To Mayor Cabaldons point, the plan takes
significant steps forward in nearly every one of the major
tenets of smart growth:
Is Increases housing near transit
M Saves significant farmland from development by shifting
to a more compact land use pattern
® Eliminates wasteful sprawl- inducing highway capacity
projects
be Doubles transit service
M Significantly increases bike /pedestrian funding
* Protects public health
IN Focuses on locating housing near job centers
' SASSO 2835 MTRIDepter58, Tm ads &Yerfwmaree: Vehicle Miles TmvelledlVMp& 8oatlway Congestion lhttp: /AwWR$arag.elg%2 035 /files/ Final -0ratl- MTP /58- VMT %20FinaLptlp
' SACOG Stab Testimony March 22,2012
' http:/ Nnnvuli .orgMesearthAndPUblirations/ -/ media/ BesearchMdPUblioatians /Beport/ULI %20Voices %20Nelson% 20TH% 20Not5%20California %20Dmam.ashx
° Since SACOG bas been engaged in blueprint planning same 2004,ins natural that Their plan is more advanced and focused on implememaVen than some of gee mriecagices. In We SLAG region, the ai tea I work forth is SCS was to gat the vision
fm the for.. right Each region is diffinnotarld all are making pogress. -
° There has been considerable debate in the plaming community ragariingthe value of the environmental mviewpmvisioms of SD 325. Some claim they are not meaningful rameh to abortively imartwim growth mar transit —as the law
clearly intended. OWers believe cut the streamlined process forroview of projects located marbansit cwld bestow very meaningful time and cost savings through the development pocess. SACOG clearly beliaaesterem prwisiam could help
Moolopme build rear transit more easily, and has done everything in its fewer to create an SCS that allowsdevelapece b takeaJVamage of the provisions of 50315. And some additional detail on vio err n CEGApmvisions? .
' Pete Hamawagformer Merely Dearcer at SACOG, Wracraaleommunieation 3/12
' See p 410 for a list of papers narrowed from 6 lanes too and asopanic list of perform which had beanslawd for compaction in 2008, now included only for analysis in the SCS
a Stmtegies3J and 16.1 in Chapmr6- Polities and Supportive Sbategies.
PAGE 26 1 A Bold plan for sustainable California CommuraPtiee: A Repmi pn the Implom,watnr of SanaPe P :R 375
CHAPTER 4. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Yet, as SCAG's previous president, Larry McCallon, said at
the CARB hearing reviewing SCAG's plan, "This plan means
nothing if it's not implemented. I and my agency [the San
Bernardino Association of Governments —one of the six
counties comprising the SCAG region] are committed to
implementing it."
As good as they are, these regional SCSs will not implement
themselves. Regions and localities need new tools and
resources to transform these new visions for future growth in
California into reality.
The following recommendations will help ensure effective
implementation and the success of regional SCSs:
1. EMBRACE REDEVELOPMENT REFORM
As discussed earlier in Chapter 2, many who promote
infill and better urban development saw the dissolution
of California's redevelopment agencies in 2011 as a major
setback. Redevelopment provided tools to local jurisdictions
that made urban locations more attractive for investment,
financed affordable housing, eased investments to
upgrade infrastructure, and permitted the consolidation
of underutilized property to spur projects. In spite of the
benefits, redevelopment agencies did redirect important
revenues away from California's schools, and individual
redevelopment agencies sometimes engaged in practices that
sullied the reputation of redevelopment. In addition, the legal
strategy that cities used to fend off the dissolution, and the
Supreme Court decision against them, ultimately prohibited
the state from reconsidering the dissolution.
Yet as SCSs continue to be certified, the need for innovations
in urban development will only grow. Now is the time
to revamp redevelopment in away that encourages SB
375 - friendly planning, eliminates abuses, and keeps schools
funded. The best current prospect for this kind of reform is
another idea from Senator Steinberg: SB 1156. He aims to
eliminate the need for a blight finding and instead refocus
redevelopment on creating walkable communities and
encouraging growth near transit. Local governments need
local economic development tools and it is fitting that
Senator Steinberg should focus his efforts on updating and
modernizing redevelopment to meet the needs of the 2111
Century.
2, IDENTIFY PERMANENT SOURCES FOR
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FUNDING
The elimination of redevelopment removed the state's single
largest source of financial assistance for affordable housing
development. While Calffornia's voters have been generous
in their approval of periodic bonds for affordable housing,
experts agree that the state needs to establish a permanent
and reliable source of affordable housing funding. SB 375s
emphasis on inclusive development brings this need into
even sharper focus.
During the 2012 session, legislative leaders in Sacramento
considered legislation to enact a small fee on home sales that
would go into a trust fund for affordable housing. Though
this bill failed to move this year, it had the support of a broad
coalition including the California Realtors Association, the
California Building Industry Association, and numerous
environmental and affordable housing groups. Similar
efforts are likely to re- emerge next session. Any reformed
redevelopment program must continue redevelopment's
long - established fiscal commitment to affordable housing
development.
PAGE 27 1 A Sold Plan for Sustainable t.`allfaraia Communities: n report on the iniNementMicii of Sonate tJi0 376
3. SECURE NEW REVENUES FOR PLANNING,
TRANSIT, AND INFRASTRUCTURE
RUCTURE
INVESTMENT
SB 375 calls on regions and localities to modernize their land
use patterns and infrastructure investments. This is essential
work and local agencies are the best positioned and most
knowledgeable to make it happen on the ground. Sacramento
leaders must realize that successful SCSs will only come
from concerted and informed planning at regional, county,
and state levels. The need to fund staff planners in regions,
counties and cities is vital.
SCSs will create new demand for infrastructure, as
intensifying development in traditional urban areas will
likely require the upgrading of aging systems. For example,
walkable neighborhoods require quality sidewalks,
safe road crossings and bike lanes, and sufficient park
and green spaces. According to the California Transit
Association, California already has a $22 billion unmet
public transportation operations funding shortfall through
2020.' While SB 375 will create communities where transit
is more economically efficient, initial investment is
absolutely necessary to ensure that it's also safe, reliable, and
competitive.
Fortunately, proceeds from the sale of greenhouse gas
emissions permits under AB 32's cap and trade system are a
new and appropriate source of revenues for these important
investments, especially given that the resulting greenhouse
gas emissions reductions are essential to meeting SB 375
and AB 32 goals. Investment plans from the CARB or the
legislature must include funding for SB 375 implementation
consistent with requirements for the expenditure of
regulatory fees.
4. INCREASE TRANSIT FUNDING
Beyond proceeds from the'sale of permits under a cap
and trade system, additional revenues for the expansion,
operations, and maintenance of our transit systems are
sorely needed. Self -help counties that fund transportation
through their sales taxes should commit ever greater portions
of those proceeds to transit and ensure that those projects
are consistent with adopted SCSs. Sacramento lawmakers
should permit regions to ask their residents to fund regional
transportation needs, like Los Angeles did with Measure R.
SANDAG saw itself trapped within the projects laid out in its
Transact regional measure. The state and counties should
explore how regions can legally and responsibly change
priorities within existing transportation -based sales tax
programs to reconsider projects that may not contribute to
SCS sustainability goals.
S. IMPLEMENT PARKING REFORM
Parking is just one of many common obstacles to realizing
more sustainable development. Our traditional car - centric
approach to zoning and land use has led to the development
of parking requirements for residential developments that
are simply out of step not only with the market but also
with what science is teaching us about how and why people
choose to drive.
'Unnecessarily high off- street parking requirements drive up
the costs of residential development, increase housing prices,
and force builders to commit land to parking when they
could use it for residential or commercial use. Social science
research tells us that dense projects near transit need fewer
parking spaces, as residents of the projects drive less and
own cars at lower rates. Nevertheless, most of our cities are
governed by now - outmoded parking requirements created
for the suburbs.
State leaders can help encourage infill and lower the cost of
housing byprohibiting unnecessarily high off - street parking
requirements in areas that are well -served by transit. This
would not mean that builders could not provide parking if
they thought it was necessary to sell their units, only that a
city would not require more parking than makes sense for a
transit- oriented location.
In 2011, the California Infill Builders Association sponsored,
and Assembly member Nancy Skinner authored, AB 710,
which would have limited parking near transit stations. The
bill received unanimous bipartisan votes in every committee
and on the Assembly floor. The bill fell short by one vote
of passing off the Senate floor. Assembly member Skinner
reintroduced the bill, now AB 904, in the 2012 session.
Though facing resistance, this bill would significantly
enhance opportunities for transit - oriented development
around the state.
li
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC),
which is developing the Bay Area's SCS, has recently
adopted a new performance -based approach to evaluating
transportation investments. MTC's "project performance
assessment" analyzes whether major transportation projects
PAGE 28 1 A Bold Plan for sustainable California A Report on the Implementation at Senate Ril 375
are helping or hurting the Bay Area's ability to meet its social
and environmental goals. The performance assessment
rates projects not only on their ability to move traffic —the
traditional approach to transportation investment —but also
includes environmental criteria (Will a project encourage
more driving and more pollution ?) and social equity criteria
(Will low income communities benefit, or be negatively
affected, by a project ?).
Transportation projects are extremely expensive and have
all sorts of impacts over and above moving vehicles. To really
put the sustainablein Sustainable Communities Strategy, all
regions should develop comprehensive evaluation methods
like MTC's.
MTC's process could also serve as a model for state efforts.
The California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) was written
into law in 2008 by SB 732 (Steinberg). The SGC has a
statutory mandate to "Identify and review activities and
funding programs of member state agencies that may be
coordinated to meet the objectives of the Council. "2 To date,
the SGC has made little progress towards this ambitious and
essential goal. The great majority of the state's infrastructure
investment comes through the Business, Transportation, and
Housing agency (BTH), primarily for transportation. BTH
should take the lead to apply MTC's pioneering process to
evaluate and potentially reconsider the state's tens of billions
of dollars of transportation investments.
7. ADOPT TARGETED REGIONAL GRANT
PROGRAM
In 2009, the MTC launched a new program called Priority
Development Areas (PDA9). The opportunity emerged as part
of the FOCUS growth program —a regional dialogue about
how the Bay Area should accommodate millions of new
residents over the next 25 years. After many rounds of public
comment and expert consultation, the Bay Area published
its guidelines for determining what qualifies a site as a PDA.
The full list is available on their website, but the essential
concept is that the Bay Area will focus growth in areas that are
already developed, served by transit, water, and sewer, and
are in close proximity to jobs and amenities. At the time the
PDA program was developed, MTC had no specific funding
to provide to these areas. They did make a promise, however,
that if Bay Area cities agreed to accept additional growth by
volunteering to be a PDA, they would be first in line for new
infrastructure funding in the future.
Many, many cities answered the call. In fact, the Bay Area
planning agencies now predict that they will be able to
accommodate more than half of the regions growth required
by 2035 in the 5 percent of BayArea land contained within
these PDAs.3 And now, with the development of their draft
SCS, the MTC /ABAG have made good on their promise to
the cities to fund infrastructure investment with the One
Bay Area grant program. This program provides housing,
transportation, and other infrastructure funding, and
only PDAs are eligible to apply. At the time of this writing,
MTC /ABAG had just voted to allocate over $300 million of
discretionary funding to this program.
Other regions, as well as state grant programs, should
consider prioritizing funding to cities with developed
infrastructure and amenities to grow, thus giving a shot in the
arm to the infill agenda.
8. DEVELOP "SB 375 - READY"
ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS
As referenced in Chapter 3, Sacramento went far beyond the
call of duty in crafting the environmental document for its
RTP /SCS. It is clear upon reviewing Sacramento's EIR that the
intent was not merely to adhere to the requirements of the
CEQA, but to create a document that truly makes it possible
for local governments and developers to take advantage
of the streamlining provisions of SB 375. By matching the
structure of the EIR to the structure of the SCS, they ensure
that the tiering provisions are available to the types of
projects SB 375 sets out to _ encourage.
By working in partnership with local cities and developers
to actually draft template Sustainable Communities
Environmental Assessments, Sacramento is ensuring that
this new CEQA document is available to those transit projects
that can mitigate their environmental impacts. SACOG's EIR
helps bring the promise of SB 375 several significant steps
closer to reality, and is a model others should follow drafting
their EIRs.
The Bay Area, specifically, which will spend the next year
preparing its SCS and EIR, could benefit its developers and
local jurisdictions substantially by making sure the EIR is a
valid and useful document.
9. EMPLOY SCS AS VEHICLE TO ADVANCE
SOCIAL EQUITY
A consistent theme running through AB 32 and SB 375
is a commitment to furthering social equity. SB 375 and
SCS development provide unprecedented opportunities
to consider regional challenges and right historic regional
inequities.
PAGE 29 1 A Bold Plan for Sustainable California Communities: A Report on the Impl¢mentetion of Senate 8.11376
SCSs must prioritize equity. By syncing up regional land
use and transportation planning with the Regional Housing
Needs Allocation (RHNA), SB 375 calls on regions to think of
housing and transportation costs together, and gives them a
tool to balance jobs and housing. SB 375 puts more teeth into
the RHNA process by requiring local jurisdictions to create
housing elements and zoning consistent with the allocation.
Transportation equity is equally important. SCSs should
consider not only rail service, but bus service (by far the most
common type of transit) in their transportation planning.
MPOs need to do a better job of creating and maintaining bus
routes that serve the actual needs of low- income residents
and link them to opportunity. Regions should prioritize
restoring service cuts and keeping existing systems in good
repair before expanding their systems' reach.
Preventing displacement is also an important equity issue,
ensuring that rising land values and economic opportunity
in TOD areas are channeled into effective community
revitalization. There area number of policies, like corridor
wide value capture fees, supporting tenants' rights, and
helping preserve existing affordable housing, that can
support efforts to address and prevent displacement.
The intersection of public health and the built environment
is also a key consideration. Low- income communities, and
communities of color, are more likely to be located near
both stationary and mobile sources of air pollution, and
sometimes both. The cumulative health impacts of these
sources, amplified in many cases by social determinants
of health such as race and income, put many people at
risk. SCSs and their EIRs must address this issue, both
by providing sufficient buffers and mitigations between
polluting uses and sensitive populations, and by promoting
urban design, complete streets, and open spaces to
encourage physical activity and active transportation.
PAGE 30 1 A Held Plan for Sustainable California CmVIMUniTi¢51 A Report enthe irnRleme; Senate Bill 37B
10. INCREASE FOCUS ON PUBLIC HEALTH
The American Lung Association of California's analysis
of the SCAG SCS shows that there are significant public
health benefits for all Californians from better land use and
transportation planning. The methodology they developed is
easily transferrable to other regions. Moving forward, all SCSs
and related environmental documents should examine and
share likely public health outcomes. We believe this will help
build popular support for better regional planning, as a clean
airlless pollution message resonates very well with everyday
Californians, who may otherwise be unfamiliar with planning
and infrastructure.
Public health analysis should at least include the two areas
covered in the lead -up to the approval of the SCAG SCS: the
health benefits of more active transportation (biking and
walking), and those from cleaner air (less asthma, fewer
hospital visits and missed work days, fewer premature
deaths). An additional area regions should add are the health
benefits of reductions in vehicle collisions (both between
vehicles and between vehicles and pedestrians /bikers).
Coalitions throughout California, including ClimatePlan,
Human Impact Partners and others, have developed helpful
public health indicators that regions should strongly consider
including in future SCSs.
Regions could also conduct a Health Impact Assessment
(HIA) in conjunction with the development of their scenario
alternatives. By performing health analysis at the front
end, health - related information can be become part of the
decision - making process, alongside environmental and
economic analysis, when SCS policies are being evaluated.
The Alameda County Department of Public Health, for
example, is performing an HIA in the context of the Bay
Area's SCS, with a focus on transit - dependent populations in
Alameda County. HIAs aim to provide focused analysis that
can inform decision - making.
11. USE REGIONAL ADVANCE MITIGATION
PLANNING FOR CONSERVATION
Regional advance mitigation planning (RAMP) incorporates
environmental considerations early in infrastructure
development to leverage mitigation dollars for larger
and more effective conservation actions. Under a RAMP,
infrastructure agencies work with resource agencies to
consider the environmental impacts of several planned
projects at once, bundling their mitigation needs to protect
habitat at a larger, more ecologically effective scale, and
linking those mitigation actions with conservation priorities
as identified in a'regional greenprint.'
RAMPS address a common problem: due to the way
transportation and other infrastructure projects are funded
and implemented, infrastructure agencies often engage in
project -by- project mitigation, which often overlooks regional
and ecosystem scale impacts to species and critical habitat,
thereby missing opportunities for efficient, reliable and
effective environmental mitigation. Mitigation also usually
occurs at the end of the project timeline, when property
values have increased due to speculation, and habitat
acquisition opportunities have been lost to encroaching
development and speculation.
RAMP is a win -win for conservation and infrastructure
agencies: it expedites project delivery and yields larger
conservation outcomes. Under RAMP, mitigation for
infrastructure projects can be proactive, cheaper, more
systematic and on larger, more ecological, scales.
Currently RAMPS exist in San Diego and Orange Counties,
authorized as environmental mitigation programs through
their respective transportation sales tax measures, with
great success. Caltrans, Department of Water Resources,
Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, UC Davis, The Nature
Conservancy, and other state and federal agencies are
working to develop a statewide RAMP program. Regions
should utilize RAMPS to maximize open space conservation
in the SCSs.
' Yanel Grant and Josh Show. 'Unmet Transit Funding Needs in Cabhora: H2011- 2021"pectere, Ninth National Confererro of Incorporation Pound Managemeat, San Opegs, CA, Aged 17,2012).
'
Counter, Public Bosau¢osCode]51251c1: Improve air and water 0ealita Protect natural msaurms and agriculture lands Increase the availability of affordable housing) Promote public health; bereave toresponatinic Encourage greater infill and
compact domlopmont Neviblion community and urban centers; Assist slate and local entries in the planning of sustainable communities and meeting All 32 goals.
' "Priority Gevelopmont Areas," FOCUS: A Development and Conservation Strategy, far the San Fncreism 0, Area, hU,/A n•. wbayareavision. mg( nidalivas /priaritydoolopmentowas.Feel.
PAGE 311 A Hold Plan for Sustainable Cal Kini nla Co. anon ides: A Repo¢ on the hnplomen[s0on of Sena[m Ei112 76
CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION
Nearly three and a half years into California's grand
experiment in regional planning, it seems communities will
be stronger, healthier, and more resilient as a result of this
law. All of the adopted SCSs, as well as the BayArea's —up for
adoption April 2013 —have shifted their planning practices in
similar ways:
® Less land will be developed to accommodate each new
resident
* More public transportation options will be available
More people will be given the option to live near transit
® Commutes will get shorter
* Bicycling and walking will be easier and safer
® More communities will experience a mix of uses, making
life easier and more convenient
These changes will not happen overnight, nor will they
happen on their own. But the regional agencies charged
with implementing SB 375 have made one thing clear: urban
growth and development in California will adapt to the
times. Transportation systems built to serve growth will be
more balanced, and less polluting. A pivot in the direction of
sustainable communities is the clear choice.
Now the State of California must deliver the tools and
resources to make these visions a reality. As Steve
Heminger, Executive Director of the BayArea's Metropolitan
Transportation Commission told CARE, "We need a new
kind of partnership with your agency, and with the state." in
the coming months and years, the state needs to focus on a
three -fold policy platform to ensure it achieves the potential
of this law: 1) reform redevelopment to provide a focus on
SB 375 implementation; 2) provide resources for transit and
active transportation, planning, and affordable housing; and
3) develop a policy package designed to eliminate barriers
to infill development through parking reform and other
measures.
The optimism and sense of possibility Senator Steinberg
described to the infill builders has characterized the regions'
work. Now it is up to the state to take bold action to continue
to support implementation of this landmark law.
PAGE 32 1 A Bold Plan for Sustainable California Commwnues: A Reporz c n t ', impleme, C c.� of Senate dill 376
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