Northern News Dec. 2021-Jan. 2022

By Tara Duggan, San Francisco Chronicle, December 6, 2021. Tidal marshes are an excellent carbon sink and promote biodiversity, but a thorough permitting process is still required.

By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, November 30, 2021. The court affirmed the use of Proposition 1A bond funds for a blended system of high-speed and improved conventional rail.

By Andres Picon, San Francisco Chronicle, November 25, 2021. Oak advocates say city and state leaders could do more to protect the trees and safeguard their status as a keystone species throughout California.

By Alexei Koseff, San Francisco Chronicle, November 24, 2021. Mayor Kavita Tankha defended the rules, likely the first in the state, as accommodating residents’ desires to maintain their privacy, preserve open space, and reduce fire risk.

By Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, November 24, 2021. The city had just pulled $3.5 million in bond funding to prove to the state that it was ready to tackle the site’s environmental needs on the site when word arrived that Georgia-Pacific had settled with Mendocino Railway.

By Shomik Mukherjee, East Bay Times, November 20, 2021. Years after a citizen group forced the developer to submit scaled-down plans, changes in state law revived the original project with more affordable housing.

By Amanda Barlett, SFGate, November 19, 2021. Alameda County’s approval of a new facility at Altamont Pass has been challenged as threat to Golden Eagles and other avian species.

By Daniel Maroon, Alexander Merritt, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP blog, November 18, 2021. The Administrative Committee signaled strong confidence in the draft RHNA plan prepared by ABAG’s Housing Methodology Committee.

By Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, November 18, 2021. The property is central to the Wildlands Conservancy’s long-term goal of protecting and providing access to much of the Eel River.

Ricardo Cano, San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 2021. A Labor Department challenge to a 2013 public employee pension reform law could block billions for transit system improvements and service support.

By Laura Bliss, CityLab, November 11, 2021. Will giving poorer households no- or low-cost access to efficient and sustainable transportation help them meet their potential in society?

By Bruce Barton, Los Altos Town Crier, November 9, 2021. An incentive for a 4-story project linked with the settlement did not sway developers.

By Andrew Graham (editorial), Press Democrat, November 9, 2021. Previous investments in land, the current state budget, the new federal infrastructure bill, a deep water harbor with no bridge across it, and plenty of wind energy position Humboldt County for an energy future.

By Roger Rudick, Streetsblog Cal, November 8, 2021. A political dispute over rail electrification prevents state matching funds required for further federal support.

By Joseph Geha, Bay Area News Group, November 8, 2021. A Superior Court judge ruled that “the preponderance of evidence supports the conclusion that the [lawsuit was] brought for the purpose of delaying the provision of affordable housing.”

By Alissa Walker, Curbed, November 5, 2021. Morgan was the first woman to earn a civil engineering degree from UC Berkeley and the first woman licensed architect in California.

By Louis Hansen, Mercury News, November 4, 2021. It will consist of 12 lawyers and staff members with experience in land use and development, environmental law and civil rights.

From UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation, November 1, 2021. One paper explores why commercial conversion potential in California is minimal absent policy changes, the other identifies a variety of specific factors that promote adaptive reuse.

By Laura Feinstein and Anne Thebo, San Francisco Examiner, October 29, 2021. A new report suggests improved home plumbing and appliances, water-efficient landscaping, and greater private sector conservation efforts are necessary for growth.