The gap narrowed Monday between dueling proposals to change rules for environmental appeals of construction projects, but weighty issues remain unresolved.
For weeks now, a debate has raged at the Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee over how to reform the appeals process under the California Environmental Quality Act, also known as CEQA. Read More
By:Rebecca Evans and Quentin L. Kopp04/08/13 10:10 PM
Forty-three years ago, California adopted one of the nation’s most foresighted environmental protection laws, the California Environmental Quality Act, which is known as CEQA. The law encourages our elected officials to “look before they leap” and make decisions based on an objective analysis of a proposed project’s impacts on the environment. Read More
Supervisor Scott Wiener’s effort to change how The City handles an environmental appeals process was slowed down Monday as a competing measure is being introduced today. Read More
The California Environmental Quality Act is a good law too often used in bad ways. At its root, the law, typically known as CEQA, requires that state and local governments study the impacts of projects to mitigate, when possible, their negative effects.
But while CEQA-type laws around the nation typically only come into play in the case of genuine environmental objections to a project, the law in California is far too often co-opted by anyone with a “not in my backyard” objection. Read More
San Francisco’s planning approval process is notoriously difficult, often taking months — and sometimes a decade or more — to approve a project. The City’s lengthy process can add significantly to a developer’s costs. These costs are impacting the pace of development and the type of projects that get built in The City. Read More
Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting was the last for Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, who is sadly termed out. The party for him that night at the Irish Cultural Center was packed with elected leaders and City Hall staffers wishing him well and thanking him for 12 years of service as the voice of reason at the board.
Here are some juicy tidbits of gossip I picked up while mingling at the shindig. Read More
In November 2007, voters passed Proposition I, creating the Office of Small Business and directing it to issue, by April 2008, a report that recommended possible streamlining and consolidation of regulatory functions supervised by that agency. The idea was to make life easier for The City’s often-beleaguered small business. Read More
Uncertainty and frustration reigned for hours on Thursday at the Planning Commission, where changes to the public process of appealing development projects were discussed at length — and with much confusion, even among commissioners. Read More
Building projects in San Francisco must withstand a painful approval process. In a recent article, The New York Times cited architects as calling The City’s approval process for new development “long and rigorous, perhaps the most onerous in the country.” Read More
Dave Sutton winces every time he hears about a head-on collision on the Golden Gate Bridge.
It could be from the pain — 30 percent of his body has been scarred with burn wounds, and he’s missing a leg and fingers on his right hand. But it’s usually from the knowledge that the latest accident could easily have been prevented.
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