It’s not every day that community advocates get to directly influence the SCS process, but Fresno advocates did just that when they developed a community-based alternative scenario and won a hard-fought vote to have this scenario introduced into the Fresno Council of Governments’ (COG) discussion of its 25-year plan for future housing and transportation needs. On Friday, Fresno COG analysis demonstrated what we already knew to be true: the community-based scenario performs better on key metrics than the other three scenarios for growth currently under consideration.

On Friday the Governor signed SB 743, a CEQA bill that blends home court politics (go Kings!) with game-changing reforms for the rest of California.  While some observers – including me – were exasperated with the process, the final product is an important step forward for sustainable communities in California.

Senator Steinberg’s homage to basketball and infill development, SB 743, concluded its meteoric journey though the halls of California’s Capitol last night. It now goes to the Governor’s desk, where all signs point to a signature.

What do the hoop dreams of a software mogul have to do with CEQA reform?  As of last night, everything.  In the waning days of session, strange things happen in Sacramento.

The ongoing debate over changes to the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, has been marked by polarization, exasperation and, more often than not, mutually-assured destruction. Overreaching efforts to gut CEQA’s core environmental protections are met by equally fierce crusades to prevent any significant changes to the law. Every year this political drama plays out in the theater of the Capitol, and every year we see little movement on CEQA in either direction.