Jeffrey McCoy and I just had an OpEd on the Banning Ranch decision published in the San Francisco and Los Angeles Daily Journal. A PDF version is available here.
As we previously posted, last week the California Supreme Court issued an unfavorable decision in the case of Banning Ranch Conservancy v. City of Newport Beach. In that case, the Court held that the City of Newport Beach had insufficiently considered whether the approved development would impact Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area under the California Coastal Act. But the City now must redo its environmental review, adding further delays to a project that has already been pending for an eight year permitting process.
Our OpEd focuses on the problems of housing costs in California. The fact is that years-long hurdles placed in front of cities that need housing and developers who wants to provide it discourages development, and increases the costs of housing for everyone.
If the state of California really wants to solve the affordable housing crisis, it should think about reducing these barriers to development.