Santa Monica Property Blog

SEE…DOE…HUD…DOT…EPA…NGA… IS BIG BROTHER WATCHING? SOCIALIZING URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

By Jodi Summers

Loyal readers of this blog are well aware that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) are working together in hopes of helping American families gain better access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs by creating affordable, sustainable communities.

Taking further steps in that direction, more government agencies are getting involved to attempt to make our new millennium existence easier all around. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) have formed the State Energy Efficiency (SEE) Action Network to help states achieve the maximum cost-effective energy efficiency improvements possible in offices, buildings, industries and homes by 2020.

SEE…DOE…HUD…DOT…EPA…that’s a lot of government agencies making sure cities develop in the “proper” manner…socialized urban growth.

But, oops we wander, back to SEE…under the oversight of the EPA and the DOE, SEE will work with representatives from state and municipal governments, business leaders, public utility commissioners and others to make life in this country of energy efficiency for all.

The group plans to work from the framework set by the National Action Plan for Energy

Efficiency Vision for 2025, which was laid out in 2006…only the new goal is to make it a 2020 initiative…following the model set forth by California. You know AB 32 - California’s landmark 2006 global warming initiative.

(Not only has AB 32 been adopted by the Obama Administration, the International Code Council announced the state’s newly adopted Green Building Standards Code will serve as a foundation for commercial buildings worldwide AND California participated in the launch of China’s first GHG emissions registry. When his term comes to an end in November, Arnold Schwarzenegger should follow in the steps of former Vice President Al Gore in becoming a champion for energy programs that influence national and international policies…perhaps even work warmly with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Los Angeles’ 30/10 initiative…ah but we dream….)

SEE will offer technical assistance, and help with specific policy and program issues to advance energy efficiency efforts. Efforts may include financing solutions, residential efficiency programs and improving availability of energy usage information, etc…

Already the DOE and EPA have a request list that includes 32 state public utility commissions wanting assistance with energy efficiency programs.

SEE…DOE…HUD…DOT…EPA…and don’t forget the NGA…the National Governors Association is another national agency championing states with energy efficiency efforts.

Earlier this year, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices selected six states - Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin - to participate in the organization’s Policy Academy on State Building Efficiency Retrofit Programs.

The academy, funded by the DOE (you remember them, working with DOT among other liaisons…), is designed to help states develop strategies and action plans to improve the energy efficiency of existing building and reduce costs and emissions.

SEE…DOE…HUD…DOT…EPA…NGA… is Big Brother is watching?

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http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2257243/agencies-action-buildings

http://www.socalgreenrealestateblog.com/?p=691

http://www.socalindustrialrealestateblog.com/?p=434

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http://www.socalgreenrealestateblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/hud-300×300.gif

http://watersecretsblog.com/archives/epa_seal.gif

http://management.energy.gov/images/New_DOE_Seal_Color_042808.png

CALGREEN – > CALIFORNIA NOW HAS THE COUNTRY’S GREENEST BUILDING STANDARD

By Jodi Summers

Bravo to us! California has adopted the greenest building standards in the United States…and the world.

The new code, called Calgreen, goes into effect next January 2011. It requires all builders to:

v Install plumbing that cuts indoor water use.

Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, said the new building code would require developers to slash water use in their buildings by 20%, using more efficient toilets, shower heads and faucets.

v Divert 50 percent of construction waste from landfills to recycling.

v Use low-pollutant paints, carpets and floorings

v Buildings will be given certificates of occupancy occupied only after strict energy standards were verified.

In addition, for non residential buildings:

v Install separate water meters for different uses.

v Mandates the inspection of energy systems by local officials to ensure that heaters, air conditioners and other mechanical equipment in nonresidential buildings are working efficiently.

v It allows local jurisdictions, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, to retain their stricter existing green building standards, or adopt more stringent versions of the state code if they choose.

“California should be proud… These are simple, cost-effective green practices. …” notes Tom Sheehy, acting secretary of the state Consumer Services Agency and chair of the California Building Standards Commission, which approved the standards. “This is (something) no other state in the country has done - integrating green construction practices into the very fabric of the construction code.”

While California’s largest metropolitan areas have adopted their own green building standards, these new regulations will be particularly useful for smaller jurisdictions that have been unable to develop their own green construction guidelines.

This is a positive alternative to LEED construction standards. Sites Sandra Boyle, an executive vice president of Glenborough, a developer, “The cost for owners to go through this rating system is astronomical — in a very challenging commercial real estate market.”

“You will have a whole bunch of cities that never would have included this in their building doing it, and doing it in a way that won’t kill the economy,” observes Matthew Hargrove, a vice president with the California Business Properties Association. “Outside the coastal areas it will be helpful - like in West Sacramento, where they looked into creating a green building code but balked because it’s cumbersome to develop and they didn’t have the resources.”

Buildings currently account for about one-quarter of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions. These new standards are applauded as an important step in helping California meet its goal in reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020.

**

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/01/13/MNDR1BH9SA.DTL#ixzz0dJ9grkaW

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/01/13/MNDR1BH9SA.DTL

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-green-building11-2010jan11,0,1841989.story

http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/WA/Kohler-DualFlush-BR08-lg.jpg

FYI – NEW MULTIFAMILY LEGISLATION FROM SACRAMENTO

FYI – NEW MULTIFAMILY LEGISLATION FROM SACRAMENTO

By Jodi Summers

Legislators in Sacramento were more interested in finding was of shrinking the new $7.4 billion deficit for the 2010-11 budget than they were in thinking about the hit that apartment building owners have taken in the multiunit marketplace this downturn.

Fortunately, the more ominous legislation affecting multiunit properties has been shelved until next year, but, as a local multiunit property owner, we know you want to know what has passed and what is on the horizon.

Passed

* Assembly Bill 1020 (Emmerson, R-Redlands): Limits fees that may be imposed by local and state government and preempts local health departments from adopting any new or additional safety standards on top of federal guidelines regarding public swimming pools. Brings state regulations in line with federal law regarding anti-entrapment devices in pools.

* Senate Bill 120 (Lowenthal, D-Long Beach): Allows a tenant or occupant who has paid utilities in place of a landlord in order to prevent him or her from being shut off to deduct that amount from rental payments.

* Senate Bill 290 (Leno, D-San Francisco): Extends a Jan. 1, 2010, sunset period for a 60-day termination notice requirement for tenants who live in a property for longer than one year.

Be Aware of

* Assembly Bill 473, from Assemblymen Bob Blumenfield, D-Van Nuys, will require owners of properties with five or more units to arrange for mandatory recycling services.

* Assembly Bill 479, introduced by Assemblyman Wayne Chesbro, D-Arcata, will require local governments in large counties to adopt mandatory recycling laws for commercial properties.

**

http://www.carealestatejournal.com/newswire/index.cfm?sid=&tkn=&eid=905490&evid

http://www.consrv.ca.gov/smgb/PublishingImages/CaliforniaStateCapitol02.jpg

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/12/the-governator—64_1280.jpg

http://www.greentechforum.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/california_state_flag.png

http://www.limitstogrowth.org/WEB-Graphics/CaliforniaPostcardGreetings.jpg

http://forcechange.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/cfl-float.jpg

WHAT DOES THE GOVERNOR’S WIFE THINK? SACRAMENTO IS DIVIDED ON HOW TO MOVE FORWARD ON NEW GREEN ENERGY INITIATIVES

WHAT DOES THE GOVERNOR’S WIFE THINK? SACRAMENTO IS DIVIDED ON HOW TO MOVE FORWARD ON NEW GREEN ENERGY INITIATIVES

By Jodi Summers

The Governor and the Sacramento Democrats are divided in how to move forward and meet the state’s newly targeted energy goals. The Democratics wants the green power and the green jobs to come from within the state. The Governator just wants it done. As state 1st Lady Maria Shriver is a Democrat by birth married to a Republican, and a savvy politica in her own right – balance may lie with her opinion on the issue…would California’s First Lady offer her opinion please.

The recent update to AB 32, California’s landmark 2006 global warming initiative, says California electric utilities must get 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020.

“With this action, we will ensure that California remains the pioneer in clean energy and clean jobs,” the Governor proudly declared.

The governor’s Executive Order S-21-09 came three days after Democratic lawmakers passed legislation Senate Bill 14 and Assembly Bill 64mandating the same goal, but in a way Schwarzenegger’s office said was too restrictive. The governor said he will veto the Democratic bills because they would limit how much wind, solar and geothermal energy utilities could import from other states.

The two sides did not disagree about the need or the practicality of setting an ambitious 33% renewable energy target. The conflict is over how California should reach the goal and the cost of making it happen.

The Democratic bills were backed by some but not all of the state’s utilities. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Sempra Energy supported the bills, while Southern California Edison Co. and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District asked the governor for vetoes. The bills also drew support from labor unions and consumer advocates and opposition from manufacturers and independent energy-generating companies.

A recent study by the California Public Utilities Commission observed that said 11 new transmission lines and additional infrastructure would be needed to meet the 33 percent goal. Transmission lines typically cross several communities a well as federal land, so the permitting and siting process is very involved, bureaucratic - and time consuming. SC+E noted that each line can take about 10 years to build, and the total cost to electricity customers would be $115 billion.

Critics of the governor’s mandate argue that California will end up subsidizing green jobs in other states and Canada.

Our first lady, Maria Shriver Schwarzenegger, a former newscaster, had Democratic roots that run deep. Maria is a member of Kennedy family through her mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of President John Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy. Her father, Sargent Shriver, is a former ambassador and a former Democratic candidate for the U.S. Vice-Presidency. Married to a Republican governor, the two must find political peace at the dinner table. California is interested in her opinion on how the state should achieve the bold green energy stance of Executive Order S-21-09.

http://gov.ca.gov/issue/energy-environment/

http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_13345618?source=rss

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-power16-2009sep16,0,3412344.story

http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/shriver_maria.html

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800320712/photo/573730

http://theenvelope.latimes.com/galleries/photo/globescl-arrivals29_iafwqnkf,0,5199746,email.photo

https://alumni.berkeley.edu/california/200709/simons.asp

http://www.environmentamerica.org/uploads/ig/hp/ighpWSCwRpKVJbuUaA7LCA/DSC_0263.jpg

SAVE CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS – A LEGACY ASSET ISSUE WITH POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

SAVE CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS – A LEGACY ASSET ISSUE WITH POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

This post is inspired by an excerpt from a post from the National Trust for Historic Preservation titled “In California, ‘Fantastic’ State Parks News Doesn’t Hold Up to Scrutiny” written by Anthony Veerkamp @

http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=6415

Last week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a press release concerning the fate of California’s state parks. Judging by most of the media coverage that ensued, you’d think that parks advocates had scored a major victory.

Alas, what the Governor called “fantastic news for all Californians” turns out on closer reading to be just a fantasy….By redefining what it means to close a park, it turns out that closures can be avoided. This game of semantics may have bought the Governor a couple days of positive media, but did nothing to address the $14.2 million hole in this year’s parks budget. In fact, the Governor’s plan bears out what the National Trust for Historic Preservation has been saying all along: that closing parks doesn’t really save money. In fact, all of the contemplated closures—err, service cuts—are projected to save just $2.1 million. The real savings are found the old fashioned way: $12.1 million is saved by reducing ongoing maintenance and eliminating all major equipment purchases.

Which takes us back to the crux of the matter. When the National Trust included California State Parks on our 2008 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, we highlighted years of chronic underfunding and deferred maintenance as the primary threat to the vast array of historic and cultural resources in California’s state park system. The Governor’s “budget solution” is just the latest chapter in a tragic saga of running the country’s best state parks system into the ground.

For the whole story, please go to

http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=6415

**

Addendum:

The underfunding, and eroding of our state parks, is the issue that exists with many of our legacy assets. There has got to be another way… Many city and state historic properties sit in blighted condition.

http://www.santamonicapropertyblog.com/?page_id=1347

The state of California could generate revenue for the parks if they sold off some of their blighted legacy assets to individuals and corporations that would care for the properties. Monies raised from property sales and annual taxes could go toward maintaining our parks.

CALIFORNIA MAKES IT EASY TO BUY, SELL, BUILD AND EXCHANGE GREENER REAL ESTATE

CALIFORNIA MAKES IT EASY TO BUY, SELL, BUILD AND EXCHANGE GREENER REAL ESTATE

by Jodi Summers

Yeah! for the politicos up in Sacramento that are incredibly supportive of California evolving mandatory green building codes, Bravo for the complete support the measures received from the state’s Building Industry Association (CBIA). After decades of debating over codes and other regulatory initiatives affecting the industry, the CBIA has changed its tactics to cooperation and ­consensus—and has won safeguards for its builder members and housing affordability. “It kind of freaked them out that we were willing to work with them,” notes CBIA spokesman Mike Castillo, referring to the seamless adoption of the new code authored by the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

Rising standards will make new housing around our state to be 50 percent more energy efficient than current national standards (a 20 percent bump up from the state’s existing code) and progressively address critical issues of water conservation and indoor air quality during the next three years. “It will be a smooth, easy transition with interim steps and programs that help builders comply,” says Castillo. “Builders can ease into new technology and products [such as photovoltaics] while their costs come down over time.”

(See what we’re doing @ SANTA MONICA’S GOAL IS TO BECOME ONE OF THE FIRST NET ZERO CITIES http://www.santamonicapropertyblog.com/?p=134

for more information). Local officials will now have to adopt the state’s code as a minimum standard, with the ability to boost certain segments at their discretion.

Info courtesy of http://www.builderonline.com/green-building/left-coast-formula.aspx?cid=BLDR090107002

SHOULD LOS ANGELES SELL OFF LEGACY LIABILITIES?

By Jodi Summers

Welcome to the Breed St. Shul in Boyle Heights. From 1915 to 1951 it was the largest Jewish Orthodox synagogue in the western United States, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 2000, the City of Los Angeles quitclaimed the property to Breed Street Shul Project, Inc., a subsidiary of the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California. The Shul, like so many other National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) properties currently lies in neglect.

It is one of many NRHP properties caged behind fencing decaying around Los Angeles.

Engine House #18

Bravo to the Governor for the bold suggestion that the state sell off high maintenance  legacy assets such as the Del Mar fairgrounds, the Los Angeles Coliseum and Alcatraz.

Perhaps Los Angeles County should consider selling off NRHP properties that have become legacy liabilities.

Washington Irving Branch Library

FYI - The City of LA currently has 195 properties on the National Register of Historic Places. Los Angeles County boasts another 148 properties.  

Garfield Building

Too many of these noteworthy historic properties are sequestered behind chain link fences, decomposing from neglect. 

Santa Fe Coast Lines Hospital

Wikipedia counts 2,414 National Register properties in the state of California.  Do the math.

Angelus Funeral Home

Let us suggest that Los Angeles County sell off properties that have become, to paraphrase the governor, legacy liabilities. This would give them the opportunity truly become assets to our city and our community. In addition, to reclaiming these local treasures from the scrap heaps of history, freeing local government of the rehabilitation and maintenance responsibilities of these properties would ease the budget crunch.

This would give be giving the city / state short term assets in terms of sales, and long term assets in terms of taxes and community improvement.

Golden Gate Theater

**

Sources

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124233275075820819.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breed_Street_Shul

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_California

Angels Flight Railway

CALIFORNIA TRIES FOR ZERO NET ENERGY BUILDING

LANDMARK GREEN BUILDINGS BILL PASSES FIRST HURDLE
 First in the Nation Zero Energy Measure Would Dramatically Reduce Carbon Emissions from California Homes
 

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGAR MAKES THE CALIFORNIA DROUGHT OFFICIAL

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGAR MAKES THE CALIFORNIA DROUGHT OFFICIAL
SACRAMENTO, California (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a statewide drought after two years of below-average rainfall, low snow-melt runoff and a court-ordered restriction on water transfers.

 “We must recognize the severity of the crisis that we face,” the Governor noted, signing an executive order directing the state’s response to unusually dry conditions that are damaging crops, harming water quality and causing extreme fire danger across California.
 

THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION NEW ENDANGERED LIST - NEW YORK’S LOWER EAST SIDE, CALIFORNIA PARKS + KANSAS BRICK SCHOOLHOUSE

THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION NEW ENDANGERED LIST -  
NEW YORK’S LOWER EAST SIDE, CALIFORNIA PARKS + KANSAS BRICK SCHOOLHOUSE
 

National Trust for Historic Preservation put the New York neighborhood and the California parks on its list of this year’s most endangered places
 

Straight out of http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/05/20/endangered.places.ap/index.html
    
WASHINGTON (AP) — Budget cuts can be as damaging as bulldozers to pieces of American history, a preservation group said Tuesday in issuing a new list of endangered places that includes the jammed, noisy streets of New York’s Lower East Side and the peaceful parkland of California.
 

The National Trust is trying to have New York’s Lower East Side declared a landmark district, which could mean restrictions on building height and density.
 

 The National Trust for Historic Preservation on Tuesday put the New York neighborhood and the California parks on its list of this year’s most endangered places, along with an old brick schoolhouse in Kansas that launched one of the most important legal cases in U.S. history: Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 desegregation ruling from the Supreme Court.
 

“Preservation efforts have really moved beyond individual buildings to neighborhoods, communities and context,” said Richard Moe, president of the group.
 

“Most people think the threat only comes from the wrecking ball, but that’s not always true,” said Moe. “It can be underfunding of a resource, it can be neglect, it can be inappropriate development.”
 

Decades ago, the overcrowded tenement buildings of the Lower East Side were considered a blight on city life, even though they were the first home for generations of new Americans arriving at Ellis Island.
 

Now, preservationists think the danger lies in new luxury high-rises sprouting up in the once downtrodden area. The National Trust is trying to have the area declared a landmark district, which could mean restrictions on building height and density.
 

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission surveyed 2,300 buildings in the area last year and it is now trying to determine which buildings — and which parts of the neighborhood — should be given landmark status.
 

In Topeka, Kansas, the broken windows and overgrown foliage of Sumner Elementary School offer little evidence that it was the impetus for perhaps the most important legal decision in U.S. race history.
 

The father of Linda Brown sued after she was refused admittance in 1950 to the school only seven blocks from her home. The NAACP eventually took her case to the Supreme Court and the court struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine that had allowed decades of post-slavery segregation.
 

The school has been vacant since 1996, and is now owned by the city. Local officials have sought a developer to renovate it, but that effort has stalled. The National Trust is hoping the building could be transformed to housing, a community center or a library.
 

That small neglected piece of history is dwarfed in size by one of the other places on the list, the California park system, with almost 300 parks, dozens of which have historic designations.
 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pulled back this month on a plan to close some of those sites in an effort to solve the state’s budget problems. Preservationists welcome the decision, but say the ongoing financial struggles are still dangerous to parklands that have already been starved of about $1 billion in deferred maintenance over the years.
 

Schwarzenegger’s turnabout “is a very hopeful sign, but it’s not yet accomplished so we still think these parks are potentially still at risk,” said Moe.
 

The other sites that made the group’s 2008 list of endangered places are: Boyd Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charity Hospital and the surrounding neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana; Great Falls Portage in Great Falls, Montana; Hangar One, Moffett Field in Santa Clara County, California; Michigan Avenue Streetwall in Chicago; Peace Bridge neighborhood in Buffalo, New York; The Statler Hilton Hotel in Dallas; and the museums and gardens of Vizcaya in Miami and Bonnet House in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
 

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit group founded in 1949.