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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of June 4, 2007 to June 8, 2007
Week of June 4, 2007 to June 8, 2007
KUSP provided a brief Land Use Report on KUSP Radio from January 2003 to May 2016. Archives of past transcripts are available here.
Week of June 4, 2007 to June 8, 2007
- Monday, June 4, 2007
Tomorrow Is Election Day in Monterey County
- Tuesday, June 5, 2007
How It Happened: The Monterey County Election
- Wednesday, June 6, 2007
The Hollister General Plan
- Thursday, June 7, 2007
Aldo’s Harbor Restaurant at the Commission
- Friday, June 8, 2007
Hikes and Picnics: Mark Your Calendars
The following Land Use Reports have been presented on KUSP Radio by Gary A. Patton. The Wittwer & Parkin law firm is located in Santa Cruz, California, and practices environmental and governmental law. As part of its practice, the law firm files litigation and takes other action on behalf of its clients, which are typically private individuals, governmental agencies, environmental organizations, or community groups. Whenever the Land Use Report comments on an issue with which the Wittwer & Parkin law firm is involved on behalf of a client, Mr. Patton will make this relationship clear, as part of his commentary. Mr. Patton’s comments do not represent the views of Wittwer & Parkin, LLP, KUSP Radio, nor of any of its sponsors.
| Monday, June 4, 2007 Tomorrow Is Election Day in Monterey County |
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Tomorrow is Election Day in Monterey County. Measure A is the “Community General Plan Initiative,” placed on the ballot by community action. Measure C, also placed on the ballot by community action, allows the voters either to adopt or repeal the General Plan proposed by the Board of Supervisors. Measure D, placed on the ballot by community action, asks the voters whether to approve or disapprove the Rancho San Juan development. Unlike all the other measures, Measure B was placed on the ballot by the Board of Supervisors. Measure B is rather tricky. In the case of Measure B, a “No” vote is a vote in favor of the Supervisor’s plan. If you are inclined to vote “No” on everything, because the election is so exasperating, be aware that your “No” vote on Measure B would be a vote to endorse the more pro-development General Plan that the Board of Supervisors has written. A “Yes” vote on Measure B is a vote against the more pro-development General Plan. Tomorrow, I’ll do a brief historical recap, to review how Monterey County got to its present position. Today, I’ll just remind you about the election. It’s critically important, and the choices are actually easy to understand. It’s “Yes, Yes, No, No” if you want to support the community-backed efforts. It’s “No, No, Yes, Yes” if you want to back the planning priorities of the Board of Supervisors.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, June 5, 2007 How It Happened: The Monterey County Election |
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In 1999, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors decided to “update” its 1982 General Plan. Hundreds of outreach workshops were held, and thousands of county residents participated. From that effort came twelve “Guiding Objectives,” reflecting what the public said it wanted. These “Guiding Objectives” basically said, “no more sprawl.” General Plan Update #1, consistent with the “Guiding Objectives,” was opposed by development interests. The Board told its staff to rewrite it. General Plan Update #2, consistent with the objectives, was opposed by development interests. The Board told its staff to rewrite it. General Plan Update #3, consistent with the objectives, was unanimously approved by the Planning Commission. Development interests opposed it, and the Board then demanded that the whole effort “start over,” even though it had taken six years and $6 million dollars to complete GPU #3. GPU #4, ultimately adopted by the Board (and on the ballot today), doesn’t conform to the twelve “Guiding Objectives.” Because these objectives were scrapped, community groups that participated in the process drew up their own plan, and a “Community General Plan Initiative,” consistent with the objectives, is on the ballot today as Measure A. It’s “Yes, Yes, No, No” if you want to support the community-backed efforts. It’s “No, No, Yes, Yes” if you want to back the planning priorities of the Board of Supervisors. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, June 6, 2007 The Hollister General Plan |
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All this is to emphasize the importance of the local General Plan, often called the “Constitution for land use” in the local community. You don’t have to be a resident of Monterey County to get involved in decision-making at the General Plan level. The City of Santa Cruz is right in the middle of a significant rewrite of its General Plan, and the City of Hollister is just beginning to implement General Plan policies adopted in 2005. The Council reviewed its General Plan implementation schedule during its May 17th meeting. Because Hollister is under such immense development pressures, the outcome of that General Plan implementation effort will be particularly important to the entire future of South Santa Clara County, and will also have impacts into Monterey County. If you’d like to get involved, click on the links below. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, June 7, 2007 Aldo’s Harbor Restaurant at the Commission |
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It’s no secret to frequent listeners that I like to preach community involvement. The land use decisions made by our local government agencies have profound impacts on our lives, both individually and collectively. Tonight, there’s a great “low impact” opportunity to find out how the land use process works in real life. The City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission will be holding a meeting at 7:00 p.m., at the City Council Chambers, located at 809 Center Street. This will be a relatively short meeting, and so if you’ve never actually witnessed how a Planning Commission works, why not take an evening stroll downtown and check it out? The one substantive item on the agenda relates to a popular restaurant, Aldo’s, located at 616 Atlantic Avenue, down by the Yacht Harbor. Aldo’s is a great place to eat (and I must say, for the purposes of full disclosure, that my daughter was once a waitress there, so I do have some personal good feelings). The restaurant is located immediately adjacent to a very nice residential area, and this has meant that Aldo’s has had to deal with neighborhood complaints, particularly as the restaurant has sought to improve its facilities and operations. The Planning Commission item tonight might well illustrate how our land use decision makers attempt to balance the needs of both business and residential areas. As I say, you can find out how it really works at 7:00 p.m. tonight. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, June 8, 2007 Hikes and Picnics: Mark Your Calendars |
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Hikes and picnics are coming up. You should mark your calendars! As frequent listeners know, I do like to admonish you to go to lots of indoor meetings, on the theory that land use decisions have profound impacts on our lives, both individually and collectively, and that if we believe in self-government, as we say we do, we need to get involved ourselves. However, all work and no play…. is no prescription for the fulfilled life. All play and no work isn’t a prescription for the fulfilled life, either (and I do want to emphasize that), but I’m not immune to the joys of the outdoor environment. A lot of these indoor meetings that I advertise can result in the protection and preservation of the natural environment, but then we should actually enjoy that environment, too. Here are a couple of upcoming opportunities:
You can get more information on these events below. Plan ahead! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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