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KUSP LandWatch News
Week of October 14, 2002 to October 18, 2002

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"Listen Live"

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 October 14, 2002 to October 18, 2002

The following Land Use Reports have been presented on KUSP Radio by Gary Patton, Executive Director of LandWatch Monterey County. The opinions expressed by Mr. Patton are not necessarily those of KUSP Radio, nor of any of its sponsors.

Monday, October 14th – The “Magic” of Redevelopment
Land use and planning issues are really local government issues, for the most part. One of the purposes of this Land Use Report is to provide what has to be a very condensed series of mini-seminars on how local government operates, where land use and planning are concerned.

County governments and city governments each use their basic governmental powers, called the “police powers,” to regulate how land is used. However, regulation isn’t everything. Local governments often wish they had some money to spend. If they did, they could affect land use by spending it. That’s more fun than regulation, and it may be more effective.

Trouble is, where do you get that money? It’s no secret that local governments are financially distressed. If there were some “magic” way to get new money to spend on land use and planning related items, you can bet that most local governments would jump at the chance.

Well, most local governments have. By setting up a redevelopment agency, a local government can capture and spend what is called the “tax increment.” The tax increment is all the new property tax revenue that exceeds the property tax revenue collected during a base year. Tomorrow, I’ll talk about the Santa Cruz County Redevelopment Agency, to show you how it works. And then we can talk about some of the problems, and the possibilities.

You can give me your feedback at www.kusp.org. Just click the Land Use Report link.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:
The LandWatch Website – www.landwatch.org
The Monterey County Housing and Redevelopment Agency - http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/housing/
Santa Cruz County Redevelopment Agency - http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/red/

Tuesday, October 15th – Redevelopment: The Live Oak Experience
Long-term Santa Cruz County residents have certainly noticed things changing in Live Oak. Street improvements, parks, and other amenities have been appearing with regularity in what used to be one of the most “run down” parts of the unincorporated area. Most of these changes can be traced to redevelopment.

In 1987, Santa Cruz County established a Redevelopment Agency, and created a redevelopment area in Live Oak and Soquel. The “magic” of redevelopment is in the financing that makes it possible. Once a redevelopment area is properly established, the Redevelopment Agency collects what is called the “tax increment.” That money goes into a special fund, to carry out whatever purposes are specified in the official redevelopment plan.

The “tax increment” is all the new property tax revenue that exceeds the property tax revenue collected during a base year. In the Live Oak-Soquel example, a certain amount of property tax was generated, in 1987, from within the geographic boundaries of the Live Oak-Soquel redevelopment area. Since 1987, as you might expect, the amount of property tax from that area has increased. The increase, over the base year, is the “increment.” I’m simplifying a little, but basically that increment goes into a special fund to be used to improve the area. Like I said, long-term Santa Cruz County residents have noticed the difference.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:
The Monterey County Housing and Redevelopment Agency - http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/housing/
Santa Cruz County Redevelopment Agency - http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/red/

Wednesday, October 16th – Redevelopment: Not Everyone Likes It
You may have noticed that I’ve been providing a kind of mini-seminar on redevelopment, and how it works. Land use and planning, which is my topic, isn’t just about meetings and General Plans—though they’re pretty important.

Local governments have a number of ways they can accomplish community goals relating to land use and planning. One is certainly to develop a plan for a particular community, and then to raise the money necessary to make that plan a reality. Redevelopment is the official way that a community often does that. The example of Live Oak, in Santa Cruz County, shows how it works.

Not everyone, however, wants to have redevelopment applied to their neighborhood. For instance, Santa Cruz County has proposed on a couple of occasions to bring the magic of redevelopment to the San Lorenzo Valley. There has been a lot of community opposition. Same thing in Monterey County. The Moss Landing area is not enthusiastic about becoming the next redevelopment area in North County.

Why is that? There may be many reasons, but one of them is certainly the idea that once a redevelopment agency is created, it can take on a life of its own, and begin pursuing tax increment at the expense of, rather than on behalf of, what the local community wants. More on that tomorrow, with a Monterey County example.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

Thursday, October 17th – Redevelopment and Pajaro
Faithful listeners will remember a proposal by the Calpine Corporation to build a so-called “peaker” energy plant in the little community of Pajaro. In fact, that application is still pending, and there will be a hearing, soon, before the Monterey County Planning Commission.

Hardly any resident of Pajaro seemed to like that Calpine proposal. For one thing, it didn’t create even one new fulltime job. The community of Pajaro would like to begin creating some economic opportunities for the people who live there. Calpine didn’t help on that, and it created noise, and an 80-foot smoke stack, and used large amounts of water from an overdrafted aquifer.

So, residents weren’t enthusiastic, to put it mildly. The Monterey County Redevelopment Agency, however, was enthusiastic, or at least it seemed to be. I’ve pointed out earlier that redevelopment does have its critics. Because a redevelopment agency gets more “tax increment” money when new construction takes place, it’s possible for a redevelopment agency to begin advocating for developments that the community doesn’t really want. In fact, some Live Oak residents, where redevelopment has been rather successful, have been quite distressed about some of the things that the redevelopment agency has done there.

Tomorrow, I’m going to finish up this series on redevelopment, and bring us all back to Castroville, where this thought process began. In the meantime, use the KUSP website, at www.kusp.org, to send me your comments.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

Friday, October 18th – Redevelopment and the Future of Castroville
Castroville is not only the “Artichoke Center of the World.” It’s also an area that has been targeted for future growth and development by Monterey County. The draft General Plan Update now under consideration by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors does identify Castroville as an area into which future growth should be directed. The question, though, is what is “Castroville?” Does that mean the area that is already developed, so that further infill would take place there, or does “Castroville” mean the existing town and the surrounding fields?

The Town of Castroville, which is under the jurisdiction of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, is within a redevelopment area, and the Housing and Redevelopment Agency of Monterey County is now doing a community plan. It’s fully anticipated that the community plan done by the Agency will ultimately be folded into the County General Plan, so if the plan done by the Redevelopment Agency proposes that Castroville should expand onto adjacent farmland, there’s a good chance that might happen.

There’s a lot at stake in this community planning process. It may well be something you’d like to follow. I’ll try to keep KUSP listeners advised of upcoming meetings, but if you care about Castroville, I’d suggest you visit the KUSP website (www.kusp.org), find the Land Use Report link there on the left hand side of the main page, and then connect up with the Redevelopment Agency website yourself. If you send them a letter, they’re supposed to put you on their mailing list, to keep you advised.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

Archives of past transcripts are available here

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KUSP LandWatch News Week of October 14, 2002 to October 18, 2002

KUSP LandWatch News
Week of October 14, 2002 to October 18, 2002