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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of April 12, 2004 to April 16, 2004
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KUSP LandWatch
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ogo.gif" width="108" height="109" border="0"> "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 April 12, 2004 to April 16, 2004
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,
April 12, 2004 – The Public Records Act
The California Public Records Act is an expansive statement of the
right of any member of the public to get access to almost any information
kept or produced by any governmental agency. As the Legislature
put it in enacting the Public Records Act: "access to information
concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental
and necessary right of every person in this state."
Those who follow land use issues seriously need to become acquainted with the California Public Records Act. Unfortunately, it’s not always true that information concerning the conduct of the people’s business is easily available.
To learn more about the California Public Records Act, please visit www.kusp.org, and click on the Land Use Report link. I’ve put a reference to the state law on the website. Print out the law, and read it, and I think you’ll be convinced that we (as members of the public) have very broad authority to get access to the information necessary to tell us what the government is doing on our behalf—or at least in our name. If you’d like a Ågmini-courseÅh on the Public Records Act, then plan to attend a workshop being presented tomorrow at Monterey Peninsula College, in Lecture Forum 101. The workshop is scheduled from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m., and is sponsored by the Central Coast Joint Data Committee. It will focus especially on requests for "data" as opposed to documents.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
Public
Records Act
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=
60962412756+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve
Central
Coast Joint Data Committee Website
http://www.centralcoastdata.org/
Workshop
Information
http://www.centralcoastdata.org
/public_html/training/04132004.pdf
Tuesday,
April 13, 2004 – Land Use at the Santa Cruz City Council
One reason I end up talking about so many “meetings” on
this KUSP Land Use Report is that the land use decisions that so
profoundly affect us are, in the end, decisions made in public meetings
by our local elected officials.
If you think that land use decisions are important, and profoundly shape the future of our society, with impacts on our economy, environment, and social equity, then you need to know about the meetings where the decisions are made. I think I’ve said it before, but if we want to realize the benefits of “self-government,” then we’ve got to get involved ourselves. Reporting on land use issues isn’t just a new form of entertainment, it’s an appeal for all of us, as citizens, to get more involved in the decision making processes that are creating the future that we, and our children, are going to have to live with.
This afternoon and tonight, for instance, the Santa Cruz City Council is holding one of its regular meetings, and will decide, among other things, whether to approve a development agreement between Louis Rittenhouse and the City for construction of a four-story retail and office building right downtown. The Council is also considering Mobilehome Rent Control—and that’s just in the afternoon. There’s more in the evening. To be effective, members of the public have to take an ongoing interest in attending meetings. They can’t just show up once, and go away. If they do that, those with the vested economic interests, who pay to have representatives go to these meetings, will ultimately prevail.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
Santa Cruz City Council Agenda
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/
Wednesday,
April 14, 2004 – The Oregon Plan
My “day job” is to work on land use policy issues for
LandWatch Monterey County, a nonprofit group based in Salinas. Lots
of information about land use policy naturally passes over my desk,
and not infrequently I share news of interesting and important events
in the greater Central Coast Region.
If you’ll track down the transcript for today’s Land Use Report on the KUSP website, at www.kusp.org, you can find out about a presentation at Stanford University this coming Thursday, focusing on land use policy in the State of Oregon. The title of the talk is “Oregon Land Use Law: Facts, Legends, and How a Small Part of the West Was Saved.” This title is not actually overselling very much. Oregon has done something that’s extraordinary, and that California might well consider doing; namely, establishing some firm rules on where and how growth will occur. The results, in Oregon, have been quite positive.
The Oregon Plan was put into place by a Republican Governor, Tom McCall, in the early 1970’s. Maybe our Republican Governor will want to emulate his accomplishments. In a speech made in Oregon, interestingly enough, Terry Tamminen, Governor Schwarzenegger’s Secretary for Resources, in fact claimed that this is exactly the kind of thing that Governor Schwarzenegger has in mind. Believe me, I’ll keep you posted!
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
Stanford “On The Edge Conference”
http://west.stanford.edu/events/edge
_conference/framing_document.htmlConference Agenda
http://west.stanford.edu/events/edge
_conference/agenda.htmlLearn about Oregon Plan Through 1000 Friends of Oregon
http://www.friends.org/Video Clips of Oregon Governor Tom McCall
http://www.friends.org/resources/mccall.html
Thursday,
April 15, 2004 – Castroville Mixed Use
The Free Press is a brand new newspaper “serving the crossroads
of Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz Counties.”
Its first edition highlighted new developments planned for the community
of Castroville.
Castroville is right at the intersection of Highway One, linking Santa Cruz County to the Monterey Peninsula; Highway 156, linking the Silicon Valley to the Monterey Peninsula, and Highway 183, connecting Castroville to Salinas. There is a rail line, as well, and a plan to provide rail service between the Silicon Valley, Pajaro, Castroville, and Salinas. If the overall growth strategy for Monterey County is to “focus” new growth in existing urban areas, then Castroville is exactly the kind of place that such new growth should go. “Focusing” growth in one place, of course, means to reduce or eliminate growth in other areas, and in the case of Monterey County, that would mean to reduce or eliminate rural subdivisions, in favor of the “focused growth” strategy. It remains to be seen whether the new General Plan will in fact follow through on its announced principles, but if it does, Castroville will be an early test case.
Tonight, at 6:00 o’clock, you can find out about both policies and projects, in Castroville, consistent with this “focused growth” strategy, by attending a meeting of the Castroville Citizens Advisory Committee, held at the Castroville Elementary School Cafeteria.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
Contact the Free Press at:
info@tri-countyfreepress.comCastroville Redevelopment
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/housing/
Redevelopment/CastrovilleRedevelope.asp
Friday,
April 16, 2004 – Marina Issues
The City of Marina is a hot spot for development, and there are
some great opportunities for the public to get involved in helping
to plan for the transformative changes that are definitely coming
to that city. For instance, the City has joined with the Monterey-Salinas
Transit District, the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control
District, and the Local Government Commission to sponsor a Community
Design Workshop for a future transit-oriented Town Center. The Workshop
will be held tomorrow, Saturday, at the Marina City Council Chambers,
211 Hillcrest Avenue in Marina, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
Probably even more important is the planning that’s going on for the so-called “University Villages” project, to be located on the former Fort Ord. This is another case of the City of Marina having an opportunity that very few cities in California have ever had. Thanks to the closure of Fort Ord, the City of Marina is being given hundreds of acres of Monterey County real estate, which the City is then able to redevelop pretty much as the City sees fit. The City, the public, in other words, owns the land. Very few cities ever have a chance to plan for land they own. Cities generally plan by regulating the development of land owned by individual, private property owners. The fact that Marina owns the land should allow the city to be particularly creative. Early signs, however, are not encouraging. Local residents need to get involved now.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
City of Marina
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/Developers’ Press Release for University Villages Project
http://www.armanasco.com/pdf/115.pdf
Archives of past transcripts are available here
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