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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of May 31, 2004 to June 4, 2004
"Listen Live"
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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 May 31, 2004 to June 4, 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,
May 31, 2004 – Highway One at the Civic
The proposed widening of Highway One in Santa Cruz County is arguably
the most important land use issue currently under discussion there.
The focus of the discussion is money. Will the voters of Santa Cruz
County decide to tax themselves to provide the significant local
funds needed for the highway widening? If you’d like to get
involved in the debate, or get a feel for the arguments on both
sides, then mark your calendars for Wednesday night, June 2nd.
At that time, the Santa Cruz City Council will hold a special meeting in the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, beginning at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will begin with an explanation of the proposed Sales Tax Measure, and the Expenditure Plan that would go along with it. After that, public comments will be received until 9:30. Very spirited presentations on both sides can be expected. Then, the Santa Cruz City Council will be asked whether to “support” the proposed Expenditure Plan and Sales Tax Measure, whether to “oppose” them, or whether to “take no position.”
City Council meetings at the Civic are better than reality TV. I remember attending a City Council meeting there over thirty years ago, as the City debated whether it should develop Lighthouse Field with a hotel, convention center, shopping center, parking lot, and apartment complex. The Highway One debate presents a choice about our future that is at least this dramatic. Check the KUSP website for more information.For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
City Council Agenda
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/Information on Proposed Sales Tax Measure
http://www.sccrtc.org/expendplan.htmlHighway One Widening Project
http://www.sccrtc.org/pdf/hwy1ballotfacts.pdf
Tuesday,
June 1, 2004 – The Gary Patton “Investment Theory”
The proposed Highway One widening project is the one of the biggest
public works projects ever proposed in Santa Cruz County. The Sales
Tax Measure, if enacted by the voters, would result in the expenditure
of over half a billion dollars on transportation projects over the
next thirty years. By almost anybody’s standards, that’s
real money.
The land use decisions we make as a community do profoundly affect our future. Mostly, here on the Land Use Report, I highlight land use “policy” choices, since the choices we make on land use “policy” issues are so critical in determining our land use future. Another category of choices, however, may be even more determinative. These are the choices we make about how we invest our money on public works projects. If we invest a half a billion dollars in widening roads, as an example, you can bet we’re going to use the new road capacity we’ve created. It just wouldn’t make sense to invest so much money, and then not use the investment. Not only is this “logically” true, it’s been proven by example time after time. After investing in new road capacity, we make use of that investment by using up the new capacity we created. Widening roads, in other words, doesn’t solve congestion problems (except in a very short term perspective). By the time the half a billion dollars of bonds are retired, the new capacity is gone, and the congestion is just as bad as before, except now there are more cars caught in the jam.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
An Example of Induced Demand
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/2288/cincyjams.htmHighway One Widening Project
http://www.sccrtc.org/pdf/hwy1ballotfacts.pdf
Wednesday,
June 2, 2004 – Widening West Cliff Drive
The proposed Highway One widening project isn’t the only major
public works project on the drawing boards. Tonight, you can attend
a meeting at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, and join in the debate
about Highway One. But tomorrow night, at 7:00 o’clock, you
can find out about proposed improvements on West Cliff Drive, at
the regular meeting of the Santa Cruz City Planning Commission.
Major work is being proposed on West Cliff Drive, from Bay Street to Swanton Boulevard. The purpose of the project is to enhance public access, safety, and recreational enjoyment. This investment, too, if it goes ahead, will undoubtedly create new capacity, and that capacity will undoubtedly be utilized. The West Cliff Drive project means more opportunities for walkers, skaters, bikers, strollers, and other local and tourist trips along one of the prettiest and most interesting parts of the California coast.
Many people who listen to this Land Use Report have been out there on West Cliff Drive on more than one occasion. I know, I’ve seen you! I’m out there a good deal myself. If you’re interested in how the City is planning to change and improve the current situation on West Cliff Drive, then I encourage you to take in the Planning Commission meeting tomorrow night. If you stay till the end, you can see the Planning Commission wrestle with the question of how land use “policy” issues and public works investment issues are reconciled, by making sure that the Capital Improvements Program is consistent with the local General Plan.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
Planning Commission Agenda
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/pl/cpc/agenda.pdf
Thursday,
June 3, 2004 – Soquel Creek EIR
The Soquel Creek Water District serves more than 45,000 people,
through approximately 13,700 service connections in the urban coastal
area from 41st Avenue in Capitola to just below La Selva Beach.
About 1.8 billion gallons of water are delivered each year, and
most of the water delivered is for residential uses within the communities
of Aptos, Rio Del Mar, Seascape, Soquel, and Cañon del Sol.
This water comes almost exclusively from groundwater aquifers, which
are either overdrafted, and/or are in danger of contamination from
seawater intrusion. As the District puts it, “studies…show
that mid-County groundwater wells are threatened by saltwater contamination,
which could result in District customers and other well operators
facing supply shortages.”
Because current demand exceeds the safe-yield of local aquifers, the Water District is seeking new water supplies. Recently, they’ve published a “Notice of Preparation” of an Environmental Impact Report, which will evaluate two different alternatives. One is to import water from the Central Valley, in cooperation with the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency. One is to build a Regional Desalination Plant, in cooperation with the City of Santa Cruz. I hope some listeners will get involved with this process, because either one of these proposals could have major impacts. Find out more at www.kusp.org.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
Soquel Creek Water District Website
http://www.soquelcreekwater.com/SCWD Water Supply Planning
http://www.soquelcreekwater.com/Water_Supply_Planning.htm
Friday,
June 4, 2004 – The Community Housing Land Trust
A Housing Forum is scheduled a week from Saturday, on June 12th,
at the Louden Nelson Community Center in Santa Cruz. The program
runs from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and you are very cordially invited.
The Forum is sponsored by the Community Housing Land Trust of Santa
Cruz County, and they’re calling the Forum, “Affordable
Housing in a Time of Budget Cuts: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.”
Yours truly is on the program, along with Jane Barr, Project Manager
of the Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition, which has an exciting housing
project underway in Watsonville. There is something good happening,
amidst the bad and the ugly.
What’s perhaps most of interest may be the very existence of a community housing land trust, operating in one of our local jurisdictions. A community housing land trust is a private, non-profit organization which acquires and holds land for the benefit of the community. The main idea is to preserve the long term affordability of housing. Such a land trust, in the housing arena, is equivalent to the kind of land trust that preserves the environmental qualities of protected lands over time. The community housing land trust movement is relatively new, and is picking up steam everywhere. Efforts to create such a housing land trust are underway at Fort Ord, for example. If you’d like more information, please click on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org. Send me your thoughts and suggestions, too.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
What Is A Community Land Trust?
http://users.lazerlink.net/~scclt/what.htmOrange Community Housing and Land Trust
http://www.ochlt.org/The Rondo (Minnesota) Community Land Trust
http://www.rondoclt.org/The Burlington (Vermont) Community Land Trust
http://www.bclt.net/The Madison (Wisconsin) Community Land Trust
http://www.affordablehome.org/Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA) Website
http://www.fora.org/FORA Workforce Housing Efforts
http://www.fora.org/workforcehousing.htm
Archives of past transcripts are available here
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