KUSP LandWatch News
Week of August 23, 2004 to August 27, 2004

An enthusiastic crowd of about 120 people gathered at the Prunedale Grange on Saturday, kicking off a populist effort to develop a “Community” General Plan Update for Monterey County. Eighteen local community groups, with thousands of Monterey County members, are acting as sponsors. Four more community forums will be held, between now and October 30th, with the objective being to develop a General Plan document that meets state law requirements and that is consistent with the Twelve Guiding Objectives for the General Plan that came from the extensive outreach conducted by Monterey County.

As you’ll recall, Monterey County has been working on a General Plan Update for about five years, and has spent $5 million dollars on the process so far. The County held hundreds of community meetings, and based on that outreach, the Board of Supervisors adopted Twelve Guiding Objectives for the new General Plan. Unfortunately, when the Planning Commission sent the Board its most recent recommendation, it was not even considered. Three members of the Board voted to “start over,” and artfully eliminated any commitment to the Twelve Guiding Objectives.

The “Community GPU” is an effort by local community groups to make sure that the Twelve Guiding Objectives are not discarded, and to maintain a strong community voice in the General Plan Update. For anyone who believes in citizen involvement, the meeting on Saturday has to be seen as nothing short of inspirational.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

“Community GPU” Website
http://www.8of10monterey.com

Monterey County isn’t the only Central Coast jurisdiction that is reviewing and updating its General Plan. This afternoon, the Planning Commission for the City of Monterey will be considering a Draft Environmental Impact Report prepared on a proposed Monterey City General Plan Update. Residents of the City of Monterey should be getting involved.

A community’s General Plan is often called its “Constitution” for land use, and decisions made in the context of the City’s General Plan Update will have a profound impact on the community. How we use the land will directly affect our local economy, the environment, and our efforts to maintain and expand social equity.

The big issues in the County’s General Plan Update tend to revolve around how much protection will be given to agricultural land, open space, and natural resources, since most of the unincorporated county is outside existing urban areas. The General Plan issues within the City of Monterey are much more “urban” in nature. How will traffic and circulation be handled? How can the City provide affordable housing in areas that are already “built out?” How can the City, in effect, “redevelop” itself to improve local economic opportunities?

At this afternoon’s meeting, you’ll hear about some pretty exciting concepts for “new urbanism” that are being considered in the City of Monterey. Get more information by clicking on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

City of Monterey Website
http://www.monterey.org/cityhall.html

Agenda For Planning Commission Meeting
http://www.monterey.org/boards/planning/agendas/
2004/0824%20pc%20agenda.pdf

City of Monterey General Plan Draft and EIR
http://www.monterey.org/generalplan/

The City of Salinas is the biggest city in Monterey County, and its “demographics” make it somewhat special. To state it briefly, there are lots of younger people growing up in Salinas! That means that Salinas needs lots of parks and recreational opportunities.

Tomorrow night, the Carr Lake Regional Park Committee is holding an exciting meeting at the Salinas Community Center, 940 North Main Street, in Salinas. Their flyer carries the headline: “Carr Lake Regional Park! – Catch The Vision!” If you’d like to catch the vision, and to find out what might be happening at Carr Lake in the City of Salinas, you should definitely plan to attend the meeting tomorrow night. The meeting will go from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Currently, Salinas has only 360 acres of parks and open space. A Carr Lake Regional Park would add 480 additional acres. Even with that additional park land, however, Salinas would still have fewer acres per capita than is recommended by national standards. And at Carr Lake (right in the center of Salinas) a Regional Park could meet some other needs, too. Specifically, the Carr Lake Regional Park could provide long-term flood control and water quality measures that are very much needed in the City. If you’d like to help develop a multi-use Regional Park at Carr Lake, you can get information on who you should contact at www.kusp.org.For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

To get involved, contact the Carr Lake Regional Park Committee, 7 Attlebury Circle, Salinas, CA 93906, or call Gary Karnes at 831-442-1649.

The KUSP radio signal covers the entire Central Coast, from Santa Cruz County to San Luis Obispo. Of course, you can get access to KUSP broadcasts virtually anywhere, now, by clicking on www.kusp.org. The station’s “live feed” makes KUSP programming available wherever internet access can be obtained.

In term of KUSP’s “over the air” broadcast, however, some of the best reception available is found in Big Sur, or at least in certain areas in Big Sur, thanks to the “translators” that KUSP maintains in the Big Sur Valley and in Palo Colorado Canyon. Since that signal, in fact, is sometime the ONLY radio signal that certain Big Sur residents receive, let me highlight some “Big Sur news” on today’s Land Use Report.

I like to use this Land Use Report to advance what I call my “unhidden agenda” of promoting community action on land use and related issues. When I find out about a new community effort, I like to publicize it, and I’ve just learned of an organization called “Friends of the Big Sur Coast,” that is concerned about past and future tree cutting in the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. If you’d like to learn what Friends of the Big Sur Coast has to say about this issue, click on the Land Use Report link at the KUSP website. And keep me posted, when you become aware of community efforts that might be of interest to KUSP listeners.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Contact Friends of the Big Sur Coast – info@friendsofthebigsurcoast.com

The Friends of the Big Sur Coast Website
http://www.friendsofthebigsurcoast.com

The San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to increasing the supply of affordable housing for low and moderate income residents of San Luis Obispo County. It is a collaborative effort, involving local service providers, businesses, and governmental agencies. Since it was created in 2003, the Housing Trust Fund has received more than $387,000 in start-up funds from the County of San Luis Obispo, local cities, the Economic Opportunity Commission, the Housing Authority, the United Way, the Community Foundation, and others.

Most recently, the Housing Trust Fund has been designated as a California Community Development Financial Institution. That means that investments in the Housing Trust Fund can now qualify for a state income tax credit. To qualify for the tax credit, investors must lend at least $50,000 to the Housing Trust Fund, for five years or longer, at a 0% interest rate. The tax credit is 20% of the amount invested and can be taken in the year the investment is made.

Does this sound somewhat complicated? Well, it is, but the bottom line is that the intricacies of state tax law can now be used to support affordable housing goals, while actually benefiting individual investors. If you’re an investor with significant annual income who would like to make a sound investment that will support affordable housing in San Luis Obispo County, contact the Housing Trust Fund.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

SLO Housing Trust Fund Website
http://www.slochtf.org/

Chamber of Commerce News on Origin of the Trust Fund
http://www.slo-business.com/ecm/Newsletter/
2002_Newsletters/06_Housing.html