KUSP LandWatch News
Week of October 25, 2004 to October 29, 2004

Land and water are two necessities for growth. In Monterey County, the Board of Supervisors will specify what lands in the unincorporated area will be available for growth by adopting a new General Plan. The current Monterey County General Plan was last updated in 1982, twentytwo years ago.

Unlike counties, cities can’t decide for themselves what land to make available for growth. To expand beyond its current city limits, at any rate, a city must get approval from the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO. In Monterey County, the five cities located in the Salinas Valley all want to expand dramatically, converting about 10,000 acres of prime farmland to urban uses. Whether the cities will get to do that, or not, is a decision that will be made by LAFCO. This afternoon, at 4:00 p.m., the Monterey County LAFCO will discuss its Spheres of Influence program. The decisions that LAFCO makes on Spheres of Influence are the first step towards annexation and development.

Tomorrow, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will consider the development of an Urban Water Supply Project for the coastal communities of Monterey County. This is shorthand for a decision on whether or not to join with the Cal-Am Water Company to build a desalination plant in Moss Landing, to provide water to make more growth possible.

As always, there’s more information at www.kusp.org.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Board of Supervisors Agenda, October 26, 2004 Meeting
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/cttb/agenda.htm

Monterey County LAFCO
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/lafco/

An old friend asked me recently why these Land Use Reports seem just a bit skewed towards Monterey County. I had to confess that my job, with LandWatch Monterey County, means that I get much more exposure to land use issues in Monterey County than I do to land use issues elsewhere. It’s probably just the path of least resistance for me to talk about things I’m dealing with every day. However (and I didn’t tell my friend this), there is also just a lot more going on in Monterey County, in terms of growth and development. It would be hard to overstate the magnitude of the developments now moving through the permit process in Monterey County.

My aim is to cover the entire Central Coast in terms of important land use policy matters. I hope that regular listeners will alert me to items they think I might be missing. You can contact me easily by clicking on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org.

To give some consolation to my friend, who is a Santa Cruz resident, I want to highlight today’s Santa Cruz City Council meeting. In their afternoon hearing, starting at 3:00 o’clock, the Council will consider a proposed West Cliff Drive Plan, the adoption of which will ultimately lead to some significant changes. At 7:00 p.m., after considering a proposed skateboard facility at Mike Fox Park, the Council will consider a draft plan prepared by the Green Building Working Group. This meeting is worth attending!

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

City of Santa Cruz Website
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/
(The Agenda is available under Council Quick Links)

Tomorrow evening, the local community groups sponsoring a “Community General Plan Update” process will be meeting in Greenfield, quite a ways south in the Salinas Valley. You are very cordially invited to attend. As an inducement, a light supper will be provided to all participants, not to mention the chance to take part in drafting a set of General Plan policies for Monterey County that will truly meet community needs. The Community GPU Forum is scheduled to run from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., and will be held in the multi-purpose room at the Vista Verde Middle School, 1199 Elm Street, in Greenfield.

The earlier Forums have been extremely well attended, and well-received. A professional planner has been helping participants focus on each one of the seven Elements that must be part of a local General Plan. The results of earlier work on the Land Use, Housing, Conservation, Open Space and Safety Elements are posted on the internet. Tomorrow night, particular attention will be placed on the Infrastructure and Noise Elements. If you’re concerned about traffic, water availability, and where landfills should be sited, this is the meeting for you. These are all “infrastructure” issues in General Plan terms, and the policies developed through this community process could ultimately help shape the next twenty years of growth in Monterey County. There is more information at www.kusp.org.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:
The “Community GPU” Website - http://www.8of10monterey.com/pages/community.html

The public is invited to take a tour, this afternoon, of the so-called “East Garrison” project on the former Fort Ord. The tour will be conducted with the Monterey County Subdivision Committee and the County’s Historic Resources Review Board. The tour will begin at approximately 2:30 p.m., at the project site, after conclusion of public hearings being held by the Subdivision Committee during its meeting in Salinas.

The so-called “East Garrison” project is moving rapidly through the County’s planning process. A proposed Specific Plan and a Draft Environmental Impact Report have already been prepared, and the county staff is doing everything it can to expedite consideration of this major subdivision. If you haven’t heard much about the “East Garrison” project, I’m not surprised. It surfaced briefly about a year or so ago, when the Board of Supervisors authorized Woodman Development Company to prepare a plan for 1,470 new residential lots on land that is essentially owned by the County itself. The development has then proceeded through a process of staff consultation with the developer. No official public hearings have ever been held. According to a staff memo I’ve seen, that is about to change. The staff is hoping to have the first public hearing on November 17th, with final Board approval of this major development to be completed by the middle of December. If you’d like a head start, join the tour this afternoon! There is more information at www.kusp.org.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Monterey County
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/

East Garrison Project
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/pbi/major/
eastgarrison/eg_main.htm#EG_Report

Directions:

From Highway One
Exit Highway One at the Fort Ord Main Gate onto Lightfighter Drive. LEFT onto General Jim Moore. RIGHT onto Third Street, which becomes Intergarrison Road. Continue for about four miles. Follow signs on Intergarrison Road

From Reservation Road
Take Imjin Road. LEFT on Abrams. LEFT on Intergarrison Road. Continue for about two miles.

Monterey County is a kind of “ground zero” for proposed new development. No other Central Coast county comes even close to the kind of development boom that can be seen in Monterey County. Here is just a partial listing of development projects now under consideration:

• In the City of Marina, the Marina Heights development, the proposed Armstrong Ranch development, and the proposed University Villages development, totaling something like 3,000 new residential units.
• In the City of Salinas, the proposed annexation and development of approximately 3,000 acres of agricultural land, which would mean tens of thousands of new residences.
• In Soledad, Greenfield, Gonzales and King City further annexations of prime agricultural lands, again adding tens of thousands of new residential units.
• Last but certainly not least, Monterey County is planning for a whole series of subdivisions in the North County area, new subdivisions in Carmel Valley, and along River Road, a major development called the “East Garrison” project on the former Fort Ord, and the massive Rancho San Juan project, near Salinas, that would add 4,000 new residences in an area currently experiencing water overdraft and traffic gridlock.

A schedule circulated by County planning staff indicates that they’re hoping to get the Board of Supervisors to approve the County’s biggest development projects by the middle of December. I’ll keep you posted!

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

City of Marina
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/

City of Salinas
http://www.ci.salinas.ca.us/

City of Gonzales
http://ci.gonzales.ca.us/

City of Soledad
http://www.cityofsoledad.com/

City of Greenfield
http://ci.greenfield.ca.us/

City of King City
http://www.kingcity.com/index.shtml

Monterey County
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/

List of Monterey County Pending Projects
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/pbi/projects/project_main.htm

East Garrison Project
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/pbi/major/
eastgarrison/eg_main.htm#EG_Reports

Rancho San Juan
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/pbi/major/rsj/rsj_main.htm