In 1988, the voters of the City of Santa Cruz adopted a measure that specifically addresses the future growth of the UCSC campus. Here's what the voters said: "It shall be the policy of the City of Santa Cruz to insist that the University of California limit and phase its rate of growth so that all significant adverse impacts on the community, particularly in the areas of housing and traffic, are fully mitigated." A very good case can be made that UCSC Administrators are now proceeding with a Long Range Development Plan for the campus that is not consistent with this City policy. In fact, the current plan would essentially double the amount of building space on the UCSC campus, coupled with a corresponding "population expansion" of students, faculty and staff.

While the University campus is largely in the City, it is not directly subject to City regulation. The demonstration Saturday, organized by the "Coalition for Limiting University Expansion," or "CLUE," was to urge local residents to get involved now, because unless some effective organizing is done, and done soon, UCSC growth may undermine some of the most attractive aspects of the local community.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Get more information on CLUE at

CLUE Website
http://www.santacruzclue.org/

UCSC Long Range Development Plan Website
http://planning.ucsc.edu/lrdp/draft2005lrdp/

Contact UCSC about the LRDP-

Today, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will further consider a revision of the County's outdated General Plan, and specifically the "Conservation Element."

As you'll recall, Monterey County began a General Plan Update process in 1999. In June 2004, after five years, and the expenditure of $5 million dollars, the Board received the "third draft" of a new General Plan Update, recommended by the County Planning Commission. Instead of taking action on that document, the Board voted by a 3-2 vote to "start over," and to spend more time and money to do a subsequent draft. This was at the request of a long line of development interests, and their attorneys, and the Board's action today is part of that "start over" process.

While the Board of Supervisors is allowing public comment, it is taking that public comment only after the Board has made its policy choices on the key issues. This is arguably inconsistent with the State's Brown Act, as the League of Women Voters has noted. A week or so ago, the Board voted to eliminate the "40-acre minimum" requirement for new subdivisions, meaning that more rural sprawl will be permitted, along with traffic and fiscal problems that this dispersed development pattern will create. Today, in voting on "Conservation Element" policies, the Board will be deciding just how much protection to give the incomparable natural resources of Monterey County.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors will consider the Conservation Element at 1:30 p.m.

Board of Supervisors Agenda
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/cttb/agenda.htm

County GUP Update Website
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/gpu/

The "Community General Plan"
http://www.8of10monterey.com/pages/
community/gpu/communitygpu.html

State Law Requirements
http://ceres.ca.gov/planning/pzd/2000/pzd2000_web/
pzd2000_plan3.html#anchor673289

To be effective, land use policies must be related to the realities of economics and business. Measure J, adopted by the voters of Santa Cruz County in 1978, required new growth and development to be placed into existing urban areas, and required that the County's commercially productive agricultural lands be preserved for agricultural use.

There was, and continues to be, great pressure to convert agricultural lands to non?]agricultural uses, and many of the persons who owned agricultural properties didn't like the idea of limiting their ability to convert their agricultural land. However, the economic realities were consistent with the requirements of Measure J. The lands identified for preservation were, in fact, commercially productive, and so once the community made its decision that those lands would be kept in agricultural use, landowners found ways to keep their lands productive in the business sense.

Tomorrow, California Farmlink is sponsoring a workshop in Salinas that will explore "Business Planning and Innovative Farm Financing," and "Farm Succession Planning." In other words, this workshop will discuss how to make agriculture a paying business. If the community wants to preserve agricultural lands for agricultural use (and there are a lot of good reasons for doing that) then these issues are critical. For more information, check the KUSP website.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

The Workshop will be held at the Monterey County Farm Bureau, 931 Blanco Circle, Salinas. For reservations call Reggie Knox at 831-425-0303 [Workshops and Reception are free!]

California Farmlink Website
http://www.californiafarmlink.org/

Santa Cruz City Council Member Ed Porter has sent me a bulletin, and I'd like to pass the information on to you.

On Saturday, April 23rd, the City of Santa Cruz will be hosting a "General Plan Community Festival," to take place at the Bay View Elementary School, at the Corner of Bay and Mission Streets in Santa Cruz, between 12:00 noon and 4:00 p.m. Interested residents will be able to participate in a community "visioning" process, to help set the guiding principles and vision for the City of Santa Cruz for the next fifteen years. Graphic facilitators will capture the community's ideas, issues, and vision for the next General Plan. I guess there will be entertainment, too, including fun activities for kids and families, not to mention demonstrations put on by local groups.

Regular listeners have heard me say, often enough, that the local General Plan is like the "Constitution for land use" for a local community, and that it is the single most important document governing the community's future, with impacts on the economy, the environment, and social equity. This upcoming "Community Festival" in Santa Cruz is just the start of what will be a critically important planning process, and I'm naturally encouraging you to attend, and to keep participating! If you'd like some ideas, you might want to look at the Community General Plan for Monterey County, available online. Some of the ideas in that plan speak to issues in Santa Cruz, too.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

City of Santa Cruz Website
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/

The Monterey County "Community General Plan"
http://www.8of10monterey.com/pages/community/
gpu/communitygpu.html

KUSP provides this "Land Use Report" each weekday morning to keep Central Coast listeners up to date on key land use issues. KUSP's "Life on the Bay" covers the waterfront. Well, more than the waterfront, the waterfront and "out," out into our Bay and the oceans beyond. Sometimes, an item comes along that relates to both sides of that land and water interface. Here's just such an item.

On Wednesday, May 4th, the Monterey Bay Chapter of the United Nations Association of the USA, the Monterey Institute of International Studies' International Environmental Policy Program, and a host of cooperating local organizations will jointly sponsor a special program called "Water for Life: The Health of the World's Oceans and Drinking Water." Speakers will include Julie Packard, the Executive Director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and a Member of the Pew Oceans Commission, and Vanessa Tobin, Chief of the Water, Environment and Sanitation Section of UNICEF.

The health of our Bay and oceans is of critical importance to our future, and the availability of clean and sufficient drinking water is a land use issue. For more information, click on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org. Send me an email with your comments and suggestions, as well.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

This event is free, with open seating. Arrive early to assure yourself a place! Again, the program is scheduled for Wednesday, May 4th, and will take place at the Irvine Auditorium of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, 409 Pierce Street in Monterey. The program begins at 7:00 p.m., and will end at 9:00 p.m. A "meet the speakers" dessert reception will follow the program.