It’s pretty hard to disagree with the basic premise. As development proceeds, more cars are put on the roads, and the impacts aren’t restricted to the immediate neighborhood. Take new housing construction in South Monterey County as an example. The local traffic impacts caused by new construction in Gonzales, and Soledad, and Greenfield are not insignificant, but what about Highway 68, that overstressed corridor running from Salinas to Monterey? The biggest traffic impact from new housing in Soledad (and they’re proposing a lot of new housing in Soledad) may well be more traffic congestion on Highway 68. Properly structured (and it’s far from clear that a large enough fee will be imposed to do what actually needs to be done) the “regional transportation impact fee” concept could provide some much needed congestion relief.

Traffic impact problems are found in every county, not just Monterey County. Tonight, for instance, the Hollister City Council will be considering a traffic impact fee study, to get a handle on what that city ought to do about the traffic problems caused by new development there.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

TAMC Website
http://www.tamcmonterey.org/

City of Hollister Website
http://hollister.ca.gov/site/index.asp

May 2, 2005 Agenda, City of Hollister
http://www.hollister.clients.e21corp.com/
Upload/Document/ D240000334/
ccagenda.May%202,%202005.pdf

The City of Marina is a development “hot spot.” Not only is a lot of development being proposed, the City Council appears to be doing what it can to accelerate development approvals. This week, for instance, there are two separate meetings during which the proposed “University Villages” project will be considered. At 5:30 this evening, the City Council will consider a “Fiscal and Economic Impact” Policy Paper, analyzing the University Villages project. The document is not available on line, but the City Clerk will email you a copy, if you request one. Contact information is at www.kusp.org.

This coming Thursday, at 6:30 p.m., the Marina Planning Commission will consider the proposed University Villages project at a full public hearing. This is your next to last opportunity to make your views known.

One of the good things to say about the current development patterns in Marina is that they are not, really, the typical “sprawl” type developments that you often see in other cities. There is a reason for that, and the reason is the adoption of an Urban Growth Boundary by the voters of Marina, through a citizen initiative election held in November 2000. The redevelopment and rejuvenation of the former Fort Ord is the City of Marina’s biggest planning priority, thanks to the citizens who drafted, qualified, and passed the Marina Urban Growth Boundary initiative.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

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

Marina City Clerk
Email:

Today, at 9:30 in the morning, anyone interested in the future growth of the City of Watsonville might like to stop by the Santa Cruz County LAFCO meeting. LAFCO means “Local Agency Formation Commission,” and the Santa Cruz County LAFCO is going to be considering a letter commenting on the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report, or EIR, for the City of Watsonville’s new General Plan Update.

It’s still quite early in the General Plan Update process, so if you’re interested in the future of Watsonville, you might want to start getting involved. Click on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org for some useful references, including a link to the Watsonville General Plan Update website.

Recently, the City has circulated a “Notice of Preparation,” indicating that they’re planning to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Report on their proposed General Plan Update. LAFCO is going to comment on that Notice of Preparation, and tell the City what issues LAFCO thinks the City should address. This is important procedurally, because LAFCO will have to vote on any proposal by the City to expand beyond its current city limits, and before making its decision on those issues, LAFCO will need to review and consider a fully?]adequate EIR. If Watsonville’s EIR covers the topics that LAFCO needs to have covered, it will save everyone time and money.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Santa Cruz County LAFCO Website
http://www.santacruzlafco.org/

LAFCO Agenda For May 4, 2005
http://www.santacruzlafco.org/pages/agendas/
20050504materials/5-4-05.pdf

LAFCO Staff Report
http://www.santacruzlafco.org/pages/agendas/
20050504materials/ wats%20eir%202005.pdf

LAFCO Proposed Comment Letter
http://www.santacruzlafco.org/pages/agendas/
20050504materials/ boyle%20gen%20plan%20eir.pdf

Watsonville General Plan Update Website
http://www.watsonvillevista.info/

I give the transcript of each day’s Land Use Report a separate title. The title today is, “Many Meetings.”

At 9:00 a.m. this morning, the Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission will hold a public hearing on its 25-year Regional Transportation Plan. Check out this meeting to find out how bad traffic can get.

From 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will consider traffic and water issues, in the context of a General Plan workshop. The staff is recommending standards that will make development easier, and probably make traffic congestion worse.

From 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., the Santa Cruz City Council will hold a special joint meeting with the University of California. Housing and transportation are both on the agenda.

At 7:00 p.m., the City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission will consider a proposed Arts Center development at the former Salz Tannery. Is traffic a theme? There could be a problem here.

Finally, on Saturday, May 7th, at 9:00 o’clock, a panel presentation on water as a local and global issue will take place in the Irvine Auditorium of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, as part of a “Global Majority” conference that will kick off this evening.

There is more information on all these meetings on the KUSP website.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission Website
http://www.sccrtc.org/

GPU Workshop Policy Recommendations
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/pbi/gpu/
SRBOSf_PLN050045_Study4_4-26-05.pdf

City of Santa Cruz Website
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/  (For Council and Planning Commission Agendas)

MIIS Website - http://www.miis.edu/

For information on the Global Majority Conference, contact Bill Monning -

AMBAG, or the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, is a regional association that involves elected officials from Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties. Typically, AMBAG works on “regional” concerns, and gets involved in issues like transportation, air quality, housing, and overall economic development.

Today, AMBAG is hosting an important Forum at the Marriott Hotel in Monterey. The U.S. Department of Defense will soon be announcing the facilities that will be surplused under the Base Realignment and Closure Commission process (usually called “BRAC”). Any such closure of Department of Defense facilities in the Monterey Bay Region could have very significant economic impacts, which is why AMBAG is trying to prepare all local officials and local agencies to react quickly to potential closures.

The Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment has provided AMBAG and FORA (the Fort Ord Reuse Authority) with a grant to review current market trends, to assess the resources that could become available if there are any facility closures in our region, and to find ways to diversity the local economic base. That’s the purpose of today’s meeting. Land uses in the region will be profoundly affected if there are more facility closures here. The local experience with the former Fort Ord shows the magnitude of the challenge.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

AMBAG Website
http://www.ambag.org/

FORA Website
http://www.fora.org/