If last Saturday’s edition of the Santa Cruz Sentinel was accurate, UCSC Chancellor Denise Denton is considering the possibility of providing faculty housing for UCSC by “building or buying homes at sites in Monterey County….” This is not exactly a land use planner’s dream solution.

One of the things that has gone most “wrong” about development patterns in the United States generally, and in California in particular, is the attempt to provide “affordable housing” by spinning residential housing development to the circumference of a circle, the center of which is the place where jobs are created. The “spin off” effect of housing demand from the Silicon Valley is creating giant suburbs on the farmlands of the Central Valley, and on the farmlands of Monterey County. UCSC may now be trying to duplicate the experience with respect to its need to provide housing that its faculty can afford. Following this pattern of development, as a solution to the real problem faced by UCSC and its faculty, will be to condemn faculty to long distance commutes (at least two hours per day currently, and growing in length each year).

We do have a problem with traffic on Highway One, and specifically with traffic coming into Santa Cruz County from the South, during the morning commute. Is it wise to put UCSC faculty into this growing congestion trap?

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Interested persons can get information on UCSC faculty housing and proposed developments at UCSC by contacting CLUE, a local group focusing on the potential impacts of proposed UCSC growth. The CLUE website is found at http://www.santacruzclue.org/. You can contact CLUE by email at .

The relationship between land use decisions and economic development has been playing a big part in community discussions going on in the City of Santa Cruz. The “Coast Hotel” proposal, which might have produced new income for the City in the long run (though there was a debate about that), would certainly not have helped solve current budget problems. Nonetheless, statements made in connection with the land use debate on the Coast Hotel have suggested that the developer’s decision not to go ahead with that project will lead to immediate budget cutbacks this coming fiscal year. There may be cutbacks coming, but even if the Coast Hotel developer had proceeded with his project, any help from that project would have been several years in the future.

Tonight, the Santa Cruz City Council will be holding an informational hearing on another proposed development project that has economic development implications for the City. In this case (different from the Coast Hotel example) the City is providing for a lot of opportunity for pubic comment and discussion up front. At issue is a proposed Arts Center project at the former Salz Tannery site. A successful project could have some positive economic impacts, but there are serious questions whether the project would be compatible with an existing business located next door.

Message to City residents: this is a good time to get involved. The Council will address the issues tonight at 7:00 o’clock at the Louden Nelson Center.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

An Invitation
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/cc/archives/05/
5-24meeting/5-24rpt/Tannery%20flier.pdf

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

If you haven’t yet attained that particular joy that comes from reading a proposed “Disposition and Development Agreement,” I’ve got a hot tip on an upcoming land use decision of significance, scheduled to be made at 6:30 p.m., on Tuesday, May 31st, by the Marina City Council.

Of course, I’m joking about the joys of reading a “Disposition and Development Agreement.” If you would enjoy reading every bit of the fine print in a real estate title insurance policy, you would probably have a good time perusing a “DDA,” as they’re called. But otherwise, probably not! Nonetheless, you should think about taking in the Marina City Council meeting next Tuesday. “Disposition” in this context means exactly what the dictionary says it means: “the getting rid of, or making over of, anything…”

Next Tuesday, the Marina City Council is going to decide whether or not to “dispose” of the ownership rights to real estate located on the former Fort Ord. The current “owners” are the citizens of the City of Marina. The elected City Council is proposing to dispose of their ownership rights by making them over to a developer. The developer, on its side, agrees to develop the property in certain ways. And the direct profits from the development, of course, are proposed to flow to the developer, not to the current city residents. Particularly if you’re one of the current owners, you might want to be in attendance.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

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

City Council Agenda
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/council1agenda.htm

This coming Saturday, May 28th, a native plant nursery, ecological restoration, and land use consulting business called “Rana Creek” is having an open house celebration. Rana Creek is located at 35351 East Carmel Valley Road in Carmel Valley. More specific directions on how to find Rana Creek are included in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. Just click on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org.

The open house on Saturday will include an informal brunch, starting at 11:00 o’clock in the morning, with ecological themed presentations from 12:30 to 5:00 p.m. There will be dinner and music from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., and walks and tours of the Rana Creek facilities throughout the day. Guest speakers include Mark Stromberg, Director of the Hastings Natural History Reserve, operated by UC Berkeley; Brock Dolman, Watershed Advocacy Training, Education and Research Director at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center; Louise Jackson, Professor in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources at UC Davis; and Pat McGuire, Director of the Genetic Resources Conservation Program at UC Davis.

If you’d like to combine an outdoors experience with a great opportunity to learn about habitat restoration and ecologically based planning, please give Rana Creek a call. You do need to RSVP!

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Rana Creek Website (currently under reconstruction) - http://www.ranacreek.com/

Directions to Rana Creek: Take Highway One to Carmel Valley Road. Go east on Carmel Valley Road for 19.2 miles. Look for the 19.2 mile marker. The entrance is on the north side of Carmel Valley Road.

RSVP to 831-659-3820, Ext. 120, or by email at: .

On Monday, I commented on an idea apparently under consideration by UCSC Chancellor Denise Denton. According to the newspaper, the Chancellor is thinking that UCSC faculty might best find “affordable” housing at sites located in Monterey County. Planning for a housing solution that has your faculty members commuting at least two hours per day through an increasingly congested traffic corridor is probably not the best way to attract and retain key people. And yet, the “affordable housing problem” for UCSC faculty is real. While faculty members at the University are undoubtedly better off economically than the UCSC staff (the staff at UCSC are notoriously underpaid), many if not most UCSC faculty cannot afford a market priced home in Santa Cruz. Therefore, to attract and retain qualified professors, the University has to do something.

Besides the commuting idea, the University is developing its own land. A proposed housing project on campus land, called “Ranch View Housing,” is scheduled to begin construction soon. I’ve included some information on the website. One problem here is that the prices that the University proposes to charge will not be low enough to allow faculty members to buy the homes, so the University will then propose to sell the new homes to non-UCSC buyers, thus putting UCSC into the housing development business for the private market.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Interested persons can get information on UCSC faculty housing and proposed developments at UCSC by contacting CLUE, a local group focusing on the potential impacts of proposed UCSC growth. The CLUE website is found at http://www.santacruzclue.org/. You can contact CLUE by email at .

Information on Faculty and Staff Housing
http://www.housing.ucsc.edu/housing/forsale.html

Faculty Senate Report on Ranch View Housing
http://senate.ucsc.edu/cfw/HousingReport021605.pdf