Big Box giant Wal-Mart is turning its attention to the Central Coast. The most recent site being evaluated is apparently in Pajaro, a small community right over the river from Watsonville. According to my best information, there is a serious effort by a major landowner in the Pajaro area to gain Board of Supervisors’ approval for a redesignation of a large parcel, currently designated for agriculture, to permit the creation of a Big Box store in this small and largely Latino community.

All this is in the very early stages, which means it’s the perfect time to get involved. If you’d like to participate in a community coalition for Good Jobs and Healthy Neighborhoods, bringing together those who are concerned about the impacts that a Big Box development might have, then tonight’s the night to plan a dinner engagement at the Real Colima Restaurant in Pajaro. The restaurant is located at 74 Porter Drive, in Pajaro, and the flyer I’ve seen, distributed by the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, says that the food is good and the prices are reasonable. Of course, you don’t need to buy food to participate in the meeting, and this is a chance to learn more about a proposed project that could have very big economic, environmental, and community effects.

Among other things, the meeting tonight will focus on an upcoming General Plan Update workshop, to be held this coming Thursday. More about that later. Tonight, think about dinner in Pajaro!

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

The Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, is helping to coordinate the coalition that is holding the meeting on Monday June 13, 2005. For more information, call the Labor Council at 831-633-1869, or email them at  .

Store Wars, A Wal-Mart Critique
http://www.aceweekly.com/Backissues_ACEWeekly/
010531/cover_story010531.html

Lots of things are happening in the land use arena in the City of Santa Cruz:

• The City is being presented with a couple of major development proposals (a Tannery Arts Habitat restoration project at the old Salz Tannery, and a proposed demolition and rebuilding of the La Bahia residential hotel on Beach Street).
  
  
• Some potential “Big Box” store ideas are in the wings on the Westside.
  
  
• And then there is the General Plan Update process just getting underway.

And that’s not a complete list, by any means. I guess I should mention the condemnation of the Ron Lau property on Pacific Avenue, and the growing number of Accessory Dwelling Units being constructed throughout the City.

And that’s still not a complete list. For instance, I haven’t yet mentioned what may be the most important land use decision making process now underway, the University of California’s Long Range Development Plan for the UCSC Campus. This is a planning process that is “of, by, and for” the University itself, which makes it different from normal community planning. The community has only the most precarious legal standing within the process, even though the decisions made will profoundly affect every aspect of the future life of the City of Santa Cruz.

To get involved, think about attending the next meeting of CLUE, the Coalition for Limiting University Expansion. The meeting will be held on Monday, June 20th, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Police Community Room.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

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

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

Tomorrow, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to conduct the next workshop in its series of workshops focusing on the long-promised General Plan Update for Monterey County. I say “long-promised” advisedly. The County began its General Plan Update process in 1999, so it has been working on the topic for something like six years. Five or six million dollars have been expended, and rather than being near to completion, the Board, in fact, is just “starting,” or rather “restarting” its General Plan Update effort. The current General Plan, which was initially adopted in 1982, is seriously inadequate. Five or six years ago, the State Attorney General wrote the County a letter, saying that the County had better do something about that. But other than much churning of the waters, not anything has really been done. When the Board did get a recommendation from the Planning Commission, in June of 2004, the Board threw it out, refusing even to consider it. So now we have the “start over” workshops.

Tomorrow’s workshop is on housing and economic development issues, and there is one new twist. Organized labor is now actively engaged, on Big Box and “good jobs” issues, so there will be some interesting testimony and discussion tomorrow. If you’d like to get involved, please click on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org, and track down the transcript for today’s Report. There is more information there.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

County General Plan Update Website
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/pbi/gpu/

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

Starting this Sunday, at UCSC, and running through next Wednesday, the UCSC Chancellor's Sustainability Action Council is hosting the Fourth Annual UC Sustainability Conference. There is more information at www.kusp.org.

The Sustainability Conference will highlight and celebrate “best practices” from both the University of California and the California State University system. Topics include: Energy, Green Building, Transportation, Purchasing, Food Systems, Water, Waste Management, Curriculum, and Institutionalizing Sustainability.

Missing from this list (and a significant omission) is land use planning. On Tuesday, I noted that what may be the most important land use planning exercise now underway, and affecting the City of Santa Cruz, is the Long Range Development Plan that is being prepared for the UCSC campus. Is that Long Range Development Plan sustainable? Do its proposed provisions dovetail with the sustainability goals that are being celebrated at the Sustainability Conference? While a one-word answer to those questions is undoubtedly not really “fair,” I think the one-word answer would have to be “No.” In fact, if we truly care about the long term “sustainability” of our economy and society, we need to put good land use planning at the top of our “to do” list, not leave it off the list altogether.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Sustainability Conference Website
http://www2.ucsc.edu/sustainabilityconf2005/

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

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

Today, I’d like to highlight an upcoming UC Davis extension course, to be given at UC Davis on June 23rd and 24th. This isn’t free, but might be a worthwhile investment for aspiring land use and transportation planners, or for some of the planners already working for us, in City and County planning departments, or at our Regional Transportation Commissions.

The course is entitled “Bicycle Planning and Design,” and covers the critical elements of planning and design for bicycle circulation. Those taking the course will examine the broad legal and policy issues involved in bicycle planning, as well as reviewing detailed designs for bicycle systems and facilities.

Specifically covered will be a review of the legal and statutory basis for bicycle travel, and how bicycle transportation systems relate to the transit-oriented, "new urbanist," and other “livable communities” models of land use planning that are now considered “best practices” among planning professionals. On the “details” side, the course will cover design requirements for bike use in neighborhoods and roadway projects, safety, lighting, signage, funding, financing, permitting and regulations, and disability issues. And the fun part may be a half-day guided bike tour through the city of Davis and the UC Davis campus, also visiting a series of innovative development projects.

A “sustainable” transportation future includes bicycles!

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Bicycle Planning Course
http://extension.ucdavis.edu/courses/coursedescription.asp?
type=A&unit=landuseplanning&SectionID=122261&prglist=LUP