 |
Home | Issues & Actions | About |
Archive Page This page is available as an archive to previous versions of LandWatch websites. |
KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of July 4, 2005 to July 8, 2005
Week of July 4, 2005 to July 8, 2005
KUSP provided a brief Land Use Report on KUSP Radio from January 2003 to May 2016. Archives of past transcripts are available here.
Week of July 4, 2005 to July 8, 2005
- Monday, July 4, 2005 – Celebrating The Fourth of July
- Tuesday, July 5, 2005 – My New Title
- Wednesday, July 6, 2005 – Planning Resources in Santa Cruz County
- Thursday, July 7, 2005 – The Líderes
- Friday, July 8, 2005 – Permit Reform And Policy Decision Making
The following Land Use Reports have been presented on KUSP Radio by Gary A. Patton. The Wittwer & Parkin law firm is located in Santa Cruz, California, and practices environmental and governmental law. As part of its practice, the law firm files litigation and takes other action on behalf of its clients, which are typically private individuals, governmental agencies, environmental organizations, or community groups. Whenever the Land Use Report comments on an issue with which the Wittwer & Parkin law firm is involved on behalf of a client, Mr. Patton will make this relationship clear, as part of his commentary. Mr. Patton’s comments do not represent the views of Wittwer & Parkin, LLP, KUSP Radio, nor of any of its sponsors.
| Monday, July 4, 2005 – Celebrating The Fourth of July |
 |
The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays, because it commemorates the institution of democratic self-government. I happen to think that we fulfill ourselves, as human beings, only when we are able to realize, with others, what is sometimes called “community.” We are more, in other words, than a mere collection of “individuals.” While everything that “is” does begin in the mind and spirit of an individual human being (which is why we prize so highly the individual freedoms upon which our system of government is supposed to be based) we are not “only” individuals. We are bound to other persons, the way that fingers are joined in a hand. By themselves individually, our fingers can do nothing. Together, they work wonders and create the world. The “political” institutions of democratic self-government establish the way we make this connection in the communities we create through our common endeavor. Land use policies are one of the most important ways that we establish the rules and regulations that guide our individual and common efforts, and they are a central expression of this profound political and human truth: we create the world we inhabit through our common work, and how we choose, as a community, to use the resources of the land will determine our future. Today, the Fourth of July, is a great time to celebrate freedom, and above all the freedom we have, working together, to create a world that meets our deepest human hopes and needs. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. |
|
| Tuesday, July 5, 2005 – My New Title |
|
|
Last month, I went from being the Executive Director of LandWatch Monterey County to being its Director of Strategic Planning and Policy Initiatives. I must say I’m delighted, because that new title reflects what I believe is at the heart of good land use planning. For me, “politics” is not a dirty word, but is the way we work out, in our communities, what we want our common purposes to be. And as we work together to achieve our common purposes, we create the world we will ultimately inhabit. How we use the resources of the land is one important way we decide upon our future. So, if land use planning is all about building a future we want, then thinking “strategically,” rather than reacting to every minor event and episode, is going to get us, ultimately, to a better place. Taking the “initiative,” deciding what we want, in advance, and then trying to get there, will be a lot more productive than simply reacting to what’s happening to us. The opposite of good planning is simply to react to individual proposals, advanced by individuals who are out to achieve their own self-interest. I guess I’m disagreeing with Adam Smith. He said that an “invisible hand” added up all our private selfish actions, and transformed them, as if by magic, into the public interest. I don’t buy it. We achieve the “public interest,” and get what we want as a community, only when we plan strategically and then take the initiative to get where we want to go. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. |
|
| Wednesday, July 6, 2005 – Planning Resources in Santa Cruz County |
|
A listener recently suggested to me that I highlight some of the resources that Santa Cruz County has made available online, so that all listeners will know that there is an easy way for them to get more effectively involved in land use planning issues. Santa Cruz County has one of the most comprehensive and easy to use websites, where land use and planning issues are concerned, and I’ve placed references to some of the most important links in the transcript of today’s Report. Land use rules and regulations are documented in the Santa Cruz County Code, and the full Code is online. Final decision making authority on land use issues is always the Board of Supervisors, and contact information and the Board’s agenda packet are also available online. The Planning Commission makes important land use decisions, too. Again, contact information and the Commission’s agenda packet are available. Most important, what’s available online is not only a listing of what items will be considered, but a complete copy of the relevant staff report. If you are interested in a particular item, that’s always the best place to start, and the fact that Santa Cruz County almost always has all its staff reports online puts it way out in front of other jurisdictions. Monterey County, for instance, puts many Planning Commission reports online, but almost never a staff report relating to the actions being taken by the Board of Supervisors. There’s a lot more on line for Santa Cruz County. Check the KUSP website to get the references. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
| Thursday, July 7, 2005 – The Líderes |
|
In December 2003, a group called Líderes Comunitarios de Salinas was honored by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, at a ceremony in Sacramento. The Governor named the Líderes as one of the winners of the Governor’s 2003 Environmental and Economic Leadership awards, a statewide honor. The Líderes are a grassroots group, based in Salinas, consisting mostly of monolingual Spanish-speaking farm and agricultural workers. They formed about a year before receiving the Governor’s award, to make sure that the concerns of the working families of Salinas had a major voice in its new General Plan. It’s fair to say that they were successful, which is why the Governor named them for their environmental and economic leadership. A main focus of the Líderes’ work was their effort to get the City to adopt a stronger inclusionary housing policy. The current inclusionary percentage in Salinas is only 12%. The Líderes were arguing for 50%. Because of the work done by the Líderes, the City began a set of studies that has now showed that inclusionary percentages on the order of 40% are economically feasible. On Saturday, July 9th, from 9:00 to Noon at Saint Mary’s Church in Salinas, the Líderes will hold a meeting (totally in Spanish) to tell the public how they can win a real victory in the battle for more affordable housing. Estan todos invitados. You’re all invited. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. More Information:
|
|
| Friday, July 8, 2005 – Permit Reform And Policy Decision Making |
|
|
Attorneys for developers often claim that the local government permit processing system is unwieldy, and that the solution is for government to “get out of the way.” They argue that regulatory restrictions may make the economy and the housing situation worse. In fact, though, unless a community really wants to adopt the approach that any individual can do whatever he or she wants, anywhere (and there are usually quite a few state and federal rules that make this a losing proposition, legally), the key to a good permit processing system is to have a very strong and clear set of regulations in place, to guide development. The best permit processing system requires the final decision makers (the City Council or the Board of Supervisors) to make up their mind in advance, by adopting clear and easily implemented policies. Such policies will say “yes” to what the community wants, and “no” to what it doesn’t want. When the decision makers have the “chutzpah” to make those decisions in advance, as a matter of policy, then the permit process is easy. What makes the permit process difficult is a refusal to make “policy” decisions upfront. Then, every decision has to be made at the “project” level, which overloads the system, and wastes a lot of time and money. LandWatch has put out a publication that discusses the policy?]based approach to permit processing reform. You can get a reference at www.kusp.org. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
Archives of past transcripts are available here
|
CONTACT 306 Capitol Street #101 PO Box 1876 Phone (831) 759-2824 Fax (831) 759-2825 |
|