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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of December 19, 2005 to December 23, 2005
Week of December 19, 2005 to December 23, 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 December 19, 2005 to December 23, 2005
- Monday, December 19, 2005
- Tuesday, December 20, 2005
- Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Steps To The General Plan Initiative
- Thursday, December 22, 2005
Basic Thrust Of The General Plan Initiative
- Friday, December 23, 2005
Affordable Housing And The Initiative
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, December 19, 2005 |
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No KUSP Landwatch News transcript for today |
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| Tuesday, December 20, 2005 |
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No KUSP Landwatch News transcript for today |
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| Wednesday, December 21, 2005 Steps To The General Plan Initiative |
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When the Monterey County Board of Supervisors begin its General Plan Update process more than six years ago, the County Administrative Officer said that this was going to be a “world class” General Plan. Monterey County has some “world class” resources, including (not to slight all the other resources in the County) the Big Sur Coast, Elkhorn Slough, and the incredibly productive agricultural lands of the Salinas Valley. Initial public outreach really was “world class.” I’ve never seen, or even heard of, a more comprehensive public outreach process. Hundreds of meetings were held, in every part of the County, and with very good and very broad public participation. This public outreach culminated in the adoption of twelve “Guiding Objectives” by the Board of Supervisors, consistent with what the public said it wanted. New development would be “focused,” and channeled into existing urban areas. This would save the taxpayers money, cut traffic congestion, and protect the environment. When the staff prepared a General Plan Update consistent with those Guiding Objectives, and presented that document to the Board, landowners and developers objected, because its policies would have prevented development on lands that they wanted to develop, most notably the agricultural lands of the Salinas Valley, and the habitat rich lands of the coastal hills. Objections by development interests have driven the “official” process ever since. Tomorrow, I’ll talk about how the proposed initiative measure addresses the key issues. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. More Information Monterey County Website County General Plan Materials
Community General Plan Community General Plan Initiative |
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| Thursday, December 22, 2005 Basic Thrust Of The General Plan Initiative |
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Oddly enough, the most convenient web reference to the Monterey County “Community General Plan” initiative seems to be on the website of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, a major opponent of the proposed initiative measure. I’ve placed links to additional information on the KUSP website, including a reference to that initiative text. The basic thrust of the initiative measure is to focus new growth and development in a limited number of areas where that growth can best be accommodated, and to preserve and protect the rural lands where growth is therefore discouraged. One of the most important things to realize is that the initiative measure does not seek to “stop” or even to “slow down” future growth. I know that the community groups that circulated the initiative have been criticized for that, but their objective was basically just to do what the public said it wanted back when the General Plan Update process began. The public wanted to preserve and protect farmlands, and the spectacular natural resources of the County, and to help alleviate traffic congestion, and cut taxpayer costs. (Tomorrow, I’m going to talk about affordable housing, another key public objective). The initiative, by focusing new growth in a limited number of areas, would achieve what the public has said it wants. It would also allow the development of single family houses throughout the rural areas on existing lots of record. It would stop new subdivisions, in other words, but would not stop people from using their existing land. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, December 23, 2005 Affordable Housing And The Initiative |
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In 2004, after having spent five years and five million dollars drafting a General Plan Update, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors rejected a third draft document that had received unanimous approval by the County Planning Commission. The Board directed their staff to “start over,” and this was, it seems, the “last straw” for many community groups that had participated in the process from the beginning. Within six months, eighteen different community groups drafted a complete General Plan document on their own, and presented it to the Board of Supervisors in January of this year. You can find a reference to this “Community General Plan” on the KUSP website. When the Board ignored the Community General Plan, the groups that had drafted it then drafted an initiative measure, and have just submitted that proposed initiative to the County. Presumably, the voters will get to decide on that proposal in June next year. The initiative carries out the basic thrust of the Twelve Guiding Objectives, focusing new growth in a limited number of areas that can best accommodate that growth. The initiative also contains an “upgrade” to the County’s affordable housing policies. This is important. Local actions alone can’t solve the affordable housing crisis that confronts California and the nation, but they can make a big difference. If enacted by the voters, the initiative would require more housing to be set aside permanently for families of very low, low, and moderate incomes, and would give a “preference” to Monterey County residents. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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