The Central Coast region may be “ground zero” for our housing affordability crisis. Tomorrow night, two films on affordable housing will be shown at the Arroyo Grande Woman’s Club, located at 211 Vernon Street in Arroyo Grande. The films start at 7:00 p.m., and there is no charge for admission. The San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund is sponsoring the evening.

The first film to be shown tomorrow is titled “Homes and Hands.”  It demonstrates how the community land trust model has been used to create permanently affordable home ownership in three different communities. The second film is “Designing a Great Neighborhood,” which chronicles the planning and development of the Wild Sage Cohousing Community in Boulder, Colorado.

The “Cohousing” model and the “community land trust model” are quite different, but they do have this in common: in each case, an effort is being made to make housing a “community” issue, so that individuals are not left alone to face the private market. If you think about it, the housing affordability crisis that affects almost everyone with an average or below average income is caused directly by individualistic competition in the private market. Those who have the gold get the goods! Tomorrow night, you can learn about a couple of strategies that will help people compete, by building a “community-based” solution.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund
http://www.slochtf.org/

Details on the films
http://www.slochtf.org/event-4-25-06.htm

I was an American history major in college (admittedly this was a while back), and I remember reading extensively about the Constitutional Convention that ultimately produced the U.S. Constitution. As you’ll probably recall, the Constitution was not produced overnight. It came out of a long and quite involved process. Quite a few meetings were required.

Well, I’d like to issue what may be a “last call” for you to get involved in the land use “Constitutional Convention” now underway in the City of Watsonville. At least in terms of land use, the local community General Plan is the “Constitution” that governs all of the community’s land use decisions. And, since land use decisions affect the local economy, the environment, and determine how successful the community will be in meeting social equity goals, Watsonville residents really should be paying attention to what the land use Constitution for their community is going to say.

Tonight, starting at 6:30 at the Watsonville City Hall, the Watsonville City Council will be holding what is essentially the last of the “public input” meetings related to the adoption of a new Watsonville General Plan. The meeting this evening is specifically dedicated to an examination of the Environmental Impact Report, and is also an opportunity for residents and other interested persons to speak to any topic.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

The April 25th hearing will be held at 250 Main Street, Watsonville, and will begin sometime after 6:30 p.m.

April 25, 2006 Agenda
http://www.ci.watsonville.ca.us/agendas/
042506/042506ap.html

Watsonville City Website
http://www.ci.watsonville.ca.us/

Hearing Notice
http://www.ci.watsonville.ca.us/
public%20hearing%20notices/GeneralPlanUpdate.pdf

General Plan information
http://www.watsonvillevista.info/

Draft of proposed Watsonville General Plan
http://www.watsonvillevista.info/page3.html

If you’re a Bob Dylan fan, you can click on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org, and get directions to an article written by a meteorologist, examining weather imagery in Bob Dylan’s lyrics. What got me thinking about weather imagery and Bob Dylan is a line that’s been going through my head:

 “A change in the weather is known to be extreme…..”

That’s from Dylan’s song, “You’re a Big Girl Now,” found on the album, “Blood on the Tracks.” More and more, I’m thinking about extreme changes to the weather. Global climate change is turning out to be a much more “extreme” event than we bargained for. In Sacramento, where I lobby for the environment in the State Legislature, people are beginning to pay attention. As it happens, fundamental land use reform has been identified as one of the most important ways to stop global warming pollution.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t issue another invitation to you, to attend the Planning and Conservation League’s 2006 Environmental Legislative Symposium, titled “A Change in the Climate.” It’s taking place in Sacramento next Saturday, April 29th. Assembly Member Fran Pavley, who is pioneering the way on global warming legislation (and doing what the President refuses to do), will be addressing the Symposium. Please check the KUSP website to find out how to register.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

PCL Symposium Signup
http://www.pcl.org/projects/climateofchange/index.html

PCL website
http://www.pcl.org

Article on Bob Dylan and Weather Imagery
http://climate.envsci.rutgers.edu/pdf/DylanBAMS.pdf

Lyrics to “You’re A Big Girl Now,” by Bob Dylan
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/biggirl.html

The California Wild Heritage Campaign is a coalition of hundreds of businesses, nonprofit organizations, elected officials, outdoor enthusiasts, and other Californians who want to preserve and protect the remaining wilderness areas in this beautiful state. Most of the land use issues I talk about are local or state level issues, but there is a federal aspect to land use, too. In fact, I have recently read a book by former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, entitled “Cities in the Wilderness,” that makes a very compelling case for an increased role for the federal government in key land use policy areas.

Preserving and protecting wilderness is something that the federal government can do. In this Central Coast region, we need only think of the spectacular landscape of the Big Sur Coast, or of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, to understand what a powerful difference federal involvement can make.

Most recently, the California Wild Heritage Campaign is celebrating the introduction of the California Wild Heritage Act into the U.S. Congress. The bill seeks permanent protection of roughly 2.5 million acres of wilderness and would grant wild and scenic status to portions of more than 20 rivers. I’d like to join the California Wild Heritage Campaign in saluting and thanking Representative Hilda Solis and Senator Barbara Boxer for their leadership.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

California Wild Heritage Campaign Website
http://www.californiawild.org/

Press Release on the California Wild Heritage Act
http://www.californiawild.org/Press/
2006_03_16_CWHC_PressRelease.html

Boxer Comments
http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/California/
WR98-BoxerCommentsCaliforniaWilderness.cfm

Press Release on “Cities in the Wilderness”
http://www.islandpress.org/media/PDF/BruceBabbittPR.pdf

Order “Cities in the Wilderness” from Bookshop Santa Cruz
http://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/NASApp/
store/Search;jsessionid=a-7PDovG_Ktc

Frequent listeners know about the ups and downs of land use policy making in Monterey County. Starting in 1999, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors began a General Plan Update process, to review and amend the outdated 1982 General Plan. Seven years later, the Board still hasn’t adopted a revised General Plan, mainly because the Board “started over” in 2004, after having spent six years and six million dollars to produce a plan that was unanimously recommended by the County Planning Commission, but that the Board refused even to look at, since development interests told them it was completely unacceptable.

In response, community groups drew up their own “Community General Plan,” and when the Board refused to pay any attention to that, they drafted an initiative measure, and qualified it for the June ballot. However, the Board refused to put in on the ballot, and a lawsuit by those sympathetic to development interests sued the County, saying the initiative should have been written in both Spanish and English. The upshot, no initiative in June!

The most recent court actions may indicate a turn around. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is rehearing the Padilla case, the case that led to the decision to remove the Community General Plan initiative from the June ballot. Maybe the voters will finally get their say. Stay tune for November!

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

The “Community General Plan”
http://www.landwatch.org/pages/pubs05/cgp/index.html

The Community General Plan Initiative
http://www.montereycountyfarmbureau.org/General%20Plan/
Community%20General%20Plan%20Initiative%20OCR.pdf