Tomorrow, you may want to be doing last minute “get out the vote” calling for your favorite Supervisorial, Assembly, or Gubernatorial candidate, or you may be attending a “we hope it will be a victory” party held for that candidate. Today, though, you have the opportunity to get some exciting news about possibilities for watershed restoration along the Carmel River.

The Planning and Conservation League Foundation and the Carmel River Watershed Conservancy invite you to a discussion of new opportunities for watershed restoration, in the context of a new iteration of a “Carmel River Watershed Action Plan.” Community meetings will be held this afternoon from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. at the Hidden Valley Institute, Carmel Valley Road at Ford Road, and this evening from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the Rancho Cañada Golf Club, in Carmel Valley.

Presentations will be given by Phil Williams and Associates, Ecosystems Management International, and by the Carmel River Watershed Conservancy. I’ve had the benefit of a brief preview, which is why I say that you’ll learn about some “exciting possibilities.” As you may know, the State Department of Water Resources is requiring that the San Clemente Dam be made seismically safe, and at least one of the ways to do that is to remove this dangerous and destructive obstacle to a free-flowing Carmel River. The meetings this afternoon and this evening are a real chance for civic engagement. I hope you’ll be able to attend.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

For more information contact the Carmel River Watershed Conservancy at 831-624-1064, or Monica Hunter at the Planning and Conservation League Foundation: mhunter@pcl.org

It would be hard to overstate the importance of the elections being held today, at least in terms of land use policy. The election being held in the Second Supervisorial District in Monterey County (the one covering Salinas and North Monterey County) is of particular interest and importance. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors has been very aggressive in its efforts to prevent citizen referendum and ballot measures from coming before the voters. This means that candidate elections are acting as a kind of “substitute” for those concerned about land use issues. Rightly or wrongly, the Second District election has turned into a kind of “vote of confidence,” or lack of confidence, on the growth policies of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. Other Supervisorial elections, an Assembly election, and the gubernatorial election are also going to be important in terms of land use policy.

Tomorrow, we’ll all find out what happened. Today (after you’ve voted), there’s a great meeting you can attend.

From 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Conference Room of the Pajaro Valley Health Trust, 15 Nielson Avenue in Watsonville, you can learn how land use policy can be used to promote and enhance healthy communities.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

The program scheduled from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. today at the Conference Room of the Pajaro Valley Health Trust (15 Nielson Avenue, Watsonville) is part of a Public Health Law Program. Lisa Feldstein, Senior Policy Director of the Nutrition and Land Use Education Program will be speaking on “Land Use and Nutrition Education.”

A written version of each of these Land Use Reports is posted on the KUSP website. Today’s Report is entitled, “A Tale of Two Transportation Commissions.” That’s because there are two transportation-related meetings being held today, one in Monterey County, and one in Santa Cruz County.

In Monterey County, the Executive Committee of the Transportation Agency For Monterey County is holding a meeting from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. at 55-B Plaza Circle in Salinas. In Santa Cruz County, a “Transportation Funding Taskforce” will be holding a workshop from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Mission Hill Middle School, 425 King Street. The topic, in both cases, is money!

Since I need to prerecord these reports, I can’t tell you whether the sales tax measure in Monterey County passed yesterday, or not. The main topic for the TAMC Executive Committee is to discuss the results of that sales tax election. If the tax passed, they’ll be charting the way to spend the money. If it didn’t, they’ll be trying to figure out how to live without it. One thing for sure, passing the sales tax will make it much easier for Monterey County to continue its pattern of rapid growth in its rural and agricultural areas.

In Santa Cruz County, the focus is on whether the community would ever support a new sales tax for road construction, because the last time it was put to the voters, to finance the widening of Highway One, the voters didn’t like it.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

TAMC website
http://www.tamcmonterey.org/

Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission website
http://www.sccrtc.org/

Transportation Funding Task Force For Santa Cruz County
http://www.tftaskforce.org/

The Santa Cruz County LAFCO met yesterday. LAFCO, once again, means “Local Agency Formation Commission,” and every county has one! LAFCOs decide whether or not new cities should be formed, and whether or not rural lands should be annexed to cities. LAFCO has jurisdiction over special districts, too. One of the main topics on the Santa Cruz County LAFCO agenda yesterday was a proposal to annex 1,850 acres to the Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District. LAFCO is one of the most important land use policy making agencies around. To find out more, click on the links below, and check out the website of the California Association of LAFCOs.

I usually review the agenda for both the Santa Cruz County LAFCO and the Monterey County LAFCO, since what these agencies do is so important for land use policy. I was struck by a letter on the agenda for yesterday’s meeting of the Santa Cruz County LAFCO. In it, LAFCO urged the State Department of Conservation to approve an agricultural easement grant request by the Borina Foundation and the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County. This is actually exciting stuff. Farmers in the Pajaro Valley, working with the Land Trust, are setting aside their lands for permanent agricultural use. I’m proud to say that the Planning and Conservation League Foundation is working for the very same thing.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Santa Cruz County LAFCO website
http://www.santacruzlafco.org/

Agenda, June 7, 2006 LAFCO meeting
http://www.santacruzlafco.org/pages/
agendas/20060607materials/6-7-06%20agenda.pdf

Fire District Reorganization Staff Report –
http://www.santacruzlafco.org/pages/
agendas/20060607materials/904%20staff.pdf

Land Trust Letter to State Department of Conservation
http://www.santacruzlafco.org/pages/
agendas/20060607materials/Borina.pdf

CALAFCO website
http://www.calafco.org/

Everywhere you look in coastal California, you see the same pattern. Landowners try virtually every avenue available to them to obtain development approvals on land that is not (when they seek these approvals) actually designated for development. Here’s the reason they do that: money! As a rule of thumb, agricultural land not zoned and designated for development is worth perhaps $25,000 per acre. If the landowner can get a land use designation that permits development, the value jumps to $250,000 per acre. In other words, the land increases in value by something like a factor of ten. This is what three votes on a Board of Supervisors will get you.

Or, what about asking the voters directly? Clint Eastwood and the Pebble Beach Company put an initiative on the ballot in Monterey County, and persuaded County voters to approve new land use designations for Pebble Beach that permit the construction of a new golf course and other commercial facilities. This means money for the Pebble Beach Company.

In San Luis Obispo County, a landowner named Dalidio, whose large shopping center proposal was turned down through the regular channels, is now seeking voter approval by initiative to get that land value increase. My advice to the voters: pay attention. What’s good for the landowner may not be the best thing for everyone else.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

The proposed Dalidio initiative is being opposed by the County Coalition for Local Control. You can contact them at Post Office Box 121, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406, or by telephone at 805-594-8888.