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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of November 20, 2006 to November 24, 2006
Week of November 20, 2006 to November 24, 2006
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 November 20, 2006 to November 24, 2006
- Monday, November 20, 2006
Tomorrow at 1:30 – General Plan Discussions
- Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Land Use Issues in Santa Cruz County
- Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Rail As Growth Inducing
- Thursday, November 23, 2006
Thanksgiving Plus A Week
- Friday, November 24, 2006
Environmental Collaboration
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, November 20, 2006 Tomorrow at 1:30 – General Plan Discussions |
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| Every city and every county is required by state law to have a General Plan, and state law specifies the topics that have to be covered. The “chapter headings,” in other words, are set out by state law. The actual “content” of those chapters is largely left to local discretion.
The elected members of a City Council or Board of Supervisors make the final call on what the content of the local General Plan will be. That’s an immense responsibility. For governmental purposes, our elected officials are the community they represent. The Board of Supervisors is often called “the County,” or a City Council is called “the City,” and in a legal sense, that’s accurate. What the City Council decides to do is what “the City” will do. Same with a County. Because this grant of power to elected officials can lead to corruption and abuse, the people do retain the right to act directly. That’s what the initiative, referendum, and recall are all about. They’re a safety valve, keeping ultimate power with the people. Tomorrow, at 1:30 in the afternoon, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will be making decisions about what the County General Plan should say. I urge those who care about the future of Monterey County, to get involved, even at this late hour. If the people ultimately want to exercise their direct control (and the courts let them do it), it will be important to see exactly where the elected officials may have deviated from what the public wants to achieve. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 Land Use Issues in Santa Cruz County |
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Today, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors is continuing its efforts to adopt a local General Plan. Their hearing starts at 1:30 this afternoon, at the Board Chambers in Salinas. It would be hard to overstate the importance of these General Plan deliberations. The Board has taken so long to get to a decision (seven years and counting, I believe; and seven million dollars and counting, I also believe) that the public is undoubtedly happy just to know that the Board is finally, after all their delays, actually going to make a decision. The main point, of course, isn’t just making a decision on the General Plan. It’s making the “right” decision, and adopting a General Plan that achieves what the people of the County want. Monterey County residents should be paying close attention, to see not only that the General Plan is adopted, but also to see what sort of General Plan it is. So far, it appears that all out development of the county will be the guiding theme. In Santa Cruz County, land use decisions are also on the agenda. The Housing Element of the General Plan, and a proposed master plan for “The Farm” Neighborhood Park, will be discussed this morning. Santa Cruz County goes out of its way to make sure the public has easy access to information. Click on the links below, to be connected up with information on today’s meeting of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, November 22, 2006 Rail As Growth Inducing |
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Rail is good; cars are bad. That’s an axiom of environmental thinking. The context into which new rail opportunities are introduced, however, may modify this easy equation. Let’s consider a new rail service from San Jose to San Benito County, or to Salinas, as an example. A new rail connection might get some people out of their cars, and onto the rail line, but there would likely be another effect, too. In those cases (unlike the case of an intra-county rail development totally within Santa Cruz County, as another example) it’s quite likely that a substantial “growth inducing impact” would occur. There are vast areas of undeveloped land in San Benito County, and around Salinas, and one reason they’re not being developed with residential subdivisions is that highway capacity is limited. Many Silicon Valley workers would like to move to Salinas, or to San Benito County, if they knew that their work commute could be quick and easy on a train, and wouldn’t mean hours in their car in a growing traffic jam on Highway 101. The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal explored this topic in an article on November 10th, with the headline, “Rail link seen as opening valley’s southern flank.” Business and development interests are enthused, according to the article. But why are Monterey County officials so happy about this prospect? Get a link to the article at below. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, November 23, 2006 Thanksgiving Plus A Week |
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We, who live on the Central Coast, have a lot to be thankful for! Most people appreciate, particularly, the wonders and beauties of our coast and the marine resources that help define our coastal communities. Even our local agriculture depends on the climate that is directly related to the marine environment. So today, on Thanksgiving, let’s send up a special “thank you” for the coast. And then let’s remember that what God and Nature have provided, we as human beings can defile. Our coast and ocean resources are in grave danger. This is true on a global scale, and it’s true locally, right here in the Monterey Bay Area. Thanksgiving plus one week brings us to November 30th. Next Thursday, as you start the morning, I hope you’ll check your calendar and find that you’ve penned yourself in to attend a public hearing on an update of the Management Plan for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The hearing on November 30th will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Monterey Conference Center, in downtown Monterey. To protect our coastal and marine resources, we must better manage our use of the land. Let’s not take our blessings for granted, but realize that we need to be actively involved in the land use and coastal protection efforts that can make sure that the beauty and benefits of our coast will still be there, in the future, for our kids, and grandkids. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, November 24, 2006 Environmental Collaboration |
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Last Friday, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported on a meeting intended to “reinvigorate the collective vision and collaborative spirit” of the Santa Cruz environmental community. I couldn’t be there, but I hope that some listeners to this Land Use Report were able to attend. You can read the Sentinel’s account of the meeting by clicking on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org. My personal involvement in land use and environmental issues began with my engagement in the effort to “Save Lighthouse Field,” then threatened by a massive development project. The proposed Lighthouse Field development plan would have placed a high rise hotel, a shopping center, luxury condominiums, a convention center, and seven acres of blacktop parking on the last open space on the coast within the City of Santa Cruz. The community collaboration that stopped that project led to a fundamental change in Santa Cruz politics, and through local politics, to a major change to the shape and character of future development within Santa Cruz County. My personal experience with community efforts to guide future land use and development patterns, in other words, began with a great success. My later service, as an elected member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, reconfirmed my initial impression. Civic engagement by ordinary persons can transform the world! Frequent listeners to this Land Use Report know that I am still preaching that gospel. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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