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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of January 29, 2007 to February 2, 2007
Week of January 29, 2007 to February 2, 2007
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 January 29, 2007 to February 2, 2007
- Monday, January 29, 2007
San Miguel Area Residents Trust
- Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Santa Margarita Ranch
- Wednesday, January 31, 2007
The Castroville Community Plan
- Thursday, February 1, 2007
Marine Protected Areas Hearing
- Friday, February 2, 2007
Sharing The Greenprint Model
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, January 29, 2007 San Miguel Area Residents Trust |
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San Miguel is located right off Highway 101, at the extreme northern border of San Luis Obispo County. This is a ranchland and agricultural area, not an area where new development would normally be preferred, at least not in a world in which the idea of “smart growth” has any sway. Areas where new development might not be preferred are often exactly the same areas where such development might normally be expected. And in fact, a major new development project, called “San Miguel Ranch,” is now receiving consideration in San Luis Obispo County’s planning process. A group calling itself “SMART,” meaning San Miguel Area Residents Trust, is trying to promote a pattern of compact development, that centers on the existing downtown area in San Miguel, preserving the surrounding agricultural land. You can find out more by clicking on the Land Use Report link on the KUSP website. Growth proposals can be expected in the areas where they are not preferred because if landowners can get governmental approvals to develop lands not previously designated for development, they can make their land value go up by a factor of ten times or more. They can, in other words, make oodles of money. That’s why we have sprawl in California, and why the public should start getting “SMART” about growth. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, January 30, 2007 Santa Margarita Ranch |
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Yesterday I talked about a proposed development in San Luis Obispo County, the San Miguel Ranch development. That’s not the only such development that San Luis Obispo County residents need to keep their eye on. Consider, for example, the Santa Margarita Ranch development proposal. This proposal is moving rather quickly through the planning process, with the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission expected to take action in May. Meanwhile, a Draft Environmental Impact Report has been made available for your review and comment. Comments are due by March 9th. I’m providing links to the documents on the KUSP website, and I hope that San Luis Obispo County listeners will follow up, and get involved. As the EIR notice says, and I’m quoting: “If you challenge this matter in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this public notice or in written correspondence delivered to the appropriate authority at or before the public hearing.” The courts call this “exhausting your administrative remedies.” What that language means is that if you think that the County government should not be approving the creation of 100-plus new subdivided parcels in a relatively remote and agricultural area in San Luis Obispo County, the time to get involved is now. Later, if you haven’t been involved, will probably be too late. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, January 31, 2007 The Castroville Community Plan |
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The Monterey County Planning Commission is going to consider a proposed Castroville Community Plan at its meeting today. The proposed plan outlines a program of future development for Castroville, which is located at the intersection of Highways One, 156, and 183. Castroville looks like a smallish city, but it isn’t a city, meaning that it doesn’t have its own City Council. Castroville is an “unincorporated” community, which means that all of the important land use and other decisions affecting Castroville are ultimately made by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. The proposed Castroville Community Plan is available online, as is a staff report, outlining the main issues facing the Commission at its meeting today. The staff recommendation is that the Commission consider testimony today, but continue its hearing to February 14th, and make the final decision then. There is still time, in other words, to get involved, even if you can’t show up at this morning’s meeting in Salinas. Among other things, the plan proposes approximately 1600 new housing units and a 130-acre expansion of the existing industrial park. This is a significant amount of new growth, particularly when compared against existing conditions. People who live on or who drive Highway 156 might want to pay attention. The Plan has impacts far beyond Castroville itself! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, February 1, 2007 Marine Protected Areas Hearing |
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Tomorrow, on February 2nd, the State Fish and Game Commission will be holding a hearing in Monterey, to discuss proposed regulations that would provide greater protection to certain areas off the California Central Coast. This regulatory hearing is part of the implementation process called for under the Marine Life Protection Act. A number of listeners might be particularly interested in this hearing, which will be held in the Bayview Conference Room of the Beach Resort Monterey facility, located at 2600 Sand Dunes Drive. The meeting begins at 8:30 in the morning. Land and water are connected, and while the proposed regulations that the Commission will be considering tomorrow are not aimed at activities on land, the long-term success of our efforts to protect marine resources will demand that we pay greater attention to how our land use decisions impact coastal and marine water quality. The Planning and Conservation League, for whom I work, is hoping to be able to mount a campaign, starting in just a couple of months, that will educate and organize local groups throughout the Central Coast, to start working systematically on ways to improve what we do on the “land side,” with coastal water quality protection as the ultimate objective. If you’d be interested in getting involved with such an effort, I hope you’ll contact me. You can get contact information by clicking on the links below. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, February 2, 2007 Sharing The Greenprint Model |
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Today, I’d like to highlight a three-day workshop scheduled for April 12th through April 14th, in Sacramento. I’m giving you some time to plan ahead, but don’t delay even an instant. The workshop is size-limited, and the organizers are now working on filling out their waiting list! If you’re interested, and are able to get in, this workshop will provide an exceptional opportunity for people who might want seriously to change the character of their community, to make it more beautiful, more healthy, and more energy efficient. The workshop is called “Sharing the Greenprint Model,” and will teach participants about an amazingly successful program that is planting and protecting hundreds of thousands of trees in the greater Sacramento region. The benefits of tree planting are many, and I encourage you to visit the KUSP website, and download and read the materials produced by the Sacramento Tree Foundation, documenting and explaining their “Greenprint” model. “Greenprint” definitely does not aim “low,” and is proposing to plant four million trees in the Sacramento region over the next forty years. They’re organized and geared up to do it, and because they have been so successful with the program they’ve established, they have now been funded to try to spread the gospel. Our California Central Coast takes trees for granted, sometimes. I’m convinced that a systematic effort to build and maintain an ever-richer “urban forest” could pay off for us here. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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