Santa Cruz County Supervisor Jan Beautz is standing up for mobilehome park residents. Tomorrow, thanks to her initiative, the Board of Supervisors will be addressing an important land use issue that affects the residents of mobilehome parks. If you’re a mobilehome park resident in Santa Cruz County, you might want to attend this meeting. Supervisor Beautz’ agenda item, Agenda Item 65.1, will be heard sometime after the Board convenes at 9:00 a.m. By the way, if you’re a mobilehome park resident in another county, you might want to read Supervisor Beautz’ letter, available online, and then ask your own Supervisors to take comparable action.

Because mobilehome park residents typically own their mobilehome, but not the land it sits on, many local governments have imposed “rent control” ordinances to prevent park owners from treating mobilehome residents unfairly. A local government’s ability to enact such a “rent control” measure, however, evaporates if the park is “owned” by the residents themselves. Some park owners have apparently been establishing “sham” resident ownerships, as a way to put mobilehome park tenants at an economic disadvantage. Supervisor Beautz is calling for a change in state law, to make sure that practice stops. You can get the full story by clicking on the links below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Santa Cruz County Website
http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/

Board Agenda
http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/bds/
Govstream/ASP/Display/SCCB_AgendaDisplayWeb.asp?
MeetingDate=2/27/2007

Mobilehome Item
http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/bds/Govstream/
BDSvData/non_legacy/agendas/2007/20070227/PDF/065-1.pdf

The San Luis Obispo county Housing Trust Fund is advertising a video that documents how resident ownership of mobilehome parks, if done correctly, can be an effective way to preserve affordable housing opportunities. You can get more information at: http://www.nwaf.org/content/files/American_Dream.pdf

State law requires each California city and county to adopt a comprehensive and integrated General Plan, and to include seven mandatory “Elements” within that general plan. One of the required elements is a “Housing Element,” and state law imposes some rather specific directions with respect to how the Housing Element is to be prepared. Furthermore, the State Department of Housing and Community Development (usually called HCD) is required to review each local Housing Element, to determine whether or not it complies with state law. This state level review of a local general plan is unusual. That doesn’t happen with respect to the other mandatory elements of the general plan; for instance, the land use, circulation, or conservation elements. But the state is worried that local governments won’t, in fact, provide adequate housing opportunities, so HCD is permitted to say “yea” or “nay” before a local Housing Element can be certified.

Santa Cruz County has been working very hard to get HCD certification of its Housing Element, and today the Board will be considering the designation of additional land for housing, and specifically for additional affordable housing, in the Aptos area. Those interested in this item can get more information by clicking on the links below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Santa Cruz County Website
http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/

Board Agenda
http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/bds/Govstream/ASP/Display/
SCCB_AgendaDisplayWeb.asp?MeetingDate=2/27/2007

Aptos Housing Item
http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/bds/Govstream/BDSvData/
non_legacy/agendas/2007/20070227/PDF/065.pdf

I hope that many listeners have been able to visit the Pinnacles, located east of the town of Soledad, in Monterey County’s Salinas Valley. If you don’t know about this spectacular place, click on the links below to find out more. There are trails, caves, and many rock-climbing opportunities at the Pinnacles, and camping, of course, and even ranger programs at certain times of the year. It’s really a magical place!

The Pinnacles is a National Monument, established in 1908, and the National Park Service, which has responsibility for the Pinnacles, is now developing a new General Management Plan. The Park Service would really like to have public comments, and this is your chance to weigh in. You can get full information on the KUSP website, including a complete list of hearings, but here’s a starter set:

You can comment on March 7th, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Soledad High School’s Mission Room, 1425 Gabilan Drive in Soledad, or on March 19th, again from 7:00 to 9:00, at the San Benito County Board of Supervisors chambers in Hollister.

The last management plan was completed in 1976, so it’s high time to re-look at this area, especially since California condors and California red-legged frogs have recently been reintroduced to the Pinnacles.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Pinnacles Website
http://www.nps.gov/pinn/index.htm

Information on the proposed management plan
http://www.nps.gov/pinn/parkmgmt/planning.htm

Official public meeting schedule
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/
meetingNotices.cfm?parkID=332&projectId=17891

Monterey Herald article on upcoming hearings
http://www.montereyherald.com
/mld/montereyherald/news/local/16727525.htm

Images of the Pinnacles National Monument
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=
pinnacles+monument&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

Public comments on the proposed management plan can be mailed to the Pinnacles National Monument GMP, 500 Highway 146, Paicines, CA 95043, or emailed to pinn_gmp@nps.gov. Comments will be accepted through May 31st. You may also call Carl Brenner at 831-389-4485, Ext. 265, or Martha Crusius at 510-817-1447, for more information.

The Campaign for Sensible Transportation is a Santa Cruz County activist group that has been trying to build public support for alternatives to more and bigger highways. Participating organizations include: the Fishhook Neighbors, the Santa Cruz Friends Meeting, the Sierra Club, the National Bicycle Greenway, the Aptos Neighbors Board of Directors, the Coalition for the Environment and Jewish Life, Mission Pedestrian, and People Power.

Most recently, the Campaign for Sensible Transportation has been working at the state level, to oppose the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars from the recently passed state highway bond, to pay for widening Highway One in Santa Cruz County. On the other side of this debate has been the Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission, which is meeting today.

Highway One widening will almost certainly be discussed at today’s meeting. Also on the agenda is a recommendation to “reconfigure” the so-called “Transportation Funding Task Force.” This group has been in existence for more than a year, and was envisioned, at least by some, as a way to build a consensus for new transportation funding for Santa Cruz County. That hasn’t really happened, so now the Commission is talking about changing the composition of the Task Force, perhaps with the idea of getting a pro-highway widening recommendation.

For more information, check the KUSP website.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

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

Agenda, March 1, 2007 Transportation Commission meeting
http://www.sccrtc.org/packet/2007/
0703/TCAgenda0703.htm

Staff Report, Transportation Funding Task Force
http://www.sccrtc.org/packet/2007/0703/0703-30a.pdf

You can contact the Campaign for Sensible Transportation by writing to Box 604, Santa Cruz, CA 95061, or by telephone at 831-425-0665, or by email at: staff@sensibletransportation.org. You can also visit the Campaign for Sensible Transportation Website at www.sensibletransportation.org.

The 2007 UCSC Campus Earth Summit is taking place today on the UCSC campus. The Campus Sustainability Council and the UCSC Student Environmental Center are sponsoring the event.

This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Melissa K. Nelson, whose work in deep ecology and eco-psychology contains elements that the sponsors hope can help heal the division between campus and community. Dr. Nelson will speak alongside Acting Chancellor George Blumenthal, Assemblymember John Laird, and other community, faculty, and student leaders.

The sponsors of the Campus Earth Summit believe that there are numerous opportunities for the UCSC campus to move towards long-term sustainability, and the Campus Earth Summit will include the following discussion topics: Long Range Development, Curriculum, Waste Prevention, Green Building, Green Purchasing, Campus Ecosystem Preservation, Transportation, Campus Food Systems and Renewable Energy. Groups will review current knowledge about what UCSC is already doing that moves the campus toward sustainability, including results from 2006 Earth Summit action items. Groups will then create an action plan for 2007, and form working groups to stay connected throughout the year.

For more information, including a campus map, find the transcript for today’s Land Use Report on the KUSP website.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Event Website
http://bas.ucsc.edu/events

Information by Email
ucscearthsummit@gmail.com

Campus Map
http://maps.ucsc.edu/