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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of February 18, 2008 to February 22, 2008
Week of February 18, 2008 to February 22, 2008
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 February 18, 2008 to February 22, 2008
- Monday, February 18, 2008
Some Boards Meet Tomorrow
- Tuesday, February 19, 2008
State Legislation That Matters
- Wednesday, February 20, 2008
UCSC and Water Policy
- Thursday, February 21, 2008
Water Service in Salinas
- Friday, February 22, 2008
Pronounce Celtic With a “K”
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, February 18, 2008 Some Boards Meet Tomorrow |
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The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors establishes an annual meeting schedule, in advance, which allows those who want to follow county government to plan ahead. The “basic” rule is that the Board meets every Tuesday, but with some regular exceptions. One of them is that the Board does not ordinarily meet on any Tuesday that follows a Monday holiday. Thus, there is no Santa Cruz County Board meeting tomorrow. Agenda packets are normally made public, and provided to Board members, on Friday. If the following Monday is a holiday, then neither Board members nor members of the public have time to investigate items that are on the Tuesday agenda. The “no meetings immediately following a Monday holiday” rule helps support more fully informed citizen participation. Other Boards don’t necessarily adhere to this rule. Tomorrow, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors will be meeting, and considering budget issues, and the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will be holding a “special” meeting, at the Portola Plaza Hotel, in Monterey. The entirety of this meeting will be “closed” to the public, as the Board carries out a performance review of the County Administrative Officer and the County Counsel. Following that, the Board will talk about four different lawsuits against Monterey County, all of them based on the Board’s alleged failures to follow land use and planning laws. The performance reviews given Board members are often called “elections.” For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 State Legislation That Matters |
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Most land use and planning laws are adopted and enforced at the local level. The basic idea is often called “home rule,” and local officials jealously guard their “home rule” and “local control” prerogatives. In fact, this advocacy for “home rule” and “local control” is one of the main objectives sought by the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties, which lobby for local government in Sacramento. Having been a local government official myself, I certainly appreciate the need for “local control.” But not always! We tend to forget that the state government, not our local governments, is actually in the position of primary responsibility for what happens in the state of California. Cities and counties are subdivisions of state government. It is absolutely proper for the state to provide needed direction to local governments and local officials where land use and planning issues are involved. Thank goodness, for instance, for the Coastal Act. This state measure provides very specific directions to local governments, about what they can and can’t do in the Coastal Zone. Without that statewide law, our coastal areas would have been degraded beyond recognition. Being considered in the Legislature this year are a number of bills that would accomplish important land use and planning goals, by giving more specific directions to local government than currently exist. Check below to find out more! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, February 20, 2008 UCSC and Water Policy |
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The University of California at Santa Cruz has recently established a “Center for Integrated Water Research,” headed by Environmental Studies professor Brent Haddad. Professor Haddad is a highly regarded expert on water issues. I recently finished his excellent book, “Rivers of Gold,” which discusses how water markets can be used to allocate water in the state of California. I highly recommend it! The Center for Integrated Water Research is what the Santa Cruz Sentinel calls a “think tank,” an institution that will provide research expertise in water policy, economics, management, and communications. Currently, the Center is undertaking projects on the treatment of impaired waters (desalination and water reclamation and reuse), communications between water agencies and the public, and design of regional water supply and treatment strategies. All of these projects are timely for the Central Coast region, and for the rest of California. A couple of the bills I alluded to yesterday, AB 224 by Assembly Member Lois Wolk, and SB 821, by State Senator Sheila Kuehl, represent efforts at the state level to forge policies will require water supply to be directly related to land use. Making that connection work properly is one of our major water policy problems. I encourage listeners to track down these bills, and check out the policies that they’re proposing. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, February 21, 2008 Water Service in Salinas |
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The California Public Utilities Commission has scheduled two public participation hearings for the purpose of allowing members of the community to express their concerns about the service operations of ALCO Water Company, a private water company that serves areas in and around Salinas. One of the public participation hearings will be held this afternoon, at 2:00 p.m., at the Salinas Community Center. The second public participation hearing will also be held today, and at the same place, but at 7:00 o’clock this evening. ALCO hopes that the PUC will ultimately certify the company to serve the large future growth area that the City of Salinas has designated for future development. As you may recall from earlier editions of the Land Use Report, Salinas wants to expand its city limits by about 3,000 acres, and to build new shopping centers and subdivisions on what is currently productive agricultural land. Of course, if that growth is ultimately permitted, the new growth will need a reliable, high-quality water supply. ALCO claims to be able to deliver the water that will be needed for future growth. Some customers, and representatives of the City, have significant doubts. If you want to comment on the water service and the water quality provided by ALCO Water Company, and its fitness to serve the Salinas future growth area, you should testify today. If you have doubts about the whole growth scenario, stand by for a later hearing in front of the Local Agency Formation Commission. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, February 22, 2008 Pronounce Celtic With a “K” |
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A sharp-eared listener noticed that I made a mistake about a week or so ago, as I promoted the 2nd Annual Big Sur Chanterelle Cook-Off. This mushroom-dominated event is sponsored by the Big Sur Land Trust and the Pelican Network, and will be taking place today, and during the rest of this upcoming weekend. If you’d like to find out more about the event, track down the written transcript of today’s Land Use Report. The Chanterelle Cook-Off will feature a mushroom walk, a panel and workshop, and Celtic and Irish music and poetry, and (most notably) a competition among Big Sur Chefs. My mistake a week or so ago was to confuse the pronunciation of Celtic with the pronunciation of the name of a popular basketball team based in Boston. I don’t exactly know why my listener didn’t complain to the Boston basketball team, but as far as I know, he didn’t. As for the complaint made to me, my apologies! I don’t think I’m going to make that mistake again. I’m telling you this story to highlight the fact that the KUSP Land Use Report is, at least to some extent, interactive. I will react to your comments, suggestions, complaints and your other communications, and I encourage you to contact me through the KUSP website, at www.kusp.org. Land use policy issues are critically important for the future of our local communities, and I’d like to make sure that this Land Use Report “speaks to your condition,” to use a Quaker phrase. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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