 |
Home | Issues & Actions | About |
Archive Page This page is available as an archive to previous versions of LandWatch websites. |
KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of June 9, 2008 to June 13, 2008
Week of June 9, 2008 to June 13, 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 June 9, 2008 to June 13, 2008
- Monday, June 9, 2008
A Mobilehome Park “Workout” in Live Oak
- Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Government Is Not A “Spectator Sport”
- Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Monterey County General Plan Update
- Thursday, June 12, 2008
The City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission
- Friday, June 13, 2008
Vineyard Conversions in Monterey County
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, June 9, 2008 A Mobilehome Park “Workout” in Live Oak |
 |
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will meet tomorrow, and I would like to draw your attention to Agenda Item #59. That item is the last item on the Consent Agenda, which means that the Board will probably not actually debate the item. Consent Agenda items are usually adopted with a single motion, and you can see that this is quite an “efficient” way to make use of the Board’s time. One motion, and fifty-nine items of business are immediately disposed of. If any Board member wants to discuss a Consent Agenda item, the Board will set the item over to the Regular Agenda. Any member of the public can likewise ask that a Consent Agenda item be placed on the regular agenda. Placing an item on the Consent Agenda doesn’t preclude full Board consideration if someone wants a full discussion. In this case, adopting a motion to approve the recommendation of the Executive Director of the County’s Redevelopment Agency will result in the expenditure of almost $500,000 of Redevelopment Agency funds, to support efforts to maintain an affordable mobilehome park in the Live Oak area. A link to the relevant agenda materials is found in the written transcript for today’s Land Use Report. Those materials show that a local government’s willingness to get involved with difficult economic issues that are primarily private in nature can sometimes have a big payoff in the public interest. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
| Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Government Is Not A “Spectator Sport” |
|
The documents that members of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors consider at their meetings are made available on the internet, in advance. The same thing is true for San Luis Obispo County. Monterey County does not have that system. In Monterey County, you have to make a personal visit to Salinas to get the relevant documents in hard copy. Obviously, this makes it more difficult for interested persons to get involved in items that the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will be considering. Today, for instance, the Monterey County Board is going to discuss adoption of an “interim memorandum of agreement,” that will have an impact on future development on the agricultural lands surrounding the City of Greenfield. That’s agenda item S-7. The agenda listing is available on the internet, but not the documents that are most important. If you care about plowing under agricultural land, to accommodate new subdivisions, you need actually to be at the Board meeting today. I had heard that Monterey County was going to make changes, and I had hoped they were going to provide more internet access to agenda materials. The changes they’ve made, though, just allow interested persons to see the Board live in a webcast. That’s wonderful, but public policy is more than a spectator sport. Actually to get members of the public involved in government, the government needs to provide easy and advance access to the written materials that elected officials are going to be considering, and acting upon. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
| Wednesday, June 11, 2008 The Monterey County General Plan Update |
|
The Monterey County Planning Commission meets today, starting at 9:00 a.m., and I want to highlight Agenda Item #6. The agenda listing for that item indicates that the Commission will be discussing the schedule that the Planning Commission will establish with respect to hearings on the proposed Monterey County General Plan Update. If you are interested in the future of Monterey County, you should be getting involved with the still-pending General Plan Update process. Remember, the County began its General Plan Update process in 1999, and the County is currently considering GPU Draft #5. The General Plan ultimately adopted by the Board of Supervisors will be considered by the Planning Commission before the Board acts. That General Plan will determine the future of agricultural land in Monterey County. It will have a big impact on water supply issues in North Monterey County, and traffic issues everywhere, and particularly on Highway 68. How Carmel Valley develops is a central question, and affordable housing opportunities will either be constricted or expanded, depending on what the final General Plan says. This is only a very “partial list” of the key issues under discussion. I’ll keep you posted, but once the Planning Commission and Board have set the schedule, the ball will be in your court! If you don’t think that government is just a spectator sport, you should plan to participate. Check the KUSP website for more information. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
| Thursday, June 12, 2008 The City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission |
|
A city or county General Plan is the community’s most important land use policy document. The General Plan is often called the “Constitution” for land use, because like the United States or California State Constitution, the General Plan limits or constrains governmental action. In our system of government, governments do have a “plenary” power to do almost anything that the elected officials determine will best achieve the public interest. We believe, in other words, in providing our governments with real power. On the other hand, as history has often made clear, unlimited governmental power tends to lead to unlimited government abuse. Our constitutions are supposed to stop that. In the case of land use, every land use decision must be “consistent” with the local General Plan. That means that if the General Plan says that certain lands are “agricultural,” a Board of Supervisors won’t be able to allow a developer to pave that land over for a subdivision. In the city context, new developments may have to be scaled back or disapproved, if they have traffic impacts inconsistent with General Plan provisions. Tonight, the Planning Commission of the City of Santa Cruz is reviewing whether proposed public works projects are “consistent” with the City of Santa Cruz General Plan. The meeting begins at 7:00 o’clock this evening, in the City Council Chambers. If you want to see how our land use constitution works, in practice, plan to attend. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
| Friday, June 13, 2008 Vineyard Conversions in Monterey County |
|
On June 4th, I talked about the 2007 “Crop Report” for Monterey County. The County Agricultural Commissioner prepares a Crop Report each year, and it’s particularly interesting to see the trends. The trends show that agricultural acreage in Monterey County is generally increasing. And this is occurring even as prime soils are being converted to subdivisions and shopping centers. Statistics from the State Department of Conservation show that over 4,000 acres of important farmland in Monterey County were converted to non-agricultural uses between 2004 and 2006. Some say that converting prime land to urban uses doesn’t matter, since farmland acreage is increasing overall. That is essentially an argument that the transformation of hillside, non-prime lands to grapes and strawberries should eliminate worries about the loss of rich farmlands on the Valley floor. In fact, the conversion of hillside lands to strawberries and vineyards doesn’t really make up for the loss of prime lands. Furthermore, putting agriculture on these hillside soils often disrupts wildlife, increases water use, and leads to more damaging erosion. These problems with the conversion of hillside soils to agriculture are real, and the General Plan Update process may either strengthen, or weaken, our current standards. This is another good reason for concerned residents to get involved in the General Plan Update process. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
Archives of past transcripts are available here
|
CONTACT 306 Capitol Street #101 PO Box 1876 Phone (831) 759-2824 Fax (831) 759-2825 |
|