I like to alert KUSP listeners to upcoming meetings and events, and I also like to spotlight organizations that can help connect you to the natural environment, and engage you in many of the important public policy discussions and activities that will ultimately shape our future. The Pelican Network, which promotes “environmental sustainability and artistic awareness” along the Central Coast, is definitely one such group. I invite you to visit their website, and to subscribe to their newsletter.

The Pelican Network is promoting a call to “Come See Big Sur.” The biggest wildfire in the history of Big Sur has made its mark, and viewing the fire-struck portions of Big Sur can really bring home the need to take natural hazards into account as we do our land use planning. The point being urged by the Pelican Network, however, is somewhat different. While Big Sur definitely affords scenes of scorched hillsides, the lovely places that allow you to lose yourself in a forest by a waterfall, or to stand silent in the midst of awesome redwoods, are still there. So are the astounding views.

As the Pelican Network says, “Big Sur is still spectacularly beautiful, and it needs you.” They are promoting a return of the tourist economy that supports the local population, and have created a special photographic card, as a gift for those who visit. Find out more below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Pelican Network Website
http://www.pelicannetwork.net/

Big Sur Photo Gallery
http://www.pelicannetwork.net/bigsurgallery.htm

Big Sur Fire Photos
http://www.pelicannetwork.net/fire.htm

California Coastal Project Photos
http://www.californiacoastline.org/

Tonight, after a long public hearing last week, the Santa Cruz City Council will be making a decision on a proposed project at 2120 Delaware Avenue.

The proposed project consists of a 44-lot subdivision (plus 13 common area lots) to accommodate a mixed-use industrial-residential project. The 44 proposed lots would be further divided into residential and business condominium units. The ground floor would consist entirely of industrial and/or commercial development. Residential development would be located on the upper floors. Proposed residential uses include 84 flats, 77 work/live townhouse units, and 87 “flex” spaces that could be used as residential units or as industrial/commercial space. The proposed development would thus range from about 395,000 square feet of industrial/commercial development, with 161 residential units, to about 338,000 square feet of industrial/commercial development with 248 residential units. Market decisions in the future would determine exactly what the final buildout would look like.

This is definitely not the “normal” type of development that people are used to (and that is often justly criticized). But the traffic and other impacts could be large. No further public testimony will be taken tonight, so it’s too late to weigh in; but the meeting should be a revealing one, nonetheless.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

City of Santa Cruz Website
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/

Lots of information on the project is available on the City’s website, through the link above.

The Monterey County Planning Commission will be meeting today, starting at 9:00 o’clock in the morning, at the County Government Center in Salinas. There are a couple of items worth noting.

First, the Commission is going to get a report on the amended schedule for review of the Monterey County General Plan Update. (This is version #5 we’re talking about). Presumably, this will be the Commission’s official briefing on the action taken by the Board of Supervisors last week, when the Board acted to cut back on the time for public comment on the Environmental Impact Report, in order to try to get the latest draft General Plan Update to the current Board of Supervisors, before the Board changes early next year.

You’ve heard the expression “hurry up and wait.” In this case, the Board of Supervisors has made the public “wait and hurry up.” It’s taken the Board almost ten years to get their General Plan Update to the point where they can vote on it. In this latest round, the Board is now significantly cutting back the opportunity for the public to participate (and probably for the Planning Commission to deliberate) in order to let Supervisor Ila Mettee-McCutchon vote on the plan, instead of her elected successor, Jane Parker. This puts decision-making power in the hands of a Supervisor who was appointed, not elected, and who is known as a pro-development vote.

The Planning Commission will also be talking about Code Enforcement. There is more below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Planning Commission Agenda
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/planning/cca/
pc/2008/07-30-08/pc07-30-08a.htm

The Code Enforcement staff report is available for download. A link is found in the agenda, referenced above.

Residents of the City of Marina might want to reserve time on their calendars for a meeting to be held next Tuesday, August 5th, at 6:30 p.m., at the Marina City Hall.

At that time, the City Council will consider whether or not to use City funds to help support a proposed development that was formerly called “University Villages,” and that now bears the presumably more marketable title of “The Dunes on Monterey Bay.” That new title may have more marketing appeal, but is perhaps less honest. The proposed development is not on the ocean side of Highway One, among the dunes. In fact, the development is close to the campus of the California State University at Monterey Bay, and includes that new shopping center, so prominently visible on the inland side of Highway One in the City of Marina.

The original “deal” between the developer and the City contemplated both residential and commercial development, and some of the commercial development has, as just noted, been accomplished. The developer now would like the City to provide some of the tax revenues it expected to get from the development, in return for the developer continuing to develop. Plus, the developer wants to reduce its “workforce housing” commitment.

Information on the proposed “deal” can be viewed by going to the City’s website. You can get the link below. I think City residents and taxpayers might want to weigh in, before the Council gives away their money.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

City of Marina Website
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/

Information on the proposed changes to the “Disposition and Development” agreement are available on the home page of the City’s website, at the link provided above.

A Monterey Herald article on the proposed renegotiation is available here
http://www.montereyherald.com/
search/ci_9980576?IADID=Search-
www.montereyherald.com-www.montereyherald.com

People who’d like to get involved with a land use policy issue, on a “non-project” basis, should consider the idea of “low impact development.” That’s what the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board calls development that minimizes or eliminates pollutants in storm water through natural processes, maintaining pre-development hydrologic characteristics, such as flow patterns, surface retention, and recharge rates.

The Pew Oceans Commission declared, some years ago, that one of the major causes of problems with the quality of our marine environment is the runoff created by development. As the state agency in charge of maintaining ocean water quality, the Regional Water Quality Control Board is now trying to do something about that. Federal law is requiring cities and counties to develop stormwater management plans. Using these plans as a way to change the way we do development can help prevent further degradation of our land and marine environments.

The City of Salinas and the City of Santa Maria are both involved in the process of adopting a stormwater management plan, and other jurisdictions shortly will be. A meeting on the Salinas plan is coming up on July 11th.

If you’d like to become involved in a policy process that could make a real difference, consider becoming a citizen expert on “low impact development.” There is more information below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Region
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/
centralcoast/index.htm

Regional Water Quality Control Board website on “low impact development”
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/
stormwater/low%20impact%20devel/lid_index.htm

Information on the City of Salinas Stormwater Management Plan
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/
stormwater/municipal/phase_1/Index.htm

July 11, 2008 Agenda of the Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Region
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb3/Board/
Agendas/2008/071108/JUL08agn.htm

Information on City of Santa Maria Stormwater Management Plan
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/
stormwater/municipal/phase_2/ms4enrollment/
ms4enrollmentcycle/santamaria_lompoc/santamaria/
santamaria_swmp/santamaria_pubnotice_index.htm