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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of February 16, 2009 to February 20, 2009
Week of February 16, 2009 to February 20, 2009
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 16, 2009 to February 20, 2009
- Monday, February 16, 2009
A Meeting For Tomorrow
- Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Santa Cruz: Water And The City’s Future
- Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The SCCRTC Meeting Tomorrow
- Thursday, February 19, 2009
Growth and Air Quality and Transportation
- Friday, February 20, 2009
The DMB Project in San Benito 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, February 16, 2009 A Meeting For Tomorrow |
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Today, the City of Santa Cruz provides a stopover on the Amgen Tour of California, which began in Sacramento on Saturday. Saturday was also the day our state legislators finally voted on a proposed way out of the state’s budget mess; or, depending on how you view the details, a way into an ever more tangled and difficult fiscal future for our Golden State. If you want some in-depth analysis of the maladies now afflicting the state budget, check out the information provided by the California Budget Project. And if you are hoping to visit downtown Santa Cruz today, my advice is to expect record crowds. The Amgen Tour is scheduled to finish up today’s segment at the intersection of Cooper and Front Streets, between noon and 2:00 o’clock. I’ve placed links to information on the race, and on our state budget, below. On Saturday, members of the State Legislature had to come early to the State Capitol, to avoid being shut out by the crowds thronging the Capitol grounds for the beginning of the Amgen Tour. The Santa Cruz City Council, I’m pleased to say, has not scheduled an important meeting to conflict with the race today. Tomorrow, however, there is a special meeting involving both the City Council and the City Planning Commission. It starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Santa Cruz City Hall, and you’re invited. The topic? Design guidelines for River/Front and Lower Pacific Avenue. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, February 17, 2009 Santa Cruz: Water And The City’s Future |
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As noted yesterday, the Santa Cruz City Council and the City Planning Commission will be holding a joint meeting this evening, to discuss design guidelines for River and Front Street, and Lower Pacific Avenue. You can get more information below. The specific topic for tonight’s meeting is really part of a larger effort to provide a new long-term plan for the growth and development of the City of Santa Cruz. Attentive listeners who are regular participants in the ongoing seminar sessions that I host here on the Land Use Report will recognize that I’m talking about the City’s General Plan update process. Every city and county in California is required to have an integrated General Plan, which acts as the “Constitution for land use,” and guides all future growth and development. Since land use decisions ultimately affect not only the natural and built environment, but also the local economy and our ability to achieve our social equity goals, the decisions made about the community General Plan are the most important land use decisions that a local government ever makes. There is still time for you to get involved, and I’d urge you to do so. I’m starting to focus attention, myself, on the aspects of the plan that might affect the City’s water future (and that’s just one topic). There are some very serious policy decisions ahead, and active citizen participation will definitely result in a better plan for our future. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, February 18, 2009 The SCCRTC Meeting Tomorrow |
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Tomorrow, the Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission is going to be holding a Transportation Policy Workshop, starting at 9:00 o’clock in the morning. I’ve provided links to information about the workshop in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. You can find that transcript with the links below. Transportation and land use definitely go together, so those concerned about our land use future do need to follow closely what our major transportation agencies are doing. In this case, the Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission remains somewhat fixated on widening Highway One. The basic philosophy, in other words, is that we should attempt to “build our way out of our transportation problems.” Another approach would be to find a way to use our existing transportation infrastructure more efficiently. That, however, would require actual changes in the way we get around. In the Obama era, it’s going to be interesting to see how much real change we’re actually willing to incorporate into our lifestyles. Maybe not as much as we actually should, considering that our existing activities are putting human civilization at risk. More single vehicle automobile trips are definitely part of the problem. At any rate, I advertise the workshop tomorrow as a good place to find out more about these topics. The Commission is specifically going to hear about what the state budget means for transportation here locally. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, February 19, 2009 Growth and Air Quality and Transportation |
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I’d like to advise you about a couple of meetings to be held tomorrow in the City of Monterey. The timing is such that you can attend both of these meetings, and either or both of them would be interesting and worthwhile. First, the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District and the City of Monterey are jointly sponsoring a conference on “Strategies for Addressing Climate Change.” The afternoon portion of the conference, which begins at 1:30 p.m., features four outstanding presenters, including Janill Richards, Coordinator of the Attorney General’s Global Warming unit. The focus will be on land use planning and global warming, with special reference to SB 375 and AB 32. There really is a global warming crisis. And it’s not just “inconvenient.” It’s life threatening. It is threatening the lives of countless species across the planet, and putting our own future in peril. The land use policies that guide our growth and development are a big part of the global warming problem, and changing those policies has got to be part of the solution. That’s the topic for early afternoon. Later in the afternoon, California State Assembly Member Anna Caballero will speak at an event hosted by LandWatch Monterey County, focusing on AB 2494, the housing related parks program. This legislation creates incentives for local governments to build affordable housing in conjunction with city parks. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, February 20, 2009 The DMB Project in San Benito County |
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I think it’s about time for concerned residents to start taking seriously the proposed El Rancho San Benito Specific Plan. This mammoth project would be a major new subdivision on agricultural land. The most recent news stories about “El Rancho San Benito” have focused on the campaign contributions made by the developers of the project to various San Benito County Supervisors who are going to vote on it. The Salinas-based law firm of Lombardo and Gillies, long a powerhouse player for developers in Monterey County, is also getting involved. In the meantime, while campaign contributions from the developer and developer attorneys are being given and received, the official environmental review process is now getting underway. That means that public hearings and official decisions will coming along soon, probably during this calendar year. Now is definitely the time for residents to get together, get organized, and start participating. The field of battle over this proposed development is not completely dominated by the developers and their attorneys. A well-respected Oakland attorney, Joe Brecher, has weighed in on behalf of the Sierra Club, documenting some of the deficiencies in the “Notice of Preparation” that San Benito County is using to guide the EIR process. One key issue will be water, but that’s just one! You can get more information in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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