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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of April 13, 2009 to April 17, 2009
Week of April 13, 2009 to April 17, 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 April 13, 2009 to April 17, 2009
- Monday, April 13, 2009
Tomorrow at the Board (Santa Cruz County)
- Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Today at the Board (Santa Cruz County)
- Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Water in Monterey County
- Thursday, April 16, 2009
More on Water in Monterey County
- Friday, April 17, 2009
Even More on Water 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, April 13, 2009 Tomorrow at the Board (Santa Cruz County) |
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There are a number of important land use items on the Agenda of this week’s meeting of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. I’d like to highlight one of them in today’s Land Use Report, and will discuss a couple of other items tomorrow. Agenda Item #72, on tomorrow’s agenda, is a public hearing to consider proposed changes to County regulations relating to Planned Unit Developments (or PUDs). The intent of a Planned Unit Development is to foster creative designs that might not be possible under the strict rules of the zoning code. The present PUD Ordinance permits approval of projects that don’t necessarily meet all of the development standards of the underlying zone district (like height and setback restrictions) but that are otherwise consistent with the zoning ordinance and with General Plan and Local Coastal Plan objectives. The changes proposed would expand the circumstances in which the PUD concept can be employed, specifically by extending its use to zone districts where PUDs are not now possible. The idea is to assist developers who want to propose commercial and mixed-use projects. Supposedly, the proposed changes would have no significant environmental impacts, and thus no Environmental Impact Report has been prepared. My personal recommendation is that those concerned about the kind of impacts that commercial and mixed-use developments might have on their neighborhoods should take a look at this proposed new ordinance. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Today at the Board (Santa Cruz County) |
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Here are a couple of important agenda items being heard today by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. Agenda Item #48 is a report on the Draft Aptos Village Plan. If you care about the future of Aptos Village, you should get a copy of that Plan, and review it closely. Then, you’ll need to participate in the upcoming public hearings. Once adopted, the Aptos Village Plan will guide all future growth and development within Aptos Village. Agenda Item #65.1, placed on the Agenda by Supervisor John Leopold, would direct the Chairperson formally to ask the Speaker of the Assembly to request nominations for a local elected official to serve on the State Coastal Commission for the Central Coast Region. The term of the current representative, Monterey County Supervisor Dave Potter, is expiring soon. Unless the Speaker asks for local government nominations (as state law really contemplates), there will be no chance for an appointment of a public official from either Santa Cruz or San Mateo County. There has never been a regional representative from either of those counties, even though they are part of the region. As Supervisor Leopold points out, the “partnership” between local government and the state that state law contemplates in the Coastal Act really requires that Santa Cruz County and San Mateo County be given the right to have their own elected officials considered for an appointment to the State Commission. There is more information below. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, April 15, 2009 Water in Monterey County |
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On March 23rd, an unusual meeting was held at the Seaside Community Center. It may be that the meeting will end up having historic importance for Monterey County, and specifically for the future growth and development of that county. Presiding at the meeting was Monterey County Supervisor Lou Calcagno. Also in attendance were County Supervisor Dave Potter, Sand City Mayor Dave Pendergrass, Seaside Mayor Ralph Rubio, Del Rey Oaks Mayor Joseph Russell, Pacific Grove Mayor Dan Cort, Monterey City Council Member Libby Downey, Salinas City Council Member Gloria De La Rosa, and a host of others from various public agencies within Monterey County. The topic of the meeting was water. The intention was to forge what might be called a “public agency compact” to come up with a broadly supported water development policy for the entire County, to be presented as a kind of institutional “fait accompli” to the California Public Utilities Commission. Participants in the meeting, and specifically Supervisor Calcagno, hoped that the agencies involved would be able to arrive at a set of negotiated agreements within thirty days, these agreements then to be presented to the California PUC, when the PUC considers a proposed desalination plant at Moss Landing. In my view, this meeting was really about the relationship between water supply and future growth. I’ll have more tomorrow. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, April 16, 2009 More on Water in Monterey County |
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Yesterday, I provided a brief report on an important meeting held on March 23rd, at the Seaside Community Center. Three public agencies played leading roles. These were the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency, the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, and the Marina Coast Water District. Representatives of the Castroville Community Services District, the Boronda County Sanitation District, and the Moss Landing County Sanitation District were also in attendance. I have links to more information in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. Not included in the public agencies invited to participate (and thus not present) was the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, which is responsible for water supply on the Monterey Peninsula. Looked at from a Peninsula perspective, the gathering on March 23rd might appear to be an effort to wrest control over future water supplies away from an agency that has usually reflected a kind of “slow growth” approach, and to put real power over future water supplies, and thus over future growth, into the hands of those who have had an expansionistic view of future growth and development in Monterey County. As far as I know, there were only two actual citizens present at this important occasion, one of them a representative of the League of Women Voters of Monterey County, which has been following both water and growth issues very closely. Tomorrow, I’ll try to highlight some of the implications of what the March 23rd meeting might mean. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, April 17, 2009 Even More on Water in Monterey County |
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One important fact about water supply issues in Monterey County is that while water pumped from the Carmel River, to serve Peninsula residents, has historically been about 14,000 acre feet of water per year, Cal-Am only has the legal right to pump 3,376 acre feet of water per year. Thus, Cal-Am must reduce its pumping from the Carmel River by more than 10,000 acre feet of water per year. Cal-Am is desperately looking for a replacement source, and has proposed a desalination plant in Moss Landing as a way to provide replacement water. Because Cal-Am is a private water company, its operations are overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission, which is expected to make a decision soon. The March 23rd meeting I have talked about can be seen as an effort by non-Peninsula water and wastewater agencies to get legal control over the source of replacement water that the Peninsula needs. The Peninsula, of course, doesn’t have a big interest in providing a huge additional supply, beyond what it needs to solve the Carmel River problem. Other agencies, though, would like to be able to size the new water project to provide significant additional water supplies, for significant additional growth in North Monterey County and the Salinas Valley. If you’re interested, consider contacting the League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula, to find out how you might get involved. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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