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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of June 15, 2009 to June 19, 2009
Week of June 15, 2009 to June 19, 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 June 15, 2009 to June 19, 2009
- Monday, June 15, 2009
A Poor Clares Reprise
- Tuesday, June 16, 2009
EIRs, Water, And Monterey County
- Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Inclusionary Housing at City Commission
- Thursday, June 18, 2009
Local Transportation and Land Use
- Friday, June 19, 2009
The Big Sur Land Trust Moves The Ball
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 15, 2009 A Poor Clares Reprise |
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Tomorrow morning, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will resume discussion of the proposed development of the "Poor Clares" property. The Board will seek to unravel the complexities of a proposal that has stirred the emotions of hundreds of Aptos residents, and brought affordable housing supporters out in force. One of the main problems confronting the Board is self-created. Instead of preparing an Environmental Impact Report, or EIR, the County decided to claim that an EIR wasn't needed. Since the California Environmental Quality Act requires that a government agency prepare an EIR if there is any fair argument that a proposed development "might" have a significant environmental impact, there is only a thin justification for the position that the County has taken. Had an EIR been prepared, alternatives to the Poor Clares proposal would have had to be considered, and public involvement would have taken place at the "front end" not the "back end." The specific proposal before the Board tomorrow suggests the elimination of a proposed Professional Office designation, and restricting future housing development to "senior housing." The legality of imposing a "senior only" designation is highly questionable, and the recommendation made by the staff would eliminate the right of the public to have an EIR prepared for any future Professional Office development proposal. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, June 16, 2009 EIRs, Water, And Monterey County |
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Today, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will consider a controversial water supply proposal. I've put a link to information about this proposal below. As in the case of the "Poor Clares" proposal being considered today in Santa Cruz County, Monterey County staff is suggesting that no Environmental Impact Report is required. Let me state again the basic rule about Environmental Impact Reports: state law is quite clear that there is a bias in favor of preparing an EIR prior to any governmental action that may have a significant impact on the physical environment. The courts have consistently held that if there is a "fair argument" that a proposed governmental action "might" have a significant environmental impact, an EIR must be prepared. Once an EIR is prepared, as an "informational document" to help the public and elected officials understand what is really at stake, the discretion of the governmental agency is quite broad. The government can approve projects with bad environmental impacts, though public agencies must eliminate or reduce such impacts if feasible. What the government can't do is to make important decisions without full information on environmental impacts, and without letting the public have their input early in the process, as opposed to at the final hour of approval. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, June 17, 2009 Inclusionary Housing at City Commission |
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One way to address the housing needs of a community is to require developers, when they build new housing, to include a certain percentage of affordable housing within each new development. This idea, generally called "inclusionary housing," came to Santa Cruz County in 1978. In June of that year, the people of Santa Cruz County adopted Measure J, a comprehensive set of growth management policies. One of those policies, now codified in Chapter 17.01 of the Santa Cruz County Code, reads as follows: Housing for Persons with Average Incomes. The policies established by Measure J apply only in the unincorporated portions of Santa Cruz County, and thus are not binding on any of the cities in Santa Cruz County. Several cities, however, have also enacted inclusionary housing requirements. Tomorrow night, the Planning Commission of the City of Santa Cruz will be considering the City's inclusionary housing program, so if you're interested in affordable housing issues, consider attending. The meeting begins at 7:00 o'clock in the City Council chambers. It appears from the agenda that the proposal is to make things easier for developers, when there is a declining housing market. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, June 18, 2009 Local Transportation and Land Use |
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This coming Saturday, June 20th, Transition Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District will be co-hosting a "Community Conversation" on the "Future of Local Transportation and Land Use." The event goes from 10:00 o'clock in the morning to 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon, and will be held at the First Congregational Church, 900 High Street, in Santa Cruz. You are all most cordially invited to attend, and to start focusing in on many of the key issues that will affect the future of the Santa Cruz community. These specifically include conversations about density that improves our quality of life, future transit funding, and future uses for the Santa Cruz County rail corridor. I've put links to more information below. To get warmed up for Saturday's "Community Conversation," consider attending a presentation this evening, also at the First Congregational Church. David Fridley, an energy analyst with the Lawrence Berkeley Labs, will be speaking on "The Low-Energy Future of Transportation," or: "How do we get around when gas hits $5, $10, or $15 dollars per gallon?" Fridley previously worked as a consultant to the oil industry. More recently, he was the author of the City of San Francisco's Peak Oil Resolution, which established a task force to plan for the City's future under a low-energy-supply scenario. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, June 19, 2009 The Big Sur Land Trust Moves The Ball |
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I often speak on the Land Use Report about what public agencies can do to establish and implement rules and regulations that will help guide our local communities to the kind of land use future that will protect our natural environment, while also helping us to achieve our economic and social equity goals. Governmental action, however, is not the only game in town where good land use is concerned, and a recent announcement from the Big Sur Land Trust emphasizes the critically important role that private nonprofit organizations can play. The Big Sur Land Trust has recently secured two conservation easements from Quail Lodge, and a three-acre parcel from the Rancho San Carlos Partnership, which will help establish a six-mile network of trails to connect public lands in the Carmel Valley. According to Rachel Saunders, speaking for the Land Trust, the idea is to knit together the tapestry of protected lands in the lower Carmel Valley, and to make them more accessible to the public. The new acquisitions include a 10-acre conservation easement along the south side of the river, and a two-mile trail easement. Both of these easements were donated by Quail Lodge. The Land Trust paid $1.13 million dollars to Rancho San Carlos for the three acres just south of the river. The land has a building now being used for a nature center and offices for the Santa Lucia Conservancy, but the Land Trust will eventually turn the building into a parkway visitor's center. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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