If you’re following the news, I’m sure you’ve noticed a lot of discussion about water policy. The State Legislature and the Governor, specifically, are wrestling with how best to respond to what is a genuine crisis in the San Francisco Bay Delta. The Delta is the place where waters from the Sacramento and American Rivers are diverted for use not only in Southern California, but also in the East Bay, and in the Silicon Valley. If you haven’t been following the issue, I certainly urge you to do so. I’ve put a few relevant links in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. State Senator Joe Simitian, incidentally, who represents a significant portion of Santa Cruz County, is playing a key role.

Santa Cruz County doesn’t have a direct stake in what happens with respect to the State Water Project, because it relies totally on water from within Santa Cruz County. Recently, Santa Cruz Community Television ran an informative show on water policy, touching briefly on state issues, but focusing even more on water issues in both Santa Cruz and Mid-County and in the Pajaro Valley. I’ve put a link to that show below.

Finally, tomorrow afternoon, at 3:00 o’clock, the City of Santa Cruz is going to act on a proposed Water Supply Assessment that paints a rather scary picture of what’s ahead for those relying on the City for their water supply. I urge you to get involved. Contact me directly if you’d like to.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Senator Joe Simitian Website
http://www.senatorsimitian.com/

Planning and Conservation Website
http://www.pcl.org

Restore The Delta
http://www.restorethedelta.org/

Capitol Weekly Article On Water
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=ycap94kerq
5odu&xid=yca9whxgeu9cxv&done=.ycap94kerqoodu

Community Television Interview
http://www.communitytv.org/programs/online/community-express-64

City of Santa Cruz Website
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/
You can get agenda materials for the October 27, 2009 City Council meeting by clicking on the “Agendas and Minutes” link on the left hand column of the City’s Website, and then choosing “Agenda Plus.”

The City of Monterey pays a lot of attention to what might be called the “fine grained details” of planning. There are very extensive design review procedures in effect in Monterey, and the City makes a real effort to maintain the historic integrity of the City.

The “rules” governing planning decisions are mostly made at the local level, so each City and County can approach planning in the way that the particular jurisdiction best sees fit. Again, the City of Monterey gets into a lot of “detail,” as decisions a made on whether to say “yes” or “no” to a proposed development. Other jurisdictions do a lot less. Obviously, there are both pros and cons to the different approaches.

If you’d like to get engaged in some important planning issues in the City of Monterey, meetings scheduled for today and tomorrow will give you the opportunity to do so. Tonight, from 7:00 to 10:00, the Monterey City Council will hold an Adjourned Meeting to consider how future transportation on the Monterey Branch Line Corridor, the former rail line, should be handled. Should the line be used for “Light Rail,” or for “Bus Rapid Transit?” This decision will have important impacts in the future.

Tomorrow, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., the City Council will hold a study Session on planning efforts in the City’s commercial districts, including Downtown, Cannery Row, and North Fremont and Lighthouse Avenues.

You can get more information below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

City of Monterey Website
http://www.monterey.org/

Agenda, October 27, 2009 Adjourned Meeting
http://www.monterey.org/ccncl/agendas/2009/091027adj.pdf

Staff Report for October 27th Item
http://www.monterey.org/ccncl/packets/2009/091027/1.pdf

Agenda, October 28, 2009 Study Session
http://www.monterey.org/ccncl/agendas/2009/091028ss.pdf

The Planning Commission of the County of Santa Cruz is meeting today, and it’s also meeting tonight. I’ve placed a link to the agenda for the meeting in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. If you review the agenda, you’ll see that the Commission will be considering a number of interesting and important items. For instance, there will be a public hearing on the “growth goal” that the County should establish for the year 2010. The Commission is also going to discuss plans to renovate Floral Park, located at 656 38th Avenue in Live Oak. Also on the agenda are some more “technical” matters related to how developments will be handled in urban areas, and how residential density bonuses should be utilized to promote affordable housing.

I particularly want to direct your attention to the Planning Commission’s evening session, which begins at 7:30. At that time, the Commission will hold a continued public hearing on a proposal by the CEMEX Corporation to expand its quarry in Bonny Doon. The quarry expansion project, if allowed, could affect the North Coast water sources depended upon by residents in the City of Santa Cruz, Pasatiempo, Live Oak, and parts of the City of Capitola. A letter from County Planning Director Tom Burns suggests that this won’t be the last meeting on the proposed quarry expansion. So, if you care about your future water supply, there is still time to get involved.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information:

Santa Cruz County Website
http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/

Santa Cruz County Planning Commission
http://www.sccoplanning.com/html/devrev/planning_commission.htm

Agenda, October 29, 2009 Meeting
http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/planning/plnmeetings/
ASP/Display/ASPX/DisplayAgenda.aspx?MeetingDate=10/
28/2009&MeetingType=1

I have personally signed up to receive bulletins from the Planning and Conservation League, in order to be kept up to speed on important environmental and planning issues. PCL has been lobbying in Sacramento on behalf of the California environment since 1965, which makes it the state’s oldest environmental lobbying organization. If you’d like to receive these free bulletins from PCL, please visit the PCL website at www.pcl.org.

AB X3 81was the subject of a recent PCL bulletin. This legislation, signed by the Governor and immediately effective, represents what I think is a new and significant challenge to the integrity of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, which is this state’s most important environmental protection law.

For the first time in the history of CEQA, the Legislature has enacted a law that intervenes directly in a pending lawsuit in which the adequacy of environmental review under CEQA is at issue. By enacting AB X3 81, the State Legislature preempted the court’s authority, and decided the issue in favor of the developer. Obviously, if rich developers can go to Sacramento and get the Legislature to change the law, when they haven’t followed it, the law will become ever less relevant. Congratulations to our local Assembly Members, Bill Monning and Anna Caballero, who voted “no” on this end run around environmental protection*.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Planning and Conservation League Website
http://www.pcl.org

PCL and CEQA
http://www.pclfoundation.org/events/aboutceqaworkshops.html

See the transcript of the October 14, 2009 Land Use Report on “The City and the Stadium” for background information on the CEQA issue discussed today on the Land Use Report
http://www.kusp.org/landuse/2009/10/12.html

San Gabriel Valley Tribune Article on the CEQA Controversy
http://www.sgvtribune.com/rds_search/ci_13479695?IADID=
Search-www.sgvtribune.com-www.sgvtribune.com

Text of ABX3 81, the CEQA Exemption Bill
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=
abx3_81&sess=CUR&house=B&author=hall
*State Senator Joe Simitian was marked as “not voting” on AB 3X 81. State Senator Maldonado voted “yes,” and State Senator Denham voted “no.”

I appeared recently on a Santa Cruz Community Television program focusing on water policy. Also on the show were the General Manager of the Soquel Creek Water District, Laura Brown, the Director of the City of Santa Cruz Water Department, Bill Kocher, and the General Manager of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency, Mary Bannister. If you would like to view the show, you can find a link below.

While both the City of Santa Cruz and the Soquel Creek Water District face serious problems in terms of long-term water supply, the Pajaro Valley is “ground zero” for water supply problems in Santa Cruz County. And perhaps “zero” is too optimistic. The problem in the Pajaro Basin in the massive overdraft of the aquifer, which really means that the supply there is in a “negative” position.

The future of the Pajaro Valley Water Management agency is tied directly to the ability of the Agency to fund its future activities. The PVWMA is not really a water supplier in the same way that the City of Santa Cruz and the Soquel Creek Water District are, and this means that the Agency needs voter approval when it wants to raise more money. It can’t just up water service charges. If you’re a resident of the Pajaro Valley, or a farmer, you should care about this issue, and I’d urge you to get more involved. You can get more information in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Community Television Interview
http://www.communitytv.org/programs/
online/community-express-64

City of Santa Cruz Water Department
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/ (Use the “City Departments” Link)

Soquel Creek Water District
http://www.soquelcreekwater.com/

Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency
http://www.pvwma.dst.ca.us/

PVWMA “News and Announcements”
http://www.pvwma.dst.ca.us/whats_new/
news_annouce_events.shtml

Sentinel Article on PVWMA Finances
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_13606789?IADID
=Search-www.santacruzsentinel.com-www.santacruzsentinel.com