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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of January 4, 2010 to January 8, 2010
Week of January 4, 2010 to January 8, 2010
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 January 4, 2010 to January 8, 2010
- Monday, January 4, 2010
LAFCO on Water
- Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Upcoming in Monterey County
- Wednesday, January 6, 2010
LAFCO Meets Today On Water
- Thursday, January 7, 2010
Upcoming Items in Santa Cruz County
- Friday, January 8, 2010
Swords Into Plowshares/Vegetation Management
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, January 4, 2010 LAFCO on Water |
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| The Saturday edition of the Santa Cruz Sentinel carried an article with the following headline: “Santa Cruz water officials begin to worry about water.” Members of the Community Water Coalition, a group based in Santa Cruz, might well say, “ Hey, it’s about time!”
The Community Water Coalition was formed in early 2009, and first appeared before the Santa Cruz City Council in February of last year. Right from the start, the Community Water Coalition has been telling the City that City officials need to pay more attention to the real possibility of systemic water shortages. At risk are the water supplies not only of City residents, but residents and businesses in Live Oak and Pasatiempo, and in parts of the City of Capitola, and farmers on the North Coast. This Wednesday, the Santa Cruz County Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, will review proposed comments on a Draft Environmental Impact Report prepared for a proposal by the City Council to commit virtually all of any remaining City water supply to future growth at the University of California. If this happens, current water users would certainly suffer larger water cutbacks during drought periods, and might even have to cut back their current water use during normal water years. LAFCO has another item on water policy on its agenda as well. You can find out more on the KUSP website. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, January 5, 2010 Upcoming in Monterey County |
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I am going to be doing some traveling during the early part of this year, and while I’m gone, I won’t be able to provide a personal “heads up” on the meetings and events you ought to be thinking about attending. KUSP will be filling this weekday “Land Use Report” slot with what I hope will be some pretty compelling guest presentations, but you are going to be a bit more “on your own” with respect to information about upcoming land use policy and project items. Since the decisions made by local governments about land use, and water, and transportation have such a major impact on our future, I want to encourage you to do some “self-help” while I’m gone. KUSP now has a set of “Land Use Links” on its website, and I encourage you to use them, to investigate what is happening with respect to land use here on the Central Coast. Just click on the Land Use Report icon, and you’ll find those “Land Use Links.” Furthermore, both Monterey County and Santa Cruz County have a specific page on their County websites that highlight some of the most important land use project and policy items currently pending in those jurisdictions. The Monterey County website, for instance, will direct you to information about oak woodlands stewardship guidelines, the always important General Plan Update, the September Ranch water demand analysis, a traffic improvement plan for Carmel Valley, and a host of specific projects under consideration. Here’s my pitch to check these out! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, January 6, 2010 LAFCO Meets Today On Water |
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The City of Santa Cruz wants to expand its “Sphere of Influence” to include an area on the UCSC North Campus that has been designated as “rural” by both the City and the County. Expanding the City’s Sphere of Influence would allow the City to provide water service to this area, which is now in a forested and natural condition. UCSC wants to construct over three million square feet of new buildings on its North Campus, and is seeking 152 million gallons of water a year to make all this new growth possible. The policy issues are significant, which is why the City has had to prepare an Environmental Impact Report, or EIR, on this proposed expansion of its Sphere of Influence. The deadline for comments on the City’s Draft EIR is January 19th. You can obtain a copy online, and I encourage you to do so. If you’re in the mood for a meeting this morning, I’d also encourage you to stop by the Fifth Floor of the Santa Cruz County Governmental Center, where the Santa Cruz County Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, is holding a meeting at 9:30. LAFCO is a “responsible agency” with respect to the City of Santa Cruz plan to expand its Sphere of Influence, and will be discussing this proposal, and the EIR, at today’s meeting. LAFCO will also discuss setting up a special “Water Policy Committee,” to address critically important water policy matters. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, January 7, 2010 Upcoming Items in Santa Cruz County |
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As I noted on Tuesday, I am going to be doing some traveling during the early part of this year, and while I’m gone, I won’t be able to provide you with a personal “heads up” on the meetings and events you ought to be thinking about attending. You will definitely be a bit more “on your own” with respect to information about upcoming land use policy and project items. That doesn’t mean, however, that you won’t be able to find out what’s going on. You can use the “Land Use Links” that KUSP now has on its website to check out the online resources provided by most local governments on the Central Coast. The Santa Cruz County Planning Department, for instance, has a specific page on the County website that highlights some of the most important land use policy items currently being considered by Santa Cruz County government. If you click on the Land Use Report icon on the KUSP website, and track down the written transcript of today’s Land Use Report, you’ll get the right link. Click on that link and you’ll find information on the Pleasure Point Community Plan, the new Draft Aptos Village Plan, and the Aptos Village Plan Environmental Impact Initial Study. Santa Cruz County is also going to be reviewing its Housing Element, and has prepared an Environmental Impact Initial Study for that project, too. Land use decisions will largely define the future of our communities. An important purpose of the Land Use Report is to stimulate you to get personally involved in those critically important community decisions. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, January 8, 2010 Swords Into Plowshares/Vegetation Management |
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“Swords To Plowshares” is the title of an event being held in Marina next Monday, January 11th, sponsored by Citizens For A Sustainable Marina. The event takes place at the Marina Library, and is scheduled to run from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The “Swords To Plowshares” event will provide information about how the former Fort Ord is being transformed from a military base into an area dedicated to sustainable public benefits. Speaking will be Bob Brown, CSUMB Director of Facilities; Jordan Daniels, the “Building Wise” Project Manager on the transformation of the downtown Monterey Safeway to a Trader Joe’s retail store; Professor Enid Blader from CSUMB*; Steven Endsley, the Director of Planning and Finance for the Fort Ord Reuse Authority; and Bruce Delgado, a Biologist with the Bureau of Land Management, who also happens to be the Mayor of Marina. Talk about important land use policy decisions! Turning a military base into something completely different really does make a difference for our future. Also on January 11th, at the UCSC Arboretum Horticulture Building, the California Native Plant Society will host a presentation on “An Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management Program,” outlining how weed management can avoid the use of toxic pesticides. That meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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