Tomorrow night, you will have another chance to weigh in on the pros and cons of the proposed new desalination project in Monterey County. Last week (along with other participating agencies), the Marina Coast Water District approved the agreements necessary to move the project forward. The District Board also took actions under CEQA, including adopting a Statement of Overriding Considerations, approving the project despite the negative environmental impacts identified in an EIR certified by the California Public Utilities Commission.

As I understand the situation, the District Board was warned last week that it had not properly complied with the state's open meeting laws, and so couldn't legally take all the actions it did. The Board took the actions anyway, despite the protest, but this week, the District is doing the whole thing all over again, with better (and hopefully legal) public notice. By hearing this item again, tomorrow night, the District has allowed all those interested in the project one more chance to communicate their support or opposition. There is, in other words, one more chance to document any objections you might have. Exhausting your administrative remedies, by documenting your objections, is a required first step, prior to litigation, so if you care, either be there or otherwise communicate your concerns.

You can get more information below.

More Information:

Marina Coast Water District Website
http://www.mcwd.org/

Agenda, April 13, 2010 Regular Meeting
http://www.mcwd.org/docs/agenda_minutes/
04-13-2010%20Agenda.pdf

Agenda, April 5, 2010 Special Meeting
http://www.mcwd.org/docs/agenda_minutes/
04-05-2010%20Special%20Meeting%20Agenda.pdf

The Board meeting tomorrow night will begin at 6:45 p.m. at the District Headquarters, 11 Reservation Road in Marina. For those seeking out the meeting place, 11 Reservation Road is on the ocean side of Highway One, basically as far to the ocean side as one can get. Agenda Item #9F is the desalination item. You can FAX comments to the District at 831-883-5995.

Tomorrow, you can find out more about SB 375, the law that has established a complex planning process intended to reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled, or VMT, and thus to address our global warming crisis. Our sprawling land use patterns do contribute greatly to the release of greenhouse gases, and good land use planning could definitely make a difference. SB 375 is supposed to help California do better land use planning, but since SB 375 sets up a "voluntary" system, instead of a truly "regulatory" system, the pertinent question is, "Can California's Land Use Strategy Succeed?" This is precisely the topic that will be addressed by Greg Greenway at a luncheon presentation tomorrow at noon in Monterey. The presentation is being sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula. You can find out how to make a reservation, and attend, below.

Greg Greenway has written and spoken extensively on the opportunities presented by SB 375 to use housing and land use policy to address climate change. He is the Executive Director of both Threshold 2010, a San Mateo County project to engage citizens in dialogue about regional housing problems, and the Seaport Industrial Association, that promotes the benefits of a working waterfront in the Redwood City Port area.

More Information:

League of Women Voters Website
http://www.lwvmp.org/

The event tomorrow includes an $18 hot lunch. It starts at 12:00 noon, at the Elks Lodge in Monterey. This link will tell you have to make a reservation: http://www.lwvmp.org/calendar_lunch.html

If you are a Santa Cruz County resident, you might be interested in an opportunity to buy some land. How about a property that stretches, essentially, from Watsonville to Davenport? Yes, I do mean the so-called Santa Cruz Branch Line, currently owned by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. This land is being considered for purchase by the residents of Santa Cruz County, operating on a collective basis through the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission.

My Dad always told me that land is a good investment, since "God isn't making any more of it." Is the purchase of the Branch Line a good investment for our local communities? Tonight, the Transportation Commission is going to address this topic, and you are invited to attend and participate. You can get information by checking out the transcript of today's Land Use Report. Just click look below track down the written (as opposed to the audio) transcript of today's Report.

Buying land brings liabilities with it, as well as benefits. But it does bring benefits. It terms of the ability of Santa Cruz County to deal with future land use and transportation issues, having the Watsonville to Davenport rail right of way under local ownership is almost guaranteed to provide an increased portfolio of options. The money, if the purchase proceeds, is also going to come from state sources.

More Information:

Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission Website
http://www.sccrtc.org/

Agenda, Regional Transportation Commission Workshop
http://www.sccrtc.org/packet/2010/1004/TPWAgenda1004.html

Recently, the Court of Appeal for the Sixth Appellate District, which handles appeals from Superior Court decisions in Santa Cruz County, issued an opinion that invalidated the most recently adopted version of the Watsonville General Plan. This version is known as the "2030 General Plan." The appellate court decision definitely means more work for the City, going forward, but there may be an opportunity here, as well as a problem.

In November 2002, Watsonville voters adopted Measure U, as an initiative measure. Measure U enacted various land use policies that amended the former General Plan (the so-called "2005 General Plan), which is now back in effect after the recent appellate court decision. Measure U came out of a very broad based, community-originated planning effort, and maybe that's what's needed now.

As the "Constitution for land use" for a local community, the General Plan can articulate rules and policies that help stimulate the kind of growth and economic development that have a broad base of community support. But to get that kind of broad-based support, you do need to develop a broad-based planning process. Public involvement can make all the difference. Measure U showed, it seems to me, that there are lots of people in Watsonville and South County, from environmentalists to the Farm Bureau, who would like to find a pattern for the future that does meet broad community needs.

More Information:

City of Watsonville Website
http://www.ci.watsonville.ca.us/

City of Watsonville Planning Documents
http://www.ci.watsonville.ca.us/departments/cdd/commdept.html

As I have frequently noted here on the Land Use Report, the City of Marina, located on the coast in Monterey County (and the first city you enter as you drive towards the Monterey Peninsula on Highway One), is probably the city in Monterey County that has the most significant amount of growth and development. This is because Marina has been very actively redeveloping the lands of the former Fort Ord, now located within the city limits. Members of the public in Marina are also, by and large, actively engaged in land use planning and growth-related issues. For instance, Marina is the only city in Monterey County that has a voter-adopted Urban Limit Line.

Since Marina is a city that cares about land use planning, I think it might be a very good place to celebrate Earth Day. Tomorrow, Citizens For A Sustainable Marina is sponsoring a Marina Earth Day Celebration at Locke-Paddon Community Park, scheduled from 9:00 in the morning till 1:00 in the afternoon. You are very cordially invited to attend. Getting outside into the actual environment is always a good way to make land use and environmental issues seem more real. At the celebration tomorrow there will be park beautification work to do, with a free lunch for work parties. There will be interactive learning booths, "arts in the park," and face painting, plus the chance to meet your friends and neighbors and talk about how to work together on the land use and community development issues that will define Marina's future.

More Information

City of Marina Website
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/

Earth Day Celebration Announcement
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=325

Citizens For A Sustainable Marina
http://www.sustainablemontereycounty.org
/citizens-for-a-sustainable-marina.html

Earth Day Celebration Flyer
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/documents/Recreation%20&
%20Cultural%20Services/Special%20Events/Earth%20Day/
2010%20Earth%20Day%20Flyer.PDF