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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of June 14, 2010 to June 18, 2010
Week of June 14, 2010 to June 18, 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 June 14, 2010 to June 18, 2010
- Monday, June 14, 2010
Water And Growth At The Board
- Tuesday, June 15, 2010
UCSC Expansion On The Agenda
- Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Spheres In Monterey County
- Thursday, June 17, 2010
Take The AMBAG Survey
- Friday, June 18, 2010
Fall Creek Walkabout
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 14, 2010 Water And Growth At The Board |
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Tomorrow morning, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will meet at 9:00 o’clock. They will be taking up a number of issues related to land use. If you care about the water supply and growth issues related to the proposed expansion of the UCSC campus, you might well want to be in attendance. Agenda Item #63 will focus specifically on the UCSC growth topic. That item has been placed on the agenda specifically to provide an opportunity for members of the public to speak out on their concerns. I’ll have more details tomorrow on the item about UCSC growth and its impact on our water supply. Be advised, though, that there are some other items of interest on the Board’s agenda tomorrow. Agenda Item #40 outlines proposed new regulatory reform efforts, intended to make the County’s permit process work better. Agenda Item #60 is a public hearing on the establishment of a Tourism Marketing District, to raise money for tourism promotion. Supervisor Leopold is reportedly interested in trying to tie the proposed new fees to a commitment to rehire laid-off hotel workers when the economy improves. Finally, Agenda Item #62 will focus on some tricky code interpretation issues, relating to a house proposed for a substandard lot in the Aptos area. All these items are of interest. More on the UCSC water and growth item tomorrow! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, June 15, 2010 UCSC Expansion On The Agenda |
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Today, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will take up the issue of UCSC growth and expansion, with particular reference to water. If you care about this issue, I encourage you to attend the Board meeting, and testify. You can also communicate with the Board through a direct email link that is part of the Board’s online agenda. The City of Santa Cruz, the County, various community groups, and individuals sued the University over proposed UCSC growth plans. Those lawsuits were ultimately settled, in 2008, by a “Comprehensive Settlement Agreement,” which required the University and the City to go to LAFCO (the Local Agency Formation Commission) to seek approval for an extension of water service to the UCSC “North Campus.” The North Campus is about 350 acres, now completely natural and undeveloped, and UCSC wants 152 million gallons of water per year, to support the construction of over 3,000,000 square feet of new buildings on this North Campus area. The City and County made a contractual commitment as part of the settlement, promising to negotiate an agreement between them on land use related issues. This City-County agreement would then be submitted to and be considered by LAFCO. Despite this promise, the City now seems unwilling to carry through. What the Board will do will probably be decided today. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, June 16, 2010 Spheres In Monterey County |
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As reported yesterday, UCSC will not be able to tap into the City’s scarce water supplies for its proposed North Campus expansion, without getting approval from the Santa Cruz County Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO. LAFCO, in other words, is a pretty important agency, with the ability to guide just how, and where, and when future growth will be allowed. This isn’t true only in Santa Cruz County. There is a LAFCO in each California County, and that of course includes Monterey County. Monterey County residents should be aware of an important meeting being held today by a special policy committee of the Monterey County LAFCO. At issue is just how the Monterey County LAFCO will establish Spheres of Influence governing future city and special district growth. A “Sphere of Influence” is kind of like a City or County General Plan. It sets out LAFCO’s long-term policy objectives for each city and special district. Then, all individual LAFCO decisions must be consistent with the adopted Sphere. In Santa Cruz, the City and UCSC are seeking a City Sphere expansion to accommodate the proposed University expansion. In Monterey County, at 9:00 o’clock this morning, LAFCO’s Sphere of Influence and Annexation Policy Committee will be discussing proposed new rules to govern growth there. There is more information below. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, June 17, 2010 Take The AMBAG Survey |
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If you are interested in land use, transportation, water, and growth issues generally, it’s worth taking a look at the AMBAG website. AMBAG stands for “Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments,” and AMBAG deals with all these growth-related issues on a “regional” basis. The AMBAG region includes the counties of Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito. City and County officials from all three counties preside over AMBAG’s activities. If you do browse around the AMBAG website you will notice that AMBAG is holding a series of workshops on what AMBAG is calling its 2035 Regional “Blueprint” Project. The next workshop (and in fact the final workshop in the series) will be held on Saturday, June 26th, at the Veterans Memorial Building in Hollister. The “Blueprint” concept is related to the implementation of Senate Bill 975, which is related to AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. I think that a more direct, regulatory approach is the best way to deal with land use and global warming, but every effort may help. If you haven’t been to one of the workshops, and can’t get to Hollister, you can take an online survey, answering some questions about what kind of land use developments appeal to you personally. A link to the survey is found on the AMBAG website, and below. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, June 18, 2010 Fall Creek Walkabout |
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Tomorrow, the San Lorenzo Valley Water District is sponsoring what I would call a “Fall Creek Walkabout.” It’s going to take place in Fall Creek State Park, in the San Lorenzo Valley. This is a kind of guided nature tour, supported by an environmental education grant from the Water District, and it’s open to the public. You do, however, have to RSVP in advance. You can get more information in the written transcript of today’s Land Use Report. Carol Carson and Judy Hill are going to be guiding the nature walk. Participants will meet at 10:30 tomorrow morning at the Fall Creek parking lot. If you do want to go, layer your clothes, and bring water, a sack lunch, binoculars, cameras, and wear good hiking shoes. The “Walkabout” is going to include a picnic at the ruins of the old limekiln. After lunch, Judy Hill, who is a docent at Cowell State Park, will lead a longer hike for those prepared for a more strenuous adventure. Carol Carson will lead the rest of the group back to the starting place. Total time for the shorter hike is probably two to two and a half hours. For those who can’t go tomorrow, another walk is planned for July 17th, this time to beautiful Loch Lomond. On that walk, Carol will have experts available to tell participants about the reservoir, and about mountain lion collaring, red-legged frog, and the western pond turtle. Mark your calendars if you are interested. The Loch Lomond excursion is billed as a dog-friendly event! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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