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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of December 6, 2010 to December 10, 2010
Week of December 6, 2010 to December 10, 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 December 6, 2010 to December 10, 2010
- Monday, December 6, 2010
Setting The Growth Goal
- Tuesday, December 7, 2010
“City” Planning In Monterey Tonight
- Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Wednesday Meetings!
- Thursday, December 9, 2010
Coastal Items Next Week
- Friday, December 10, 2010
Fort Ord: A Regional Recreation Area
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, December 6, 2010 Setting The Growth Goal |
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Tomorrow, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing to consider setting the County’s “growth goal” for the year 2011. I hope that Santa Cruz County listeners will understand just how unusual this is. In virtually every other place in California, growth just “happens to” the community. Individual choices add up to a result, and what these local communities call “planning” is essentially an exercise in figuring out how to “accommodate” the growth that these communities consider is “inevitable,” or at least beyond their control. Santa Cruz County is different. Thanks to a voter-adopted growth management system, created by “Measure J,” which was a referendum measure adopted by the voters in 1978, Santa Cruz County actually tries to influence what the future growth rate of the County will be. Again, no other community in the state does it exactly this way, at least as far as I know. Measure J was not a “slow growth” enactment. It provides for setting a growth “goal” each year that could allow and attempt to achieve slow, medium, or even fast growth, but only as the community itself chooses. Measure J, in other words, attempts to put a key factor affecting the future of the community under the control of the community itself, operating through its democratically-elected local government. What a concept! You can find out more in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, December 7, 2010 “City” Planning In Monterey Tonight |
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The “planning” issues typically confronted by county governments are often quite different from the “planning” issues most typically confronted by city governments. For counties, key planning issues tend to revolve around rather large-scale questions. For example, should the county allow grading on slopes over 25%; should strong protections for agricultural land be enforced; should a demonstration of water availability be an absolute prerequisite to future development; should the further subdivision of land be permitted where urban services don’t exist? Questions like these played front and center in the debate over the Monterey County General Plan, and these are the issues being litigated in a number of General Plan lawsuits now pending. In cities, the “planning” issues tend to be much more focused on “detail.” For instance: should the property at 487 Monroe Street in Monterey be designated as a Historic Resource; should changes be made to the Oak Grove Neighborhood Plan; should a proposed “mixed-use” Specific Plan be approved; should procedural changes affecting architectural review be put in place? The Monterey City Council is considering all of these items on its agenda this afternoon and evening. I have put a link in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. Monterey City residents have a big stake in what happens with respect to these items of planning “detail.” For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, December 8, 2010 Wednesday Meetings! |
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Important meetings are being held today in both Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. At 12:00 noon, the Soquel Creek Water District and the City of Santa Cruz will hold a “scoping” workshop, to consider topics to be included in the Environmental Impact Report for their proposed desalination plant. That meeting will be at the First Congregational Church, 900 High Street, in Santa Cruz. A second “scoping” workshop will be held from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m., at the New Brighton Middle School, located at 250 Washburn Avenue, in Capitola. Across the Bay, the Monterey County Planning Commission is meeting in Salinas, at 9:00 o’clock this morning, to take up some very important items. At 9:00 a.m., the Commission will hold a public hearing on a major new shopping center proposed on Highway 68 and Coral de Tierra. Traffic, water, and neighborhood compatibility issues are all at stake. The hearing date for this item has been moved around. Today’s the real deal. At 1:30 in the afternoon, the Commission will consider a proposal to construct up to nine exploratory oil and gas wells on properties in South Monterey County. The oil well proposal is being opposed by the Ventana Conservation and Land Trust and the Center For Biological Diversity, who claim that the County should not give approval without doing an Environmental Impact Report first. You can get more information on the KUSP website. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, December 9, 2010 Coastal Items Next Week |
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The California Coastal Commission is meeting in San Francisco next week. A link to the Commission’s Agenda can be found in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. The Commission Agenda itself has links to staff reports for each of the items that the Commission will consider. I encourage listeners to browse through the Commission’s agenda and sample a few of the reports prepared by the Commission’s staff. Governmental agencies, like the Commission, that make land use policy and project decisions, have a profound impact on our economy and environment. I think that the Commission’s staff work is of the very highest caliber. If you really want to do some research and analysis, try comparing some of the Commission staff reports to the reports that inform the actions of your local City Council, or Board of Supervisors. Usually, you’ll find yourself impressed by the higher quality of the materials considered by the Commission. If you do find that’s true, you could ask your local officials to try to do better! Commission members aren’t “elected” to the Commission. They’re appointed, and you should know that Governor Schwarzenegger is pushing hard to fill Commission (and other environmental agency) vacancies, before our new Governor takes office. I do think that’s a “results oriented” effort! You decide whether the appointees of Arnold Schwarzenegger or of Jerry Brown would likely be better custodians of the coast. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, December 10, 2010 Fort Ord: A Regional Recreation Area |
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I am impressed with the “sustainable community” efforts I see taking place in Monterey County. Getting “organized” in local communities is the very first thing to do if you’d like to be effective in influencing land use policy and project decisions. These decisions have a profound impact on the future of our local economy, and environment, and may also determine whether or not we achieve our social equity goals. Individual participation is always the first step, but “organized,” community-based participation is truly the way to be effective! In Monterey County, there are a number of “sustainable community” organizations just gearing up to play a role in future land use and governmental decision-making. The “Transition Santa Cruz” group, on the Santa Cruz County side of the Bay, has similar ambitions. If you’d like to find out more about Sustainable Seaside, Citizens For a Sustainable Marina, Sustainable Pacific Grove, and other “sustainable community” groups, including Transition Santa Cruz, check out the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. You should also mark your calendar for a meeting to be held next Monday, December 13th, at the Marina Library, starting at 7:00 p.m. This meeting, sponsored by Sustainable Seaside and Citizens For a Sustainable Marina, is advertised as “Keeping Public Access Alive at Fort Ord.” A lot will be happening at the meeting, and I hope you’ll get involved! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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