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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of June 27, 2011 to July 1, 2011
Week of June 27, 2011 to July 1, 2011
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 27, 2011 to July 1, 2011
- Monday, June 27, 2011
Hot Topics In Monterey County
- Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Caretaker Units/Accessory Units On The Coast
- Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Economic Development Projects
- Thursday, June 30, 2011
Regulatory Reform In Santa Cruz County
- Friday, July 1, 2011
A “Sustainability Bill Of Rights”
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 27, 2011 Hot Topics In Monterey County |
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I believe that our community life is enriched and enhanced, and given the best possible direction, when we have a very healthy community-based debate about what we ought to do, and about how we ought to do it. How we choose to use the land has a big impact on our future, and in the land use arena, where local governments play a leading role, involvement in local government land use related issues can have a big payoff. To stimulate such participation is what I often call the “unhidden agenda” of the Land Use Report. If you are a Monterey County resident and would like to start getting better informed and more involved, I think you’d enjoy attending the regularly scheduled “Hot Topics” meetings hosted by Monterey County Supervisor Jane Parker. There is one tonight at 5:30 p.m. at Me-n-Ed’s Pizza, 880 Broadway in Seaside. I have put a link to more information in today’s transcript. I have also put links to information about a “hot” item currently being discussed in Monterey County, and affecting its water planning activities; namely, the fact that one of the directors of the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, appointed by the Board of Supervisors, was apparently being paid as a consultant for one of the contractors on the desalination project for his work as a public official. Just in case you didn’t know it, that’s a “no-no.” For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, June 28, 2011 Caretaker Units/Accessory Units On The Coast |
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Since I believe that our communities are strengthened when we have active public participation in the land use related decisions made by local governments, I check out the agendas of various public agencies on a regular basis, just to know what’s going on. It’s a practice I recommend to KUSP listeners, and KUSP helps make it pretty easy. If you go to the KUSP website, at www.kusp.org, you can find some “Land Use Links,” which can help you get engaged and involved. But only if you click on through, of course! Listeners who would like an example of an issue that is both interesting and important, should read the staff report for Agenda Item #S-4, on today’s agenda of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. This item proposes changes to the County’s Coastal Implementation Plan, to make it possible for the County to approve second units in the Big Sur and other coastal areas without the need for a public hearing. This change is being advanced as a way to comply with state laws intended to meet affordable housing needs, but unless I’m missing something, there is no affordability requirement included, and the potential impacts on coastal resources won’t necessarily provide more truly affordable housing for lower income persons. As I say, here’s an interesting issue in which you might want to get involved. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, June 29, 2011 Economic Development Projects |
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Yesterday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors considered how best to promote and stimulate economic development projects. The County, like other local governments around the nation, is always seeking ways to provide new job opportunities and to reinforce and strengthen the local economy. Redevelopment projects, carried out by the County’s Redevelopment Agency, have been one way that the Board has addressed this economic development concern. As you probably all know, the future of redevelopment is now very unclear, and the odds are that local redevelopment agencies will soon be eliminated. Yesterday’s Board Agenda focused on another economic development program in which the County participates; namely, projects that qualify for federal financial assistance from the Economic Development Administration, or EDA. EDA funding is not abundant, and local governments have to compete for it, with the competition including other local governments from around the United States. In order to be “in the game,” it is necessary to meet the EDA’s rules, and that includes a requirement that the local government establish a “Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy” that conforms to federal guidelines. Adopting such CEDS guidelines is what the Board had on its agenda yesterday. It’s a point score system. If you care about the economic development issue, check out the Board report. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, June 30, 2011 Regulatory Reform In Santa Cruz County |
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The word “regulation” doesn’t sound warm and friendly. In fact, aversion to “governmental regulation” has driven a lot of our contemporary political debates. As frequent listeners will guess, my own view is that “governmental regulation” is in fact a positive benefit, at least if those regulations come out of a truly open, democratic, and participatory governmental process. If the entire community has an opportunity to get involved in making the regulations, and then does get involved in making them, then the regulations adopted as a result of such a community-based process will represent our best effort, as a community, to establish the rules which we think should guide our future conduct. As we follow the rules we set for ourselves we create a future that represents what the community wants. That is how it’s supposed to work in the land use arena, and in other areas of government, too. First we have debate and controversy (natural, since there are lots of different choices available, and good arguments for most of them). Then we have a decision (we pick alternatives, or mix and match and create new ones from all the suggestions that have been debated). Finally, out of that process come regulations by which we “steer the ship,” directing our local communities to the place we want to go. Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors got a report on new regulatory reform efforts relating to land use. Now’s the time to get engaged! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, July 1, 2011 A “Sustainability Bill Of Rights” |
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I recently attended a meeting sponsored by the Women’s International League For Peace And Freedom, held at the Quaker Meetinghouse in Santa Cruz. The topic addressed was “Does Nature Have Rights?” The main presenter was Shannon Biggs, who works for an organization called Global Exchange, and who might be called a “community organizer for the environment.” Ms. Biggs, and Global Exchange, are pushing for a more “sustainable” future. If we get there, we are definitely going to have to modify our current land use practices. Just last week, a “Task Force On The Environment,” established by the City of Santa Monica, sent a proposed “Sustainability Bill of Rights” to the Santa Monica City Council. Global Exchange has been helping City leaders move in this direction, and I think the draft “Bill of Rights” deserves review by local communities in the Monterey Bay Region. I encourage listeners to visit the KUSP website, and to track down the written transcript of today’s Land Use Report. I’ve included a link to a news story about the Santa Monica effort, and a link to the actual “Bill of Rights” itself. As currently proposed, the “Bill of Rights” has no specific section on land use policy, but I think it’s fair to say that the land use policies of the City of Santa Monica would have to change if the Council ultimately adopts the “Sustainability Bill Of Rights.” Check it out. At least as far as I’m concerned, it never hurts to copy a good idea! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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