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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of July 4, 2011 to July 8, 2011
Week of July 4, 2011 to July 8, 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 July 4, 2011 to July 8, 2011
- Monday, July 4, 2011
Our “Political” World
- Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The “Parker Report” on Whispering Oaks
- Wednesday, July 6, 2011
The Pajaro Basin Management Plan
- Thursday, July 7, 2011
The League of Women Voters on Regional Planning
- Friday, July 8, 2011
Coastal Commission Jurisdiction
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, July 4, 2011 Our “Political” World |
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The Fourth of July is preeminently a “political” holiday, associated with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is obvious, but may bear mentioning, that we wouldn’t have the holiday if the Revolution had not been successful. Saying that you are going to do something, and then not actually accomplishing it, doesn’t lead to a celebration. What counts is following through. Our most important political achievement is not actually contained in the Declaration of Independence but in the Constitution, which translated that “declaration” into a genuine political reality. The political reality of American politics is our commitment to a system of democratic and representative self-government. If you think about it, the politics we have created works (or at least is supposed to work) on the model of the Declaration of Independence. We “declare” what we are going to do by enacting a law. We then follow the law and (we hope) achieve the results we said we wanted to. That’s the way our politics is supposed to work, and it has worked that way often enough to celebrate the system. Land use planning is a perfect example of the process. We debate and discuss what we want, adopt a plan, and then follow the plan to create the kind of community we think is best. I’ve played a part in that process in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, as so many local residents have. That is something worth celebrating! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, July 5, 2011 The “Parker Report” on Whispering Oaks |
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Monterey County Supervisor Jane Parker is trying to make our local politics work the way it’s supposed to. At least that is my judgment. Yesterday, we celebrated the Fourth of July, a holiday meant to commemorate our success in creating the foundations of democratic self-government, here in these United States. Self-government only works, though, when we ourselves get involved and participate. Without real and significant public participation, the dream of American democracy becomes nothing more than a system in which we elect the people, who hire the people, who run our lives for us. Not good enough. I am delighted to see that Supervisor Parker really is trying to get ordinary people engaged in the key political issues facing Monterey County. She publishes, for instance, a periodic “Parker Report,” to inform the public about important decisions, and to solicit their personal involvement. The most recent edition, linked in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report, is intended to galvanize public participation in a hearing next week on the so-called “Whispering Oaks” project. This is the project that will cut down about 4,000 oak trees to create a service center for Monterey-Salinas Transit, right in the middle of the native habitats of the former Fort Ord. Whatever your position on the proposed project, self-government does demand that we get involved ourselves. Check out the Parker Report for more information. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, July 6, 2011 The Pajaro Basin Management Plan |
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The Ad Hoc Basin Management Plan Committee of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency will meet in Watsonville tomorrow. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m., at the U.C. Cooperative Extension, located at 1432 Freedom Boulevard. You can view and download the agenda packet by using a link that I have placed in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. Monterey and Santa Cruz counties face a genuine water supply emergency in the Pajaro Valley. Virtually all the water used in the Pajaro Valley comes from groundwater supplies, and the groundwater basin that straddles the border between the two counties is massively overdrafted. The current overdraft is causing saltwater intrusion into the aquifer, so the problems are two-fold: first, disappearing supplies; second, saltwater contamination of the supplies that are left. The future economic health of the City of Watsonville, the small unincorporated town of Pajaro, and the business of commercial agriculture in South Santa Cruz County and North Monterey County all depend on solving the current overdraft. Solving the overdraft problem is, in fact, the sole assignment given to the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency. So far, there has been more fighting than progress on finding workable solutions. The work of the Ad Hoc Basin Management Committee is of critical importance. I hope you’ll focus on the issue, and get involved if you can. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, July 7, 2011 The League of Women Voters on Regional Planning |
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This week, I think I have probably been spouting off on the topic of getting “personally involved” in the land use planning process even more than I usually do, in view of the fact that the week began with the Fourth of July holiday. The land use planning process provides a great example of how democratic self-government is supposed to work. I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t highlight the fact that effective involvement and engagement requires not only the involvement of individuals, but their involvement through an organized effort. Individual, personal involvement can make you a “gadfly.” Connection with a dedicated group, focused on an issue you care about, can really affect the future, and make you and the group a “political” force to be reckoned with. A shorthand way of saying this is to observe that politics is always a “team sport.” So, if you would like to get more directly involved in the land use decisions that will help determine our future, my suggestion is that you seek out an existing group or groups with which you feel comfortable, and get engaged in the work they are doing. One possibility, on both sides of the Bay, is the League of Women Voters. There are League Chapters on the Monterey Peninsula, in the Salinas Valley, and in Santa Cruz County. The transcript of today’s Land Use Report has links, including a link to a very interesting letter that these League Chapters have written on regional planning, in support of the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, or AMBAG. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, July 8, 2011 Coastal Commission Jurisdiction |
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These Land Use Reports come to you through the good offices of KUSP Radio. Each segment can be no more than one minute and twenty-two seconds in length, and that isn’t very much time to do an in-depth report. To try to make the best use of the limited time available, I often refer listeners to additional materials, linked to the written transcripts that KUSP is good enough to keep on its website. I do hope that listeners will follow up sometimes, and check out these materials. You can access them by clicking on the Land Use Report icon, at www.kusp.org, and then going to the “view print archives” section. Today, I’d like to refer you to an important appellate court decision, in the Citizens For A Better Eureka case. In that case, the pro-development group Citizens For A Better Eureka argued that the Coastal Commission had no jurisdiction over a proposed mixed-use development along the shoreline, because part of the development was intended to abate “nuisances” on the site. The Coastal Act does say that no coastal permit is needed when local government action is aimed at the abatement of a nuisance. The Court in this case held that the Coastal Act is always to be read to provide the greatest possible protection to coastal resources. That translated into a holding that a permit was required, for what amounted to a large new development. Check out the transcript if you’d like to read the decision yourself. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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