The 32nd Annual EcoFarm Conference is taking place this week at Asilomar. The conference begins on February 1st, and runs through February 4th.

Sponsored by the Ecological Farming Association, EcoFarm is the oldest and largest ecological agricultural gathering in the West. It meets each year, at Asilomar, with the objective of helping to create, maintain, and promote healthy, safe, and just food farming systems. There are usually over 1,500 persons in attendance, and the conference program provides opportunities for networking, discovering the newest ecological agricultural techniques, and building skills for those committed to ecological farming.

This year, there are over 60 workshops with a comprehensive array of technical sessions for farmers, ranchers, activists, students, and educators. The food’s pretty good, too! The conference always features the best organic produce around, with the menus this year created by Angela Karegeannes of A Fork Full of Earth Organic Catering. Evening events include tastings, mixers, and live entertainment. Maybe even a showing of The Last Crop, a film that provides a vision for an agricultural future that is truly sustainable.

You can get more information from the Land Use Report Blog on the KUSP website.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Blog: Two Worlds
• Ecological Farming Association Website
• EcoFarm Conference Website A Fork Full Of Earth Organic Catering
• The Last Crop, Trailer

I never get tired of telling listeners that the local General Plan is your community’s most important land use policy document. The courts have called the local General Plan the community’s “constitution for land use.” State law requires each city and county in California to develop a comprehensive and internally consistent General Plan, covering seven specific topics: housing, land use, open space, conservation, circulation, noise, and safety. Cities and counties can add other elements, should they wish. The power of the General Plan is this: once the governing body has adopted these General Plan policies, every local land use and public works decision made by that city or county must be “consistent” with the General Plan. To the extent that the General Plan articulates specific standards that should govern the future growth and development of the community, a City Council or Board of Supervisors must follow those standards. If you care about the future of your community, getting the right sort of General Plan policies in place is a major first step!

The Clearinghouse Review published by the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (or AMBAG) reminds us that the public review period for the proposed new Watsonville General Plan EIR will end on February 21st. Those concerned about the future of Watsonville should get involved now.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Blog: Two Worlds
• Land Use And The General Plan
• The State’s General Plan Guidelines Website
• City of Watsonville – Current General Plan
• City of Watsonville – Proposed New General Plan Website

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission produces a Transportation Café television show on Santa Cruz County Community Television. The purpose of the program is to focus public attention on important transportation issues, and specifically on issues of particular interest to Santa Cruz County and the surrounding region. The show now airs every other month. The most recent show highlights the inclusion of sustainability principals in the area’s long range Regional Transportation Plan. A major focus of the show is the Sustainable Transportation Analysis and Rating System, or STARS, which makes “sustainability” a major focus for transportation planning. The idea is to achieve what is being called a “triple win,” a plan with advantages for people, the environment, and the economy. Over the next few months, the Transportation Commission will provide opportunities for members of the public to participate through an online survey, and through direct testimony to decision makers at public hearings.

The show discusses recent decisions allocating about $10 million dollars for highway, sidewalk, road and bicycle improvement projects over the next five years. As I reported last Thursday, the Commission also gave the go ahead for a $22 million highway-widening project on Highway One. You can get more information in the KUSP Land Use Report Blog.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Blog: Two Worlds
• YouTube Video – Transportation Café
• Transportation Commission Website
• Community Television Website
• 2012 Regional Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP)
• Highway Headaches, LUR Blog For Thursday, January 26, 2012

Schedule For Show On Community Television:

As listeners know, I am working as an environmental attorney, and I have made a commitment to KUSP management, and to those listening to the Land Use Report, that I will let listeners know if I comment on an issue with which the Wittwer & Parkin law firm is involved on behalf of a client. Today, I wanted to alert you to something I read about in the AMBAG Clearinghouse Review, but let me give you my disclaimer first. For several years, I have been working on high-speed rail issues, representing a community group based on the San Francisco Peninsula. Fairly recently, I have also begun working for a group of farmers from Kings County. Both of these groups are opposing the state’s high-speed rail project as it is currently configured.

That said, let me alert you to a public comment opportunity spotlighted by the most recent edition of the Clearinghouse Review. The California High-Speed Rail Authority has published a Partially Revised Draft Program EIR for the project they are advocating; that Draft EIR is focused specifically on the portion of the system that would run from the Central Valley to the San Francisco Bay Area. Two basic alternatives are considered. One comes over the Pacheco Pass. The other comes over the Altamont Pass. Monterey Bay Region residents do have a stake in the outcome. If you would like to find out more, and comment, you can get more information in today’s edition of the Land Use Report Blog.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Blog: Two Worlds
• HSR Draft EIR Information
• High-Speed Rail Authority Website
• AMBAG Clearinghouse Review
• Community Coalition on High-Speed Rail
• Citizens For California High-Speed Rail Accountability

Next Tuesday, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to make a decision on the shopping center project proposed for property at the intersection of Highway 68 and Corral de Tierra. I have spoken about this project a number of times before, since it really is a significant one. The item has been rescheduled numerous times, but next Tuesday may be the final showdown before the Board of Supervisors. If you care about Highway 68, which connects Salinas and Monterey, and provides the most direct link between Salinas and the Carmel Valley, you should plan to attend the Board meeting next Tuesday. This mention is a heads up, so you can reserve time on your calendar.

If you would like to study up on the project, to remind yourself what’s at stake, I have put links in the Land Use Report Blog that provides a daily transcript of each one of these weekday Land Use Reports. KUSP has a new website, and it is a much-improved one, from my point of view. If you go to www.kusp.org, and click on the Archives/Podcasts link at the top of the page, you will find links to all sorts of podcasts and blogs that will give you even better access than ever to the superlative program offerings of KUSP. You can get podcasts of this weekday show, and can even subscribe, so you get both the audio and written version in your email each weekday.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Blog: Two Worlds
• Information on the Corral de Tierra Shopping Center Proposal
• LandWatch Monterey County on the Proposed Corral de Tierra Shopping Center