Tomorrow is a big day at the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. At 1:30 in the afternoon, the Board will consider the so-called “Whispering Oaks” development proposal. This is the proposal that would cut down 3,000 or 4,000 oak trees. I doubt that those trees would actually be “whispering” if the chain saws were given the final go-ahead, but we tend to be hard of hearing where the natural world is concerned. Probably, the trees would be screaming in terror and distress, but that might seem like mere whispers to those who want to make massive modifications to the habitat of the former Fort Ord, to build a bus storage yard and an industrial business park.

The issue at the Board tomorrow comes to the Board in a context that is different from the normal development application. Last week, on a 3-2 vote, the Board approved a huge shopping center development on Highway 68. The Board had full jurisdiction. This time, because the voters qualified a referendum measure, to overturn the Board’s previous approval of “Whispering Oaks,” the voters are actually in charge. If a Board majority continues to support the proposed development, the Board will have to put the development to a vote of the people. They can’t just move ahead unilaterally.

I have placed links to the staff report and to other materials in today’s Land Use Report Blog. If you want the oaks to continue to “whisper” in the wind, you may need to shout a bit!

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Blog: Two Worlds
• Monterey County Board of Supervisors Agenda
• Whispering Oaks Agenda Item #S-2

It’s Valentine’s Day on the Central Coast, and the City of Watsonville is thinking about turning local farmlands into retail shopping centers. If that doesn’t seem very “romantic” or appealing to you, I suggest that you get engaged with the City of Watsonville’s long term planning process. I am pretty sure that those in favor of this idea are already fully engaged and are looking forward to the wedding.

The City is in the middle of a General Plan Update, because the courts declared the last General Plan invalid. The Wittwer & Parkin law firm, with which I am associated, won that lawsuit, and is continuing its involvement. The big issue last time around was airport safety, since lots of development was being proposed around the Watsonville Airport. It doesn’t appear that the City has given up that idea. The “farmlands to shopping centers” idea, however, has surfaced only recently. Watsonville’s current Mayor, Daniel Dodge, is promoting that idea, which will be considered by the Council tonight.

The City staff is arguing that the City Council should not try to advance this farmland conversion idea itself, because then the City would have to do an Environmental Impact Report. The City staff thinks that some outside party, like a landowner, for instance, should be encouraged to do an initiative measure to promote the “farmlands to shopping centers” concept. That way, the City wouldn’t have to do an EIR.

There is more information in today’s transcript.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Blog: Two Worlds
• City of Watsonville Website
• City of Watsonville General Plan Update Website
• Today’s Agenda For The Watsonville City Council
• The “Farmlands To Shopping Centers” idea is Agenda Item #8.2

The Local Government Commission (or LGC) focuses on ways that local governments can make “smart growth” work. If there are any local officials listening, and they are not aware of the LGC, I’ve put a link to the LGC website in today’s Land Use Blog.

Tomorrow, the LGC is sponsoring a “webinar,” to provide local governments with information on free resources available to assist them with climate action and energy planning. This is the tenth in a series of fifteen webinars focused on helping local governments increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Webinar is titled “Free Resources for Energy Planning: SEEC Tools and How Local Governments Can Use Them.”  

“SEEC” refers to a “Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative.” This collaborative is made up of three statewide non-profit organizations and California's four Investor Owned Utilities.

The webinar will provide a brief overview of all the SEEC resources, including the Statewide Energy Efficiency Best Practices Forum. The cities of Glendale and Santa Clarita, and AMBAG, based right here in the Monterey Bay Region, will provide insights and knowledge to webinar participants. It’s free, but you need to sign up in advance. Find out more in today’s Report on the KUSP website.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Blog: Two Worlds
• Webinar Announcement
• LGC Website

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is meeting this morning, starting at 9:00 o’clock. The meeting will be held in the Transportation Commission’s offices, located upstairs at 1523 Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz. As usual, members of the public are invited. As usual, probably not too many members of the public will attend. Let me encourage you to be one of the few!

The Transportation Commission is made up mostly of elected officials, but the officials who serve on the Commission are not directly elected to that post. Mostly, they are appointed by the County Board of Supervisors, and by the city councils of the four cities located in Santa Cruz County. There are only four cities. This seems pretty basic, but sometimes people get confused. Live Oak, Pasatiempo, Freedom, Felton, Davenport, and Soquel (just to pick a few place names) are not actually cities. Cities always have their own elected city councils. In Santa Cruz County, that means Watsonville, Capitola, Santa Cruz, and Scotts Valley.

Today, the Transportation Commission is going to be discussing the acquisition of the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, and is also going to discuss doing a poll on transportation funding. That means that the Commission is thinking about how they could get local voters to approve more money for transportation improvements.

If you’d like to take the Commission’s “sustainability survey” you can find a link in today’s Blog post.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Blog: Two Worlds
• Transportation Commission Agenda Access
• February 16, 2012 Agenda
• The Commission’s Sustainability Survey will be placed on the Commission’s website

In Santa Cruz, a “Vote On Desal” coalition is circulating an initiative petition within the City of Santa Cruz. The initiative would amend the Santa Cruz City Charter to give city voters the right to vote, before the City makes any final commitment to the construction of a $100 million dollar-plus desalination plant. On the UCSC campus, students are holding an event next Wednesday, February 22nd, at which this topic is also going to be debated. I will be participating personally, as will former Santa Cruz Mayor Mike Rotkin. The event gets underway at 5:30 p.m., in the Stevenson Fireside Lounge.

Desalination is directly related to the future growth of UCSC, and to the future growth and development of all those areas served by City water. The so-called “Comprehensive Settlement Agreement” that the City signed with the University contains a statement that the City will pursue a phased approach to desalination, as needed to meet growth needs. This is one of the features of the agreement that has not been widely advertised. In connection with my work as an attorney with the Wittwer & Parkin law firm, I am representing the Community Water Coalition, which is concerned about the extension of City water to allow the construction of about 3,000,000 square feet of new construction on the undeveloped UCSC “North Campus.” For the CWC, the tie-in between continued growth and desalination is pretty clear.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Blog: Two Worlds
• SCWD2 Website
• Desal Alternatives Website
• Vote On Desal Website
• Right To Vote On Desalination Initiative Measure