As far as I know, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will be meeting tomorrow. Usually, the County’s website provides ample evidence of such an upcoming meeting, specifically by making the complete agenda packet available online. As I’m recording this edition of the Land Use Report, however, there is no online agenda available. What is available is a listing of the Board’s last meeting, and a “Notice of Cancellation And Adjournment.” That notice tells the public that the meeting formerly scheduled on April 24th would be “adjourned to Tuesday, May 1, 2012, commencing at 9:00 a.m.” By the time you are actually hearing this on KUSP, I hope that the County Clerk will have made agenda materials available online.

There is at least one important land use item scheduled for Board consideration tomorrow, and that item is mentioned in the “Notice of Cancellation And Adjournment.” The Planning Commission denied an application for the construction of thirty-one market rate lots, and eleven units targeted for average and below average income persons. This is the so-called “Val Verde project,” located on Val Verde Drive in Carmel Valley. The developer has appealed that Planning Commission denial. If you have an opinion about the proposed development, the Board is supposed to take action at 10:30 tomorrow morning.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey County Website
• Monterey County Board of Supervisors Agenda
• LandWatch Bulletin on the Val Verde Project

The Carmel City Council will be meeting this afternoon at 4:30 at the Carmel City Hall. You are certainly invited to attend, though I can’t promise lots of controversial items on the Council agenda. The Council will consider the placement of a webcam at Carmel Beach, and will also consider a resolution accepting a gift from the Carmel-by-the-Sea Garden Club, and authorizing the Garden Club to perform work on the City Hall Gardens, including the placement of a memorial sign. I personally don’t see either of these items as terribly contentious, but there might be another reason to head down to the City Hall today at 4:30. A municipal election was held in Carmel on April 10th, and that election has resulted in some changes; for one thing, Carmel-by-the-Sea now has a new Mayor.

Unlike many smaller cities, most of which allow the City Council to appoint one of its members as Mayor, with the result usually being that this post “rotates” among the elected City Council members, Carmel has a directly elected Mayor. Former Mayor Sue McCloud decided not to run for reelection, and Jason Burnett was elected Mayor on April 10th. There is something new in Carmel!

I have placed some links below, and if you can’t make it to the meeting this afternoon, you can watch it on streaming video. I’ve got a link for that, too.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda, Carmel City Council
• Carmel City Website
• Streaming Video of City Council Meetings
• Monterey County Weekly Story on Carmel Mayor Election
• Jason Burnett’s “Community Conversation” Website

Tonight, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County will be holding a meeting in Davenport, at the Davenport Elementary School, to discuss the future of the 8,532-acre CEMEX property, recently acquired by a consortium of land trust and conservation organizations. The CEMEX property is the largest expanse of unprotected redwoods and wildlife habitat in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and is the largest private landholding in Santa Cruz County. It extends from the gently rolling hillsides along Highway One through steep, forested slopes reaching all the way to the ridgeline along Empire Grade. Conservation of the CEMEX property will link 26,000 acres of contiguous protected lands, and will provide a critical wildlife linkage in the face of growing impacts from both development and climate change.

Santa Cruz County residents have worked hard to preserve and protect the Santa Cruz County North Coast. Just recently, the California Coastal Commission took action to provide permanent protection for the former Coast Land and Dairies property. Protecting the CEMEX property, which is adjacent to the Coast Land and Dairies property, is the next step in North Coast conservation.

The stakes for the future of Santa Cruz County and the North Coast couldn’t be higher. I hope you’ll attend the meeting tonight in Davenport. There is more information at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Land Trust of Santa Cruz County Website
• A free newsletter on the CEMEX property
• Press Announcement on CEMEX Property Acquisition

In Monterey County, there are at least three desalination water supply projects under active development. One project, sponsored by the California American Water Company, or Cal Am, could cost up to $395 million dollars. It would consist of a company-owned desal plant north of Marina, expanded aquifer storage and recovery in collaboration with the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, and water purchased from the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency’s groundwater replenishment project. This project is supposed to replace the failed regional desalination project, which has collapsed amidst financing difficulties, conflict of interest allegations, and legal challenges.

Second, a private company is boasting that they have a “deep water desal” opportunity that could reduce the impacts of desalination on the marine environment. This project would be based in Moss Landing.

Third, developer Nader Agha is proposing what he calls the “People’s Water Project,” also to be built at Moss Landing. That project has won initial support from the City of Pacific Grove, which has adopted a resolution to pursue lead agency status for what otherwise would be a private project. Pacific Grove is hoping, ultimately, to bring other public agencies on board.

If this all seems confusing, it is. I’ll try to keep you posted!

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey County Herald Story on Cal Am Desal Project
• The “People’s Water Project” Website
• The “Deepwater Desal” Project Website

Congress is considering a new farm bill, and on April 26th, the Senate Agriculture Committee voted to modify the existing system of agricultural subsidies, terminating the ability of industrial scale farms to collect millions of dollars in subsidies by allowing passive investors to be counted as farm “managers.” By closing that loophole, among other changes, it is estimated that the committee bill would save taxpayers $23 billion dollars over the next ten years.

Good news for the environment was a provision in the committee bill for a nationwide “Sodsaver” program, to protect native grass and prairie lands. Reform advocates, however, like the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, would like even more reforms. “Most noticeably,” said their spokesperson Ferd Hoefner, “the committee failed to provide adequate funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, thus limiting critical resources that new farmers need to succeed.”

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition wants the farm bill to expand opportunities for family farmers to “produce good food, sustain the environment, and contribute to vibrant communities.” In our Region, this could help sustain local agriculture, which is ever more focused on organic production and local marketing. You can find out more about the BFROA, or the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act, below.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Information on the 2012 Farm Bill
• National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) Website
• NSAC Comments on Senate Farm Bill Markup and Passage
• Information on the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act