The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors meets tomorrow. Agenda Item #36 is a recommendation from the County Administrative Officer that the Board adopt a significant modification to County Code Chapter 17.10, relating to affordable housing. Measure J, enacted by Santa Cruz County voters in 1978, says the following about affordable housing:

It shall be the policy of Santa Cruz County that at least 15 percent of those housing units newly constructed for sale or rental each year shall be capable of purchase or rental by persons with average or below average incomes.

This olicy directive is implemented by Chapter 17.10 of the County Code. While the Board has a good deal of latitude on “how” to achieve the policy, the voter-enacted policy on affordable housing must be followed by the Board of Supervisors.

If you care about affordable housing, I invite you to review Item #36 on tomorrow’s agenda. The proposal is that the developers of larger housing developments should be allowed to defer selling newly-created affordable housing units for over seven years after construction, if units are rented to qualifying lower income persons in the meantime. After that deferral period, the developers could then pay a fee and escape the low-income housing requirement entirely. Again, if you care, tomorrow is the time to give the Board your views.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Agenda, August 14, 2012
• Agenda Item #36 – Affordable Housing
• The Story of Measure J
• Measure J

The Transportation Agency for Monterey County, or TAMC, is seriously considering a proposal that would require motorists to pay a toll to use Highway 156, between Highway 101, near Salinas, and Highway One, near Castroville. Initially, the toll would pay for the widening of Highway 156. In the longer run, toll revenues might well provide an ongoing income stream for the Transportation Agency, which I am sure that TAMC would find quite attractive.

If you would like to get more information, you can track down the transcript of today’s Land Use Report at kusp.org/landuse. In addition, you can attend a presentation on the toll road proposal today. That might be worthwhile. TAMC staff has been making the rounds, discussing the toll road proposal, and they will be giving a presentation to the Salinas City Council, during the Council meeting this afternoon. I’ve placed a link to the Council agenda in today’s transcript. The meeting will be held at the Salinas City Hall, 200 Lincoln Street in Salinas, beginning at 4:00 p.m. The toll road item is Agenda Item #1, so be sure to be there right on the dot.

While TAMC says that it’s only a hypothetical schedule for the toll road project, there is a document showing that environmental review could be completed by next year, with the toll road actually in operation by 2019.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Salinas City Council Agenda, August 14, 2012
• Informational Materials and TAMC Schedule For Toll Road Construction
• July 12, 2012 Land Use Report
• July 17, 2012 Land Use Report
• July 26, 2012 Land Use Report

The City of Soledad tagline used to be, “Feel The Momentum.” I am not sure whether the City is still using that tagline, but things are happening in Soledad, at least by way of planning. Right now, the City is undertaking an update of its Downtown Specific Plan, and there is still time for interested persons to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report, and then to participate in the Plan adoption proceedings. I’ve put some links below.

One thing that the City is proposing to change is the boundaries of its Downtown Specific Plan Area. The City wants to expand those boundaries, and the overall objectives of the Plan are four: First, to establish a vibrant hub for commercial activity, entertainment, and hospitality. Second, to create a pedestrian oriented downtown that showcases the City’s unique culture and history. Third, to create a compact, mixed-use downtown that capitalizes on existing resources. Fourth, to make the Soledad downtown memorable.

I am not sure how much new and higher-density housing is part of the implementation strategy. The “momentum” that the City of Soledad used to talk about was the momentum of low-density sprawl on the agricultural lands surrounding the City. From a planning point of view, putting new residential growth in the City’s downtown core might have some very positive effects.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• City of Soledad Website
• Community & Economic Development
• Downtown Specific Plan Update
• City of Soledad Downtown Vision Program

You are very cordially invited to a community workshop, taking place tonight. The focus of tonight’s workshop is the Santa Cruz Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, sometimes called the IRWMP. The workshop goes from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Live Oak Elementary School, located at 1916 Capitola Road, right on the corner of 17th Avenue. I hope that at least some KUSP listeners will be able to attend. Doing good water planning for our region, after all, is critically important for the future of both our economy and environment.

The plan being discussed tonight includes policies and projects to ensure sustainable water use, reliable water supply, better water quality, improved flood protection and stormwater management, and environmental stewardship. In other words, the IRWMP definitely aims at being comprehensive.

In addition, the IRWMP is “non-regulatory.” That means that the plan will only work if people implement its provisions voluntarily.

Funding for the development and implementation of the IRWMP comes, in part, through agreements with the State Water Resources Control Board, and the State Department of Water Resources. The County of Santa Cruz has been playing a leadership role, and so has the Regional Water Management Foundation, created by the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County. You can get more information below.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz IRWM Plan
• For more information, please contact:
  • Chris Coburn (County) – Telephone: 831-454-2763; Email:
    chris.coburn@co.santa-cruz.ca.us
• Tim Carson (Foundation) – Telephone: 831-662-2000; Email: tim@cfscc.org

This November, voters in the City of Santa Cruz will get to decide if they want to have the final say on whether or not the City should help construct a new, $100 million dollar plus desalination plant. The so-called “Right to Vote on Desal” Initiative will be on the ballot on November 6th, though only within the City itself.

As KUSP listeners probably know, the City’s water service area goes beyond the City limits, encompassing areas in Live Oak, the City of Capitola, Pasatiempo and Branciforte, not to mention agricultural areas on the County’s North Coast. The election in November will not really be on desalination, per se. It will be on whether or not City voters should have the final sign off on a desalination project that could be very expensive, and that could have some very significant environmental impacts. Keeping the debate focused on the “right to vote” question seems very appropriate at this stage. That is actually the question that will face the voters in November.

Nonetheless, many KUSP listeners might like to start reading up on the desalination process itself. If you are in that frame of mind, I’ve placed a link to a recent report on desalination in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. The report comes from the Pacific Institute, and is called Desalination, With A Grain of Salt. The link is available below.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Pacific Institute Bulletin
• Desalination, With A Grain of Salt
• SCWD2 Desalination Project Website
• Right To Vote on Desal Coalition
• Desal Alternatives Website
• Gary Patton Two Worlds Blog – “This Is Desal….”