Tomorrow, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will be focusing in on planning issues for the Aptos area. If you care about the future of Aptos, and I think lots of people do, it would be worth your while to review the agenda materials for Agenda Item #45 on tomorrow’s Board agenda. A link is available at kusp.org/landuse.

You might also want to mark your calendar for a public hearing on September 25th, which is when the Board is scheduled to make decisions on a major development project in Aptos Village, proposed by Barry Swenson Builder. Again, if you care about the future of Aptos, I think you will want to be involved in the discussion around that proposed project.

The normal land use approval process begins when a landowner or developer makes an official application for approval of a specific project. Almost always, the design presented is aimed at making money for the developer, and making things convenient for the developer. Professional planning staff at the agency reviewing the project will then apply the rules and regulations on the books, to ensure that the project meets minimum standards, but it is not necessarily true that planning department staff understand all the nuances. Take it from me; public involvement can make a big difference. So, if you care about the future of Aptos, get involved now.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Agenda, August 21, 2012
• Agenda Item #45 – Planning Issues In The Aptos Area

Yesterday, I gave KUSP listeners a “heads up” about the Aptos area planning issues that will be discussed by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors this morning. The Board meeting starts at 9:00 o’clock, and is brimming over with interesting planning items. A link to the Board’s agenda is provided below.

Besides discussing key planning issues in the Aptos area, the Board is going to make a decision on a land use designation and rezoning matter affecting the self-storage facility that exists along Soquel Drive, close to the Freedom Boulevard exit off Highway One. Because land use designations have legal impact, it’s important that they be correct. In this case, it turns out that an apparent mapping error, carried forward from the 1970’s, is affecting the commercial property where the StoreMore America facility is located. Obviously, this property is devoted to a commercial use, but the current map says that part of the property should be residential.

Items #43 and #44 involve proposed rezonings to facilitate timber production, on parcels now zoned for residential agricultural use. One is in the First District, in the mid-county area. One is in the San Lorenzo Valley. These items involve interesting planning issues, and if you live in the neighborhood, your interest may be more than theoretical, so check them out.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Agenda, August 21, 2012
• Agenda Item #45 – Planning Issues In The Aptos Area
• Agenda Item #42 – StoreMore America Rezoning
• Agenda Item #43 – Timber Production Zone Designation, Olive Springs Road
• Agenda Item #44 – Timber Production Zone Designation, Highway 236

Lots of development has been occurring, or is planned to occur, in Marina and Seaside, cities which serve as kind of a “gateway” to the Monterey Peninsula. Listeners who want to get involved in the key planning issues that will define the future of the Peninsula need to pay attention to what is going on in those two cities.

In today’s Land Use Report blog, I am providing some links to information on planning items in Seaside. Seaside has lots of planning projects underway, and is apparently interested in taking over another major development proposal, the so-called “Monterey Downs” development. The property on which this development is proposed (part of the former Fort Ord) is currently located in the unincorporated portion of Monterey County. Thus, the Monterey Downs development has been seen as a “County” issue. According to the Monterey County Weekly, though, the City of Seaside now appears to want to annex the development area, and to handle the Monterey Downs project as a city project.

As proposed, Monterey Downs would include a horse park, equestrian arena, commercial center, hotels, and houses on 549 acres, and would incorporate a 135-acre vets’ cemetery and a 17-acre city corporation yard. Annexation of the property to Seaside would require approval by the Local Agency Formation Commission. A link to information on this controversial project is found below.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• City of Seaside Website
• Major Projects in Seaside
• Monterey County Weekly Article on Monterey Downs

The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency, or PVWMA, has voted to proceed with a brand new Basin Management Plan (or BMP). Don’t you just love those acronyms? In fact, the adoption of this BMP is a pretty big deal.

In today’s Land Use Report blog, I am providing a link to a PowerPoint presentation that was shown to the PVWMA Board of Directors on August 15th. The BMP will attempt to correct current overdraft conditions in the Pajaro Valley groundwater aquifer by saving 5,000 acre feet of water per year through water use efficiency measures; an additional 3,000 acre feet per year of conservation will come from optimizing the use of existing supplies. The BMP also proposes that 4,100-acre feet per year will be made available through the development of new supplies.

The PVWMA’s new BMP is not suggesting that the problems we’re facing here can be solved by importing water from somewhere else. Three projects have been specifically identified. One is a project that would make use of water from College Lake. One would establish a North Dunes Recharge Basin, and one would divert water out of the Pajaro River at Murphy’s Crossing, and then capture that water in recharge basins nearby.

The future of our agricultural industry depends on solving our current overdraft problems.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• PVWMA Website
• Information on the BMP Presented on August 15, 2012
• PVWMA Press Release on Adoption of the BMP

A City General Plan Update is still pending in the City of Capitola. I encourage Capitola City residents to read the latest version of the General Plan Update, and to get involved in the General Plan Update process. While project level planning decisions always attract the most attention, the long range planning decisions that are incorporated in a community’s General Plan are actually more important. That is because all project level approvals have to be found “consistent” with the adopted General Plan. The General Plan, in other words, is just what the courts say it is, a “constitution for land use.” Just as the enactments of the U.S. Congress must be consistent with the U.S. Constitution, actions taken by local governments that affect land use have to be consistent with the community General Plan.

In the meantime, as the General Plan Update process proceeds, the City of Capitola continues to process various land use related projects. One project that might be interesting to KUSP listeners is the proposed Villa Capitola Senior Housing project. This proposed project would require the demolition of an existing commercial salvage yard and the subsequent construction of a 23-unit market-rate rental development in a new, three-story building. The project is proposed at 1575 38th Avenue. The comment period on the project Initial Study ends on Monday, September 3rd.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• City of Capitola Website
• General Plan Update
• General Plan Update Schedule

Recruitment is underway to fill a vacancy on the Capitola Commission on the Environment. The Council is seeking applications from persons who are 18 years of age, or older. Applications can be obtained from the receptionist at the Capitola City Hall, 420 Capitola Avenue, or by calling 831-475-7300, or can be obtained online at http://www.ci.capitola.ca.us/capcity.nsf/CtyCnclComm.html.