The Fort Ord Reuse Authority, or FORA, has a brand new website, and there is a “New” item featured right on the “Welcome Page” to which I’d like to draw to your attention. Tomorrow, County Supervisor Dave Potter and Carmel Mayor Jason Burnett will be hosting a town hall meeting to discuss issues relating to the Former Fort Ord. You are definitely invited. The town hall meeting will be held at the Carmel City Hall, and will begin at 5:30 tomorrow afternoon.

Mayor Burnet and Supervisor Potter will discuss topics ranging from the extension of FORA, to a recently-published reassessment of the base reuse plan, to economic development opportunities on the former Fort Ord, to the implications of the designation of the former Fort Ord as a National Monument, to the regional impact of decisions made by the Fort Ord Reuse Authority.

In fact, I think that any and all questions relating to Fort Ord will be in order. The FORA Executive Officer, Michael Houlemard, is scheduled to speak. There is a lot to talk about, and I think that KUSP listeners might want to attend, even if they are not Carmel residents. If you would like to do a bit of “studying up” on Fort Ord, before going to the meeting, you can find links to various materials in today’s Land Use Report blog. As ever, point your browser to kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• FORA Website
• Town Hall Announcement
• News Article – Public Input Wanted on Fort Ord Projects
• News Article – FORA seeks to cut down trees at Parker Flats
• Base Reuse Plan Reassessment Draft Scoping Report, 2012
• LandWatch Analysis of FORA Reassessment of Base Reuse Plan
• Keep Fort Ord Wild Website

The Santa Cruz County Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, will meet tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. at the Capitola City Hall. If you care about water supply issues, within the water service area of the City of Santa Cruz, you may want to attend.

LAFCO will soon decide whether or not the City of Santa Cruz should be allowed to extend water service, outside its current water service area, to facilitate over 3,000,000 square feet of new construction on the UCSC North Campus. Since the City is facing a genuine water supply crisis, this is not a trivial question, and LAFCO is taking it seriously. A couple of informal LAFCO committees will be reporting at tomorrow’s meeting. The final decision is scheduled for the Commission’s October meeting. That meeting will be held on October 10th, and the location of the meeting is yet to be determined.

The Wittwer & Parkin law firm, with which I am associated, is representing the Community Water Coalition, which opposes the extension of water service to the UCSC North Campus unless and until it is clear that there is an adequate water supply for existing customers, and to keep fish alive in North Coast streams and the San Lorenzo River. There is a meeting about that topic tomorrow, too. The Department of Fish and Game is addressing these issues at the Scotts Valley Hilton, starting at 10:00 a.m.

This is Gary Patton.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• LAFCO Website
• LAFCO Agenda
• Logistics Memo, October 10, 2012 Meeting
• Department of Fish and Game Coho Recovery Website
• NOAA Fisheries Draft Coho Recovery Plan

NOAA Fisheries and State Department of Fish and Game Workshop on Coho Recovery:

September 5, 2012
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley, Pine/Oak Room
6001 La Madrona Drive
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Plans are underway to build a Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail. This is a long-term project, and will proceed according to the provisions of a “Master Plan,” which is being developed right now. Two scoping meetings will be held this week. The first will be held this evening, at 6:00 p.m., at the Louden Nelson Community Center, located at 301 Center Street in downtown Santa Cruz. The second scoping meeting will be held tomorrow, on Thursday, September 6th, at 6:00 p.m., at the offices of the Community Foundation, located at 7807 Soquel Drive in Aptos.

The Master Plan will establish a continuous trail alignment and a set of design standards for a multi-use trail that will go the length of Santa Cruz county. The proposed alignment typically follows the Santa Cruz Branch Line right-of-way, and is separated into three reaches: the northern reach; the central reach; and the Watsonville reach. The majority of the proposed corridor would include construction of a new multi-use recreation trail that provides bicycle, pedestrian, wheelchair, and non-motorized scooter travel on a paved right-of-way completely separated from any vehicular traffic on streets or highways.

If you would like to get involved in this exciting trail project, try to attend one of the upcoming meetings. If you want to comment on the Notice of Preparation for the environmental document, the deadline is September 22nd.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Trail Network Master Plan Website
• More information is available from: ccaletti@sccrtc.org

Tonight, the Santa Cruz City Planning Commission will review plans for the construction of a temporary basketball arena, to be located on land owned by the Seaside Company in downtown Santa Cruz. The proposal is being “fast-tracked” by the City, which appears ready not only to allow this construction project to go forward, but also to provide $4 million dollars of the City’s “deep financial reserves” to subsidize the construction of this facility for the use of the Golden State Warriors. The owners of the Warriors are definitely in a “construction” period. They are also planning to build a basketball arena in the City of San Francisco, though that one is going to be a permanent facility, and it doesn’t appear that it will be receiving any financial subsidy from the City of San Francisco.

For City residents, the financial aspects of the proposed deal may be the most important issue. It appears that the City won’t be getting the entirety of its $4 million back, so for the money that isn’t coming back, this is simply a City contribution to the Warriors’ owners, not a loan. However, the planning aspects are also worth considering. The City is saying that no Environmental Impact Report is required, on the basis that there won’t be any significant noise, traffic, air quality, or water quality impacts.

There is more information in today’s Land Use Report blog. The City Council is scheduled to make a final decision next Tuesday, September 11th.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Sentinel Article on Warriors’ Proposal
• San Francisco Chronicle article on Warriors Proposal in San Francisco
• City Planning Commission Agenda

Developers are proposing to build a major new subdivision outside the City of Salinas, along the scenic Highway 68 corridor. The proposed development is called the Ferrini Ranch Subdivision. If you care about Highway 68 traffic, or the scenic quality of that highway, or perhaps the new fiscal demands that such unincorporated development places on hard-pressed county governments, you will probably want to get involved in the process.

A Draft Environmental Impact Report, or EIR, was just released for public comment. The comment deadline is October 22nd. You can find a link at kusp.org/landuse.

CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, gives members of the public an opportunity to review proposed project plans well in advance, and CEQA requires that public comments be taken seriously. Monterey County is required to provide specific responses to each and every public comment received. This is how CEQA works! It’s a three-stage process: first, a draft report on expected impacts; then, public comments; then, a response to each comment. At the end, the Board of Supervisors should have really good information on which to base its decision – but the process does depend on public involvement.

The developers are proposing 212 new residential units. Your time to comment begins now.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• News Article on Ferrini Ranch Subdivision Environmental Review
• Planning Documents on Proposed Ferrini Ranch Subdivision
• Project Description for the Ferrini Ranch Subdivision
• If you’d like to get involved, contact the Highway 68 coalition - (831) 484-6659