If you wanted to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report on the proposed Ferrini Ranch development, I hope you did. The comment period closed last Friday. If you didn’t comment, or didn’t even know about the development, all is not lost. You will definitely have future opportunities to get involved. If you care about the future of the Highway 68 corridor, I would definitely suggest that you do get involved with the planning and environmental review process for this rather large proposed development.

Highway 68 connects Monterey and Salinas, and provides an entryway to the Carmel Valley. It is a scenic, two-lane road experiencing massive traffic problems at peak times. For years, developers have wanted to build more subdivisions and more shopping centers along Highway 68, and many of these development proposals have been approved. The proposed Ferrini Ranch development would result in the creation of 212 residential lots, a winery with 260 parking spaces, and would require 43 acres of new roads. The proposal is to remove 921 oak trees from the property, which is 870 acres in size. The development would have a significant impact on the County’s Toro Park.

There is more information in today’s Land Use Report blog. There is still time for you to get involved.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Planning Department Website – Ferrini Ranch
• Ferrini Ranch – Project Sponsor’s Website
• LandWatch Monterey County Website on Ferrini Ranch
• Highway 68 Coalition Website Comment
• Coast Weekly Article on Ferrini Ranch Development

Yesterday, I was speaking about Highway 68. If approved, the Ferrini Ranch development would have big impacts on the Salinas end of Highway 68. Another proposal that would affect Highway 68 is also going through the planning process. This proposal is not your typical residential subdivision and winery. It’s a road, proposed near the Monterey end of Highway 68. This development would not be undertaken by some private landowner who wants to make a lot of money, but by the Monterey Peninsula Airport District.

The Airport District has received funding to improve airport safety. One component of the proposed safety project would be a two-lane roadway from the Monterey-Salinas Highway to a 150-acre parcel of vacant land located on the Airport. I have placed links to two recent statements about the proposal in today’s transcript. The editorial position of the Monterey Peninsula Herald is that environmentalists are making too big a deal about the possible growth-inducing impacts of the proposed new roadway. Carmel Valley attorney Alexander Henson presents the opposite view.

The debate is really about CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act. CEQA does require that all the possible impacts of a proposed project be analyzed, even if the intention of the project is 100% to benefit the public. Check out those links.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey Peninsula Herald Editorial On Airport Issue
• Monterey Peninsula Herald Op-Ed Article On Airport Issue

Last weekend was rainy, but there was quite a celebration going on in Santa Cruz County, as the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission presided over festivities marking the public acquisition of the Santa Cruz Branch Line railroad.

Buying the railroad line for public use was controversial, and it wasn’t easy to accomplish. The Commission did succeed, however, after years of effort, in putting this property into public ownership. Now we are going to see what the future will bring. Rail-based transportation options are clearly a possibility, although it won’t be easy to make that happen. More likely, it will be easier, initially, to utilize the rail corridor for pedestrian and bicycle use, as part of a Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail. The Transportation Commission is working on that project, too. I encourage you to get involved with trail planning activities. A Draft Master Plan is out for review, with the comment deadline being December 21st of this year.

Not very well known is the role that the Coastal Commission played in helping to preserve and protect the rail line for public use options. Former Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas, who died earlier this year, talks about this subject in an audio recording that is part of a “Stories of the Coast” series narrated by Douglas. You can get a link at kusp.org/landuse. It is well worth the listening.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Stories of the Coast – Peter Douglas on the Monterey Bay Trail
• KRCB-FM Radio Website
• New York Times Article on Peter Douglas
• Transportation Commission Celebration Activities
• Scenic Trail Master Plan Website

I would like to wish listeners a “Happy Thanksgiving,” though I realize that there are probably fewer listeners this morning than on other days. I know that many KUSP listeners tune in to “Morning Edition” and the Land Use Report on their way to work, and I am hoping that most listeners are having a holiday today, so that the “listen while driving” paradigm isn’t in effect. I do want to give that “Happy Thanksgiving” greeting to all who remain tuned in, and to any of you who may follow the Land Use Report by way of KUSP podcasts, or by checking out the Land Use Report blog at kusp.org/landuse.

My family tradition on Thanksgiving, weather permitting, is for all of us to take a brief hike, somewhere, to get our bodies ready to gorge on our Thanksgiving feast, but also to remind ourselves of the beauties of the natural world in which we are so privileged to live. If you live on the Central Coast, you know what I am talking about.

Today, I thought I might just remind you, as I say “Happy Thanksgiving,” that the world upon which we ultimately depend, the world of nature, is a gift to us. It is not something we built ourselves. If we don’t pay attention to the primary importance of the world of nature, upon which our lives ultimately depend, we will be making a big mistake. We would be making a mistake not to realize that we can change what we do in “our” world, too!

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog

The Santa Cruz County Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, was scheduled to make a controversial decision on November 7th, but that decision got delayed. The City of Santa Cruz and UCSC want LAFCO to authorize the City to extend water service to the UCSC North Campus. This is an area outside the area where the City currently provides water. Under state law, LAFCO has the responsibility of deciding whether or not this extension of water service should be allowed. LAFCO policies say that water service should be extended only if LAFCO finds there is an “adequate, reliable, and sustainable” water supply.

Wittwer & Parkin, the law firm with which I am associated, represents the Community Water Coalition or the CWC. This community group takes the position that the City does not, at the current time, have an “adequate, reliable, and sustainable” water supply. The CWC believes that allowing the University to take more City water, to facilitate the University’s growth plans, and to construct over 3,000,000 square feet of new buildings in what is now a natural reserve area, would put current water users, and the natural environment, in jeopardy.

There was no decision on November 7th. If you want to get involved, mark your calendar for the next LAFCO meeting, on December 5th. That’s when the Commission is now scheduled to address this issue.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• LAFCO Website
• November 7, 2012 Agenda
• LAFCO Policies (Water Policies Highlighted)