The Monterey County Board of Supervisors will meet tomorrow. Agenda Item #39 proposes that the Board enter into two contracts. One contract would be with a consulting firm, ICF Jones & Stokes. A related contract would be with the Pebble Beach Company. In effect, the Pebble Beach Company would promise to pay the County for the County’s costs incurred in connection with the ICF Jones & Stokes’ contract. This is a typical way that the cost of public expenditures, related to private developments, are shifted to private parties.

In the arrangement that the Board will consider tomorrow, ICF Jones & Stokes will be preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Report on the proposed development of 24 inclusionary housing units on Pebble Beach Company property located near the intersection of Morse Drive and Congress Road. As currently contemplated, this development would require the removal of 133 Monterey Pine and 583 oak trees. The County has the legal obligation to do a full environmental review of this proposal. ICF Jones & Stokes will do the actual work; the Pebble Beach Company will pay for it.

“Inclusionary housing” means housing that an average or below average income person can purchase or rent. If this project goes ahead, some lower income families will have the right to claim an address in Pebble Beach, certainly one of the most “upscale” places around.

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda, Monterey County Board of Supervisors

The Santa Cruz City Council is meeting this afternoon and evening. At 7:00 p.m., the Council will consider the relocation of the Pacific Collegiate School (or PCS). PCS is a so-called “charter school,” currently operating out of a school district facility on Swift Street, but the school district is going to reclaim their Swift Street property for public school use, and that means that PCS needs a new home. PCS proposes to relocate to 3004 Mission Street, still in the City but on the outskirts, for sure. If you are interested in this item, you can review relevant documents by clicking on the links below.

In its afternoon session, starting at 2:00 o’clock, the City Council will consider major modifications to a mixed-use industrial/commercial/residential development proposed at 2120 Delaware Avenue. That’s Agenda Item #21, and that means that a couple of major land use changes affecting the Westside will be debated tomorrow.

The Council will also discuss a Water Shortage Emergency Status Report (Agenda Item #22), and I guess you could call the report “good news.” It says that “the overwhelming majority of customers [stayed] within their monthly allotments.” “Large irrigation accounts, including many City parks … have [also] cut back, [with] … early reports [showing] this category of customers making cutbacks of greater than 50 percent.”

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• July 22, 2014 Santa Cruz City Council Agenda
• PCS Relocation
• 2120 Delaware Avenue Item
• Water Shortage Emergency Status Report

AMBAG, or the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, publishes a periodic “Clearinghouse” report that gives its readers a “heads up” on important land use related items throughout the entire AMBAG Region. That region includes San Benito County, Monterey County, and Santa Cruz County, and the AMBAG “Clearinghouse” report is a very helpful resource for anyone interested in land use items.

Unfortunately, while AMBAG publishes the Clearinghouse report on its website, the website listing always seems to be several months behind, and the greatest value of the Clearinghouse is to provide a timely notification of upcoming items. If you are interested in receiving the Clearinghouse personally, you’ll need to contact the staff planner at AMBAG. I have contact information below.

I was thinking about the AMBAG Clearinghouse as I prepared today’s Land Use Report because there are a lot of very interesting listings in the most recent edition, generated on July 17th. Specifically:

• The Ferrini Ranch subdivision EIR is out for review;
• A rehabilitation of the Santa Cruz North Coast water line is being proposed;
• An EIR on Phase II of the Salinas Valley Water Project is underway;
• A major modification of Main Street in Watsonville is being reviewed, and
• A comprehensive plan for the Carmel Lagoon ecosystem is being evaluated.

Listeners may want to follow up on one or more of these items!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• AMBAG Website
• Regional Clearinghouse Online Reports
• To subscribe to the AMBAG Clearinghouse report, contact:
  Paul Hierling, Planner
  Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments
  Email: phierling@ambag.org
  Telephone: 831-264-5084

Here’s an upcoming public hearing item that may be of interest to all those who are following the local, statewide, and national debate about “fracking,” and continuing efforts by oil companies to increase hydrocarbon production in an era of global warming.

On Wednesday, July 30th, at 9:00 a.m., the Monterey County Planning Commission will consider a Temporary Use Permit to allow for an exploration for oil and gas, using an existing well. The permit, if granted, will be for oil exploration on property located on Jolon Road, in Bradley. The permit is being sought by the Porter Estate Company / Bradley Ranch. The Hearing Notice says, and I quote, “any and all interested persons may appear and be heard.”

As of the time I am recording this Land Use Report, the Planning Commission agenda, and the staff report on this item, are not available online. I have, however, included a link in today’s transcript to the place on the County’s website where Planning Commission agendas are posted when available. You can get more information below.

I think that it’s good for members of the public to become informed and to join the debate about when, where, and if increased oil production should be encouraged in the Monterey Bay Region. Not only is global warming an issue, so is the impact of oil production on our scarce water resources.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Planning Commission Agendas
• Google Maps – 72327 Jolon Road, Bradley
• For more information on the oil exploration permit, contact:
  Grace Bogdan, Project Planner
  Monterey County Resource Management Agency - Planning Department
  168 West Alisal Street, 2nd Floor, Salinas, CA 93901

As I mentioned yesterday, there is a great deal of local concern about “fracking,” or “hydraulic fracturing.” Fracking is a technique for obtaining new oil resources from geologic formations that have not, up until recently, been seen as economically productive for oil and gas development. Water supply and water quality impacts can be severe.

In Santa Cruz County, the Board of Supervisors has adopted an ordinance that essentially bans fracking. In San Benito County, voters will have an opportunity in November to take a comparable action by way of an initiative measure. In Monterey County, there seems to be a real interest by oil companies to expand oil production, including by way of fracking technologies. The Monterey County Planning Commission recommended a moratorium, but the Board of Supervisors has not yet considered the matter.

If you would like to “study up” on the topic, here is a “free event” that I think will be interesting. At noon on Saturday, July 26th (that’s tomorrow), Calvin Tillman, the former Republican Mayor of Dish, Texas, is going to be speaking at the Sunnyslope Elementary School Auditorium, located at 1475 Memorial Drive in Hollister. His topic? “Why Fracking Made Me Move.” Texas has welcomed fracking, by and large. Should be worthwhile to hear from former Mayor Tillman about some of the possible downsides!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• San Benito Rising Website – Upcoming Events
• San Benito Rising Website – Information and Resources
• Fracking and Aquifer Contamination