Land use policy making is almost always paired with policy decisions made in the areas of transportation and water. When we consider what the proper “use” of our land resources should be, whether that consideration is at a “general” level, or is focused on a specific parcel of land, we need to take into account what sort of transportation may be available to provide access, and we need to know what sort of water supplies may be present, too.

As someone who regularly provides this weekday “land use” report, I keep my eye on what’s happening not only at the land use agencies (like city councils and boards of supervisors), but also at what’s happening with both transportation and water agencies.

This evening, the Board of Directors of the Marina Coast Water District is meeting at 6:00 o’clock. There are a lot of interesting items on the agenda. For instance, a proposed water conservation education program, to be carried out in cooperation with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, and some important “internal” matters, like a review of the Board’s controversial “Procedures Manual,” and the recruitment of a new General Manger. Finally, Item #9D on tonight’s agenda, is about a proposed agreement with the California American Water Company that could have major implications for the future development of the Peninsula.

Get links to more information below.

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Marina Coast Water District Website
• August 4, 2014 Agenda – MCWD Board of Directors

I don’t know how many listeners have been missing the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, or have even noticed that they have been gone, but the Board has been “on vacation” during the entire month of July. No meetings! Well, it’s August, now, and the Board is back in session. The Board meets today, starting at 9:00 a.m., at the Santa Cruz County Government Center. The Government Center is that big, concrete building at the corner of Ocean and Water. Of course, you are invited!

As usual, there are a number of interesting land use items on today’s agenda. Item #56 is very neighborhood specific. It’s a proposal to amend the Seacliff Village Plan to allow residential uses on land located at the intersection of Hillcrest Drive and State Park Drive, eliminating a neighborhood commercial designation, and permitting the construction of a new single family dwelling on that land.

Agenda Item #57 has a much broader scope. It’s a “Study Session” to review a proposed “Sustainable Santa Cruz County Plan.” Everything is still in “draft” form, so you can get involved and have an impact, but the Board is moving closer to a decision. One idea is to try to marry land use policies in the County to an “Economic Vitality Strategy.” This planning effort definitely calls out for public involvement. I have links to more information below.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz County Board Agenda – August 5, 2014
• Item #56 – Staff Report on Proposed Seacliff Village Plan Amendment
• Item #57 – Staff Report on Sustainable Santa Cruz County Plan
• Sustainable Santa Cruz County Website
• Current Draft – Sustainable Santa Cruz County Plan

The La Bahia is an historic structure located at 215 Beach Street in Santa Cruz. The owners of the Beach Boardwalk also own La Bahia, which currently provides rental housing for mostly lower income persons. The owners of La Bahia have long wanted to tear it down, and to build a modern new hotel on the site. Because of the historic qualities of the existing structure, a partial demolition (that would preserve at least some of the historic La Bahia) has been necessary. There are still lots of issues, however, and the last proposal for a hotel development at La Bahia, approved by the Santa Cruz City Council, was turned down by the Coastal Commission because the proposed project did not conform to the requirements of the City’s own Local Coastal Program. Height and bulk issues were particularly at issue.

Tomorrow night, the latest proposal for the development of a hotel at the La Bahia site will go before the Santa Cruz City Planning Commission. The meeting will start at 7:00 p.m., in the Santa Cruz City Council Chambers. Links to more information can be found at kusp.org/landuse. The fiscal impact analysis is particularly interesting, since the Council has recently voted for a program that can be used to subsidize this hotel development with City tax revenues.

I encourage interested persons to get involved in this important permit matter.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• City Planning Commission Website
• City Planning Commission Agenda – August 7, 2014
• Information on Proposed La Bahia Hotel Development
• Economic Study of Proposed La Bahia Hotel Development
• DeCinzo Cartoon

I would like listeners to be aware of the meeting, today, of the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, or SCCRTC. The SCCRTC does transportation planning for Santa Cruz County. It coordinates with the planning efforts of the Transportation Agency for Monterey County, or TAMC, through the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, or AMBAG.

That may be enough acronyms for the morning! I am trying to make the point that transportation planners understand the necessity to do both local and regional transportation planning.

The SCCRTC meeting this morning will be held in Scotts Valley, starting at 9:00 a.m. As I have eyeballed the agenda, it seems to me that there are two items that might be of particular interest. Agenda Item #23 will provide an update on the Commission’s Passenger Rail Study. Item #22 is a report on a study that has evaluated travel time reliability along Highway One, from Watsonville to Santa Cruz. Lots of people make that commute, and as I read the staff report, one of the most important things, for commuters, is knowing that the time that the trip takes today will be the same as the time it takes tomorrow. “Reliability” of travel time, in other words, is a high priority.

There is more information below.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• SCCRTC Website
• Transportation Commission Agenda – August 7, 2014
• Fact Sheet – Passenger Rail Study

Ideally, land use planning should be connected up with transportation planning, and with water planning. Typically, though, water planning and land use planning have operated out of different “silos,” even when a single public agency has both land use and water planning responsibility. The Santa Cruz City Council provides a great example. The Council is responsible for land use planning within the City of Santa Cruz. Because the Council also operates the City’s water utility (serving City residents and residents in Pasatiempo, Live Oak, and parts of Capitola), you would think that there would be some sort of explicit recognition of the interdependence between land use planning and water planning.

Not really so at the moment. The Council has declared a drought crisis, and also recognizes a long-term water supply crisis, even in the absence of the drought. Our daunting water supply challenges, however, have not led the Council to hold up on water consumptive projects, like University expansion or big hotels. In fact, the Council recently voted to subsidize the construction of big hotels using City tax revenues.

On the upside, the Council has initiated a comprehensive review of water planning through its Water Supply Advisory Committee. That Committee is seeking public input. You may want to speak up. I have links to more information below.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• The City’s Water Supply Advisory Committee Seeks Public Input