One good way to participate in the land use decision-making process is to read and comment on the Environmental Impact Reports (or EIRs) prepared for major projects. Whenever a governmental agency is proposing a project that might have an adverse environmental impact, the agency is required to develop a Draft EIR, and then to provide time for public comment. The key to making the process work is for people actually to read these reports, and then to comment. Comments (and that includes your questions) must be taken seriously. A good example of how significant EIR comments can be is seen in the experience of the City of Santa Cruz with its proposed desalination plant. Once the City got 400+ substantive comments, the City realized that it had better “reboot.”

Today, I want to make Monterey County residents aware of a proposed project in the extreme southern part of the County. The California Flats solar project would cover almost 3,000 acres of land with solar generating facilities, converting these natural lands to an intense industrial landscape. The Draft EIR is now available. Comments are due by September 22nd. If you care about wildlife, and about the future development of Monterey County, please take a look! More information is at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• California Flats Solar Project Website – RMA Planning
• Notice of Availability of EIR
• EIR on Proposed Solar Project

The Marina Coast Water District is meeting this evening. If you live within the District, or if you care about the future of water availability on the Peninsula, or if you have thoughts about the future development of Fort Ord, you should probably take a look at the agenda packet.

The item on the agenda of most interest is the scheduled discussion of the District’s Five Year Strategic Plan. I have put links to the agenda, and to the Strategic Plan itself, in today’s transcript. Pages 28 and 29 outline “The Strategic Plan at a Glance.” On Page 8, there is a list of “Vision Statements.” One of those statements is the following: “We have studied ALL potential sources of water for the District (ground, surface, recycle, desal, etc.) and [have] selected supplemental sources of additional water.”

Thinking strategically, there are two basic approaches to matching water availability to water demand. One of them is to assume that water supply agencies will just have to do whatever is necessary to meet increasing demand over time. But there is another way. An alternative strategy would be to determine what water supply can be made sustainably available, taking both cost and the natural environment into account, and then saying that this is all the water that will be available, so that future developments will have to live with that limited supply, instead of new developments constantly requiring more water.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Marina Coast Water District Website
• September 2, 2014 Agenda Packet
• MCWD 5-Year Strategic Plan

The City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission is meeting tomorrow evening. The meeting starts at 7:00 o’clock at City Hall. As usual, I have put links to more information at kusp.org/landuse.

Some listeners might like to weigh in on Item #1, pun intended. I am talking about the reference to “weighing in.” Agenda Item #1 is all about a proposal to establish a new fitness center facility at 2931 Mission Street. That is right on the outskirts of town, as you drive north on Highway One towards Davenport. The Housing Authority currently has its offices in an existing building at this location. The fitness center would occupy about 8,000 square feet formerly used for offices and storage for the Housing Authority.

The other item on the Commission’s agenda tomorrow evening also has a “housing” tie. Agenda Item #2 is a proposed ordinance that would modify the City’s Accessory Dwelling Unit program. Providing property owners with the ability to construct ADUs, as they are called, is an important strategy for making more affordable housing available within the City. A handy chart in the staff report outlines the many changes that are proposed to the current program. In general, the idea is to encourage ADUs. Check today’s transcript to see the proposal, and consider going to that meeting tomorrow.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda – September 4, 2014 Meeting
• City Planning Commission Website
• Staff Report – Toadal Fitness, 2931 Mission Street
• Proposed ADU Amendments

If you head on down to the Santa Cruz County Governmental Center this morning you can take in a meeting of the County Transportation Commission. The membership of the Commission includes elected officials from the County Board of Supervisors, and elected City representatives as well. If you want to see a lot of elected officials in action (something I always encourage), this is just the right meeting for you.

Furthermore, I think that there is a very interesting item on today’s agenda. Agenda Item #17 is a report on the Commission’s Passenger Rail Study. The staff and the Commission will be focusing on the “Goals, Evaluation Metrics, and Scenarios” related to the study. In short, this item will provide the Commission (and the public) with an update on how this Passenger Rail Study is going to proceed.

When I first ran for public office, in 1974, I proposed that the existing rail line should be used for passenger traffic. Forty years later, we are getting a lot closer. If you read the staff report, you will get the idea that the Commission is serious about finding some way that the Santa Cruz Branch Line, now owned by the public, can actually help expand transportation opportunities for intra-county travel.

Think about that! Intra-county rail service could really be a “game changer” for Santa Cruz County. If you’re interested, check kusp.org/landuse, and/or head on down to that meeting this morning.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• SCCRTC Agenda Packet – September 4, 2014

This is the Land “Use” Report. Mostly, this weekday report talks about the decisions we make about how we will “use” the land. Will farmland remain farmland, or be turned into shopping centers? Will housing developments be required to provide at least some percentage of affordable housing, or not? Will we develop water supplies to meet the demands of new growth, or will we tailor new developments so that they live within the water supplies we already have? Obviously, questions like these are critically important for our future, economically, socially, and certainly environmentally.

There is another way to think about our relationship to the land. Aren’t there places where we should just keep our big hands off? No decisions about “use” needed. We are just going to leave the land alone. The federal Wilderness Act, fifty years old this year, takes that approach. A local nonprofit group, dedicated to wilderness protection, is the Ventana Wilderness Alliance, and I would like to give you a “heads up” about their “Wild and Scenic Film Festival,” to be held on Saturday, September 13th, at the Golden State Theatre, at 417 Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey. I am giving you time to get your tickets in advance. Check it out at kusp.org/landuse. Santa Cruz-raised movie star Adam Scott will be there in person, acting as the MC.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Ventana Wilderness Alliance Website
• Buy Your Tickets Online Here
• The Federal Wilderness Act