Water issues in Monterey County have become ever more complex, which means that almost everyone in the County is affected by what any water agency does. In former times, decisions by the Marina Coast Water District Board of Directors, for example, pretty much affected only those who lived in the Marina Coast Water District. Now, that’s less true. Decisions made by the Marina Coast Water District will affect future water supply options for Peninsula residents, and may also affect what happens in the Salinas Valley and North County.

This is all by way of preface to the following announcement: this evening, the Marina Coast Water District Board of Directors will be meeting in Marina, starting with a closed session at 6:00 p.m. and convening in open session at 7:00 p.m. I have a link to the agenda for this evening’s meeting at kusp.org/landuse. Items of interest include possible action on a Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Source Water and Water Recycling, possible adoption of an Updated Water Shortage Contingency Plan, and adoption of a Resolution approving a Memorandum of Understanding between Marina Coast Water District and the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Regarding the In-School Water Conservation Education Program.

Wherever you live in Monterey County, I suggest keeping what happens at the Marina Coast Water District on your radar screen.

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Marina Coast Water District Website
• October 6, 2014 Agenda

Let me announce a couple of interesting meetings. The Santa Cruz City Council will holding a study session this evening on the City’s Accessory Dwelling Unit program. Housing availability in Santa Cruz, especially the availability of affordable housing, is a big concern. Promoting Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, could help address the problem. Some proposals, however, could stimulate major changes in residential neighborhoods. If any person owning a house could build an ADU that could potentially double residential densities. The current program requires a property owner actually to live in the main residence, in order to add an ADU. Some people would like to see that changed.

Incidentally, UCSC may have been contributing to the housing crisis. The University has reportedly admitted significantly more freshmen this year, but has been closing a significant number of dorm rooms for renovation. The City and UCSC entered into a Comprehensive Settlement Agreement to address housing issues. City officials should be checking whether the terms of that Agreement are being met.

Second item for today: Susan Handy, Director of the National Center for Sustainable Transportation, based at UC Davis, is presenting a webinar on the “Science Behind Sustainable Communities Strategies.” Check out today’s transcript for a link. The webinar starts at 1:30 this afternoon.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz City Council Study Session Agenda
• Staff Report on ADU Study Session
• Webcast Link – Sustainable Communities Presentation

If you check out today’s Land Use Report transcript, you can get a little education on the Pajaro/Sunny Mesa Community Services District. A Community Services District is a local government agency that, as the name implies, provides various “community services.” The Pajaro/Sunny Mesa District provides water service, fire flows, parks, streetlights, and sanitary sewer service to thousands of residents of North Monterey County. The District extends from the Pajaro River in the north, to Moss Landing in the west, to the Highway 101 corridor in the south. The District website features pictures denoting its responsibility for water, sewer, parks, and lighting services, but water is clearly the main focus of what the District does.

The Pajaro/Sunny Mesa Community Services District water system has been in operation since 1986.  The District was created by action of the Monterey County Local Agency Formation Commission (or LAFCO) as LAFCO consolidated the previously existing Pajaro Community Services District, the Sunny Mesa Water District, and Monterey County Service Area No. 73. A five member Board of Directors governs the District.

The Board is holding a special meeting this evening, at 6:30 p.m. The big item is water rates and staffing levels. Customers might want to take in that meeting this evening.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Pajaro-Sunny Mesa CSD Website
• Agenda – October 8, 2014 Special Meeting

One of the most ambitious (and most consequential) transportation projects under consideration in the Monterey Bay Region is the proposal to turn Highway 156 into a toll road, extending from Highway 101 in Prunedale to Highway One in Castroville. Those who live along Highway 156 would certainly be directly affected, but almost everyone who lives or works in Monterey County should be paying attention to this proposed project.

Highway projects in Monterey County are overseen by the Transportation Agency For Monterey County, or TAMC. This regional agency is governed by a Board that includes all members of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, and a representative of each of the cities within Monterey County. Non-voting ex officio members include representatives of AMBAG (the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments), Caltrans District 5, the City of Watsonville, the Air Pollution Control District, the Monterey Regional Airport, and the Monterey-Salinas Transit District.

The proposed Highway 156 toll road project is being monitored by an Ad Hoc Committee and by a Citizen Advisory Group, and they will be holding a joint meeting this afternoon, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. at the Oldemeyer Center in Seaside. That’s located at 986 Hilby Avenue. It’s a public meeting, so you can attend, if you care about those plans to turn Highway 156 into a toll road.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• The TAMC Website
• TAMC Board Members
• Highway 156 Highway Widening Project
• For more information contact Grant Leonard at TAMC:
  • Email: grant@tamcmonterey.org
  • Telephone: 831-775-4402

Have you heard about that Monterey County “Rooster Ordinance?” As I like to remind listeners, the land use powers of local government are “plenary.” That means that virtually any issue related to land use is fair game for local government regulation, including “rooster regulation.”

In places like Prunedale, where some people are raising fighting roosters, if one rooster starts crowing, that starts them all off. That can be really noisy, of course. Who knows what the roosters think, but human neighbors tend not to like it. Once, North Monterey County was truly “rural,” so rooster noise wasn’t a big problem. Times have changed. Rooster raisers in North County could move their operations to South Monterey County, of course, where it continues to be “rural,” but that certainly hasn’t happened yet. Since it hasn’t, a new layer of “rooster regulation” is being proposed.

The Monterey County Environmental Health Bureau set two public meeting to provide a report on the Draft Rooster Ordinance. One was held yesterday. The second meeting is tentatively set for October 23rd, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at 1428 Abbott Street in Salinas. The AMBAG Clearinghouse Report says public comments are being accepted up until October 23rd. For more information, go to kusp.org/landuse. I have an email address for the County Planner overseeing the process.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• 2008 Staff Report on Rooster Ordinance
• Monterey County Herald article on rooster ordinance
• For more information on current proposal contact: ramirezj1@co.monterey.ca.us