Tomorrow, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will be convening in a “joint meeting” with the Board of Supervisors of the Monterey County Water Resources Agency and the Water Resources Agency Board of Directors. The membership of these officially separate agencies largely overlaps, with the five-person Board of Supervisors being the core group. On the agenda tomorrow is a discussion of recently enacted groundwater legislation. Showing up at the Board Chambers tomorrow at 1:30 in the afternoon will be a good way to get some information about the important new water legislation that will be governing groundwater rights in California on into the future.

Three bills were signed by the Governor on September 16th: SB 1168 and SB 1319, both authored by Senator Fran Pavley, and AB 1739, authored by Assembly Member Roger Dickinson.

This new legislation allows certain local agencies to be designated as Groundwater Sustainability Agencies. Such agencies must, within certain time limits, adopt Groundwater Sustainability Plans. The legislation gives such agencies broad powers to implement the plans, but if local agencies fail to act, or if a Sustainability Plan is inadequate or is not being implemented to achieve the sustainability goal, the state has the ability to step in.

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey County Board of Supervisors Agendas
• Senate Bill 1168
• Senate Bill 1319
• Assembly Bill 1739

Agenda Item #32 on today’s Agenda of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors might be an item of interest. Actually, Agenda Item #31 could be pretty interesting, too, so let me start with that one. Agenda Item #31 will be an in-person report from Assembly Member Mark Stone. Assembly Member Stone represents residents in both Santa Cruz and Monterey County, and has been an active and pretty effective legislator, and this last year in the Legislature has seen some really important changes in state law. You might think plastic bags, or you might think groundwater management. There is some new legislation in the social services area, too. Come on down to the County Government Center at 9:00 o’clock this morning to get a comprehensive briefing.

Immediately following Assembly Member Stone’s presentation will be an in-person presentation by pollster Gene Bregman, who was commissioned by the Board of Supervisors to conduct a survey of 400 registered voters, to analyze voter support for various ways to finance and fund maintenance and improvement of the County’s roadways. Land use and transportation go together, and our transportation future is directly linked to our land use future, with the influences definitely going both ways. I suggest that this report on transportation funding possibilities (details not available until later this morning) will be of interest to many KUSP listeners.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Agenda
• Agenda Item #32 – Board Report

I always feel a little bit bad when I use the Land Use Report to announce an important meeting that I think listeners would enjoy attending, and then give listeners something like thirty minutes to get there. I did do that yesterday morning, in announcing a couple of interesting presentations scheduled before the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. A lot of times it’s simply unavoidable, given when these reports are recorded, and when the public agency schedules are available. Trying to make up for yesterday, I am giving you a week’s notice, today, of a Monterey County Planning Commission meeting scheduled for next Wednesday, October 29th.

There are a number of interesting items on the agenda, and I have placed a link to the County’s website for the Planning Commission agendas in today’s transcript, so you can track down all the details once the County has posted the documents online. Specifically, the Commission is going to consider adding an historic resources designation to a property in Carmel; the Commission will decide an appeal of a design approval for a detached garage, and will determine whether or not to allow three new lots in Pebble Beach. Most significantly, the Commission is going to consider a major new subdivision (commonly known as the Ferrini Ranch development) along Highway 68 near Toro Park. That proposal is one worth marking your calendars for! Interested residents should be planning to attend this important meeting!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey County Planning Commission Agendas

Affordable housing and sustainable communities; that sounds good to me! As listeners may remember, the State of California is trying to incentivize better planning, and to stimulate the creation of more sustainable communities throughout the state. While I tend to think that specific directives, rather than indirect incentives, might be the best route to the goal, many other states aren’t really doing anything to achieve fundamental shifts in the destructive patterns of land use that result in sprawl, loss of agricultural lands, wasted energy and wasted time. California’s sustainable communities program is at least attempting to grapple with the beast of a bad land use paradigm. Also on the positive side, California recognizes that “sustainable communities” must incorporate ample amounts of affordable housing.

If you think that affordable housing and sustainable communities are something worth fighting for, and would like to get involved, please track down today’s transcript at kusp.org/landuse. I have links to a draft set of affordable housing and sustainable communities guidelines, and also a link that will let you register for a free, and participatory, webcast on this topic. The webcast is on October 27th, so plan ahead. Comments on the Guidelines are due by October 31st.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Strategic Growth Council Website
• Draft Guidelines
• Webcast Signup Page

In Santa Cruz County, the Regional Transportation Commission, or RTC, has put a 32-mile rail corridor into public ownership. The Proposition 116 funds used to buy the corridor were restricted for use on passenger rail projects. The rail line is expected to increase current and future transportation options, including its potential for both passenger and freight rail service. In addition to this rail service, the RTC is expecting both a bicycle and pedestrian path to be constructed in the corridor adjacent to the tracks.

Most recently, work on the largest bridge along the rail line, the La Selva Beach Trestle, is now underway. If you go online at kusp.org/landuse, you can see a picture. I think interested persons are going to enjoy watching this bridge building activity as it progresses. Construction began in late August, and demolition of the old bridge has now been accomplished, using cranes that are currently on site. Crews have begun pouring concrete to form anchors to the existing footings. Fabrication of the new bridge has been completed in Arizona, and the new pieces of the bridge are expected to begin arriving in the next couple of weeks. Local carpenters, masons and other workers have been hired to work on the bridge, and will construct it locally.

As I say, why not make a trip out to the site, and see progress being made on our newest piece of transportation infrastructure!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• RTC Website on La Selva Trestle Construction