Not every KUSP listener from Santa Cruz County is likely to know about the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County, often called the RCD. If you’d like to learn more, please track down today’s transcript at kusp.org/landuse. Links in today’s transcript will provide more information. In fact, I have a link to the website of the Monterey County Resource Conservation District, too.

There are actually ninety-nine Resource Conservation Districts in California. RCDs are governmental agencies, but they are not “regulatory” agencies. RCDs are part of a national network created over 70 years ago. Each RCD is governed by local landowners whose objective it is to assist conservation programs in their community. RCDs help property owners assess conservation problems, set priorities, and coordinate federal, state, and local resources to bring about solutions. They often do this with technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and with support from the California Department of Conservation. Typically, RCDs also work with a diverse network of funders and partners, including nonprofit groups.

I recently received the 2013 Annual Report of the RCD of Santa Cruz County, and it’s impressive to see what’s happening. I hope you will check it out.

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• RCD of Santa Cruz County Website
• RCD 2013 Annual Report
• RCD of Monterey County Website

I assume you are aware that today is a rather special day around the Monterey Bay Region, and in fact around the state and nation, too. You got it! It’s Election Day! Under current rules, of course, many listeners may already have voted, as I have. At my age, I figure to get my vote in early, just in case I am not actually around on Election Day itself. I probably ought to study up on that theory. The vote of a person who votes, and then subsequently dies before Election Day, is probably not a valid vote. But if you have registered, and are alive today, and you haven’t voted yet, your vote today will be valid, no doubt about it.

My purpose in today’s Land Use Report is to encourage you to vote, if you haven’t already. Voting is, in a way, the “least” we can do, by way of citizen participation in our system of democratic self-government. It is nonetheless essential. There are Supervisor elections in North Monterey County and South Santa Cruz County that will have a major impact on land use decisions during the next four years. The elections being held for the Soquel Creek Water District Board, and for the Santa Cruz City Council, are also going to be very consequential for the issues I cover on the Land Use Report. And how about that state election? It’s hard to overstate how important today’s election will be.

Here’s my advice for today: Go get one of those “I Voted” stickers, if you haven’t voted already.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog

I used to have a hat that read “I [heart] LAFCO.” That was when I was a member of the Santa Cruz County Local Agency Formation Commission, and a member of the Board of Directors of the California Association of LAFCOs, or CALAFCO.

I encourage all of you listeners to put on that “I love LAFCO” hat, at least metaphorically. This underappreciated governmental agency (there is a LAFCO in every county in the state) is charged with some of our most important land use decisions. Should a new city be created in Carmel Valley? Should two water districts in the San Lorenzo Valley in Santa Cruz County be merged? Should land in the unincorporated part of Monterey County, on the former Fort Ord, be annexed to the City of Seaside, to facilitate a major new horse-related development? These are the kind of decisions that LAFCOs make. It’s not too late to start paying attention to LAFCO, and learning more. Check the links in today’s transcript at kusp.org/landuse.

I am thinking about LAFCOs this morning because the Santa Cruz County LAFCO is meeting today, at 9:30 this morning. The Commission meeting will be held in the Board of Supervisors’ Chambers on the fifth floor of the County Governmental Center, at 701 Ocean Street. You are definitely invited. There are some interesting items on the agenda, and that water district merger will probably be mentioned!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz County LAFCO November 5th Agenda
• California Association of LAFCOs
• Santa Cruz County LAFCO
• Monterey County LAFCO
• LAFCO Law

Transportation and land use policies are kissing cousins. They definitely go together. Compact, urban-focused growth patterns, which are often called “smart growth,” help provide the ridership for transit. Transit and transportation options that provide alternatives to the automobile are usually good for “smart growth” approaches to land use.

Today, the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is meeting in Watsonville at 9:00 o’clock. I have put a link to the agenda in today’s transcript, at kusp.org/landuse. I encourage you to track down the agenda, and to see what’s happening. You might even want to attend the meeting. An item I particularly liked was actually more “art focused” than “transportation focused.” The Commission is considering a mural, to be painted on the rail overpass at Spreckels Drive in Aptos Village. I am not clear who is going to pay for the mural, but if you’d like to see the proposed design, check out Agenda Item #23.

As another transportation-related item, I have also put a link in today’s transcript to a Santa Cruz City Council staff report on a proposed “Pacific Station” modification to the downtown transit center in Santa Cruz. A truly huge commercial development, five stories high, is an option under serious consideration. That could have a major impact on downtown, so take a look!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Pacific Station Staff Report
• November 6, 2014 Agenda - SCCRTC

Last week, I alerted listeners to a series of “Forest Walks” on the Upper Campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz. These walks are intended to familiarize participants with the resource issues involved in the University’s plan to expand into this currently natural location.

The Community Water Coalition, a community group that I represent as an attorney, has been opposing the extension of water service into the North Campus area. I think it’s fair to say that the University’s expansion plans are controversial from lots of perspectives. As I reviewed the agenda of the Santa Cruz County LAFCO this week, I discovered that the Valley Women’s Club, a group based in the San Lorenzo Valley, has recently weighed in on UCSC growth, too, and is also opposing the extension of water service to the UCSC North Campus. The Valley Women’s Club issue, of course, is the adequacy of water supplies in the San Lorenzo Valley. They don’t think that this is the time to take more water out of the San Lorenzo River to fuel more growth at UCSC.

For those who would like to discuss the issues, let me alert you to a meeting to be held on Monday, November 10th, at 5:00 p.m. at the Kresge Seminar Room #159. This meeting is part of a “World Café” series of discussions on important topics. More information can be found at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• World Café Website
• Valley Women’s Club Letter
• Forest Walks Website
• Save Upper Campus Website