“Plenary” is the word to remember when you want to think about what kind of topics might be included in a community’s compendium of land use regulations. “Plenary” means “full” or “complete.” The land use powers of local government are typically described by the courts as “plenary.” However, the state legislature can circumscribe the plenary land use powers of cities and counties, and sometimes it does. Take for instance, a topic that is on the agenda of the Monterey City Council tomorrow. I speak, of course, about “peddling food from the public right-of-way.” If that is a topic of interest, check out the links at kusp.org/landuse. Agenda Item #7 on tomorrow’s City Council agenda is focused on food peddling regulations, and the comprehensive staff report indicates that the Council has been addressing this issue since at least March of 2014. Almost a complete year has been devoted to taking on this hot (or maybe cold) food topic.

Here’s the basic issue: the City of Monterey has an ordinance governing the sale of food on or in the public streets. The City’s regulation, though, is in conflict with a scheme set out in state law. Because the state has taken charge in this matter, the City’s own regulations have to give way. The “plenary” land use powers of local government are legally subordinate to the laws enacted in Sacramento!

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda – February 17, 2015 City Council Meeting
• Staff Report – Peddling Food From A Public Right-of-Way

The Board of Directors of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency will be meeting tomorrow night. You can get a link to the agenda at kusp.org/landuse.

It would be hard to overstate the importance of groundwater management in the Pajaro Valley. The Pajaro Valley, which includes lands in both Monterey and Santa Cruz County, is an incredibly productive agricultural region, but as some have said, Central Coast agriculture is really nothing more than the business of exporting water, in form of fruits and vegetables. The crops most notably grown in the Pajaro Valley are extremely water intensive, specifically including strawberries, and strawberries are a major driver of the local agricultural economy.

The problem facing the PVWMA, and facing our region, is that our local agricultural economy is premised on an unsustainable overdraft of groundwater. The so-called “safe yield” of the groundwater basin underlying the Pajaro Valley has been exceeded for years, and as we draw down the level in the underground basin that holds the water we depend upon, seawater cascades into that basin, contaminating the basin’s freshwater resources. This is clearly a process much advanced at the coast, and it’s moving inland. Listeners might like to start following the PVWMA, to see what they’re trying to do about this!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• PVWMA Website
• Agenda – February 18, 2015 Board Meeting
• Agenda Packet – February 18, 2015 Board Meeting

To prepare these Land Use Reports, I typically review the agendas of various public agencies in the Central Coast Region. I appreciate it when local government agencies make it easy for me, by establishing a system of “eNotifications.” Some agencies have such a system. Others don’t. One agency that does is the City of Santa Cruz, so I sign up to get bulletins about City Council meetings, and Planning Commission meetings, and meetings of the City’s Zoning Administrator. I have a link in today’s transcript, so you can sign up, too!

The Zoning Administrator (or ZA) position is found in most local governments around the Bay. Typically, the ZA is an employee of the agency (as opposed to the community volunteers who serve on the Planning Commission). This morning, the City of Santa Cruz ZA will be meeting in City Hall at 10:00 o’clock.

One item on today’s ZA agenda illustrates a phenomenon sometimes called “gentrification.” As communities develop, areas that were not particularly attractive and inviting are transformed into more vibrant and publicly appealing areas, usually on an incremental basis, as new uses slowly penetrate. This morning, in an area that has been characterized by auto repair shops and warehouses, a coffee shop and cafe is being proposed. This kind of change in use has been taking place on Swift Street. Today’s application is on Fair Avenue.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda – February 18, 2015 ZA Meeting
• Map – 1010 Fair Avenue, Santa Cruz
• A definition of “gentrification”
• Sign Up for eNotifications From the City of Santa Cruz

In past editions of the Land Use Report, I have alerted listeners to planning efforts underway on the former Fort Ord. Proposed Fort Ord Regional Urban Design Guidelines are being discussed in various public meetings.

One listener, having heard my earlier reports, promptly let me know that she thought that the whole enterprise was basically misguided, since the kind of “Urban Design” planning efforts now underway are really just a part of “development” efforts, and there is a strong argument that less, not more, development is what ought to be taking place on Fort Ord. There is, in fact, a community group dedicated to that specific policy proposition, called Keep Fort Ord Wild.

If you are not familiar with that group, and would like to find out more, I have provided a link to its website in today’s transcript. I have also put a link in the transcript to the website of the Fort Ord Reuse Authority, or FORA. FORA is the agency overseeing the current planning and development efforts on the former Fort Ord. FORA has an eNotification system in place, to get interested persons involved. I have a link to their sign-up page in today’s transcript, too. In short, check out today’s transcript, at kusp.org/landuse, and get more personally involved!

According to a newspaper story from the Monterey County Herald, that over 1,200 people have become involved in the Urban Design planning process so far.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey Herald Article On Fort Ord Planning Efforts
• Keep Fort Ord Wild Website
• Fort Ord Reuse Authority Website
• Fort Ord Regional Urban Design Guidelines
• Sign Up To Participate

Our local economy is significantly tied to agriculture. When I was a public official, it was my belief that the larger community wanted their local government agencies to establish effective land use controls, to help make sure that agriculture remained at the center of our local economy. To achieve that long-term, community objective, it is sometimes necessary to turn down individual applications that might lead to a greater immediate economic gain for an individual agricultural landowner, but that would undermine our agricultural economy in the long run. Turning a farm field into a new subdivision, for instance, is a perfect example.

By and large, our region continues to want to preserve and protect agriculture, and our area has become the center of creative ways to build agriculture into the life of the community. On May 4th, 5th, and 6th, the California Farm to School Network will be holding its annual conference at Asilomar. This is a “heads up,” so that you can register and attend, if you’d like to do that. There are links at kusp.org/landuse.

The Farm To School Conference in May will be of significant educational and networking value to all facets of the farm to school movement, including farmers, distributors, government representatives, procurement officers, educators, and food program administrators. I encourage listeners to check out this conference.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• The California Farm To School Network
• Register For The Farm To School Conference