If you were going to a dinner party, and wanted to get yourself prepared to discuss land use issues, you might find some topics to inject into that dinner table conversation by looking at the upcoming agenda of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. There are usually some land use items of interest in virtually every edition of the Board’s agenda. Don’t forget to check the Consent Agenda, either, as you do your reconnaissance.

Tomorrow, the Board will address all of the following, all land use items of interest:

• A report on the UCSC Comprehensive Settlement Agreement, about University growth.
• Setting a hearing on April 21st for the Davenport Cement Plant Reuse Strategic Plan.
• Receiving a report about a Broadband Master Plan, to extend fiber optic cable in the county.
• Set May 19th as the date for a report on regulations for weddings and special events.
• Scheduling an Earth Day 2015 event in San Lorenzo Park on Saturday, April 18th.
• Repealing an ordinance that allows the commercial cultivation of medical cannabis.
• Consider a Homeless Strategic Plan.

The Board meets tomorrow, starting at 9:00 o’clock. I am inviting you to look through the Board’s agenda, with links to the items I mention at kusp.org/landuse. Consider getting engaged personally. That dinner table conversation might galvanize some genuine involvement.

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Agenda, March 24, 2015
• Item #21 – UCSC Settlement Agreement Report
• Item #44 – Davenport Cement Plant Reuse Strategic Plan
• Item #45 – Broadband Master Plan
• Item #46 – Weddings and Special Events
• Item #51 - April 18th – Earth Day Event
• Item #56 – Cultivation of Medical Cannabis
• Item #59 – Consider A Homeless Strategic Plan
• Item #59 – Final Draft Of The “All In” Plan

If you want to let the Santa Cruz City Council know what you think about the so-called “BEARCAT” armored vehicle, “BEARCAT” standing for “Ballistic, Engineered, Armored Response Attack Truck,” then you will want to be at the Council meeting this evening, starting at 7:00 p.m., for a public hearing on that very topic.

But if you would like to get involved with land use issues of importance (and land use issues are important), then you need to arrange your schedule to show up at City Hall this afternoon at 2:30. There are several items of significant importance on the Council’s afternoon agenda today, and I have links in today’s Land Use Report blog:

Agenda Item #21 is a proposed City Schools Complete Streets Master Plan. This plan outlines how the City’s streets and sidewalks can be made safer for our young people, as they head to school.

Agenda Item #22 is a report on the City’s Housing and Community Development Grant program, with a focus on housing and homeless issues.

Agenda Item #23 is a report on proposed new maps designating areas in the City where archaeological and paleontological resources might be found, and where development proposals need to be handled with those potential issues in mind.

I don’t want to discourage your participation in the BEARCAT hearing this evening, but what are you doing this afternoon? The Santa Cruz City Council does land use, too!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz City Council Agenda – March 24, 2015 Meeting
• Public Correspondence on BEARCAT Issue
• “BEARCAT” Item Staff Report
• Agenda Item #21 – Complete Streets Master Plan Staff Report
• Agenda Item #21 – Master Plan Document
• Agenda Item #21 – Parent Surveys / Appendix
• Agenda Item #22 – Community Development Staff Report
• Agenda Item #23 – Staff Report on Archaeological and Paleontological Maps

Today, the Monterey County Planning Commission is meeting in Salinas. The Planning Commission meeting will be held in the Chambers of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, located at 168 West Alisal Street. I have a link to the Commission’s agenda at kusp.org/landuse. I hope you will check out the agenda, and consider attending that meeting in person.

And here is a tip for those who do care about land use, and who would like to have a personal impact on land use decision-making. The earlier in the process you get involved, the more likely it is that your views will be accommodated in what turns out to be the ultimate result. Usually, the Board of Supervisors is the “last stop” on land use policy and project items, but if you care about a land use issue, then you need to make friends with the Planning Commission, and get involved earlier, rather than later!

Today, the Commission is considering proposed changes in the General Plan that result from a lawsuit filed by LandWatch Monterey County, the nonprofit group that advocates for what might be called “smart growth” approaches to land use. The lawsuit has resulted in proposed changes that will require a long term sustainable water supply for new development, and that will set standards for developments on steep slopes (among other changes).

You still have time to let the Planning Commission know what you think. That meeting this morning is at 9:00 o’clock.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• LandWatch Monterey County Website
• Monterey County Planning Commission Agenda
• Planning Commission Agenda Item on LandWatch Settlement

Where San Francisco has gone, can Ames, Iowa be far behind? I am speaking, as sustainable cities advocates might guess, about the construction of “parklets.” According to Wikipedia, a “parklet” is “a small space, serving as an extension of the sidewalk, to provide amenities and green space... It is typically the size of several parking spaces. Parklets typically extend out from the sidewalk at the level of the sidewalk to the width of the adjacent parking space.”

It is true that the first “parklet” is credited to San Francisco, and that Ames, Iowa then took up the parklet cause. But don’t despair, Santa Cruz, your city may soon catch up with Ames, Iowa.

This morning, at 8:30, the City of Santa Cruz Downtown Commission is going to discuss parklets, and the recommendation that the Commission will consider is listed on the agenda as follows:

Pilot Program to Establish Parklets - Recommendation: Create an ad-hoc committee to establish a Pilot Program for the installation of Parklets/Café extension spaces … along Cathcart Street in Downtown Santa Cruz, set a date for a special meeting in April 2015 to hear [the] ad hoc committee’s recommendations and to return to the City Council by May 2015 with the Commission’s recommendations and policy considerations.

If you like the parklet idea (or if you don’t), it’s time to get involved.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Downtown Commission Agenda
• Wikipedia on Parklets
• Ames, Iowa Website

On Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors considered the “All In” Plan on homelessness, as a strategic plan to “provide a home for every county resident.”

In today’s Land Use Report blog, I have a link to the “All In” Plan, so you can download it, and read it. The focus of the plan is largely on what might be called the social services response to homelessness. Clearly, though, if the long-term objective is to be achieved, and we are going to find “a home for every county resident,” land use and housing policies are going to have to support the effort.

Besides a link to the “All In” Plan itself, I am also providing links to the Civinomics website, and to a blog that focuses on the “All In” effort. I don’t think that civic participation by Internet is anywhere near sufficient to make real changes in local community policy. Actual personal (show up on the scene) engagement is an absolute requirement. Still, getting involved in the issue by activating your phone or computer screen doesn’t hurt.

For any real success in providing a “home for every county resident,” I think national policies are going to have to change, so that money that now goes to the super rich can be used for education, housing, and environmental protection expenditures that benefit us all, and not just the 1%.

To get there, of course, we really do need to go “All In.”

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors’ Homeless Strategic Plan
• Civinomics Blog On Homelessness
• Final Draft – “All In” Strategic Plan
• Civinomics Website
• Civinomics Facebook Page
• Civinomics Blog on All In
• Civinomics Survey On Homeless Plan
• Gary Patton “Payday” Blog Posting On The Super Rich