The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors meets tomorrow. No surprise. The Board meets most Tuesdays. It is also no surprise that there are a lot of land use related items on the agenda. If you care about land use issues, you should probably make it a practice to check out the agenda of your Board of Supervisors, and to take the initiative to do it yourself. I always enjoy trying to highlight what I think of as the most important issues, but I can’t hit all the highlights, and I am pretty sure that what I think is a priority won’t be a priority to everyone. Besides, it’s fun to read these agendas!

Tomorrow, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will consider a groundwater recharge project in Brommer Park, but the really important land use item is Agenda Item #33, a public hearing on a proposal to make major changes in Aptos Village. If you live in, near, or visit Aptos Village, check out this item. There is a link at kusp.org/landuse. The Board approved major changes to Aptos Village in 2012. Tomorrow, relatively minor changes to that 2012 plan are being considered. If the plans proceed, the developer will build either 63 or 69 residential units, and up to 75,000 square feet of commercial space. That hearing tomorrow is apt to be important!

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors
• Staff Report on Agenda Item #33 – Aptos Village Plan
• Staff Report on Agenda Item #14 – Brommer Park Project

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors has some good advice for you. The Board meets today, and its advice is that you should eat more fruits and vegetables. Agenda Item #5 gives a shout out to the Dole Food Company, which the Board says is <quote> “headquartered in Westlake Village in Los Angeles County.” Dole also has a substantial operation in Monterey County, which is probably why the Board is supporting the company’s “Get Up and Grow!” publicity effort, by taking action on a resolution that would proclaim May 21, 2015 as “Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Day” in Monterey County. Good advice from your Board of Supervisors!

There are also more substantive items on today’s Board agenda. While the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors makes it a lot easier to get copies of its agenda items than the Monterey County Board does, I do have a link to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors’ agenda website, at kusp.org/landuse. If you use that website link, you can find out about the Monterey County Parks Department Strategic Plan, and stormwater and flood control on the Lower Carmel River, not to mention budgetary actions to fund road maintenance projects for Quail Lodge Resort and the homeowners’ associations of the Carmel Valley Golf & Country Club.

As usual, I am reminding you that land use decisions are important to our local communities.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey County Board of Supervisors Agenda Website

In 2010, after about ten years of effort, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors adopted a new General Plan. One reason that it took so long to adopt a new General Plan is that the agricultural industry in Monterey County didn’t like a lot of the originally proposed policies. The Board ultimately sided with the agricultural industry.

It was the view of LandWatch Monterey County and the Open Monterey Project that the 2010 General Plan, as finally adopted, violated state law requirements, so these two groups sued the County. Both groups had exceptionally experienced and able attorneys, and instead of pushing its luck in court, the Board of Supervisors agreed to a settlement. It was a genuine compromise. Among other things, the settlement that the Board agreed to required the Board to consider new policies on development on steep slopes, and on water supply, and on the protection of wildlife corridors.

Last week, when the proposed new policies came before the Board, the agricultural industry was out in force, just like in the old days, and the Board appears to have repudiated its own settlement. I have links to various news articles on the controversy in today’s transcript. Next week, the Board is going to make its final decision.

Monterey County listeners might want to study the issues, and then let the Board know whether they think more litigation is in the best interest of the people of Monterey County.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Wednesday, April 29 2015 Land Use Report
• LandWatch Monterey County Website
• Article In The Monterey County Weekly
• Monterey Herald Editorial
• News Story From The Salinas Californian
• Article In The Monterey Bay Partisan

The Planning Commission of the City of Santa Cruz is meeting this evening at 7:00 o’clock. There are a couple of important items on the Planning Commission agenda, and I’d like to outline the issues.

First, the Commission is going to hold a public hearing, and then decide whether the City’s Capital Improvements Program is consistent with the City General Plan and the City’s Climate Action Plan. The General Plan is the community’s “constitution for land use.” All project level decisions must be “consistent” with the General Plan. That “consistency” requirement is the way that the community can hold its elected officials accountable, and can ensure that the City’s long terms goals, adopted in the General Plan, are in fact followed. If you live in a residential area, for instance, and the General Plan says it is supposed to remain residential, a developer cannot get approval for a used car lot. The “consistency” requirement applies to the City’s own projects, too, and whether the City’s proposed road, bike lane, and other projects are consistent with the General Plan is what is up for discussion this evening.

The second item on the Commission’s agenda is about legalizing multi-family residential units, to address the City’s housing crisis. The recommendation is to change the rules to allow more units to be recognized.

As you can see, this will be an important meeting. Get more information at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda, City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission
• Planning Commission Agenda Reports Online
• Staff Report on Capital Improvements Program Item
• Staff Report on Affordable Housing Item

It would be hard to overstate the importance of upcoming decisions on the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project. As listeners probably know, the California American Water Company, a private company, has been taking way too much water out of the Carmel River, and is subject to an order that tells it to stop doing that. The state agencies charged with enforcement have cut the company some slack, since immediate enforcement of the order would have drastic impacts on everyone who lives, or works, or has a business within the Cal-Am service area. The company’s proposal is to build a new desalination plant, to produce new water. Once that plant is online, the company would stop its excessive diversions from the Carmel River.

I have a link to the Cal-Am website for its proposed project in the today’s transcript. The company prominently displays a “Countdown Calendar,” ticking off the seconds, minutes, hours, and days to December 31st, 2016, which is the deadline issued by the California state water board to reduce pumping from the Carmel River by 70%.

A draft EIR for the proposed project has just been issued, and that Draft EIR describes the project in detail. The deadline for comments is July 1, 2015. Check out the links at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project Website
• Carmel Pine Cone – With Articles on the Proposed Project
• Press Statement On The Draft EIR