Civic holidays are my favorite kind. The Fourth of July, for instance, is directly tied to the Declaration of Independence and to the American commitment to self-government. As frequent listeners know, I place a pretty high priority on self-government, with my consistent admonition being that "self-government" demands that we get involved ourselves.

Memorial Day (and that’s today) is also on my list of worthy holidays! At one time called "Decoration Day," this holiday is dedicated to the memory of all those who have died while serving in the nation’s armed forces. Veterans Day honors all veterans. Memorial Day honors those who gave up their lives for their country, who gave their "last full measure of devotion," to use the words of Abraham Lincoln.

Now, the following observation is somewhat philosophical, but I want to suggest that authentic self-government actually requires us to give up our lives in a very real way. Each of us has a "life," which is "our life," and that life is what we choose to do with our time and talents. To be involved in democratic self-government we must be willing to give up at least part of "our" lives to be involved in the governmental decision making process; that’s what it means to be involved in self-government "ourselves."

Think about that concept the next time you hear about an important public meeting! And have a great holiday today!

More Information

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

The Monterey County Housing Advisory Committee is meeting tomorrow, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Monterey Room, on the second floor of the County Government Center in Salinas. This is a public meeting. You are definitely invited to attend.

The Committee is being asked to make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, in response to a request from 161 owners of single-family homes in the Moro Cojo subdivision. The request is that an affordability restriction be changed from "permanent" to "fifteen years." I am pretty sure that this request, if granted, would allow many current owners to sell their homes at today’s high prices, probably $500,000 or more, per home, even though the owners purchased those homes at an artificially low affordable price, because the homes were supposed to be permanently affordable.

The Moro Cojo subdivision was constructed with the promise that it would provide permanently affordable housing to lower income workers. Lower income workers were able to purchase homes because of the affordability restrictions. If those are now lifted, the current owners will receive a huge individual benefit, but 161 units of affordable housing will be permanently lost.

If you care about long-term affordable housing in Monterey County, you should be at the meeting. You can bet those asking for a personal windfall will be in the audience.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Website: Housing Advisory Committee
• May 27, 2015 HAC Agenda Packet

The public participation process established by the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, is currently the way that ordinary members of the public can best gain access to real power in the governmental decision making process. Anyone who has ever personally testified at a public meeting is likely to have come away somewhat dissatisfied with the response that elected officials gave to his or her testimony. Usually, there is no specific and direct response to public testimony. The elected officials hear it (they have to; that’s legally required), but there is often no indication that they truly consider the testimony provided.

With CEQA, substantive written comments on a Draft Environmental Impact Report, or DEIR, must be responded to by the government in a substantive way. If the government tries to ignore, or "blow off," significant and substantive comments, the courts will make them go back and redo the process. In other words, you, as an individual, have real power through the CEQA process.

To use that power, you do have to read the Draft EIR and make comments. Here are a few upcoming EIR comment deadlines for projects in Monterey County. There is still time to get involved!

• Affordable Housing in Pebble Beach – June 19th.
• Monterey Downs – June 19th
• Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project – July 1st

This is Gary Patton.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey County Major Projects List
• EIR on Pebble Beach Inclusionary Housing
• EIR on Monterey Downs
• EIR on Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project

Local government land use powers, sometimes called "police powers," are "plenary." That means that local government agencies have a broad ability to make rules that they think will benefit the community. Zoning, for instance, is a good example. City Councils and Boards of Supervisors can decide what kind of land uses should go where. They have to follow various procedures as they make their decisions, but local governments really do have the power to shape the local community through zoning and other land use decisions.

Sometimes, property owners think that they have "property rights" that somehow trump the plenary land use powers of local government. Usually, that is not true. The government is not able to "take" your existing land uses away from you, but the government is definitely not obliged to "give" you what you want. Any new land use requires a "permit," which means "permission" from the local government. You don’t have any "constitutional right" to develop.

Land use powers go beyond zoning, too. I have become aware that a group of residents in Santa Cruz County is hoping to convince the Board of Supervisors to ban the temporary plastic fencing often used on agricultural fields. The Board could do that, using its plenary power to regulate. I have a link to a "Ban Plastic Fencing" website at kusp.org/landuse if you’d like to read up on the issue.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• The Ban Plastic Fencing Website

Is rail transit service feasible on the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line? The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is trying to figure that out, and is analyzing the feasibility of passenger rail transit service along the rail line, which roughly parallels Highway 1 and the coast in Santa Cruz County.

A recent feasibility study is now available for public review. It includes ridership and cost information for seven different service scenarios, and evaluates those scenarios based on goals and objectives identified by the community. Land Use Report listeners may remember my several appeals for listeners to participate in the goal-setting process. Well, the results are now in, and are found in the recently released report.

You can learn more about the feasibility of passenger rail transit service by attending an upcoming open house and workshop to be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 4th at the Simpkins Family Swim Center, located at 979 17th Avenue in Live Oak.

The Transportation Commission Board of Directors will also receive a presentation from the consultant who prepared the feasibility study. That presentation will take place during the Board’s regular meeting on Thursday, June 4th, at 10:00 a.m. at the Watsonville City Hall.

There is more information at kusp.org/landuse, including a link to a form that will allow you to make a comment online.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Transportation Commission Website
• Passenger Rail Feasibility Study