Land use policy and project decisions have a big impact on our future, and for local government agencies to do a good job with their land use planning responsibilities, the government obviously has to be funded at an appropriate level. This is “budget season” for local governments, and you might want to pay attention.

In terms of “project” decisions, the evaluations undertaken by local governments when someone applies for a development permit, these are normally paid for entirely by the permit applicants themselves. The reason it costs so much for an applicant to get a permit for some specific development project is that the application fees are intended to offset the full cost of the governmental expenditures related to the application. That will include “overhead,” like pension costs, and the “supervision” provided by bureaucrats at the most lofty level of the government. It’s not just the person at the counter; it’s the entirety of the government, insofar as the entirety of the government has something to do with the permit. Note, it is actually illegal for the government to try to make its application process a “profit center.” The government can’t charge you more than the costs it incurs, but it will charge you full freight.

In Monterey County, the Board of Supervisors is doing planning related budgets tomorrow, at 9:00 a.m. There’s a link to the agenda website at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information

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

Groundwater overdraft is a serious challenge for the Soquel Creek Water District, and the District will continue to promote water conservation and pursue additional water supplies. The District does not have a “we know it all” approach, however, which is why some upcoming community workshops have been scheduled.

Workshop #1 will be held on Wednesday, June 3rd (that’s tomorrow) from noon to 2:00 p.m. Board President Bruce Daniels, and Directors Rick Meyer and Carla Christensen will be there, as will members of the District staff.

Workshop #2 is also scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, June 3rd, but this is an “after work” session, and will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. In attendance will be Board President Bruce Daniels, with Directors Bruce Jaffe and Tom LaHue. Again, District staff is also going to be there.

Both workshops will be held at the offices of the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, located at 7807 Soquel Drive in Aptos.

As listeners may remember, the City of Santa Cruz has established a “Water Supply Advisory Committee” to stimulate the public to think about these critical issues for the City of Santa Cruz. Out of that effort have come some very creative ideas. One set of ideas is now being presented on a “Water For Santa Cruz” website. You can get the link at kusp.org/landuse, and I invite you to check it out!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Soquel Creek Water District – Workshop Announcement
• Water For Santa Cruz Website

Is rail transit for Santa Cruz County more than a pipe dream? A Passenger Rail Feasibility Study (this is a Draft Report) is now ready for public review. The comment period closes on July 8th, and you can find a link to the report at kusp.org/landuse. I hope that listeners will check that report out, and get personally involved. If you are keeping score, you will remember that I made the same point on Friday last week. I am repeating myself because I consider that this passenger rail opportunity might be real, and if it were real, that would be a game changer for Santa Cruz County.

If reading big reports isn’t exactly your thing, you can learn more about the topic, and more about the Draft Report, at a couple of meetings that are going to be held tomorrow.

The Regional Transportation Commission Board Meeting is scheduled for June 4th at the Watsonville City Hall, 275 Main Street, and there will be a presentation on the Passenger Rail Feasibility Study at that Board Meeting, at 10:00 a.m. You are definitely invited to attend!

In addition, the Commission is holding an “Open House” tomorrow, at 6:30 p.m., at the Simpkins Family Swim Center, located at 979 17th Avenue in Live Oak. Again, you are invited.

A Comment Form will let you submit comments online (pro and con comments are both invited), and the Commission has an online survey available, too.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda - SCCRTC
• Rail Feasibility Study - Implementation
• Online Comment Form
• Past Survey Results – Summer 2014

Here is a “heads up” for you! From June 22nd to June 23rd, the California Shore and Beach Preservation Association is holding a “Coastal Future Conditions Workshop” in Pacifica. I have links to online information in today’s Land Use Report transcript. You can always find a copy of my remarks, and links to more information, at kusp.org/landuse. In this case, I have a link to the workshop flyer, and to a registration form. This is not a “free event,” but some listeners might find this workshop worthwhile. Certainly that would be true if you are a planning professional.

Even if you are not likely to want to attend this conference yourself, the fact that it is being held just up Highway One from the Monterey Bay Region, provides me with a good excuse to highlight the importance of shoreline erosion and sea level rise to future land use decisions in our area.

Human beings have a tendency to assume that the way things are is how they are always going to be, and yet we know that this is far from the truth. Santa Cruz listeners, in particular, might be familiar with periodic advisories about bluff and cliff erosion from Professor Gary Griggs, who writes a column in the Santa Cruz Sentinel called “Our Ocean Backyard.” Gerald Weber, another UCSC professor, has also provided the community with information. Our shorelines are in motion. Our land use planning should take that into account!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• California Shore and Beach Preservation Association Website
• Workshop Flyer
• Registration Form
• Gary Griggs’ UCSC Website Information
• Gerald Weber on Coastal Geology

I was an elected member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995. I had a chance, thus, to vote on a lot of land use policy and project items. I sat through a lot of public hearings on land use issues. Today, I want to comment on a common misconception that I heard repeated over and over.

Many property owners believe that their property “rights” include the right to do whatever they want to do with the land they own. In many cases, this is a deeply held conviction, but it’s not true. It’s not true either legally or constitutionally.

If you own property, the Constitution says that the government cannot “take” that property away from you without paying you “just compensation.” That is your basic property right vis a vis the government. You do have other property rights, like the right to exclude people, with respect to private parties.

The government can’t “take” your property, without paying for it. That would violate your property rights. There is nothing however, that says that the government must “give” you something in terms of what you can do with your property. If you own some oak trees, that’s what you have a right to keep. The government can’t “take” those trees without compensation. But you have no right to demand that the government “give” you permission to chop down the trees and build a development.

“Takings?” You’re protected against “takings.” “Givings?” That’s up to the public!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• LandWatch Publication – Land Use Planning And The Takings Clause