The staff of the Planning Department in Santa Cruz County is undertaking a wholesale review of the detailed rules and regulations that govern land use matters in all of Santa Cruz County’s unincorporated areas. These areas include the more "urban" areas, like Aptos, and Live Oak, and let’s not forget all the communities of the San Lorenzo Valley, threaded along Highway 9. Also affected by these proposed rule changes would be the more "rural" areas in Santa Cruz County, areas like Bonny Doon, and Freedom, and Corralitos, not to mention all of the County’s farmlands and forests.

Tomorrow, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors is meeting, and I think it’s fair to say that it faces a jammed-packed agenda. One item of interest and importance is Agenda Item #76, which is proposing changes to the rules relating to "Events," including events held on residential properties in residential neighborhoods. If you are either pleased or upset that the house next door might be used for wedding receptions, large "community events," and fundraisers, you might want to check out the staff proposal and then let your representative on the Board of Supervisors know what you think.

I have a link to the Board’s agenda, and to Agenda Item #76, in today’s Land Use Report blog, at kusp.org/landuse. It’s easy to send an email message to the Board, right from the online agenda itself, if you want to comment.

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• June 9, 2015 Board of Supervisors Agenda
• Agenda Item # 76 – Weddings and Events Ordinance

If you were to track down today’s Land Use Report Blog, found online at kusp.org/landuse, you would see that I have titled today’s entry "Aptos Agonistes." According to an online dictionary, "Agonistes," which derives from the Greek, means, "a person engaged in a struggle." Based on what I saw last Wednesday evening, June 3rd, the Aptos community is getting ready to get into the ring on land use issues. At an evening meeting held at the Aptos Library, a crowd of over one hundred people focused on land use regulations and planning documents affecting the future of Aptos Village, and the Aptos area in general. I was actually an invited speaker, and my message was pretty basic. KUSP listeners have certainly heard it before. Self-government actually does work, but only if we get involved ourselves.

If you want to get involved with the now-forming "Concerned Citizens of Aptos," there is a follow-up meeting tomorrow evening, Wednesday, June 10th, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Aptos Library Community Room. You are most definitely invited.

Many of the people at the meeting last week seemed quite upset about the proposed developments just getting underway in Aptos Village. That development is based on a plan, and a project approval, that was approved some time ago. If you want to have a say on land use issues, you do need to get engaged early, not late.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• June 9, 2015 Board of Supervisors Agenda
• Agenda Item # 76 – Weddings and Events Ordinance
• "Agonistes" Defined

In view of the controversy that has surrounded the idea that Santa Cruz County residents should support the designation of a "National Monument" on the Santa Cruz County North Coast, I was interested to read a recent article in the Monterey Herald, talking about the National Monument declared at Fort Ord.

Areas on the former Fort Ord were given National Monument status on April 20, 2012, in recognition that the area represents some of the last undeveloped natural wildlands along the Monterey Peninsula. According to the Herald, lands within the National Monument are home to more than thirty-five species of rare plants and animals, and the Monument lands also have eighty-six miles of world-class recreation trails.

The Monterey Herald news story focused on the unveiling of a new sign for the National Monument. It’s a colorful sign, featuring images of two native oak trees, rare indigenous grass, trails, and a Toro Manzanita plant. The sign also features a saluting drill sergeant, representing the more than two million soldiers who passed through Fort Ord.

I have placed a link to the news article in today’s transcript, and am also providing a link to the website of those wanting to establish a National Monument on the former Coast Dairies property on the Santa Cruz County North Coast. I have links to articles expressing doubts about that proposal, too. If you have feelings one way or the other, you should probably be getting involved!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey Herald Article on Fort Ord National Monument
• Santa Cruz County National Monument Proposal Website
• Santa Cruz Sentinel article on Naming The Monument
• The Rural Bonny Doon Association Editorial on the Monument
• April 20, 2015 Edition of The Land Use Report on the Monument
• Friends of the North Coast Website

Jargon abounds in the land use arena, and those who want to get involved are quickly going to pick up some of the common abbreviations. EIR, for instance, means "Environmental Impact Report;" AMBAG means "Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments."

What about SWOT: S-W-O-T? This acronym is used not only in the arena of land use and environmental policymaking; it is perhaps best known through its use in business. SWOT stands for "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats." One good way to do planning is to undertake a SWOT analysis, to make sure that you fully understand what you are doing, or what you might propose to do, and that you focus on both the opportunities and the dangers of your current operations or the path ahead.

This evening, from 5:00 to 9:30 p.m., and on Friday, June 12th, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., the Santa Cruz Water Supply Advisory Committee will break into smaller groups, with each group doing a SWOT analysis on four portfolios of water supply alternatives, then reporting out its findings to the larger group.

The Water Supply Advisory Committee has its own acronym, W-S-A-C, sometimes pronounced "W-Sack," and sometimes pronounced "Wah-Sack." However you pronounce it, coming up with a workable water supply strategy, for those dependent on the City of Santa Cruz for their water, is a high-priority activity!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• WSAC Website
• SWOT Analysis Website
• Agenda Materials For June 11-12 WSAC Meetings

Yesterday, we did a few acronyms here on the Land Use Report. Arcane abbreviations can be so off-putting that they actually discourage the community participation that is so vital to good land use, transportation, and water supply planning.

Who would ever go to a "Wah-Sack" meeting to discuss "SWOT," unless they knew that this meeting would focus on an analysis of the "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats" associated with various water supply planning alternatives, and that the ultimate selection among the possible alternatives would have profound community and economic impacts? That kind of SWOT analysis is exactly what’s happening this afternoon, at the City of Santa Cruz Police Community Room, located at 155 Center Street, beginning at 2:00 o’clock. It’s a public meeting.

Here is another acronym: CCA. That stands for "Community Choice Aggregation," a new way for a community to provide for its own energy needs. A meeting of the Project Development Advisory Committee of Monterey Bay Community Power is being held today from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Chambers. That’s where you can find out about an exciting possibility for a more sustainable way to provide electrical energy to the Monterey Bay Region. You can also get more information at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda Materials For June 11-12 WSAC Meetings
• WSAC Website
• SWOT Analysis Website
• The Monterey Bay Community Power Website
• One-Pager Description of Community Power
• Law Governing Community Choice Aggregation
• The Monterey Bay CCA Facebook Page
• For more information on CCA contact: Gine Johnson at 831-454-2200