I often use three different “P” words when I talk about land use. Land use “policy” is at the top of the list. Using the powers granted to local government, we have the ability to set “policies” in place that will govern future land use. Zoning ordinances, for instance, set policies that govern the details of future developments.

“Project” is a second “P” word. “Projects” are proposals by individuals to use the land, and approval or rejection of these proposed “ projects” is supposed to conform to those “policies” established by the community.

A community has “plenary” authority to make decisions about land use projects and policies. There is my third “P” word. “Plenary” means “full.” Local communities have full authority to make decisions about land use, and the decisions that the community makes can have a very significant impact on three “E” words I also frequently mention: the “Environment,” our “Economy,” and social “Equity.”

Check out Agenda Item #7.1 on tomorrow’s agenda of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. Here is a case in which a property owner with a project in mind doesn’t want to follow the policies that the County has set for a proposed development at Yankee Point.

Will “policy” or “politics” prevail? That “politics” “P” word has a lot to do with land use decision making.

More Information

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

The Planning Commission of the City of Santa Cruz is meeting on Thursday, July 16th, at 7:00 p.m. If you have any interest in the future shape and character of downtown Santa Cruz, review the links you will find in today’s transcript, at kusp.org/landuse, and then consider getting to that meeting on Thursday evening to take part in what I think will be an important public hearing.

One item of interest, Agenda Item #1, is a discussion of an update to the City’s Housing Element, part of the City’s General Plan. I think Agenda Item #2 might also be very important. In short, this item will be a public hearing to consider downtown development standards, and to extend the maximum allowable height limits to Lower Pacific Avenue and to allow increased heights between Front Street and the San Lorenzo River. Design Guidelines and Development Standards for Lower Pacific Avenue and Front Street between Soquel Avenue and Laurel Street are also going to be up for review.

What is at stake? Essentially, what is at stake is how tall buildings are going to be along Front Street in the area between Soquel and Laurel. There are some truly large-scale developments proposed in this area, and the City’s policies on height will determine the future of this part of downtown.

If you want to take a walking tour, to see the area, one is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, June 15th, at 5:00 p.m. The tour starts at Front and Laurel.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda, Planning Commission Meeting of July 16, 2015
• “Walking Tour” Memo
• Downtown Height Limits Memo
• Housing Element Update Memo
• Sentinel News Article on Proposed Downtown Project

Tomorrow, the City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission will be meeting at 7:00 p.m., and will be considering the future of downtown Santa Cruz. I told you about that meeting yesterday. Today, let me inform you that the City of Capitola Planning Commission will also be meeting tomorrow. I have a link to the agenda packet in today’s Land Use Report blog, at kusp.org/landuse.

Like the City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission, the Capitola City Planning Commission will be considering an item related to an update of the City’s Housing Element. I certainly encourage Capitola residents to get involved.

While the City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission is going to be considering some critical “policy” level decisions tomorrow, the City of Capitola Planning Commission is going to focus on “project” level decisions. Generally speaking, only project applicants and immediate neighbors tend to get involved in those project level hearings. However, let me make a suggestion. If you are a Capitola resident, or if you have a business in Capitola, and care about the very important policy level decision about whether or not the City should turn its current City Hall into a hotel, you might want to start attending Planning Commission meetings and getting to know the Commissioners.

“Policy” decisions are, in the end, “political” in nature, and you will be able to have a much bigger impact on those policy decisions, when they come up, if you have been participating right along.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Agenda Packet – City of Capitola Planning Commission

A special meeting of the Board of Directors for the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority, which likes to go by the name “Salinas Valley Recycles,” has been scheduled for 6:00 p.m. this evening. The meeting will be held in the Gonzales City Council Chambers at 117 Fourth Street in Gonzales.

The purpose of this meeting is for the Board of Directors and interested persons to review a Final Draft Report entitled, “Evaluation and Analysis of Monterey County’s Solid Waste Management System." This report is intended to help the County and its leaders determine the best possible way to meet state mandated requirements for waste diversion and recycling.

There are land use impacts, of course. The report, which is quite detailed, provides seven different scenarios, from a “do nothing” scenario, to a proposal to consolidate landfilling and public services at the Monterey Peninsula Landfill, to advancing new recycling and waste processing business opportunities in the Salinas Valley. The intent of the presentation is to stimulate elected officials and members of the public to think about various polices, costs, impacts, and benefits related to waste management and recycling activities, including the development of new waste recovery technologies, the consolidation of public and commercial waste handling services, greenhouse gas reduction, reduction of landfilling, and long-term avoided costs.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Salinas Valley Recycles Website
• Meeting Notice
• Agenda Packet (Including Draft Report)

The California American Water Company is a private corporation that is in charge of supplying water to the residents and businesses of the Monterey Peninsula. Cal-Am has a plan to address the need for an increased water supply by building a desalination plant that would take water from wells located near Marina. I got a bulletin from Cal-Am, on July 7th, relaying an editorial from the Monterey Herald. The editorial trumpeted the endorsement of what the newspaper called the “technical experts” who supported the proposed project in the Draft Environmental Impact Report.

So far, Cal-Am has not sent me any bulletin about the article in the July 9th Monterey County Weekly, reporting that the Public Utilities Commission, in charge of reviewing the project, has determined that some of those “technical experts” have direct conflicts of interest. The EIR comment period has been extended, to give members of the public an increased opportunity to review the  Draft EIR, in view of those serious conflicts.

Here is a lesson about the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA: the public agency in charge (in this case the PUC) can’t use information from so-called “experts” if those “experts” have a vested interest in finding no impacts. Looks like the Herald’s boosterism came too quickly!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project Website
• Herald Editorial on The Draft EIR
• Monterey County Weekly article on conflicts of interest