Listeners might be interested in Agenda Item #23 on tomorrow's agenda of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. That agenda item, scheduled sometime after 1:30 tomorrow afternoon, is a proposal by County staff that the Board extend an Urgency Ordinance that the Board first adopted on July 7th. That Urgency Ordinance prohibits, on a temporary basis, the establishment of new medical marijuana dispensaries and the collective or cooperative cultivation of medical marijuana in the unincorporated areas of the County, pending study and the Board's consideration of what might be an appropriate set of regulations. The proposal is to extend the July 7th prohibition from forty-five days to one year.

Santa Cruz County residents may remember that there has been a lively discussion before the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on medical marijuana cultivation, with an initiative measure having been circulated to overturn the regulatory system adopted in Santa Cruz County. When the Santa Cruz County Board returns from its summer break, we will probably hear more about this issue in Santa Cruz County.

If you care about how medical marijuana may be regulated in Monterey County, tomorrow is a chance to weigh in with your views. In addition, if you point your browser to kusp.org/landuse, you'll find some links that will tell you more about emergency ordinances.

More Information

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

A copy of the Board report, and the proposed ordinance, are available by tracking down the agenda for the July 28, 2015 meeting, and then clicking on the links provided in Agenda Item #23.

Government Code Section 65858 sets up the procedures by which the County is entitled to adopt "emergency" ordinances. You can read that code section by clicking right here!

The Monterey County Planning Commission meets tomorrow, starting at 9:00 a.m. I have a link to the agenda in today's Land Use Report blog, found at kusp.org/landuse.

While state law has a lot to say about how local planning is done, both in terms of substance and procedure, our system really is based on the idea of "local control." How we use the land is determined by our locally elected officials, so the ultimate land use decision maker for property in the unincorporated areas of Monterey County is the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. That said, state mandated, and local, procedures make sure that there is an initial review of major proposals by a volunteer (appointed and not elected) Planning Commission. Planning Commission decisions usually aren't final, but they carry a lot of weight, so if you care about a land use issue, you should show up at the Planning Commission hearing. Don't wait for the final decision at the Board. You may well have waited too long if that's what you do.

If you care about the proposal to build one hundred units of agricultural worker housing in Spreckels, plan to show up at the Planning Commission meeting, at the Monterey County Governmental Center, at 10:30 tomorrow morning. This is a controversial proposal. You can get more information in today's blog posting.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton's Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey County Planning Commission Agenda
• Report on proposed Tanimura & Antle Agricultural Worker Housing
• Monterey Herald article on proposed housing in Spreckels
• Salinas Californian article on proposed housing in Spreckels
• LandWatch Monterey County comments on proposed housing in Spreckels
• Salinas Californian Op Ed in favor of proposed housing project
• Tanimura & Antle FAQ on proposed housing project

Yesterday, I urged listeners to attend today's meeting of the Monterey County Planning Commission. The Planning Commission meeting will be held in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, located at 168 West Alisal Street in Salinas, starting at 9:00 o'clock this morning. At 10:30, the Commission is scheduled to take up a controversial proposal by Tanimura & Antle, which wants to build housing for one hundred agricultural workers in Spreckels. There is another important item on the agenda, too, though, so let me talk a little bit about that one.

At 9:00 this morning, the Commission is going to hold a public workshop to consider the Public Review Draft of the 2015-2023 Housing Element, which is part of the Monterey County General Plan. The local General Plan is called the "Constitution for Land Use" for a reason. The policies set out in the General Plan provide a framework for individual land use decisions, and every individual land use decision is legally required to be "consistent" with the adopted General Plan.

Housing issues are critically important to our land use future, so how the current Housing Element is modified and updated, which is what is happening right now, is going to have a big impact on the future of Monterey County.

I have a link, in today's blog posting, to the Commission's agenda report on the Housing Element, which attaches the proposed new version. Check it out at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton's Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey County Planning Commission Agenda
• Commission Agenda Report / Public Review Draft of New Housing Element

Last Monday, the City of Santa Cruz opened up its Resource Recovery Facility for a public tour. I missed it, and I bet you did, too! However, you will have a couple more chances to see how the City of Santa Cruz handles its recycling operations if you make a reservation for tours being offered on Friday, August 21st, from 10:00 to 11:30 in the morning, and from 1:00 to 2:30 in the afternoon. The City's Resource Recovery Facility is located at 605 Dimeo Lane, on the County's North Coast, and it's a pretty impressive facility. If you are interested, you can make a reservation in advance. Naturally, I have provided you with the information you need in today's Land Use Report blog.

Santa Cruz residents (City residents, I am talking about) generate about thirty to fifty tons of recyclable materials each day. These are the materials that go into the "blue bins" that residents push to the curb on their assigned pick up day. If you take the tour, you'll see how the City's recycling workers, in just one week, can bale as much as forty-nine tons of mixed paper, twenty-one tons of plastic, and about seventy-one tons of cardboard. Those on the tour will visit the scrap metal facility, too, and even the so-called "Second Chance Store," where recycled materials are offered to the public free of charge.

If you'd like to know more, and take this tour, make your reservation now!

More Information:

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

To make a reservation or for more information, please contact Bret Jensen by telephone at 831-420-5593, or email him at bjensen@cityofsantacruz.com.

I think it's fair to say that a kind of land use "dog fight" may be shaping up over a proposal to open a Carmel Canine Sports Center in Carmel Valley. According to the Carmel Valley Association, which of course follows land use issues affecting Carmel Valley quite closely, it is likely that the Monterey County Planning Commission will soon be holding a hearing on this important proposal.

As you may recall from Land Use Report segments earlier this week, I think it is very important for interested persons to participate at the Planning Commission level. If you want to have an impact on the land use decisions that are so important for the future of our local communities, don't skip getting involved at the Planning Commission. While the elected Members of the Board of Supervisors are generally the ones who make the final decisions, the decisions made by the Planning Commission carry great weight. Thus, if you have a position on the proposed Carmel Canine Sports Center, pro or con, think about marking your calendar for the Planning Commission meeting.

Presuming that the Carmel Valley Association got its dates right, the Final Environmental Impact Report on the project will be released to the public today. The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, August 12th. I have placed some links to more information in the transcript of today's Land Use Report. You can find that by directing your browser to kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton's Two Worlds Blog
• Carmel Valley Association Website
• CVA Current Newsletter
• Website Information on Carmel Canine Sports Center Project