Both the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the Monterey County Board of Supervisors are meeting tomorrow. I have links to their agendas at kusp.org/landuse. You are cordially invited to take a peek! County governments are involved in everything from public safety to health care, and they are truly “in charge” of land use for all areas in the county outside of existing cities. Tomorrow, the Santa Cruz County Board is set to accept and file a 2015 Traffic and Engineering Report. If you drive around Santa Cruz County, you might want to take a look. That report specifies every street where radar enforcement of speed limits is permitted. That’s one among several important land use-related items.

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors is also taking up an item with road-related implications. At 10:30 tomorrow morning, the Board will consider whether or not to establish a “no parking” zone on the north side of Coast Road, adjacent to Highway One in Big Sur. That may or may not be a good idea, and if you care, you can certainly be heard from on the item, before the Board takes action. I thought it was interesting, however, that the Board Report did not mention the need to conform to the requirements of the Coastal Act. Anything that impacts public access to the coast will generally require a coastal permit, and parking restrictions can have that effect.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz County 2015 Traffic And Engineering Report
• October 20, 2015 Agenda, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors
• Monterey County Board of Supervisors Agenda Website

Yesterday, I mentioned coastal access, in connection with a proposal to ban automobile parking on portions of the Coast Road, adjacent to Highway One, near the Bixby Bridge in Big Sur. Here is another item on coastal access.

This morning, Assembly Member Mark Stone will co-host a public hearing on how to increase coastal accessibility for underserved communities. There are kids in communities like Salinas and Soledad who have never even seen the Pacific Ocean. That’s even more true for a community like Compton, which is right next door to Lynwood, which is where this morning’s hearing will be held. The idea, obviously, is to hold a hearing about coastal access for underserved communities right in the middle of some underserved communities. The purpose of the hearing is to allow members of the public to provide feedback on the accessibility of California’s beaches and coastlines. Stone chairs an Assembly Select Committee dedicated to expanding coastal access for communities that don’t, currently, really get to experience the wonders of the California coast.

I hope lots of people in the Monterey Bay Region would like to make sure that everyone, including lower income people, and young people of color, have an opportunity to access the coast. If you care, but you’re not in Lynwood this morning, you can tune in to a live broadcast. I have a link at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Coastal Access Website / Live Stream
• Stone Appointed Chair of Select Committee
• Monterey County Board of Supervisors Agenda Website

As I have mentioned a few times here on the Land Use Report, the City of Santa Cruz is moving ahead with a plan to increase development along the city’s most important transportation corridors. That means Mission Street, Ocean Street, Water Street, and Soquel Avenue. The proposal is to increase allowable building heights along these corridors, and to increase the densities allowed, and to encourage mixed uses, mixing commercial uses with multi-family residential uses. Three to five story buildings, all along these corridors, could be a result of the process that the City is pursuing. Naturally, these kind of changes could have significant impacts on adjacent neighborhoods, and might also be expected to increase the kind of traffic congestion and parking problems that are already pretty daunting.

In pursuing its so-called “Corridors Plan,” the City is seeking to implement General Plan provisions that support this kind of development. It’s fair to say that the City’s General Plan is rather pro-development, and that at least some local residents weren’t really paying attention when the General Plan policies gained approval.

A proposed development at 1800 Soquel Avenue provides an example of what’s proposed generally, and some residents are concerned. In fact, they’ve put out a petition opposing high-density zoning. You can explore this important issue with links at kusp.org/landuse.

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Petition on City Of Santa Cruz High-Density Proposals
• Land Use Report, September 24, 2015 – 1800 Soquel
• Land Use Report, September 14, 2015 – Ocean/Water Corridor Plan
• Santa Cruz Corridors Project Website

Land use is most directly affected by the regulatory programs enacted by cities and counties. Frequent listeners certainly know that!

A couple of weeks ago, I focused on land trusts. Land trusts can also have a big impact on land use. Their role, however, is not “regulatory.” Land Trusts are private, nonprofit corporations that acquire property interests in land, and have as their objective to achieve one or more land use related goals. The Elkhorn Slough Foundation, to take a good example, is a land trust dedicated to protecting the amazing natural environment at Elkhorn Slough.

There is another kind of organization that can have an important impact on land use, and that can profoundly affect the quality and character of our local communities. I am speaking of local park and recreation districts. These are governmental agencies, but they are non-regulatory, and acquire interests in land, much as land trusts do, to achieve important land use related goals.

As an example, it would be hard to overstate the impacts of the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District, a Monterey County agency that does incredibly great work for the people of Monterey County. You can find out a lot more about this district at kusp.org/landuse.

Here’s a salute to all the local government agencies that play such a key role in ensuring a positive land use future!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District Website
• October 9, 2015 Land Use Report – Santa Cruz County Land Trusts
• October 8, 2015 Land Use Report – Monterey County Land Trusts

My mention of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, yesterday, reminded me to check out what sort of educational opportunities might be coming up, for those interested in exploring the rich natural environment at Elkhorn Slough. As I thought might be true, I came up with a couple of links to educational opportunities that I think will be interesting to KUSP listeners. At least, I hope so! The Land Use Report blog today, at kusp.org/landuse, carries this headline: “Weed Whackers and Animal Trackers.”

Let’s talk about “weed whacking” first. The 17th Annual Central California Invasive Weed Symposium is scheduled for November 5th at the Peace United Church in the City of Santa Cruz. There is no charge to attend, and there is an extensive program about a topic that is actually of great importance to our region. One nice thing about this Symposium is that you won’t have to sit on your rear end all day. An excursion to the UCSC campus, right next door, will provide some real life examples.

The “Animal Trackers” workshop is being held at Elkhorn Slough tomorrow, Saturday October 24th, from 8:00 to 11:00 o’clock in the morning. Participation is free for Elkhorn Slough Foundation members, and only five dollars for others. I have a registration link in today’s blog posting. Check it out!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Elkhorn Slough Foundation Website
• Register For Animal Tracking Adventure
• Register For The Invasive Weed Symposium
• Information On The Invasive Weed Symposium
• Weed Symposium Facebook Page