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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of June 16, 2003 to June 20, 2003
"Listen Live"
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KUSP LandWatch
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ogo.gif" width="108" height="109" border="0"> "Listen Live" |
KUSP provided a brief Land Use Report on KUSP Radio from January 2003 to May 2016. Archives of past transcripts are available here.
Week of June 16, 2003 to June 20, 2003
The following Land Use Reports have been presented on KUSP Radio by Gary Patton, Executive Director of LandWatch Monterey County. The opinions expressed by Mr. Patton are not necessarily those of KUSP Radio, nor of any of its sponsors.
Monday,
June 16, 2003 – Transportation and Water
Let me start off today’s Land Use Report with a correction.
Last Thursday, I announced an important meeting on the proposed
widening of Highway One, scheduled for this coming Thursday, June
19th, at 6:30 p.m. in Watsonville. Forget about it. That meeting
has been cancelled. If you’re desperate for news about Highway
One, though, and want to shift your attention to Thursday morning,
the Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission will hold a workshop
on the proposed widening of Highway One on June 19th, at 9:00 a.m.,
in Santa Cruz.
You can pick from two meetings this evening, both related to water. The Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency (they deal with “wastewater”) will hold a budget workshop at their offices at 5 Harris Court, Building D, in Ryan Ranch in Monterey. The beleaguered Monterey Peninsula Water Management District will hold its regular meeting at the Seaside City Hall. Both of these meetings begin at 7:00 o’clock.
I say the Water Management District is “beleaguered” because a bill carried by Senator McPherson, Senate Bill 149, proposes to eliminate the right of the voters to elect the Board of Directors of the Water Management District, and to eliminate the right of the voters to approve (or disapprove) proposed water projects. You can get more information on all these topics by clicking on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
Agenda for June 19th Workshop on Highway One Widening
http://www.sccrtc.org/MRWPCA
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/boards/
San-MRWPCA/San-MRWPCA.htmMonterey Peninsula Water Management District
http://www.mpwmd.dst.ca.us/Bill Information
http://info.sen.ca.gov/cgi-bin/pagequery?type=sen_bilinfo&
site=sen&title=Bill+Information
Tuesday,
June 17, 2003 – And Important County Meeting Today
Land use authority is most typically exercised at the local level.
While both federal and particularly state legislation can have a
very important impact on land use, most land use policy decisions
are made by local government. Within the realm of local government,
general purpose governmental agencies have the most direct control.
Special districts and regional agencies can have significant impacts
on land use policy (these are agencies like the Transportation Commissions
and water agencies). The most important land use policy decisions,
however, are made by cities and counties. These are called general
purpose governments, because they handle virtually every type of
governmental issue, while special districts and regional agencies
typically handle only one kind of issue.
As between cities and counties, counties often have the most significant impact on land use policy. This is basically just because they’re bigger. City governments have control over the land within their city boundaries; county governments have responsibility for everything else.
With that framework in mind, it’s obvious why county government decisions about land use are so important for the future of our communities. Today, at 2:00 p.m., at the County Courthouse in Salinas, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will continue its series of workshops on the proposed General Plan Update. Next week, June 24th will be the “climax” session of these General Plan workshops. That really is a meeting you should attend.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
Agenda For Monterey County Board of Supervisors
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/suagenda/Agenda.pdfMonterey County GPU Website
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/gpu/
Wednesday,
June 18, 2003 – An Agricultural Issues Workshop
Monterey County Supervisors Lou Calcagno and Butch Lindley are both
deeply involved with agriculture. Supervisor Calcagno has a dairy
in Moss Landing. Supervisor Lindley is in the grapes and wine business
in the Salinas Valley. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors
has asked Supervisors Calcagno and Lindley to meet with farmers,
and ranchers, and others involved in agriculture, to get their views
on the latest draft of the Monterey County General Plan Update.
They’re an official “subcommittee,” and are going
to report back to the full Board next Tuesday, June 24th. In the
meantime, they’re canvassing opinions.
At a meeting last week, Supervisors Calcagno and Lindley heard lots of negative comments. This evening, they’re doing a “second round.” The purpose of the meeting is to hear from people in agriculture, but any member of the public can attend. If you’re interested in the future of agriculture in Monterey County, I definitely recommend this meeting. Based on what I saw last week, it’s bound to have some dramatic moments, and the topic couldn’t be more relevant. Most of the people who talked last time want to develop their land, without much governmental restraint.
The meeting will be held from 4:00 to 6:00 this afternoon, at the Agricultural Commissioner’s Conference Center, at 1432 Abbott Street in Salinas. Last time, Supervisor Lindley mentioned a wine tasting to follow. That could be another inducement to show up. Supervisor Calcagno did not promise milkshakes!
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
Contact Supervisor Calcagno at (831) 755-5063
Contact Supervisor Lindley at (831) 596-9902
Thursday,
June 19, 2003 – Life on the Bay and Life on the Land
Each weekday morning, here on KUSP, I try to keep you informed about
the most important land use issues facing our local communities.
As I hope you’ve discovered, Captain Steph Dutton is keeping
us posted, each weekday, about “Life on the Bay.” One
if by land, two if by sea. You can’t have one without the other!
I mean to say, our marine and coastal environments are actually
a biological, social, political, and economic whole. They’re
related. They’re integrated. KUSP is onto something as it presents
both a “Land Use Report” and “Life on the Bay”
each weekday morning.
In terms of policy, one good place to see the interrelationship between the land and marine environments is to peruse the Joint Management Plan Review for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. This recently-released document is available on the web, and you can actually obtain a free CD Rom from the Sanctuary Office. The document contains 27 action plans addressing issues including coastal development, ecosystem protection, water quality, and wildlife disturbance.
The Sanctuary Advisory Council will hear oral reports on the proposed action plans at a meeting scheduled for June 26th and June 27th in Seaside. You can find out more by visiting the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org. I’d love to get your comments and suggestions, too.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
Joint Management Plan Review Website
http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/jointplan/Sanctuary Website
http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/oms/
omsmonterey/omsmonterey.htmlFor More Information call (831) 647-4201
Friday,
June 20, 2003 – Upcoming Events
Here’s some advance notice about a couple of upcoming events
that may be of interest. Both are sponsored, at least in part, by
the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, or AMBAG. AMBAG
is a regional agency, established under state law, and is called
a “Council of Governments.” It helps coordinate planning
throughout the Monterey Bay Region, with specific reference to environmental
review, economic planning, housing, transportation, and air quality.
In fact, AMBAG gets involved with almost every issue involving land
use policy.
On Thursday, June 26th, from 8:30 to 2:15, AMBAG is sponsoring a forum entitled, “Housing Affordability by Design: Concept to Implementation.” There’s a $40 dollar charge to preregister, which does include a luncheon buffet and Forum materials. The topic is certainly relevant to the housing crisis that affects all of our local communities.
On August 18th – now that is advance notice – The Monterey Bay Area – Silicon Valley Inter-Regional Partnership Forum will receive a report on strategies better to manage the growth caused by the booming Silicon Valley economy, which is having such a profound impact on surrounding areas.
You can get more information on both these events, and AMBAG, by clicking on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
More Information:
AMBAG
http://www.ambag.org/Information on Housing Design Forum – (831) 883-3750
Draft Study on Regional Strategies
http://www.ambag.org/pdf/irpph4report.pdf
Archives of past transcripts are available here
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