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KUSP provides a brief Land Use Report on KUSP Radio. Tune in every weekday at 6:33 or 8:49 am. KUSP is at 88.9 FM in General Coverage, 105.9 FM in Big Sur Valley, 91.3 FM in Palo Colorado Canyon, and 91.7 FM in San Ardo. Archives of past transcripts are available here. Week of September 15, 2003 to September 19, 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,
September 16, 2003 – The GPU Refinement Group “Sometimes you really dig a girl, the minute you’ve kissed her; but then you get distracted by her older sister…Her daddy comes in and takes you aside, and says, son, you better go home and make up your mind.” In the land use realm in Monterey County, the time for some major decisions has arrived. Growth pressures are pushing up against the limited natural resources and scarce financial resources of the county. Deciding how to deal with those growth pressures is really what the General Plan Update is all about. Tomorrow, the Board of Supervisors will consider procedural issues related to its General Plan Update. In June, the Board created a so-called “Refinement Group,” hoping that group could find some way to eliminate differences of opinion on the current draft document. As it turned out, that didn’t happen. Citizen groups want future growth to be tightly focused in existing urban areas. Business groups and large landowners want what they call “flexibility,” to build housing and other projects in rural areas. This kind of difference of opinion really does demand a choice, and elected officials are the ones who have to “make up their mind.” No group of special interest representatives can take them off the hook. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
Tuesday,
September 16, 2003 – Cannery Row Two weeks ago, for instance, I saw the famous “Red Pony Barn,” featured in one of Steinbeck’s most endearing stories. The barn is located in the rolling hills off San Juan Grade Road. I was there not as a literary tourist, but to make a site visit with the Planning Commission. This old and picturesque barn is dead center in the middle of the biggest residential development ever proposed in unincorporated Monterey County, the so-called “Rancho San Juan” development. On the other side of Salinas, in the little town of Spreckels, which looks like a stage set for a Steinbeck reenactment, Tainimura and Antle, the largest agricultural grower in the Salinas Valley, is proposing to pave over some of its farmland with a residential subdivision, that would be immediately adjacent to historic Spreckels. Tonight, at the Monterey City Council meeting, you can find out about efforts to preserve the historic qualities of Cannery Row, another Steinbeck favorite place. Suffice it to say that many of the business owners there are not very supportive of any regulation to protect its historic character. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
Wednesday,
September 17, 2003 – Marina Heights Tomorrow The alternative of retaining and renovating the existing 828 housing units is not being given any consideration by the City. In a way, that’s odd, since in an immediately adjacent area, the exact same kind of houses have been renovated, at the cost of about $30,000 per house. That renovated area is now a fine suburban neighborhood. The renovated houses are being rented out by the City of Marina to ordinary working families, and after all the costs are paid, net income to the City is about $2,000,000 per year. Again, this model is not being looked at for the Marina Heights area. The land on which the Marina Heights Project is proposed is owned by the public, but the City plans to sell that land to a private developer for about $10,000,000 of one time income. Why this is preferable to a development that would produce several million dollars a year, in perpetuity, is a question that Marina citizens and residents might want to pursue. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
Thursday,
September 18, 2003 – Action Pajaro Valley Action Pajaro Valley is a nonprofit group, formed in 1998. The group brought together a broad range of civic, business, and environmental leaders, to forge a common “vision” for the future of the Pajaro Valley, on both sides of the River. This is never, and was not in this case, an easy task. It’s fair to say, though, that getting organized, bringing people together, and working on specific changes at the local level often does pay off. In the case of Action Pajaro Valley, at least one payoff came with the Watsonville Urban Limit Line and Development Timing Initiative, adopted by the voters in November 2002. If you’d like to get more information on Action Pajaro Valley, the meeting tonight is your best chance. But you can use the World Wide Web, too. Just click on the Land Use Report link at www.kusp.org, and track down the transcript of today’s Report. Send me your thoughts and comments, too. I really would like to make the Land Use Report as helpful and informative as possible. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
Friday,
September 19, 2003 – LAFCO Next Monday It used to be that cities could decide their own boundaries just by voting on them. The City of San Jose was renowned for what were called “cherry stem” annexations. The City would spot some land located a mile or more out of town, and vote to annex that land and the road leading to it, but none of the land in between. In this way, revenue producing properties were brought into the city, and the expense of paying for most of the impacts of the remote development fell to county government. LAFCOs were set up to avoid that. It says right in the law that they’re supposed to stop urban sprawl. If you’d like to see a LAFCO in action, check out www.kusp.org. I’ve provided references to the LAFCO websites for all the LAFCOs in the Central Coast Region. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
Archives of past transcripts are available here |
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