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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of January 10, 2005 to January 14, 2005
Week of January 10, 2005 to January 14, 2005
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 January 10, 2005 to January 14, 2005
- Monday, January 10, 2005 – The Tannery Arts Center Project
- Tuesday, January 11, 2005 – The East Cliff Trail Project at the Yacht Harbor
- Wednesday, January 12, 2005 – Cypress Knolls in Marina
- Thursday, January 13, 2005 – The Highway One EIR
- Friday, January 14, 2005 – The Wild Farm Alliance
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, January 10, 2005 – The Tannery Arts Center Project |
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When we think about development projects we mostly think about projects proposed by private property owners. A person who either owns or has an option on a particular piece of property would like to make some sort of change on the property, and in order to be able to make that change, the property owner must get “permission” from the community. Getting a “permit” really means getting “permission,” and local communities have established various procedures to consider such property owner requests. Whether it’s putting a new fence in your side yard, or a proposal to build a 6,000 unit housing development in King City, the basic idea is the same: a property owner needs to get permission to make a change that might affect the community. This is actually quite reasonable, and each community gets to decide for itself, for the most part, how “strict” or “easy” the community wants to be about giving permission for proposed projects. Not all development projects are initiated by private property owners. Sometimes, the community takes the lead. Tomorrow afternoon, for instance, the Santa Cruz City Council will be discussing a proposed Tannery Arts Center Project, to be located at the old Salz Tannery property on River Street. The City is the developer in this case. If you’re interested, please click on the Land Use Report link on the KUSP website, www.kusp.org. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, January 11, 2005 – The East Cliff Trail Project at the Yacht Harbor |
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Yesterday, I mentioned a project in which the City of Santa Cruz is acting like the developer. Today, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors is considering another kind of public project, in this case a proposed coastal trail in the area of the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor. The Board will be meeting at 9:00 o’clock this morning, and the trail item is #35 on the Board’s Consent Agenda. If you have an easy way to access the internet, you might want to check out the agenda of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. The County of Santa Cruz has gone out of its way to make it easy for members of the public to get access to public information, and to participate in the decision making process with respect to issues that come before the Board of Supervisors. The agenda available at the County’s website doesn’t just list the items to be considered by the Board, it contains a link to the material in the Agenda Packet actually furnished to each Board Member, so you can get immediate access to everything that the Board will have before it. You can send Board Members an email, right from the County’s website, to let them know your views on any item. In the case of the Yacht Harbor trail, the question is about the pros and cons of selecting a recreational trail alignment along the Lake/5th Avenue corridor. Bikers, walkers, and local residents all have a stake in the decision, so make your views known! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, January 12, 2005 – Cypress Knolls in Marina |
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“Scoping” is a term related to the environmental review process mandated by CEQA, or the California Environmental Quality Act. CEQA requires public agencies to consider the possible adverse environmental impacts of every decision that might impact the environment. Since a governmental decision to issue a permit for a private development project could have an adverse environmental impact, CEQA does require environmental review to be carried out with respect to both private and public projects. This is a state law requirement, and so it’s not something that a local government can decide to dispense with. The first step in the CEQA process is an “initial study.” If such an initial study finds that a proposed decision might (and the word is “might,” not “will”) have an adverse environmental impact, then the governmental agency is required to do a full Environmental Impact Report, or EIR. When it’s clear that an EIR will be prepared, then the question is what the “scope” of the EIR should be. That’s where “scoping” comes in. Tomorrow night, the Marina Planning Commission will hold a “scoping session” on the proposed Cypress Knolls project, to demolish 460 duplex units and develop 576 single family residences on 190 acres on the former Fort Ord. There’s more information at www.kusp.org. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, January 13, 2005 – The Highway One EIR |
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In Santa Cruz County, as you may remember, the County Transportation Commission recently asked the voters whether they wanted to go into debt to finance an expansion of Highway One. The answer was a resounding “no.” Not only did the ballot measure fail to get the required two-thirds majority, it didn’t even get a simple majority. It’s generally conceded that the widening of Highway One in Santa Cruz County will only take place if local residents put up most of the money. That may not be fair, since Highway One is a state highway, but that’s just the way it is. The state has no money available, and unless the local folks want to pick up the tab, they’re going to have to live with the current highway. Given that situation, and given the rather decisive statement by the voters last November that they don’t want to pay for the widening of Highway One, you’d think that the Transportation Commission would start investigating other possibilities. A recent news release from the Transportation Commission, however, starts out like this: “A critical next step in the Highway 1 Widening/HOV Lane Project is to approve the list of alternatives that will be evaluated during the environmental review …” If it seems strange to you that the Commission is proposing to spend lots of money studying a project that the voters won’t pay for, and that therefore won’t get built, you might want to show up next Thursday night, January 20th, to comment on this idea. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, January 14, 2005 – The Wild Farm Alliance |
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Next Wednesday, January 19th, the Wild Farm Alliance will be holding a conference on farm biodiversity, and will host a tour of some local farms that employ biodiversity strategies. This is an all day event, just prior to the Ecological Farming Conference, held at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove. If you’d like more information about this event, please visit the KUSP website at www.kusp.org. If you’ll click on the Land Use Report link, and track down the transcript for today’s Land Use Report, you’ll find the information you’re looking for. You can use the occasion to send me an email, too, with any comments, questions, or suggestions that you might have. The predominant land use in the Central Coast Region continues to be agriculture, but the future of agriculture is in question. Pressures to convert agricultural land to other uses are very significant, and that’s visible most clearly in Monterey County. While San Luis Obispo County is definitely feeling pressures to convert agricultural land, it’s fair to say that there is much more interest in development in Monterey County, most likely because Monterey County is closer to the job growth centers in the Silicon Valley. Pressures are least in Santa Cruz County, where the voters acted to put commercially productive agricultural land “off limits” to development by their adoption of Measure J in 1978. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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