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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of March 20, 2006 to March 24, 2006
Week of March 20, 2006 to March 24, 2006
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 March 20, 2006 to March 24, 2006
- Monday, March 20, 2006
Funding For Housing
- Tuesday, March 21, 2006 –
Land Use Policy, State and Local
- Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Water Saving Technology and Water Policy
- Thursday, March 23, 2006
The Marin County General Plan
- Friday, March 24, 2006
What Kind of Planning Do We Want?
The following Land Use Reports have been presented on KUSP Radio by Gary A. Patton. The Wittwer & Parkin law firm is located in Santa Cruz, California, and practices environmental and governmental law. As part of its practice, the law firm files litigation and takes other action on behalf of its clients, which are typically private individuals, governmental agencies, environmental organizations, or community groups. Whenever the Land Use Report comments on an issue with which the Wittwer & Parkin law firm is involved on behalf of a client, Mr. Patton will make this relationship clear, as part of his commentary. Mr. Patton’s comments do not represent the views of Wittwer & Parkin, LLP, KUSP Radio, nor of any of its sponsors.
| Monday, March 20, 2006 Funding For Housing |
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| In the United States, we use the “market” to set prices for virtually everything, necessities included. The market system has a lot of advantages, as a way to allocate who gets what goods and services, but it does have this feature about it: those who have the most money get the goods. Competition in the marketplace can leave some people behind. So far behind, in fact, where housing is concerned, that they end up on the streets, homeless, or find themselves crowded together, two, three, or even more families in a single house.
One way or another, programs that provide quality affordable housing for those who have been out competed in the housing market must find a way to “subsidize” housing for the economically disadvantaged. Housing Trust Funds are one way to accomplish that, and the San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund got some good news recently. According to a February 28th announcement, Catholic Healthcare West, which purchased two San Luis Obispo County hospitals last year, has agreed to provide $500,000 to the Housing Trust Fund, to help finance affordable housing in San Luis Obispo County. In the end, the “solution” to our affordable housing problems is to find financing sources that can be made available to help those who get out bid in a “private market economy” where those who have the gold get the goods. Check the KUSP website for more information. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, March 21, 2006 Land Use Policy, State and Local |
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The primary governmental unit in the United States is the “state” government, and the state government establishes the basic rules by which we operate in our local communities. That includes the land use rules and regulations that determine the parameters of where, how, and how much growth should be allowed. Maybe, however, this is largely a “theoretical” statement. As in most other states, California state government has chosen to “delegate” the most important land use policy decisions to the local level, and specifically to cities and counties. There’s a good reason for that. Local governments know the local situation better than Sacramento ever could, and it’s generally easier for local residents to control a local government than to influence the state government. The problem comes when individual local decisions start adding up to a regional and statewide problem. That’s when it’s time for the state government to get involved more directly. I think it’s pretty clear that statewide water supply, air quality, transportation, and housing problems cry out for new solutions, and that the time has long since come for the state government to start setting more stringent rules for land use. Unfortunately, however, and I’m speaking from Sacramento, there isn’t an immediate solution on the horizon. Since there isn’t, local involvement is still your best investment of time and energy if you’d like to tackle the land use challenges that confront us everywhere, throughout this “golden state.”
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| Wednesday, March 22, 2006 Water Saving Technology and Water Policy |
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Were you aware that Monterey County has a “Water Awareness Committee?” Well it does. It’s a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), tax-exempt corporation whose mission is to promote personal responsibility through education for the conservation and beneficial use of water in Monterey County. Today, the Committee is holding a “Water-wise Landscape Symposium & Expo”at the Rancho Cañada Golf Club, in Carmel Valley. The event will provide legislative updates and water conservation tools for beautiful landscapes. It is intended for grounds managers, school districts, municipalities, city planners, landscape designers, golf course managers and homeowners. It’s probably too late for most listeners to attend this Expo, but it’s not too late to think about the basic message. Instead of searching for new supplies of water, we should be finding ways to conserve and use our existing supplies more efficiently. Americans have a two hundred year tradition of conquering new territories and building new facilities to meet the needs of a growing population. In California, that westward expansion has met its geographic limit, and building new water supply projects is now the least effective way to provide needed water supplies. The Planning and Conservation League has published a “strategy document” showing what we ought to be doing on a statewide basis. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, March 23, 2006 The Marin County General Plan |
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A couple of weekends ago, I spoke at an educational workshop sponsored by the Environmental Forum of Marin. A byproduct of my participation was a quick education on some of the most important things happening in that County, in terms of land use policy. One thing I found out is that Marin County is right in the middle of a major General Plan Update. As KUSP listeners know, the local General Plan is the “Constitution for Land Use,” and there is no more important land use policy document. All the zoning ordinances and other land use regulations of the local community must be consistent with the General Plan, and project level decisions have to be consistent with the General Plan, too. Because the General Plan is such an important document, legally, the easiest way for a local resident to have an impact on land use issues is to participate vigorously in any General Plan Update process then underway. Within the Central Coast Region, Monterey County residents definitely know what I’m talking about. Here’s the “news story” for today. If you’re a Central Coast Resident interested in land use policy, there are lots of good things to be gleaned from the current draft of the Marin County General Plan Update. This document makes “sustainability” a keystone concept, and combines a commitment to the protection of agricultural land and the natural environment with a commitment to affordable housing. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, March 24, 2006 What Kind of Planning Do We Want? |
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There are at least two different theories of how “planning” should be done. One approach might be called “accommodation planning.” In this way of thinking about it, the objective of the planning effort is to figure out what is already happening, and then to extrapolate those current trends into the future, and then to plan to “accommodate” the impacts of what will happen as trends continue. If a particular jurisdiction were experiencing a population growth rate of 3.5% per year (which would mean that the population of the community would double in twenty years) then the role of planning would be to figure out where and how to build the houses needed to accommodate that population growth. But “accommodation planning” is not the only way that planning can be done. Instead of planning to accommodate what is already happening to us, we can plan for what we want to happen. This makes our plan a matter of community choice and decision. Treating planning as a matter of community choice recognizes one of the realities of human life: nothing is inevitable, because we can change what we are doing now, so as to arrive at a different future, the future we want. In terms of your own involvement in the planning process, please be advised that the Watsonville City Council will be holding a public hearing on its proposed General Plan next Tuesday, March 28th. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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