 |
Home | Issues & Actions | About |
Archive Page This page is available as an archive to previous versions of LandWatch websites. |
KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of January 22, 2007 to January 26, 2007
Week of January 22, 2007 to January 26, 2007
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 22, 2007 to January 26, 2007
- Monday, January 22, 2007
Historic Preservation in Santa Cruz County
- Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Historic Preservation in Monterey
- Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Thrillcraft
- Thursday, January 25, 2007
UCSC Oversight
- Friday, January 26, 2007
Stewards of the Range
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, January 22, 2007 Historic Preservation in Santa Cruz County |
 |
| A couple of weeks ago, I spotlighted efforts to “Save the Roadhouse,” a structure located on East Cliff Drive, at Pleasure Point. Tomorrow, there will be an opportunity to participate in a public hearing that will have some bearing on what happens to this structure, beloved by many surfers, and which those campaigning to “Save the Roadhouse” want to turn into a museum and community facility for the Pleasure Point area.
At its meeting tomorrow, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will be reviewing recommendations from the County’s Historic Resources Commission, regarding the potential historic designation of a number of properties in Live Oak. You can get more information by finding the transcript for today’s Land Use Report on the KUSP website. The public hearing is Agenda Item #63, scheduled at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon. The County’s Historic Resources Commission held two public hearings last September and October, and is recommending that 22 properties receive an official “historic” designation by the County. Once such a designation is made, a property owner is subject to special rules with respect to any proposed changes to the structure or property. The “Roadhouse” is recommended for designation, so consider attending the hearing, and speaking up. There may also be other properties slated either to receive, or not receive, historic designation, in which you have an interest. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 Historic Preservation in Monterey |
|
|
Today, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will be considering whether or not to give an official “historic” designation to 22 properties in Live Oak. A public hearing is scheduled at 1:30 this afternoon. The KUSP website has more information, and also has information on a session scheduled for this evening at the Monterey City Hall. Tonight, from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m., there will be a joint meeting between the Monterey City Planning Commission, the Monterey City Architectural Review Committee, and the Monterey City Historic Preservation Commission. Historic preservation is one of the topics to be discussed at that meeting, and of course Monterey is known for its historic resources. If you are a Monterey City resident or property owner you might want to attend the meeting tonight. The official topic is the “Downtown/East Downtown Mixed Use Design Guidelines,” and while no action will be taken, public testimony will undoubtedly have a big impact on later regulations. The Guidelines slated for discussion this evening would help implement the City of Monterey’s new General Plan. There is also a hearing tomorrow, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., before the Monterey City Council, to discuss the Del Monte / Lighthouse Avenue Transportation Corridor. Again, how the new General Plan is going to be implemented is at stake, and your participation can make a difference. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
| Wednesday, January 24, 2007 Thrillcraft |
|
The land use issues I discuss most regularly tend to be focused on growth management, agricultural land preservation, transportation, and housing, since these are definitely the topics that most directly affect the future shape and character of our local communities. The destruction of our wilderness areas, though, is most definitely a land use issue, and it’s an issue we shouldn’t forget! If we do forget about it, that is probably because most of us are not regularly out in the wilderness, where we can witness first hand the destruction that is taking place in some of our most pristine environments. The Foundation for Deep Ecology, in cooperation with Wildlands CPR, will soon print its latest book, “Thrillcraft: The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation.” This publication will feature large two-page spreads displaying the damaging impacts associated with All Terrain Vehicles, jet skis, dirt bikes, dune buggies, snowmobiles, Four Wheel Drive trucks, and swamp buggies. In Sacramento, the Planning and Conservation League works with an “OHV Coalition,” meaning an “Off Highway Vehicle” Coalition, that is fighting the destruction of our wilderness areas by off road “Thrillcraft.” If you’d like to help, please let me know. You can get more information below. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
| Thursday, January 25, 2007 UCSC Oversight |
|
The University of California has adopted a Long Range Development Plan (or LRDP) for the future development of its Santa Cruz campus. That LRDP proposes a very significant amount of new growth, and a citizen lawsuit was filed to challenge it. City voters also took action in November, at the ballot box, to give the City more of a say over the impacts associated with UCSC growth. Those ballot measures are being challenged by the University, in a lawsuit against the City. The citizen lawsuit challenging the LRDP will be heard sometime this summer, but UCSC is planning to move ahead with construction of a Biomedical Sciences Facility even before the courts pass on the validity of the citizen lawsuit, or on the University’s own claims that the City’s ballot measures are invalid. An “injunction,” to prevent changes in the status quo, pending a judicial resolution of the various disputes, is not currently in place, but it’s likely that the courts will soon be asked to intervene. Obviously, if UCSC builds according to a plan that is later found to be illegally in place, that judicial decision won’t “undo” the actual construction. Check the KUSP website for more information, including a reference to a Legislative Analyst’s report that identifies problems with the University’s current LRDP process. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
| Friday, January 26, 2007 Stewards of the Range |
|
|
The “Stewards of the Range,” based in Idaho, is a pro-property rights group that has been active in Monterey County, generally taking the position that there should be few, if any, restrictions on the ability of rangeland owners to use their lands in any way they see fit. Monterey County government has spent about the last seven years developing a new General Plan. What started out with a lot of citizen outreach, and the development of twelve “Guiding Objectives” that would have prevented future sprawl, ended up just weeks ago with a new General Plan, called “GPU 4,” that places minimum restrictions on development in the unincorporated area. The Board of Supervisors, in other words, basically adopted the approach argued by the Stewards of the Range. Despite the Board’s action, it appears that voters will have an opportunity to vote on that pro-growth plan before it goes into effect, since a referendum effort mounted against the plan seems to be heading for success. In adopting its pro-growth plan, the Board did say that they would place that plan on the ballot themselves, but in doing so, they didn’t give the voters the opportunity to decide in advance whether the plan’s pro-growth policies should go into effect. Without a referendum, developers could have gotten approval for their projects pending the election, and those approvals would have been irrevocable. If you’d like to attend an event sponsored by Stewards of the Range, see the KUSP website! For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
|
|
Archives of past transcripts are available here
|
CONTACT 306 Capitol Street #101 PO Box 1876 Phone (831) 759-2824 Fax (831) 759-2825 |
|