Tonight, from 6:30 to 8:30, there is an important meeting at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve Community Meeting room, located at 1700 Elkhorn Road in either Watsonville, or Royal Oaks, take your pick. To get there in person, if you’d like to attend the meeting, you may want to review the map and other information you’ll find on the KUSP website.

Elkhorn Slough is recognized nationally, and even globally, as a critically important wetland and bird habitat. It’s one of the hidden gems of Monterey County, and of the entire Central Coast. Photographers from the Monterey Herald, in fact, recently named Elkhorn Slough as one of the “Seven Wonders of Monterey County.”

Tonight, a forum will focus on a Draft Strategic Plan to protect Elkhorn Slough’s tidal wetlands. There will be a presentation starting at 6:30, followed by a comment period. I encourage your participation. Even more, I encourage you to get involved with one or more of the organizations devoted to the protection and preservation of Elkhorn Slough. The Elkhorn Slough Foundation, a sponsor of tonight’s meeting, is definitely one of these. Another great group is Friends, Artists, and Neighbors of Elkhorn Slough (FANS for short). I find out about all things relating to Elkhorn Slough through my membership in both of these groups. Check them out, and check out that meeting tonight!

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Elkhorn Slough Foundation Website
http://www.elkhornslough.org/esf.htm

Meeting Notice, Public Forum
http://www.elkhornslough.org/tidalwetland/forums.htm

Directions To The Meeting
http://www.elkhornslough.org/map.htm

Draft Plan
http://www.elkhornslough.org/tidalwetland/
downloads/DRAFT_Tidal_Wetland_Strategic_
Plan_020907.pdf

Monterey Herald Seven Wonders Article
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/
news/15782594.htm

Friends, Artists, and Neighbors of Elkhorn Slough (FANS)
http://www.saveourslough.org/

The local General Plan is the single most important policy document adopted by a city or county government, at least where land use is concerned. Since land use planning is so intricately related to the future of the local economy, to the protection of our environment, and to our ability to reach our social equity goals, there’s a fair argument that the adoption or amendment of a General Plan, without exception, is the most important policy decision that a local government will ever make.

The City of Santa Cruz has started a General Plan revision. If you care about the future of the City of Santa Cruz, you should not only be aware of the process; you should be participating. Tonight, the Santa Cruz City Council will meet at 7:00 o’clock, and will consider a set of proposed General Plan “goals,” developed by the City’s General Plan Advisory Committee. Once the City Council adopts specific goals, the rest of the General Plan will be developed, often by planning consultants and professionals, to seek to achieve those goals. In other words, it’s important to get your perspectives considered now, not later! The Monterey County process, in which development interests ultimately convinced the Board of Supervisors to throw away a $6 million dollar General Plan Update, abandoning the goals that kicked off the process, is highly unusual. The goals adopted at the start will generally determine the end result.

For the City of Santa Cruz, tonight’s the night!

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

City of Santa Cruz Website
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/

The Agenda for the City Council Meeting is available on the City’s website.
DRAFT General Plan Goals
http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/pl/gp/PDF/
GPAC%20Goals%202-8-07.pdf

California’s planning laws defer to local discretion. While every city and county must have a General Plan, addressing circulation, housing, land use, noise, safety, conservation, and open space, the state doesn’t tell local communities what specific policies they have to follow, as they address these key policy areas. As a general statement, “local control” prevails.

Obviously, the state’s decision to allow “local control” over land use allows a wide divergence in approach. In Santa Cruz County, as an example, organized community action has resulted in land use policies that tend to be very protective of the environment, and that generally support strong affordable housing efforts. In Monterey County, a big debate is underway about what sort of policies should guide future growth. The outcome there is far from clear.

There is an exception to the “local control” bias in state planning law. In the Coastal Zone, very specific policies are required by the state, and the state Coastal Commission enforces those policies. Today, and through Friday, the Coastal Commission will be meeting in San Diego. They’ll be making some important decisions on Central Coast land use matters, and if you’d like to be engaged you now have the option to view the Commission’s meetings live, via the Internet. This is brand new for the Commission, and it’s a great thing for public participation.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

State Coastal Commission Website
http://www.coastal.ca.gov

Agenda, Current Meeting
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/mtgcurr.html

Press Release – Internet Access
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/pr-meeting-streaming.pdf

Cal-SPAN Website To See The Meeting Live
http://www.cal-span.org/

Monterey County land use politics can be confusing, at least unless you’re paying close attention. There are lots of lawsuits, and ballot measures, and there have been four, or even six, proposed General Plan drafts, depending on how you count them. When things are confusing, one common reaction is simply to “check out,” and to decide that the issues are too complex to master. Another common reaction is to “polarize,” eliminating ambiguity and complexity by deciding that there’s an archfiend at work, and depending on your bias that may be either the “developers” or the “environmental extremists.” Naturally, the Land Use Report would prefer its listeners to become knowledgeable and informed, and would like to help cut through the apparent confusion. That’s hard to do in a minute and a half!

My own personal way to make the confusion and complexity of Monterey County land use politics more understandable is to think about events in terms of a broad public debate about what specific land use policies should govern the future of Monterey County. Lots of debating points are made on either side, and there are lots of venues in which the debate is taking place, but in essence it’s a debate about whether or not new growth should be focused in existing urban areas, or whether development should continue to be allowed on farmlands and other open spaces. As that debate continues, I’ll keep you posted.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

There are lots of individuals and organizations involved in the debates underway in Monterey County. For the “citizen” or “community” perspective (those arguing that the public will be better off if new growth is focused in existing urban areas), LandWatch Monterey County is a major player. You can visit the LandWatch website at www.landwatch.org.

The other side of the debate argues that it’s important to give property owners throughout the county the right to use their land for new developments, even if that land is not located in or immediately adjacent to existing urban areas. This “individual” or “property owner” perspective is represented by Common Ground Monterey County, whose website is available at http://www.cgmontereycounty.org/.

Because much of the debate will likely be carried out with respect to measures appearing on the June 2007 ballot, there are two “campaign organizations” that will focus specifically on the ballot measures (again, from the “citizen” or “community” perspective and from the “landowner” or “individual” perspective):

• For the community perspective
  http://www.montereyplan.org/pages/initiative.html
  
  
• For the landowner perspective
  http://www.planforthepeople.org/about_us.htm

The land use policy issues I discuss most frequently are those that most directly affect the citizens and residents of the communities of California’s Central Coast. Efforts to protect farmland, build more affordable housing, and to find a “smart growth” solution for the future are all issues you’ll hear about frequently on the Land Use Report. Incidentally, by clicking on the Land Use Report link on the KUSP website, you can not only peruse a rather large inventory of past Land Use Reports, you can also send me an email, to make a comment or suggestion. I really encourage you to do that, particularly if you think there’s a topic or issue that is worthy of some public exposure. When the timing’s right, I can often put these topics on the air.

This morning, let me alert you to a land use issue that affects California’s wilderness areas; that is, how best to reform California’s OHV, or “Off Highway Vehicle” Program. The current OHV program expires January 1, 2008, and a coalition of conservationists, outdoor recreationists, and community residents is urging legislators to protect California’s communities and environment from increasing ORV abuse.

You can sign up for a meeting with your local legislator, or for an upcoming visit to the State Capitol. Find out more below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

California Wilderness Coalition Website
http://www.calwild.org/

Off-Road Vehicle Defense Campaign
http://www.calwild.org/action/alert_1.12.07.php

To get personally involved, contact Brent Schoradt at schoradt@calwild.org; Telephone: 510-451-1450