The County Supervisors in San Benito County are fighting over the rules that will govern the future growth and development of that county. A local newspaper, the Hollister Free Lance, has outlined the arguments, and lets readers know who’s who. That’s a genuine public service. My experience is that if voters know where their elected representatives stand on issues of importance, they will actually exercise their prerogative to provide the direction they want. Of course, organized work by concerned members of the public is actually also necessary. Most people don’t read newspapers, and very few are undertaking independent research into what their government is doing. What “community organizing” work really entails, as a practical matter, is that some small group will take responsibility for dramatizing to the larger public what’s at stake, the implications of what’s going on, and how they can do something about it. Santa Cruz County has a long history of just this kind of citizen involvement, and in Monterey County, LandWatch has taken on this kind of public engagement responsibility. But in San Benito County…? Organizing efforts could probably be improved.

If you’d like to find out what has happened to San Benito County’s ordinance protecting hillsides (hint: it’s been eliminated), see below .

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Hollister Free Lance Article, “Long Climb Ahead”
http://www.hollisterfreelance.com/news/
contentview.asp?c=232219

Those who make decisions about the future growth and development of Monterey County (and I mean elected members of the various city councils, and elected members of the Board of Supervisors) are dreaming of a green New Year. A little “late breaking” Christmas present of about a billion dollars is on their wish list.

Among the other responsibilities of being an elected official at the local level is the responsibility of voting to appoint a specific elected official to serve on the Regional Transportation Commission that makes and implements the long term transportation plan that will ultimately determine what the future of the local area will be. Growth and development do follow “infrastructure,” and for a good reason. It doesn’t make sense for the public to invest millions or billions in new physical infrastructure unless it plans to use this infrastructure to its natural capacity. That’s why highway widening tends to be counterproductive, in terms of eliminating congestion. The new added capacity induces more use (as we do use our infrastructure to its capacity), and you just end up with more cars caught in the jam.

In Monterey County, the regional transportation agency is called “TAMC,” the Transportation Agency for Monterey County. I’ve put more information about TAMC on the KUSP website, including a link that will let you review its current membership, and find out something about its billion dollar tax plan.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

TAMC Website
http://www.tamcmonterey.org/

TAMC Membership
http://www.tamcmonterey.org/committees/
tamc/members.html

TAMC Long Term Plan
http://www.tamcmonterey.org/programs/
rtp/index.html

TAMC Sales Tax Plan
http://www.tamcmonterey.org/programs/
plan/index.html

Monterey Herald Editorial
http://www.montereyherald.com/editorials/
ci_7736569?nclick_check=1

Salinas Californian Article
http://www.thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20071218/NEWS01/712180312

The City of Salinas is the largest city in Monterey County, and it wants to become even bigger. Way bigger. On December 11th, the Salinas City Council voted to expand the city by 3,347 acres, which will allow developers build more than 14,300 housing units and about 9 million square feet of commercial, retail, and mixed-used space.

If each new housing unit will have room for three people (and that’s probably a conservative estimate), the City Council’s plan will mean a population growth, in the City, of about 43,000 people, or a 30% increase in the City’s population through this single annexation.

How many of the 3,347 acres are productive farmland? Well, most of them. The cities of the Salinas Valley are located in the middle of the best farmland in the world, and urban expansion automatically undermines agriculture. Most people don’t think of it this way, but agriculture really is an “industry.” When a city paves over industrial land to build houses and shopping centers, they are directly undermining the long-term economic productivity of the community. San Jose would never vote to displace CISCO Systems in favor of a subdivision project, but because agricultural land seems “vacant,” its industrial importance can be overlooked. There’s more information below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Statistics on Salinas
http://www.city-data.com/city/
Salinas-California.html

Californian article on annexation proposal
http://www.thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20071218/NEWS01/712180321

A couple of things are going on in the City of Marina that I thought you might like to know about. First, on January 8th, next year, the City Council will be considering a modification to the development agreements governing what used to be called the “University Villages” project. This project, located on the former Fort Ord, is one of three major development projects currently underway in Marina.

For marketing purposes, I’m sure, what used to be called “University Villages,” perhaps conjuring up a vision of slab-like dormitories, is now named “The Dunes on Monterey Bay.” One nice thing to know, the name aside, is that this development is not being constructed on any current dunes, and is to the “inside” of Highway One, and is not directly on the coast. At any rate, if you are a Marina resident, you should know that the City and the developers are proposing to change more than the name of this development. All current and future residents have a stake in what the legal agreements say, so you might want to mark your calendar.

Second, the City of Marina is accepting applications for seats on a number of City Commissions, including three seats on the City Planning Commission, three on the Economic Development Commission, two seats on the Public Works Commission, and two seats on the Recreation & Cultural Services Commission. Get more information below.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

City of Marina Website
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/

City Council Agendas
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/council1agenda.htm

City of Marina Commission Recruitment Announcement
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/commissions/
2008Commission+Recruitment.pdf

City of Marina Application Form
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/commissions/CommissionApp.pdf

City of Marina Appointment Procedures
http://www.ci.marina.ca.us/
commissions/ApptPolicy.pdf

This week, I’ve been providing a kind of “quick tour” of various development proposals in the Central Coast region, where developments do come fast and furious. The Transportation Agency of Monterey County is planning to spend almost a billion dollars on new transportation infrastructure. The City of Marina has three big developments cooking, and is planning to modify the development agreement for one of them. The City of Salinas is planning to pave over 3,347 acres of farmland, and the County of San Benito has just eliminated any zoning controls over hillside development.

I thought I’d round out this holiday week by alerting you to a proposed development in the Las Lomas area, which is an unincorporated area in North Monterey County, under the jurisdiction of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Lou Calcagno is the elected official who represents the Las Lomas area, and if you are interested in letting him know what you think about North County developments you can find his contact information in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report, at www.kusp.org.

In Las Lomas, developer Chuck Allen wants to divide a 33-acre parcel of mostly farmland into 101 new lots. This proposal is one of the largest North County development proposals in recent memory, and was first brought to the County almost fifteen years ago. It will next be heard on February 28th.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

More Information

Monterey County Website
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/

Santa Cruz Sentinel article on Las Lomas development proposal
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
story.php?sid=51777&storySection=Local

Register-Pajaronian article on Las Lomas development proposal
http://www.register-pajaronian.com/fe_view_article.php?
story_id=2648&page_id=72&heading=0

Contact Information for all Monterey County Supervisors
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/supervisors.htm