During May, I will be doing some out of the country traveling, and during the last couple of weeks of this month, KUSP staff, and specifically JD Hillard, will be taking responsibility for the Land Use Report. Whatever your reaction of regret or relief may be at this announcement, I do expect to be back with you each weekday morning when I return in early June.

I have already been planning ahead for my return, and have booked a date to talk with some elementary school students about land use and the environment. They are particularly interested in "urban forestry" issues, which I think is great. Whether our community is filled with trees is actually an important planning issue, and if a community is known for its trees (as my old hometown of Palo Alto is, for instance) it’s probably not an accident. Land use policies can make that happen.

The transcript of today’s Land Use Report has some references on urban forestry, including a link to the "Tree People" website. I also want to alert you to a presentation tonight at the UCSC Arboretum Horticulture Building. At 7:30, the California Native Plant Society is sponsoring a talk by Matt Ritter, author of A Californian’s Guide to the Trees Among Us. There is more information at www.kusp.org. Click the Land Use Report icon, and track down today’s transcript.

More Information:

Gary Patton writes a daily blog, "Two Worlds / 365"
http://www.gapatton.net

Tonight’s Event
http://www.cruzcnps.org/events.html#item1

Book Website
http://www.heydaybooks.com/upcoming
/a-californians-guide-to-the-tr.html

CNPS, Santa Cruz County Chapter
http://www.cruzcnps.org/

Tree People
http://www.treepeople.org/

U.S. Department of Agriculture Urban Forestry Website
http://www.fs.fed.us/ucf/

Urban Forests Ecosystem Institute
http://www.fs.fed.us/ucf/

The "Silicon Valley" used to be called the "Valley of Heart’s Delight." It was one of the top agricultural areas in California. My family and I would drive out from our home in Palo Alto to get fresh apricots. Then my father used a homemade sulphur shack, and homemade drying trays, to create a family supply of dried apricots, still a favorite for me. Those fruit orchards disappeared because of the land use choices made by Santa Clara Valley local governments. In Santa Cruz County, the community made a different choice. The lesson to be learned is that the land uses we see around us are not a matter of chance. We decide what sort of world we want, and we use land use decisions to achieve our community objectives.

As I watched the transformation of Santa Clara County from agriculture to industrial and residential development, I was amazed how new developments tried to maintain "continuity," even if only in name. "Cherryvale Estates," and similar developments, and the street names chosen, reflected what was, even as that past was bulldozed down.

On Thursday, there’s an interesting item on the Planning Commission agenda in San Luis Obispo County, for any listeners down that way. It is a proposal to change the designation of open space, ranching land to "Residential Single Family." The name of the development: Heritage Ranch.

Keep your eye on that "heritage" is my advice, if you want to keep it!

More Information:

Gary Patton writes a daily blog, "Two Worlds / 365"
http://www.gapatton.net

May 12, 2011 San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission Agenda
http://slocounty.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?
view_id=3&event_id=65

Heritage Ranch staff report
http://slocounty.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?
meta_id=213196&view=&showpdf=1

Tomorrow night, James Fryer, former Head of Conservation Programs for the Marin Municipal Water District, will be speaking on "Sustaining Our Water Future." The program is free, and is taking place at the Unity Temple, located at 407 Broadway in Santa Cruz, starting at 7:00 p.m.

The City of Santa Cruz and the Soquel Creek Water District are seriously thinking of building the water future of our local communities around a proposed desalination plant. While desalination is absolutely the "modern" and "high-tech" approach to the water supply problems we confront, I want to suggest that the desalination idea may be totally "traditional," within the context of how Americans have normally responded to new challenges.

When we confront problems with "supply" (the problem of not having "enough" of something), the traditional response in our country has always been to go build or develop a new supply. Seldom do we consider the alternative of trying to reduce "demand," which means to use what we already have more efficiently. Yet, matching supply and demand can be approached from either direction. Since the natural world is finite, and we do ultimately run up against the limits of the natural world, it might be that "sustaining" our water future is just exactly the right approach. At any rate, we should be thinking about it, so I commend tomorrow’s event to your attention.

More Information:

Gary Patton writes a daily blog, "Two Worlds / 365"
http://www.gapatton.net

Announcement of "Sustaining Our Water Future" Program
http://transitionsc.org/node/713

"Realignment" is getting a lot of attention. Clearly, the fiscal emergency that has affected California is the main reason. Governor Jerry Brown's January 2011 budget proposal specifically directed attention to the "realignment" idea. "Realignment," as we are talking about it here, means changing how the state and localities divide responsibility for programs and services.

If you would like to do some personal thinking about "realignment," I recommend a recent paper prepared by the Public Policy Institute of California, or PPIC. I have referenced the PPIC paper in the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. It examines the current state-local relationship and presents basic principles for realignment, as well as analyzing legal and other constraints. Dean Misczynski, whom I have known for years, is the author of the PPIC study; he is undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable people in California about state and local government finance.

In many ways, "realignment" is a concept that reflects the idea that we can address public policy problems from the "demand" side, as well as from the "supply" side. This is a concept I talked about yesterday in the context of water policy. How do we use our governmental resources more efficiently? That’s a key question. One way, in the land use arena, is by making more of our decisions at the "policy," as opposed to the "project," level.

More Information:

Gary Patton writes a daily blog, "Two Worlds / 365"
http://www.gapatton.net

PPIC Website
http://www.ppic.org/main/home.asp

PPIC Realignment White Paper
http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=978

California Forward on Realignment
http://caforward.3cdn.net/9f351fee52f09e3425_anm6b88gu.pdf

The Monterey-Salinas Transit District (or MST) and the Monterey County Redevelopment Agency want to rezone a 58-acre piece of property on the former Fort Ord, to provide the property with a "heavy commercial" designation that will allow MST to construct a new transit support facility. The proposed project includes repair yards, washing and maintenance bays, and parking lots for the MST bus fleet.

Buses are good, and you obviously have to maintain them, but here’s the rub: the MST proposal would require the bulldozing of something like 4,000-plus mature trees, wiping out the coast live oak woodland that is currently found on the site. The land that would be converted to "heavy commercial" provides habitat for bobcats, foxes, hawks, turkeys, deer, coyotes, badgers and rare native plants. The MST development would introduce diesel emissions, polluted runoff, noise and traffic to a mile of scenic corridor, and sever the Sergeant Allan MacDonald Cavalry Trail, which links the Marina Equestrian Center and 82 miles of federal trails. Those who ride horses on Fort Ord are paying attention!

The Monterey County Planning Commission has turned down the proposal, but the project is being appealed to the Board of Supervisors. There is no guarantee that Board will do the same. If you care about the issues, from whatever perspective, the time to get involved is now.

More Information

Gary Patton writes a daily blog, "Two Worlds / 365"
http://www.gapatton.net

Monterey County Herald Opinion Column – MST Should Give Up On Fort Ord Project
http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/ci_17989097?nclick_check=1

County Planning Department Information on the MST Proposal
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/planning/major/MST_
Whispering_Oaks_Business_Park/MST_Whispering_Oaks.htm