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.

More Information
Item on Historic Preservation on January 23, 2007 Agenda of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors –
            http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/bds/Govstream/BDSvData/non_legacy/agendas/2007/20070123/PDF/063.pdf
Monterey City Website – http://www.monterey.org/cityhall.html
Agenda for January 23, 2007 Joint Meeting - http://www.monterey.org/boards/planning/agendas/2007/0123pcagenda.pdf

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.

More Information
Foundation For Deep Ecology - http://www.deepecology.org/directory.html
Wildlands CPR - http://www.wildlandscpr.org/

For more information on “Thrillcraft: The Environmental Consequences of Motorized Recreation,” contact Jason Kiely, Communications Coordinator of Wildlands CPR at: Telephone: 406-543-9551; Email: Jason@wildlandscpr.org. The publishers are particularly interested in working with local environmental organizations to distribute the book through their local networks.

The California OHV Coalition can be reached through the California Wilderness Coalition:
Brent Schoradt
Deputy Policy Director
California Wilderness Coalition
1212 Broadway, Suite 1700, Oakland, CA  94612
Email: bschoradt@calwild.org
Phone: (510) 451-1450
Fax: (510) 451-1445
Website: www.calwild.org

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.

More Information
Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) Report – http://www.lao.ca.gov/2007/uc_lrdp/lrdp_011007.htm
Assembly Member John Laird calls for a hearing on the LAO Report –
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a27/press/20070111AD27PR01.htm

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.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.