For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007 – An Important General Plan Meeting
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!

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

Wednesday, February 14, 2007 – The Coastal Commission on the Internet
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.

More Information
State Coastal Commission Website – 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/

Thursday, February 15, 2007 – The Monterey County Land Use Debate
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.

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
  

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.