|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
| |
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Listen to the reports each weekday at 6:49 am & 8:49 am To
suggest a topic for a future land use report, or to convey a comment,
please use this link.
|
| Past
Reports
The following Land Use Reports have been presented on KUSP by Gary Patton, Executive Director of The Planning and Conservation League. The opinions expressed by Mr. Patton are not necessarily those of KUSP You can contact Gary Patton at PCL by emailing him at: gapatton@pcl.org.
Monday, February 19, 2007 – The Coast Aerial Project If you’re interested in planning, and land use, and are thinking of a career, you could do worse than move into this up and coming field of endeavor. AMBAG, the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, is dedicated to promoting the effective use of GIS by local agencies. They’re advertising an internship program, and they are also asking local governments in the Central Coast Region if they would like to participate in a “Coast Aerial Project,” to develop photographic information to be integrated into local government GIS databases. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. More Information Tuesday, February 20, 2007 – The Monterey County Court Case I’ve had an opportunity to read all the briefs that will be before the Court next Tuesday, and I believe that the law is pretty clear that the Federal Voting Rights Act does not require either referendum or initiative petitions to be circulated in languages other than English. If that were a requirement, it would pretty much be impossible, under the deadlines and procedures specified in state law, for the people ever to exercise their Constitutional right to challenge local government decisions through a referendum, or to legislate directly by initiative. Now this rule changes if and when enough signatures are gathered to put an initiative or referendum on the ballot. There’s no doubt that the actual measure that goes to a vote must be translated. Both the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Congress have spoken on this matter, and I think it’s clear that both the Court and the Congress agree with what I just said. Monterey County, however, is continuing to fight the people’s right to vote. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. More Information US District Court Website - http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/ Map to the Federal Courthouse – LandWatch Monterey County responded to my request to see the briefs filed in the cases now pending before the District Court, and I believe they would likely be willing to send copies to other interested persons, upon request. You can contact LandWatch through their website, at www.landwatch.org. Wednesday, February 21, 2007 – Hollister Condos Multi-family residences are rental properties. They provide housing opportunities for persons who either cannot or who do not want to own their own residence. When existing apartments are changed to ownership units, through the condominium conversion process, rental-housing opportunities are reduced, and home ownership opportunities are increased. The usual impact is to displace lower income persons, by depriving them of their existing rental units, as those units are then sold to the higher income persons who can afford to buy them. There are a number of other issues, as well, when apartments are turned into condominiums and sold separately, since parking requirements, design, and other standards may be quite different. A year or so ago, the City of Santa Cruz faced a decision about a proposed condominium conversion of a new apartment complex located on Water Street, and came down on the side of retaining the lower income apartment opportunities. If you’re from the Silicon Valley side of the hill, you may have an interest in what the City of Hollister decides to do. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. More Information Thursday, February 22, 2007 – Agriculture at the Metro Edge / Mushrooms Let me alert you, as well, to another opportunity to think about food and open space. On April 5th and 6th, the University of California at Berkeley will be hosting a public symposium on “Agriculture at the Metropolitan Edge: New Ruralism and Other Urban-Rural Sustainability Strategies.” Please note, I’m giving you over a month to clear your calendars, and to participate in what I think will be an important discussion. The goal of the Symposium is to focus attention on the importance of agricultural lands within the regional metropolitan framework; the environmental and other benefits of ecological agriculture; and to discuss socio-economic issues at the urban edge, and specifically the interdependence of urban and rural land and communities. For the Central Coast, these issues are critically important. How can we build a sustainable agricultural economy and a sustainable food production system, in the face of the tremendous growth pressures we’re experiencing? For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. More Information Symposium Website - http://metrostudies.berkeley.edu/agmetroedge/events/symposium2007/ The April 5th and 6th UC Berkeley event will take place in the Lipman Room, Barrows Hall. The reception, poster session, and lecture will take place in Wurster Hall, College of Environmental Design. UC Berkeley map - http://www.berkeley.edu/map/ Friday, February 23, 2007 – An Inconvenient Truth If you have seen the film, you’ll remember it ends with a series of suggestions about what we can actually do, ourselves. One thing we can do is to get involved with land use policy! Global warming and land use have a direct connection, and our ability to meet the challenges posed by global warming will require us to modify our patterns of land use and development, since the kind of sprawling growth we’ve been allowing has led to a massive increase in Vehicle Miles Traveled (or VMT) which means more fossil fuel consumption, and more greenhouse gas emissions. We need to reverse this trend, and we don’t have lots of time to do so. The Climate Project, working closely with Al Gore, has been providing training to community organizers, giving them the tools to help local communities around the United States do something effective about global warming. Carl Zichella, a Sierra Club lobbyist I work with in Sacramento, has recently completed this training in Nashville, Tennessee. If you are affiliated with a local group that would like, seriously, to be trained on global warming issues, let me know, and I’ll put you in touch with Carl. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. More Information |