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
Radio, nor of any of its sponsors.

Note: The Land Use Report utilizes links provided by other entities and cannot guarantee that they will remain available by those hosting organizations. For broken links, please search via the website of the organization mentioned.

Monday, January 14, 2008 – New in San Benito County

San Benito County is now officially considering what can properly be called a “New Town” development. El Rancho San Benito is the name of this proposed project. It would be located north of Hollister, between Highway 101 and Highway 25, and would have 6,800 residential units. 

DMB Associates is the developer proposing this San Benito County project. DMB develops in Arizona, Hawaii, and Utah, as well as in California, and is currently pursuing at least three major developments in this state. Besides El Rancho San Benito, DMB is proposing a development on the Tejon Ranch, located in Kern and Los Angeles Counties, called Tejon Mountain Village. The company is also advancing a proposed development on tidal wetlands in Redwood City. 

“Smart growth” principles say that new development should be directed to existing urban areas. From a developer’s point of view, though, buying up rural and undeveloped lands always costs less than purchasing lands already specified for development. If the developer can get the governmental approvals to allow the “New Town” type development to proceed, land values will skyrocket. Land that cost the developer $25,000 per acre, or less, will be sold by the developer for $300,000 per acre, or more. This is the economics that drives these “New Town” developments. There is more on the KUSP website.  

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. 

More Information
Pinnacle News article on DMB Proposal - http://www.pinnaclenews.com/news/contentview.asp?c=232761
DMB development projects - http://www.dmbinc.com/communities/  


Tuesday, January 15, 2008 – Induced Travel

If you try to pour ten gallons of water through a pipe that can only carry a quart at a time, the water will “back up,” just like traffic on Highway One. Widening the pipe reduces the backup. But it doesn’t work that way for cars, because the very fact that a wider highway is provided actually “induces” new travel, so that the congestion reduction benefits of the widening are reduced, or even eliminated. 

Highway engineers know this, and so does the Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission. In a recent “Letter to the Editor,” printed in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, a letter writer complained about the Commission, as follows:  

The Highway 1 widening brochure sent out by the Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission has a paragraph on "induced travel," what happens when a highway fills up with even more cars after being widened. This paragraph, lifted directly from a Federal Highway Administration Web site, implies that the induced travel effect is minimal. The brochure omits the next paragraph from the Web site, which acknowledges that when lanes are added, some people switch from transit to driving, some choose to travel farther, and new drivers who previously avoided the highway may be attracted. The brochure also leaves out the paragraph that mentions that widening a highway may induce urban sprawl. 

If you track down the transcript of today’s Land Use Report on the KUSP website, you can read about this for yourself.  

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. 

More Information
Sentinel letter to the editor on “induced travel” –
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/story.php?sid=51894&storySection=Opinion
Federal Highway Administration document - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/itfaq.htm#q6  


Wednesday, January 16, 2008 – Mark Your Calendar for TAMC Meetings

I like to remind listeners that there are lots of meetings out there to attend, and that the essence of self-government is to get involved yourself. Often, I give you very little time to plan ahead for the meetings I advertise, but today, I’m giving you lots of lead-time. 

The Transportation Agency for Monterey County is going to be holding a series of meetings to discuss their proposed sales tax increase. Transportation projects affect land use, and if you’re buying my “pitch” that self-government means that you need to get involved yourself in the governmental process, please mark your calendar for one of the following events. All of them will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Here are the dates and places, based on current information: 

• Tuesday, January 29th at the Salinas Community Center, 940 Main Street in Salinas
• Wednesday, January 30th at the Castroville Water District, in Castroville
• Thursday, January 31st at the Lions Hall, Acacia and Park Streets in Soledad
• Tuesday, February 12th at the Seaside Community Center in Seaside

Within the next few months, the Coastal Commission will consider the so-called “Ocean View Plaza” project, proposed for Cannery Row, in the City of Monterey. A recent article in the Monterey County Weekly called the project “notorious.” It certainly has been controversial! 

The project was first proposed in 1995, and was called, at that time, the “Cannery Row Marketplace.” In 1999, the original design was rejected by the Monterey City Council, but the same Council then approved a scaled back version in 2002. Litigation ensued, and a Superior Court Judge held, in 2003, that the Environmental Impact Report prepared for the project was insufficient, because smaller alternatives should have been considered. The developer then proposed a further redesign, and the Monterey City Council approved that redesigned project. As currently configured, the Ocean View Plaza would contain condos, restaurants, a community park, a history center, parking spaces, and a desalination plant. 

The Cannery Row site where the Ocean View Plaza would be built is currently an unsightly, quasi-vacant space. There are still lots of issues, though, for members of the public to focus on. No specific date for the Coastal Commission hearing has yet been set, but it’s expected that the Commission will hear the project in February, in San Diego, or in March, when the Commission will meet in Monterey. I’ll keep you posted.  

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. 

More Information
Monterey County Weekly article - http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2008/2008-Jan-03/monterey-city-council-approves-letter-of-support/1/@@index
Coastal Commission Website - http://www.coastal.ca.gov/
Coastal Commission meeting schedule - http://www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/mtgdates.html  


Friday, January 18, 2008 – Green Building in the City of Monterey

Next Tuesday, the Monterey City Planning Commission is scheduled to consider a “Green Building” ordinance. This ordinance, if ultimately adopted by the Monterey City Council, will establish a set of standards for “green building” practices that will affect all new residential and non-residential construction projects in the City. One of the key provisions of the proposed ordinance is that all future public projects must meet, at a minimum, the LEED “Silver” standard. There will also be a variety of incentives to encourage developers to reach exceptional design standards. Demolition and reconstruction projects will also be affected. 

LEED is an acronym meaning “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.” The U.S. Green Building Council developed the LEED standards, and while the standards are not without their critics, they are becoming widely utilized as a way to quantify and define what it means to “build green.” The LEED system gives “points” for accomplishing various energy saving and environmental design objectives. Your rating is based on the number of “points” you get. The highest standard is Platinum; the next highest is “Gold,” and “Silver” comes next. There is one lower step in the ranking scheme, the so-called “certified” ranking.  

For more information, track down the transcript of today’s Land Use Report. Or, you can attend the Monterey City Planning Commission meeting next Tuesday afternoon. 

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton. 

More Information
U.S. Green Building Council Website - http://www.usgbc.org/
Monterey City Website – http://www.monterey.org/
Planning Commission Agenda, January 22nd Meeting - http://www.monterey.org/boards/planning/agendas/2008/0122pctentativeagenda.pdf
Model Green Building Ordinance - http://www.stateaction.org/issues/legislation.cfm/issue/GreenBuildings.xml
LEED Green Building Rating System - http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=1095