Monday, January 18, 2010  – Widening Highway 1

For the Land Use Report this is Rick Longinotti.

Communities around the country are discovering that the hardest task they face in trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is in the transportation sector. The Central Coast is no different. Greenhouse gas emissions from transportation have been climbing especially as more people are making long commutes to work.

The citizens group, Campaign for Sensible Transportation, argues that it is government policy that is fostering longer and longer commutes. The group says that widening freeways to relieve traffic congestion only relieves congestion in the short run---In the long run it encourages more people to live farther from work. Then freeways get congested again. The group wants money for freeways to be spent on alternatives like bus rapid transit and development of the rail corridor in Santa Cruz County.

The Campaign is suing CalTrans to stop the latest freeway widening on Highway One in Santa Cruz, a one-mile segment between Morrissey and Soquel. The lawsuit claims that this project is really part of the Regional Transportation Commission’s plan to widen the highway for high occupancy vehicle lanes from Santa Cruz to Aptos. The Transportation Commission claims that the one-mile widening has value independent of the larger project---that it will ease the merging of traffic on that section.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010  – Desalination and the alternatives

The Central Coast has some of the most challenging water supply issues in the nation. Water pumping is overdrafting the aquifer beneath the Pajaro Valley, and the aquifer beneath Soquel and Live Oak at an alarming rate. Water diversion from coastal streams has driven native salmon to near extinction. And everyone worries about drought.

Is desalinating sea water the solution for the Central Coast? Or is desalination a technology that creates more greenhouse gases and potential harm for tiny sea creatures? With desalination plants proposed for Santa Cruz, Moss Landing, Marina, and Sand City, we need to know the answer to these questions. And if desalination is too harmful to the environment and too costly to build and operate, what does that mean for future growth on the Central Coast?

Transition Santa Cruz has invited other organizations such as the Surfrider Foundation, Sierra Club, WILPF and Save Our Shores to sponsor a forum to address these questions. The Santa Cruz Water Department will present its case that desalination is needed for drought protection and to accommodate future growth. And critics of desalination will present the conservation-based alternatives. Ultimately, the people of Santa Cruz will decide on whether to build the plant.

Santa Cruz Desal project site
Santa Cruz Weekly reports on desal pilot project
Transition Santa Cruz

Wednesday, January 20, 2010  – Housing Within Reach Series

Learn more about Transition Santa Cruz's Housing Within Reach workshops

Foreclosure has become everyday news on the Central Coast. Even though home prices have declined, the rate of homeownership has declined dramatically from two years ago. And rental prices during this recession have risen. The average cost of a two bedroom apartment in Santa Cruz County rose 17% between 2007 and 2009.

Is there the political will to preserve and increase housing affordability in our community? That’s what a group called Transition Santa Cruz wants to find out. The group has organized a series of workshops called “Housing Within Reach” ---Within reach of our pocketbooks, and also within reach of our workplaces, stores and schools. For it’s not only the cost of housing that impacts a household budget, but also the cost of transportation.

This Thursday, January 28, the workshop will feature Carol Berg from the City of Santa Cruz and Jan Lindenthal, from Mid-Peninsula Housing. They will talk about what works and what needs improvement in programs for affordability. The workshops aim to provide an open venue for all participants to influence all aspects of housing policy. The workshops could also create a powerful coalition voice to lobby local governments on behalf of those ideas.

The workshop takes place at the United Methodist Church at 250 California St. in Santa Cruz at 7pm. Admission is free.

Thursday, January 21, 2010  – Housing Series #2

Learn more about Transition Santa Cruz's Housing Within Reach workshops

The loss of housing affordability in this area over the last 30 years ranks as one of the biggest disappointments of public policy. A series of workshops is underway in Santa Cruz that has the goal of identifying how to preserve and increase the supply of housing that is affordable to people who work here--- and people who grew up here who want to stay here.

The workshops aim to provide an open venue for all participants to influence all aspects of housing policy. The workshops could also create a powerful coalition voice to lobby local governments on behalf of those ideas.

On Thursday, February 11, the workshop is titled, “A developer perspective on affordability”. Developer, John Swift, and non-profit developer, Jeff Oberdorfer, will discuss the ways in which public-private partnerships can be improved to encourage affordability. The discussion will look at zoning for appropriate density, reducing parking requirements, and allowing small size units that are low cost. I will be on the panel as well, discussing the potential for car-free and car-lite housing development.

The workshop takes place Thursday, at 7pm at United Methodist Church on California St. in Santa Cruz. Admission is free.

Friday, January 22, 2010  – Housing workshops

Learn more about Transition Santa Cruz's Housing Within Reach workshops

As part of the effort to reduce greenhouse gases, the State of California has a new law, SB 375, that requires communities to engage in land use planning to reduce the amount of vehicle miles driven. That means, for example, that communities must plan to locate new housing near job centers and transit lines. Clearly in order for this approach to succeed the new housing must be affordable to people who work in those centers.

This Thursday, Feb. 25, is a workshop entitled, Housing, Transportation, and Greenhouse Gases.

Speaking will be the executive director of AMBAG, the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, John Doughty. AMBAG is the agency that will oversee local compliance with SB 375. Also speaking is Celia Scott, an environmentalist attorney and former mayor of Santa Cruz. Celia is part of the Campaign for Sensible Transportation that is suing CalTrans over its plan to widen Highway One. The workshops aim to provide an open venue for all participants to influence all aspects of housing policy. The workshops could also create a powerful coalition voice to lobby local governments on behalf of those ideas.

Thursday’s workshop will take place at the United Methodist Church on California St. in Santa Cruz at 7pm. Admission is free.

For more information, google Transition Santa Cruz.