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Monday, October 15, 2012
Wichita Falls Government
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors meets tomorrow in Salinas. During the afternoon session, in particular, the Board will confront several important land use items. Let me highlight three of them.
In connection with Agenda Item #18, the Board will address code enforcement issues. I often point out that the “laws” and the “regulations” governing land use are not like “natural laws.” We make up our own land use regulations, and we can change them. But if the laws and regulations adopted by our local government officials aren’t actually enforced, they aren’t worth much. As many have experienced, it is often very hard to get county officials actually to take action when someone builds something without a permit, or refuses to implement a required condition of a project approval. Tomorrow, the Board will consider changes that the staff thinks would result in “a more diligent approach to the use of administrative citations and follow-up with collections,” i.e., better enforcement.
Item #16 discusses the rules relating to the public ownership of desalination plants, a key issue. Item #17 is about changing the regulations related to agricultural wells.
As ever, if you care, be there! You can find a link to the Board’s agenda in my Land Use Report blog, at kusp.org/landuse.
More Information:
Monterey County Board Agenda Materials
Former Santa Cruz County Supervisor Gary Patton talks about land use, and land use decisions, with an emphasis on public participation and how the land use process works.