This just dropped into my “In Box” recently
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 6, 2009
CONTACT: Katie Albertson, 209.385.7636
BOARD AND PLANNING COMMISSION HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON COUNTY GROWTH PLANS MERCED The Merced County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission will be holding their sixth joint study session on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 to give the County’s consultant and staff direction on the revised growth alternatives for the County’s General Plan Update. The meeting will be held in the Board Chambers at 2222 M Street in Merced and will begin at 1:30 in the afternoon. Public comment on the revised alternatives report will be taken at the meeting. Members of the public can also submit their comments in advance of the meeting by email to bnicholson@co.merced.ca.us or can drop them off at the Planning Department’s front desk.
The County General Plan sets the growth philosophy and course of action for development within the County, including where and how growth should occur in order to protect valuable farmland and natural resources, while meeting the needs of the County’s growing population. The Revised Alternatives Report identifies two refined growth alternatives from the last joint study session held in February that will enable the decision makers and the community to weigh choices for future growth of the County. The Revised Alternatives Report can be downloaded from the General Plan Update website at www.co.merced.ca.us/gpu.
The County has already held numerous community workshop meetings on the General Plan to invite public comment and input. The General Plan Update will be a 20-year Plan that will set County policy in the subjects of agricultural preservation, land use and development, circulation and transit systems, environmental resource protection, economic development, housing, public infrastructure, public safety and noise.
For more information regarding Merced County, please visit our website at www.co.merced.ca.us
Katie Albertson
Director of Governmental Affairs
2222 “M” Street
Merced, CA 95340
(209) 385-7636
(209) 385-7673 Fax
www.co.merced.ca.us
Equal Opportunity Employer
Election Results: Slow Growthers Win In Davis, Mendocino County
4 November 2009 – Author: CP&DR Staff
Slow-growth advocates won major victories in November 3 local elections, as voters rejected a housing project in Davis and a shopping center in Mendocino County, as well as sewer extensions in Modesto.
But pro-growth forces celebrated victories in some unlikely locations. In Santa Barbara and Ventura, two cities with a history of voters controlling development, voters rejected initiatives that would have imposed strict height limits on new buildings. In the Bay Area, the Walnut Creek electorate approved amended parking standards necessary for development of a Neiman Marcus store downtown.
All in all, voting on November 3 local ballot measures provided the usual mixed bag. The slow growth side won eight of 12 easily classifiable contests, but that total is skewed by Modesto voters rejecting all five proposals to extend sewer service into potential new growth areas. Voters decided a total of 22 local ballot measures with land use consequences. The results:
Contra Costa County
City of Walnut Creek
The long fight over a proposed Neiman Marcus store at Broadway Plaza has apparently been settled with approval of a general plan amendment that modified parking and other standards to permit the 92,000-square-foot, two-story project. The $2 million campaign was funded by Broadway Plaza owner Macerich and, on the other side, by project opponent Taubman Centers, which owns Sun Valley Mall in neighboring Concord.
Measure I: Yes, 71.4% (pro growth)
Los Angeles County
City of Maywood
The site of a proposed Los Angeles Unified School District high school proved very unpopular, as it would force the removal of 112 apartment units, 10 houses, a Veterans of Foreign Wars post and several commercial buildings. Voters rejected an advisory measure supporting the district’s plan to acquire the 9.4-acre site at Slauson and King avenues. Instead, they backed an advisory measure urging the district to “fully and adequately” investigate other sites.
Measure MS (LAUSD site): No, 72.0%
Measure SC (alternative sites): Yes, 71.0%
Santa Clarita Valley
Voters provided a conflicting response to three separate advisory measures regarding incorporation. Proposals to remain unincorporated and to annex to the City of Santa Clarita both passed. The only firm answer was on whether to form a new city, an idea soundly defeated. The measures were on the ballot in Sunset Pointe, Stevenson Ranch, Southern Oaks, Westridge, Tesoro, Castaic and Val Verde.
Measure A (remain unincorporated): Yes, 56.3%
Measure B (new city): No, 77.8%
Measure C (Santa Clarita annexation): Yes, 52.9%
Marin County
Town of San Anselmo
In a referendum election, voters upheld an ordinance preventing the proliferation of “monster homes” in the “flatlands” by restricting house size. The City Council approved the floor-area ratio ordinance last year. It limits the habitable portion of a house to 45% of the lot size and prohibits homes of more than 5,000 square feet.
Measure F: Yes: 53.0% (slow growth)
Mendocino County
Voters defeated a specific plan prepared by Developers Diversified Reality that would have permitted 800,000 square feet of development, including up to 150 residential units, on a 76-acre industrial site just north of Ukiah. Until 2001, the “Masonite property” was a door and wood-siding factory, and opponents of the DDR plan said the site should remain available for industrial uses.
Measure A: No, 62.3% (slow growth)
Monterey County
City of Carmel-by-the-Sea
Voters approved the sale of the Flanders Mansion, a National Register of Historic Places property surrounded by an existing park. The city acquired the property in 1972 but has never figured out what to do with it. Neighbors fought proposed conversion of Flanders Mansion into a park or community center because of traffic and parking concerns.
Measure I: Yes, 63.3%
Carmel Valley
Voters rejected incorporation of the valley as a new city of 39 square miles and 12,000 residents. Located inland from Carmel-By-The-Sea, the valley has been the site of numerous, intense battles over growth. Both sides said they wanted to maintain the valley’s semi-rural character.
Measure G: No, 52.3%
Santa Barbara County
City of Santa Barbara
A proposal to lower the maximum height of new buildings downtown from 60 feet to 45 feet, and to 40 feet in the historic district, failed. Supporters said the initiative would maintain the city’s scale and tourist appeal, but opponents carried the day with arguments that the limitation would encourage development on the fringes.
Measure B: No, 53.7% (pro growth)
San Francisco
The city demonstrated its hatred of billboards, as a measure to relax existing restrictions on illuminated billboards and video signs on Market Street between Fifth and Seventh streets failed. Meanwhile, a measure prohibiting advertising on all city-owned street furniture and buildings, except signs and placards already permitted by contract, passed.
Proposition D (mid-Market signage): No, 54.1%
Proposition E (advertising ban): Yes, 57.5%
San Mateo County
City of East Palo Alto
A Superior Court judge blocked a vote on a measure overhauling the city’s ordinance limiting rent increases and restricting evictions. The city’s largest landlord, Page Mill Properties, successfully argued the City Council violated the state open meeting law while considering the changes and should have subjected the ordinance amendments to environmental review.
Stanislaus County
City of Modesto
All five advisory measures regarding the extension of sewer service to five areas totaling 2,980 acres failed. Most of the land is north of town and largely undeveloped. Measure M from 1995 requires an advisory vote before the city provides sewer services to unincorporated areas.
Measure A (1,310-acre Kiernan-Carver Corridor area): No, 60.3% (slow growth)
Measure B (230-acre College West area): No, 64.8% (slow growth)
Measure C (130-acre Hetch-Hetchy area): No, 61.8% (slow growth)
Measure D (480-acre Roselle-Claribel area): No, 64.0% (slow growth)
Measure E (830-acre Hetch-Hetchy area): No 69.4% (slow growth)
Ventura County
City of Ventura
An electorate that has supported growth limiting initiatives in the past rejected two of them. Measure B would have capped new building height at 26 feet in most of the town for two years while a proposed 23-member committee drafted a view-protection ordinance. The anti-Wal-Mart Measure C would have prohibited stores of more than 90,000 square feet from devoting more than 3% of floor space to groceries.
Measure B (height limits): No, 74.7% (pro growth)
Measure C (anti-big-box): No, 54.7% (pro growth)
City of Fillmore
A somewhat confusing measure backed by owners of El Dorado Mobile Home Park failed miserably. The initiative would have sharply limited city discretion over the conversion of the park to condominium ownership. The city has refused to approve the proposed conversion, which tenants oppose, until park owners complete a number of upgrades to the park’s infrastructure.
Measure F: No, 85.9%
Yolo County
City of Davis
Nearly three of four voters rejected a 191-unit housing development proposed for 26 acres of agricultural land. Parlin Development’s proposed Wildhorse Ranch on Covell Road would have contained 73 single-family houses, 78 townhouses and 40 apartments, of which 38 would have been designated for very low- and low-income households. The project site is bordered on three sides by existing development and on the fourth by the city’s urban-agriculture transition area. A 2000 initiative prohibits the rezoning of agricultural land in Davis without voter approval. Opponents argued the project is unnecessary because the city already has an inventory of 2,000 approved but unbuilt housing units.
Measure P: No, 74.6% (slow growth)
VFW Ladies Aux. Quilt Raffle
The Livingston VFW is raffling off a hand made quilt. Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5.00. For more information contact Denis or Sue Wells at 394-2059.
Special Needs Bingo Day
November 14, 2009
Elk’s Lodge, 1910 M Street, Merced CA 95340
Hours to be determined
Please register in advance for this event. Space is limited, so if you don’t register you might not be able to attend.
Someone sent me this. (It is the cutest story and quite profound actually).
(A little science, some awesome photos, and a story that honors some of our troops.)
(Brought to you by The American Legion)
(There’s Strange –and then There’s Army Strange)
From My Position On the Way(By another Military Dude: skip this one if you’re a particularly “thin skinned, easily offended wiener”)
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