GPU Community Forums receive tremendous public support
A countywide crowd of well over 200 met in Carmel Valley, and greeted
Supervisor Dave Potter at the second in a series of Community Forums
on September 14. Potter told the participants that he was disappointed
in the actions of the Board of Supervisors for scrapping the General
Plan Update (GPU) process after five years and $5 million of public
money. He said: "[The Fifth District] is always loud and proud
about the importance of protecting the environment and our quality
of life. If the Board of Supervisors isn't going to show leadership
on promoting responsible development, the community will have to."
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Sitting at tables of ten, with worksheets listing the
GPU elements of land use, housing, circulation, open space,
conservation, noise, safety and administration, participants
in Carmel Valley reviewed recommendations and made suggestions.
Photo: Rita Dalessio
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Three weeks earlier, an enthusiastic crowd of over 120 people met
at the Prunedale Grange to kick off the first in a series of five
GPU Community Forums planned for this fall. The goal of these workshops
is to develop a community-based General Plan, that would include
accepted community priorities for clean water, clean air, open space,
free-flowing roads, protection of farmland and proof of water for
new development as a requirement for growth for the next 20 years.
Former Assemblymember Fred Keeley introduced the goals of both
workshops. Terry Watt, a professional planner, provided details
of the structure and components of a General Plan. Then everyone
got to work. Sitting at tables of ten, with worksheets listing the
GPU elements of land use, housing, circulation, open space, conservation,
noise, safety and administration, the participants reviewed recommendations
and made suggestions.
Several planning consultants and community activists, including
Gary Patton, Mari Kloeppel and Carolyn Anderson, were present to
help with questions. Lupe Garcia of LandWatch did simultaneous translation
into Spanish.
The workshops are sponsored by 18 community, homeowner, and environmental
groups, including: Ventana Chapter of the Sierra Club; LandWatch,
Monterey County; Friends, Artists, and Neighbors of Elkhorn Slough;
the Monterey County Chapter of the California Native Plant Society;
Prunedale Preservation Alliance; Coalition to Protect Housing Farmlands,
Air & Water; Save Our Shores; Highway 68 Coalition; Líderes
Comunitarios de Salinas; Citizens for Responsible Growth; Planning
and Conservation League Foundation; League of Women Voters of the
Monterey Peninsula, Prunedale Neighbors Group, Rancho San Juan Opposition
Coalition; Monterey Pine Forest Watch; North County Citizens Oversight
Coalition; Concerned Citizens of River Road and the Carmel Valley
Association.
The next Community Forum will be at the Santa Lucia Room of the
Salinas Community Center, Thursday, October 14, from 6-9:00 p.m.
Future forums are on October 28 in south Monterey County and November
13 in Seaside. For more information go to www.8of10monterey.com
or call 645-6776.
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