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May
13, 2003
Chairperson
Fernando Armenta
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
240 Church Street
Salinas, CA 93901
RE:
Schedule and Process – General Plan Update
Dear
Members of the Board of Supervisors:
Despite
what people may have read in the papers, the General Plan Update
schedule you adopted last week will make it virtually impossible
to complete the GPU this year. That’s regrettable.
The
agenda materials before you on May 6th contained several alternative
timelines. They specifically said you could meet a December 16,
2003 deadline for GPU completion only if you followed Alternative
#1, and directed preparation of an EIR and the circulation of the
“second draft” General Plan Update on or before May 20,
2003.
While
you “began” your motion with a reference to Alternative
#1, you did not, in fact, adopt that recommendation. Instead, you
added to that schedule a motion to hold multiple workshops to review
and/or redo what you spent four months doing at the end of last
year. The last such workshop is scheduled for June 24th. June 24th
is more than a month after the May 20th date by which you need to
put the “second draft” GPU document out for public comment,
to meet the December deadline.
The
Salinas Californian complimented you last Saturday on setting a
“deadline,” with “no delays and no extensions.”
It’s nice to get “good press,” even if it’s
based on a misunderstanding. What counts, however, isn’t what
you “said,” it’s what you “did.” More accurately,
what counts is what you “do.” May 20th is next week. Therefore,
your Board can still actually “do” what you “said”
you were going to do. And LandWatch hopes you will.
Next
week, when this matter comes back before the Board, LandWatch urges
you to set a deadline for completion of the GPU this year, and take
the actions needed to meet that deadline. You should also spell
out the GPU schedule with specificity, so everyone knows what you
actually plan to do. Thank you for taking this suggestion into account,
as you take further action on the General Plan Update process next
week.
cc:
Salinas Californian
LandWatch Members
Other Interested Persons
[Return
to County Plan Update Issues and Actions]
posted
05.15.03
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