Peter Childs Responds to Various Posts (at Eric's SoHum Parlance)

◼ "...I don’t usually spend much time on the blogs because there’s too much heat and too little light. But certain comments on SoHum Parlance lately (June 1 and 3) that were brought to my attention call for a response...."

Let me start by saying that it troubles me deeply to see Bonnie Blackberry and Dan Taranto spoken of in such terms, by bloggers whose ignorance seems to me to be equalled by their arrogance. Bonnie and Dan are two of the most intelligent, selfless, and tireless public servants it has ever been my privilege to know (and work with). You who so facilely demean them have no idea what they have done, for you among so many others, over so many years. Riding such a high horse makes it hard to see what’s actually down there on the ground.

So here’s a little history, for what it may be worth. One person’s version, of course....
__________________
Some of my heroes. A great read. Check it out.

(Don't miss the comments section, as Peter Childs tries to educate LiberalJon)

What Lovelace Hath Wrought: Continued

◼ Lovelace Says General Plan Update Process Now ‘Completely Corrupt’ - Ryan Burns/Lost Coast Outpost

Humboldt County Supervisor Mark Lovelace is outraged over the latest turns in the tortuous saga of the county’s general plan update. Specifically, as he wrote in a Facebook post yesterday, he feels the process has devolved into

“… a stacked Planning Commission with its own agenda holding endless meetings with no clear process or direction and little public notice. Their meetings have been marked by numerous Brown Act violations and significant cost over-runs, and the process keeps changing from one meeting to the next. We finally have the completely corrupt General Plan Update process we’ve been accused of having all along.”

__________________
There's more, lot more, at the link, but the shorter version is, "I didn't get my way, my guys aren't winning, and this isn't any fun anymore."

Remember, It was Mark Lovelace, and his cavalcade of trained seals, who pushed for the Board of Supervisors to act - to, in one day, with virtually NO NOTICE, strip every property owner in the county of their property rights.

In his zeal to destroy Palco, Lovelace did the impossible. It wasn't what he intended. He awakened the mythical, proverbial sleeping giant.

Property owners of all sizes, stripes and ideologies woke up and came together. The Southern Humboldt homesteader to the builders and 'developers,' little old couples and up and coming 20-somethings - in a wave that hadn't been seen since Tom Conlon's attempt to criminalize homebuilders.

They realized they had been asleep, and they vowed, no more. They were going to stand up for their rights, and they were going to use the very same tactics Lovelace & Co. employed so successfully.

And given that Mark Lovelace's latest appointment to the Planning Commission is an EPIC guy, you better be darn glad they did.
__________________
◼ Planning Commission's trail vote raises hackles; commissioners, supervisors speak out on General Plan changes - Will Houston/The Times-Standard
__________________
◼ Mark's hissy fit over the General Plan short on facts, big on spin - John Chiv/Words Worth

(Mark claims) that the Planning Commission deleted trails from the plan when they combined it into another section. He further claims being outraged by how the Commission reduced setbacks from creeks and wetlands when they actually recommended that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife determine the appropriate determination of setbacks, which is their role and responsibility.
__________________
◼ Trail Champs Rally: Video Highlights from a Wild Planning Commission Meeting - Ryan Burns/Lost Coast Outpost
__________________
◼ GPU actual changes ton draft, not my personal interpretation

Interesting piece on HumCPR

◼ HumCPR Rising: How Lee Ulansey and his corporation moved from advocacy into county government - Ryan Burns/the Journal

Funny how there was never any teeth-gnashing about Lovelace's crew marching in lockstep - and, the push to make the BOS, in one day, with virtually no notice, and little public input, strip every property owner of their rights, collateral damage in the zeal to kill Palco.

And, btw - there's a comment at the Journal site by 'Rose' - a nasty comment directed at Steven Lewis. It's not me, but I bet I could tag who it is. And it's pretty childish to keep using my name.

Fighting fire with fire

◼ Former candidate to represent HumCPR

A little more than two months after ending a hard-fought battle to represent the 2nd District on the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, former candidate Estelle Fennell is now the public face and executive director of the Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights.

Since in essence protecting property rights means blocking the efforts of the activist groups to curtail and restrict those rights by way of the HC General Plan Re-Write - Humboldt Watershed Council/Healthy Humboldt most notably - this is an interesting pick. To say the least. Could be a formidable pick.

But it is sure to put her at loggerheads with people who formerly used her as a PR conduit.

Speaking of property rights: Out of Oregon, ◼ Attorney urges counties to assert their rights in public land decisions

...Nampa-based attorney Fred Kelly Grant used to prosecute organized crime in Baltimore before he became president of Stewards of the Range, a group that helps local governments coordinate land-use actions taken by federal agencies....

The only difference between the Syndicate and the federal government, Grant quipped, is that “the Syndicate is better organized and more efficient.”...

He's talking about protecting rights via ...coordination... a more effective way for local communities to affect federal land-use decisions on public lands....

...A community writes a coordination plan ...the federal agency must be consistent with as it takes its actions. It gives local government a seat at the table...

...coordination is a tool reserved for local governments, Grant said, producer groups and environmental groups aren’t allowed to use it....

Another "Tides Center Project"

And further proof that the NorthCoast Environmental Center has access to millions of dollars and does not need your donations... It's also another indication of the incestuous nature of alot of these "groups" - and of the very small pool of people involved, really.

Smith River Project Staff and Associates
Project Staff
Greg King, founder and Executive Director of Smith River "Project"/Darryl Cherney's CO-Earth Firster/now the new Tim McKay/NEC
Ken Miller, Smith River Project North Coast representative/Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility/Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters Forest (BACH)/"Humboldt Watershed Council"/pre-eminent 215 Doc/pot stirrer

Project Associates
Cynthia Elkins, Program Director, Environmental Protection Information Center/Special Projects Associate for the Center for Biological Diversity/ASJE
Britt Bailey and Dr. Marc Lappé, Center for Ethics and Toxics
Jennifer Kalt, EPIC/Resource Protection Associate,/California Indian Basketweavers Association/Native Plant Society/Baykeeper/TPZ "expert"
• "Friends of Del Norte Norte"

The interesting name that (re)surfaces here is yet another "Tides Center Project," Dr. Marc Lappé, Center for Ethics and Toxics... who, if you remember, conducted a "...toxicological study that found elevated levels of dioxin in mussels and crabs immediately adjacent to the Sierra Pacific mill. The study...was commissioned by the Ecological Rights Foundation, a Garberville-based environmental group that (was) suing Sierra Pacific for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. In addition to looking at shellfish near the mill, the study also collected and tested shellfish in Hookton Slough... The study, done by toxicologist Marc Lappe of the Center for Ethics and Toxics in Gualala, Calif...y." source..."

"ERF: is the predatory litigious parent of the equally predatory "Humboldt Baykeeper."

According to activistcash.com "...With dozens of wealthy foundations bankrolling radical activist groups, a good deal of public philanthropy has become a shell game. The money flows freely, largely undetected, thanks to Tides’ innovative funding vehicles. The many groups that Tides “incubates” (and which operate under Tides’ umbrella) are smart, fierce, and built to last -- their targets in industry are just now beginning to learn the size of this organized opposition and its institutional bankroll..."

Baykeeper/Ecological Rights Foundation (ERF)/Center for Ethics and Toxics CETOS), a project of the Tides Center
ERF donated more than $5,000 to the "Center for Ethics and Toxics"
Incestous Activist groups
The "projects"

It's quite a racket these guys have goin'.

Supes will not extend moratorium

People crowd the hallway of the county Courthouse on Tuesday waiting to air their views on whether the supervisors should extend the moratorium on construction on timber production zone land. Daniel Solomon/The Eureka Reporter
ER Supes will not extend moratorium

Tuesday afternoon saw several hours of public testimony for and against Humboldt County Supervisors extending an interim ordinance suspending building permits on timber production zone land.

After the approximately 80 speakers had finished, Pacific Lumber Co. President and Chief Executive Officer George O’Brien took the podium at Supervisor Jill Geist’s invitation.

Geist had, along with Supervisor Bonnie Neely, introduced the interim ordinance Oct. 9 that was passed with Roger Rodoni dissenting.

On Tuesday after 7 p.m., the supervisors voted 4-1 (Roger Rodoni dissenting again) to lift the moratorium. Rodoni said he disagreed with the additional motion elements.

Supervisor Jimmy Smith had said he’d like a task force, a consideration for “hardships,” a letter sent to the Texas bankruptcy court and to get better informed about the Habitat Conservation Plan as it pertains to timberlands, including PALCO’s.

Geist registered her concern over a task force, as did other supervisors, and with Smith’s OK she made a new motion that reflected Smith’s, but did so without the task force.

While O’Brien had been in front of the room, Geist’s first question to him was if PALCO was still intending to go forward with the “Redwood Ranch Development” project, which, she said, had brought them to where they were with this moratorium.

As part of its bankruptcy reorganization plan, PALCO has included a high-end residential development — the sale of 21,800 acres of second-growth, commercial timberland for 136 residential parcels to be known as “Redwood Ranch.”

“It’s not a project that has ever been proposed to you,” he said.
He told the supervisors PALCO is currently in mediation with its creditors. He said Redwood Ranch could not become an official development for years.

He did say the development was being viewed as a whole project, not just single homes.

“We’ll be complying with whatever the regulations are at that point in time,” he said.

O’Brien categorized the “concept” as a “working forest” and “eco-friendly.”

As previously reported in The Eureka Reporter, there has been much debate about whether houses are compatible with timber management on said TPZ parcels.

Humboldt County Community Development Services Director Kirk Girard said the “single question” going before the Forestry Review Committee when it takes up the TPZ ordinance today at its 7 p.m. meeting is “when is a house necessary to timber management?”

“We’ve heard the community,” Geist told O’Brien. “There is not one of us that disagrees on the importance of those timberlands for their resource value.”

“It is the lifeblood of our company,” O’Brien countered.

Some speakers had said they felt the supervisors were “punishing” small landowners to send a message to PALCO. Some said it felt like the county was set to “take” their land.

“The community at large does not trust PALCO,” Geist said. “The community at large does not trust the Board of Supervisors.”

She inquired how these two parties can begin to work together.

“I think one of the ways is dialogue and transparency,” O’Brien said.
***

TS Timber zone building ban will run out

Ignoring all the individual people who got up to speak about how they were being impacted by this decision, the insensitivity award goes to Diane Beck with the North Coast Chapter of the Sierra Club said opponents of the moratorium had engaged in misinformation and bullying, and were using hyperbole when claiming that they wanted to protect the rural way of life.

”Oh, please,” Beck said. “Since when have mini-kingdoms on TPZ lands been part of our rural culture?”

Uh, Diane, long before subdivisions became the norm.

A number of speakers said they'd been caught up with Palco in an ordinance that threatened their property rights.

Rancher Sally French said the environmental community had overstepped its bounds, and so had the supervisors in proposing the moratorium.

”Is this fair?” French asked. “No, of course not, but it seems that all is fair in love -- and war with PL.”

Irony

Land stewardship course offered

The Humboldt County UC Cooperative Extension encourages current or prospective landowners who would like to better understand rural property, develop goals and objectives for possible resource improvement, and produce a management plan to achieve those goals in an ecologically and economically sustainable manner to register now for a workshop and field trip that will take place Friday and Saturday.

The workshop will address topics such as evaluating a property’s potential, establishing economic and ecological goals, formulating a business plan, and additional agricultural or timber-related economic opportunities for a property.

TPZ protest draws crowd

ER TPZ protest draws crowd

TS Large turnout for TPZ protest

County Supervisor Roger Rodoni spoke to the crowd and was welcomed with a round of applause.
”I always knew you were out there,” Rodoni said. “There are people in here (the courthouse) who don't know you're out there.”

Update: The magnanimous and all-knowing heraldo/Mark Lovelace has posted a counter flyer, spelling out his version of the facts in this case. Don't be fooled. For Lovelace this is all about Palco - that is the only reason Humboldt Watershed Council exists.


Related stories and Updates:
ER Supes to block PALCO plan? 10/7/2007
ER Supervisors pass TPZ ordinance 10/10/2007
ER PALCO bankruptcy-related timberland ordinance returns to board agenda 10/21/2007
ER Board of Supervisors should stand up for private-property rights 10/22/2007
ER Board shows its myopic view of private property 10/23/2007
ER Supes defer TPZ ordinances to Planning Commission 10/24/2007
ER Bankruptcy judge orders mediation 10/24/2007
TS Proposed TPZ revisions sent to Planning Commission 10/24/2007
ER TPZ landowners, residents form Humboldt Property Alliance 10/25/2007
A new group called Humboldt Property Alliance announced a protest/petition signing on Nov. 3 at noon in front of the county Courthouse.
Organizers said in a news release that members of the alliance — which was formed this week — have banded together because of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors’ “emergency” ordinance suspending new construction on timber production zone land.
The alliance is concerned about the “emergency” ordinance and addresses that on its Web site at www.humpropalliance.org:
ER Board will hold TPZ public hearing Nov. 6
ER 'Drastic' action by supes strips property owners of rights
TS Misinformation from county staff on TPZ land 10/27/2007
ER Supes can show they value landowners by canceling ordinance 10/28/2007
ER Supervisors misinformed about timber production zone lands 10/31/2007
ER Timberland issue should be decided via general plan process 11/1/2007
ER TPZ ordinance opposition grows 11/3/2007
ER TPZ protest draws crowd 11/4/2007
ER Supes to mull extending TPZ rule 11/4/2007
ER Rights vs. tidy planning in TPZ lands 11/5/2007
ER Official says supes' TPZ motion, staff action don't conflict 11/5/2007
“That’s not contradictory,” Girard said on Monday. “The Forestry Review Committee is a group of foresters that comment on technical matters, (such as) the planting and harvesting of trees.”
He said what the FRC will review is “a single question — when is a house necessary to timber management?”
ER New group spawned by timberlands issue sponsors phone poll 11/5/2007
Supes will not extend moratorium 11/6/2007
“The community at large does not trust PALCO,” Geist said. “The community at large does not trust the Board of Supervisors.”
TS TPZ brings up tough questions that demand answers 11/09/2007
ER Results pending in TPZ phone survey; policy still in review 11/11/2007
ER Forestry Review Committee to continue TPZ discussion 11/12/2007

Upcoming meetings

Timber ordinance extension on tap
Humboldt County supervisors will consider on Tuesday extending a controversial moratorium on issuing permits to build on land zoned for timber production.

The staff report reads that since the board isn't meeting on Nov. 13 or Nov. 20, it has to consider the extension before the ordinance runs out on Nov. 24. The report recommends an extension for 90 more days, while the planning commission works to hammer out permanent rules for building in the timber production zone, or TPZ.

If it's not extended, county staff maintains, issuing building permits received during the gap between the new ordinance and the initial temporary ordinance could have substantial unintended consequences....

...Staff has scheduled a Forest Review Committee hearing to discuss a slate of changes to the existing county policy on building in TPZ. That meeting, on Wednesday, will go over proposed changes to make it necessary to show that any home built in TPZ must be necessary for managing the forest; must have water storage sufficient to carry the residence through dry periods and prevent drawing down streams; and is compatible with adjacent landowners' habitat conservation plans, among others.

Those recommendations would be passed to the planning commission for a Nov. 15 meeting. The Board of Supervisors would hear the commission's recommendations on Dec. 11.

In the meantime, said the Humboldt Watershed Council's Mark Lovelace, there is a concern that people may take advantage of the gap to file permit applications that wouldn't meet the standards set by future ordinances.

”There's a concern that people will file anything to have their foot in the door,” Lovelace said.

That last statement is really astounding. Are we really going to govern that way? ...there is a concern that people may take advantage of the gap to file permit applications that wouldn't meet the standards set by future ordinances.

Man. That's amazing. I'm stunned.

IF YOU GO:
What: TPZ proposed emergency ordinance extension
Where: Humboldt County Courthouse
When: Tuesday, 1:30 p.m.

Stay tuned, boys and girls

You're going to get a chance to see just how much respect "heraldo" and the rest of the DUHC-type protest community have for real grassroots efforts. You're going to learn just how much respect they have for kids who take the intiative to speak out. And you're going to learn just how much respect they have for you who own property.

For a classic civics lesson, head on over to "heraldo's" blog where you'll see him slime the kids, evoke the Palco bugaboo (because oh my god, no one could get together en masse without funding from palco, it msut be about palco, palco, palco - oh, and arkley, arkley, arkley......)



It's all about this ad. (Text here) It's all about the property owners, who "heraldo" views as collateral damage - it's about making sure that no one gets a chance to buy property outside of a city subdivision, that no one gets to live off the grid, in the country on more than 1/10th of an acre, because that would be "s-p-r-a-w-l-l-l-l-l-l" Never mind that you chose to live here because you don't want to live in a city, "heraldo" has plans for you. How dare the people who actually own property stand up for themselves?

Oh, yes, this is going to be interesting, alright.

pdf file from County site/ Board Agenda item

Native Funk and Flash...

Homesteading was fairly normal in the late sixties into the eighties, lots of owner built homes, "Hippie" craftsman who built things with that human touch - many to code or better, but without permits. Most prevalent in Southern Humboldt, but sprinkled throughout the county, mostly college age transplants, young and idealistic - it was the back-to-the-land time, grow your own, self sufficiency... Alex Fairless, now Alex Stillman, Mayor of Arcata, lived in an "alternative" structure built on top of a tree stump. Made it into National Geographic.

Then Building/Planning decided to crack down, with draconian revisions to the building code and code enforcement. Tom Conlon was in charge at the time.

Anybody remember that? Remember what happened? Remember Dan Taranto?

The Board hearing... w/update

The usual suspects Larry Evans, Scott Griecen, Jennifer Kalt, Jeny Card aka "Remedy" - the EPIC/treesit/Anti-Palco activists -

So far the Orwellian Award goes to Larry Evans - who complained that the Board would be hearing from a "vocal minority" with "vested interests"... He went on to pontificate that "if it wasn't for petulant frivolous lawsuits..." You have got to be kidding me! Uh, Larry, have ya looked in the mirror? Vested interests, Larry? Try the PEOPLE WHO OWN THE PROPERTY! Who do they think they are?

Hypocrisy reigns in Bizarro Humboldt County.
***
C A map depicts timber production zones throughout Humboldt County. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to have the county Planning Commission draft ordinances to address the county’s framework plan and local coastal plan within the context of TPZ regulations. Map courtesy of Humboldt County Planning Division

Supes defer TPZ ordinances to Planning Commission
After several hours of public testimony, Supervisor Jill Geist made a motion to defer the issue to the Humboldt County Planning Commission to draft two ordinances — one to address the county’s framework plan, and the other factoring in the local coastal plan, also suggesting a three-year conversion process be examined.

The framework plan is a component of the Humboldt County General Plan, and works to govern development as a whole in the county.

The motion passed 3-1, with Supervisor Roger Rodoni voting no. Supervisor Jimmy Smith excused himself from the vote, as he was not present for a portion of the meeting due to a prior obligation.

The ordinances will address single-family residential development on TPZ lands, while considering either the use of a conditional permit or a special permit process. They will be used to exam and address the issues of secondary units and uses, as well as establish criteria for permit approval.

The Planning Commission will consider development in at least two categories of TPZs, including industrial and non-industrial. Incentives and entitlements for TPZs will also be examined.

Throughout the county, approximately 990,000 acres fall into the category of privately owned timber land production zones — 660,000 of which are industrial timber land, 330,000 which are in large ranch lands, with the remaining portion of land totaling less than 40 acres. When including public TPZ land, this adds up to more than 1 million acres, Geist said.

Residents, property owners, foresters and timber representatives spoke to a host of issues, with the vast majority against the board’s previously adopted moratorium and initial proposal for an ordinance aimed to make residences on TPZ lands conditionally permitted.

Updates:
ER Op-Ed Supervisors try a sneaky trick that steals from our neighbors 10/23/2007
...To listen to the county, this abrupt and rushed policy was intended to penalize only one landowner, as if that would excuse the supervisors’ behavior....
ER Op-Ed Save the redwoods by Brody Severe, Eugene, Ore., 10/20/200
ER Editorial Board of Supervisors should stand up for private-property rights
ER Editorial Board shows its myopic view of private property
TS Proposed TPZ revisions sent to Planning Commission
The prospect of property owners wanting to build a home on Timber Production Zoned land being required to acquire a conditional use permit brought out a full house of opponents at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting...
TS Proposal would give county discretion on timberland building
TS Anger still boils over timber ordinance

Unintended consequences

As Logging Fades, Rich Carve Up Open Land in West
"WHITEFISH, Mont. — William P. Foley II pointed to the mountain. Owns it, mostly. A timber company began logging in view of his front yard a few years back. He thought they were cutting too much, so he bought the land.

Boys jump into Flathead Lake in northwestern Montana, a region where the timber industry, private developers and local citizens compete for the interests of the land, rich in natural beauty and resources.

Mr. Foley belongs to a new wave of investors and landowners across the West who are snapping up open spaces as private playgrounds on the borders of national parks and national forests.

In style and temperament, this new money differs greatly from the Western land barons of old — the timber magnates, copper kings and cattlemen who created the extraction-based economy that dominated the region for a century.

Mr. Foley, 62, standing by his private pond, his horses grazing in the distance, proudly calls himself a conservationist who wants Montana to stay as wild as possible. That does not mean no development and no profit. Mr. Foley, the chairman of a major title insurance company, Fidelity National Financial, based in Florida, also owns a chain of Montana restaurants, a ski resort and a huge cattle ranch on which he is building homes.

But arriving here already rich and in love with the landscape, he said, also means his profit motive is different.

“A lot of it is more for fun than for making money,” said Mr. Foley, who estimates he has invested about $125 million in Montana in the past few years, mostly in real estate...

With the timber industry in steep decline, recreation is pushing aside logging as the biggest undertaking in the national forests and grasslands, making nearby private tracts more desirable — and valuable, in a sort of ratchet effect — to people who enjoy outdoor activities and ample elbow room and who have the means to take title to what they want. Source NYTimes

But the protestors are never happy:

“I’m a former tree hugger who was opposed to everything, every timber sale,” Ms. Dahl said, “but now I see that the worst thing you can do is lose it all to development.”

It's funny, though - wasn't that Greg King, the former Earth First! leader - who stood up at the Humboldt County Board meeting to announce that he was a TPZ landholder who bought his land intending to build a house AND log it. Of course he has to say he intends to log it, doesn't he? But isn't that EXTREMELY hypocritical? Or is it just to ensure he gets the tax breaks that everyone is talking about? Either way - he has his - now he wants to make sure you can't get yours.

It'll be interesting

To see who Salzman gets to show up at the Board of Supervisors Meeting today - he's sent the call out to the Orks via the listserve. The usual suspects were already at the last one...
In a message dated 10/21/2007 11:26:03 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, aeb@inreach.com writes:
Make a difference, show up:
What: Board of Supervisors
When: Tuesday, 9 a.m.
Where: Humboldt County Courthouse
Property owners are going to have to stand united. If they don't it is going to look like the Orks are in the majority. They want to get Palco at all costs, and do not care about the "collateral damage."

Interesting comment on Eric's post though - some of the Orks may BE the collateral damage - at least those in SoHum: ...this isn't about PALCO. It is about telling you folks (especially down in Sohum) that you will NOT be building any residential homes other than downtown any longer. What a laugh. And you guys don't even realize it... But - what about the fact that this ordinance will effectively preclude all of you in Sohum from ever buying any TPZ (and soon to be Ag land) and building a home?

Conditional use permit vs regular is the difference of thousands of dollars. Just getting it thru the planning commission is a minimum of 18 months. Doing a full EIR tens of thousands. No Eric - they are blinding you guys with your own anti-Palco hate. Look harder at the big picture and your way/quality of life.