Yes Virginia, there is a General Plan, many of them

I read the opinion by Virginia Moran in the weekend Union and I had deja-vu all over again.  Where do these people come from?  She was doing her best to revive the fear tactic used by the econuts in the 90's who constantly warned about growth in Nevada County.  Then they used and also for many years before, the picture of Roseville as their boogie man example of what we would become if we did not implement their land use laws.  If we did not clamp down rigidly on property rights here, we would become Roseville.

I call the period from about 1978 to 1998 the war years on land-use.  The Virginia Moran's won!  Nevada County is exactly what they desired.  A bedroom community to Sacramento.  No industry to speak of, no good paying jobs for middle income families and a great place for gray haired people moving here from the bay are and LA.  Resources industries are  gone and replaced with parks and open spaces.  We are now the playgrounds for the city folks. Local jobs are service and low pay.  What a strategy eh? What more could they achieve?  California laws require a General Plan for every jurisdiction and then an update of the document every five years or so.  That plan is then ratcheted into zoning laws.  Those laws require all of us who want to do something with their property o do what the GP and zoning says, as interpreted by planning departments and planning commissions.

The outcome has been devastating for California's business climate and in Nevada County, we see the results of overarching regulations in a growth rate  at less than 1%.  So when I read such a misguided screed in our newspaper as Moran's I shake my head in wonder.  It appears to me she is probably just ignorant of the "plans" dictating growth here.  But maybe not.  She is a eco warrior on her website and offers her services (for a fee?) to people and organizations in a permit process or a start-up attempt?

What seems to be a constant with people like Moran is they are democrats and or liberals and they love regulations, the more the merrier.  HERE is a invitation Moran sent out hosting an event for Barack Obama at her home on Nancy Way in Alta Sierra.  This was on the Internet so it is a public document.  Could her recent screeds on growth have something to do with getting the vote out for Obama?  Perhaps.  It would not be the first time political operatives spread fear to motivate people to "get out the vote" or GOTV.

Her screed in the Union was about the vacant lots in our county.  Lots can be small, like those on Nancy Way in Alta Sierra or large like agricultural properties throughout the county.  She wants to apparently disallow the people's right to live on their lands?  That is what t seemed to me.  Why stir up a hornets nest again? No Virginia, you and your ilk won the "land use" wars of Nevada County as well as the State of California.  Now we are in deep trouble economically here and many people are leaving the state they love because they can no longer survive here.  So take heart Virginia, no need to clamp down on private property any more here.