Since I missed all the prior meetings, I have some catching up to do.
On the table is a proposed outline of a 50 year development plan for the Todos Santos area including Pescadero, Los Cerritos and areas north of town out to Las Playitas.
The original plan drawings that surfaced in June were old and had never had community feedback. Some of the proposed changes drew sharp attention from locals. In a series of meetings, the overall scheme was explained, concerns heard, and a new citizen’s committee formed. This committee consists of concerned members of the community who are acting as the collective voice of residents. This is a good thing since the final draft of the plan needs to be given to the state government (I believe it’s the state) by September 18 (no confirmation on this date yet.) Once the various committees are finished, the plan drafters will encorporate the changes and send the plan along. Once the plan is open for discussion in the state congress, it will be possible but much harder to make changes.
It is MUCH easier to make changes now. I wish I could tell you who is on the citizen’s committee so that you could contact them, but right know I don’t know the list. I do know that Elena Moreno and her son John are very involved (John is on the committee) and they would be a good first point of contact if you have real issues with the current state of the plan.
I did learn that even though Todos Santos is having some serious infrastructure problems right now (e.g. the main town water well is in need of repairs and cannot supply water to all areas of town at the same time leading to rotating water blackouts of a longer duration that normal) the purpose of this development plan is not to address those issues. It is to set down a framework, including laws and regulations, that will control future development over a 50 year period, e.g. how many homes will be allowed per hectar of land in the various neighborhoods. All of these regulations will be going forward from the time of enactment and will not affect the current status quo.
This really is a good thing as Todos Santos is growing without any plan at all and the strain on services and neighborhoods is beginning to show. It will only intensify in the future.
The original plan maps were very large PDF files. I have reduced the size of each (but they are still 2-3 megs each) and you can view them (you do need Adobe Acrobat Reader) by clicking on the images below:
First Master Plan Map
August 20, 2007 Version
