aptos

Best Santa Cruz Christmas Tree Lot is in Aptos

November 30, 2014 by Seb Frey

It turns out that the best Santa Cruz Christmas tree lot is in Aptos! This may be somewhat of a subjective statement, but what other Christmas tree lot in the county gives you free popcorn, hot cocoa, coffee, and hot apple cider? What other Christmas tree lot in town has a special crafts area for your kids to make holiday decorations while you shop for a Christmas tree?

They offer a full range of top notch Christmas trees, and they are all fresh and grown in the U.S.A. And the prices are reasonable, too – very competitive with Costco and other lots around town. If you’re shopping for a fresh live Christmas tree this year, go and check out the Christmas tree lot in Aptos Village – you’ll be glad you did! They accept cash, checks, and Visa/Mastercard.

The Aptos Christmas Tree Lot is located where Lucy’s Hot Dog stand is, which is next to Testorff Construction, which in turn is located right next to the Bayview Hotel.

Seb Frey Circa 1974

November 20, 2014 by Seb Frey

Ahh, the 1970’s. So much was happening: the Vietnam war, Richard Nixon’s impeachment, the Arab oil embargo, Jimmy Carter. The Grateful Dead were arguably at the top of their game (Cornell ’77 anyone?). Loud clothing was all the rage.

I was oblivious to most of this at the time, except the loud clothing. Thanks to my parents, I totally rocked that.

Here’s a picture of me, Seb Frey circa 1974, age three. Amazingly enough, this is NOT an instagram picture – this is a genuine 1974 photograph (or an unretouched scan of it, anyway)! It was taken at my family’s home on Coates Drive in Seacliff:

You can’t actually see the home, as I’m standing in front of what amounts to a fenced-in patio at the “rear” of the property (the front was considered to be the bluff-side, with the “million dollar” Seacliff Beach and Monterey Bay view). The house was built by my grandfather between 1948 and 1951, as a kind of weekend project. I ended up living in it for many years – college years, and after – but we won’t be seeing too many photos of those times. 🙂

My brother, sister and I bought it from our family and held onto it for I think about 10 years or so, but eventually sold it back in 2008. Sigh. I still spend a lot of time in Seacliff, as today, we live only about a mile away as the crow flies. Some things change, some things don’t, but one thing is for sure: my kids are considerably better dressed than I was back in the day.

Vacation Rental Restrictions coming to Aptos?

October 5, 2014 by Seb Frey

There is a move afoot to limit the number of vacation rentals in the “coastal” areas of Aptos, specifically Seacliff, Seascape, and Rio del Mar. The limits would be identical to what is now presently permissible in the <a href="http://www.sccoplanning about his.com/Portals/2/County/Planning/policy/052-11LiveOakWeb.pdf” target=”_blank”>Live Oak Designated Area (LODA), which is the coastal area that encompasses Pleasure Point and the area near the Santa Cruz harbor.

If the restrictions are approved by the Santa Cruz county board of Supervisors, the designated areas in Aptos (SADA, or “Seacliff Aptos Designated Area”) would not allow vacation rental permits in excess of 20% of the homes on any one block. There is apparently a concern that the increasing number of homes used as vacation rentals would diminish the availability of homes used for long-term rentals, and increase the cost of renting in Aptos.

There are presently two streets in Aptos which have vacation rentals that exceed 20% of the homes on the street: Beach Drive, and Rio del Mar Boulevard between Beach Drive and the Kingsbury/Cliff Drive intersection. Under the ordinance, no new vacation rental permits would be approved on these streets.

The board of supervisors is to take up the issue at a public hearing on Tuesday, October 28 at 9:00 AM at the Board Chambers, County Administrative Building, 701 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz. People who are concerned with the issue, in favor or against, are encouraged to contact Supervisor Zach Friend or attend the hearing on October 28th.

We have posted some notes from the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission meeting on September 16, for those who are interested in learning more.

Seacliff Aptos Designated Area

Aptos Way Back Machine: Real Estate

July 23, 2014 by Seb Frey

Back before there was such a thing as smart phones…back before “broadband” Internet was widely available for most people…back when Netscape was battling it out with Internet Explorer for supremacy on the world wide web…

There was the MLS book. To you youngsters out there, it may seem incredible, but there was once a time when Joe Sixpack couldn’t just jump on his smart phone and browse the latest real estate listings. Real estate listings were a closely guarded commodity belonging only to Realtors. If you wanted to know what was for sale, you had to talk to a Realtor. Realtors would browse through the MLS book, updated twice a month, to find homes to show buyers.

Most civilians have never seen the inside of an MLS book. And neither had I, until just yesterday, when I met someone who actually had what was probably one of the last MLS books ever printed in Santa Cruz county, in 1998…at least, the current MLS system has listings beginning in 1998, and not before.

So let’s hope in the Way Back machine and look back in time to late 1998, to see how homes were marketed back then, and what they cost. Check out these pictures: