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Thoughts on the Santa Cruz YIMBY Meeting

March 29, 2018 by Seb Frey

On March 28th, the Santa Cruz YIMBYs (“Yes in My Back Yard”) held a public meeting at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz to discuss the urgent need for more affordable housing in the city and county of Santa Cruz. The meeting featured a discussion on the state of California housing by Linda Wheaton, assistant director for the California Department of Housing and Community Development. A panel discussion followed Wheaton’s presentation, moderated by Robert Singleton of the Santa Cruz County Business Council.

Jondi Gumz of the Santa Cruz Sentinel was there and she did a great write-up on the meeting, so I don’t need to go into too much detail about who said what. I did record audio of the entire proceedings, which you can listen to and download here:

Download the audio….

As the Sentinel did such a good job going over the particulars of the meeting, I’ll just add some of my thoughts on what was discussed.

Although Linda Wheaton went through a fairly exhaustive list of recent and proposed California housing legislation, she made no mention of the most radical bill making its way through the legislature: SB-827, sponsored by Scott Weiner of San Francisco. This was touched on in the panel discussion, but it was disappointing that it was not more of a focus by Wheaton or the panelists.

The Q&A session for the panelists was moderated by Singleton of the Business Council, who asked the panelists questions from a prepared list. There was little time remaining for questions from the audience; just three audience members were called on.

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One question from the audience was especially poignant: would not more housing lead to destruction of so much of what makes Santa Cruz such a beautiful, special place to live? I think that many folks feel that way: more housing = less green and open space. After all, who hasn’t heard about all the fruit orchards and farms which used to cover the Santa Clara valley, which were covered over with concrete, asphalt, and tract homes a few short decades ago?

Panelist Sibley Simon was quick to shut that notion down, however. As he pointed out, that’s been settled a long time ago in Santa Cruz. We’re keeping our green, open spaces. More housing does not mean more sprawl, such as we see in Santa Clara county and much of southern California. More housing – and more affordable housing – means denser, infill development (such as would be required with SB-827).

Another concern people have when they hear “more housing” is “more traffic.” As Simon pointed out, the key to reducing traffic is to having housing built closer to where the jobs are. Currently, many of those jobs are in Santa Clara county, but with wise, far-sighted development it is possible to construct live/work developments which will, to a large extent, obviate the need for road-clogging long commutes to distant employers.

The truth is, unless we build denser, more-affordable housing, we are going to end up with a Santa Cruz stuffed full of older, wealthier elites and mostly-empty weekend and summer houses owned by them. There’s simply just too much money chasing too few homes in a very beautiful, coastal area with a mild climate close to the most epic wealth-generating machine (Silicon Valley) the country has ever known.

Simply put: if we want a Santa Cruz that is accessible and affordable to people with a wide variety of incomes, we must build housing for them, because it presently does not exist.

I know it’s tempting to just stick our heads in the sand and hope the problem goes away. It did abate with the housing crash of 2007-2010, when many people lost their jobs and left the area. But with a strong economy and growing employment comes more demand for housing – we can’t have it both ways. Short of a Zombie Apocalypse, the only realistic and economically sound solution for our housing woes is the creation of more dense, affordable housing.

What are we waiting for?

Search for a Home in Aptos

Update April 3, 2018: the slides from the presentation can be downloaded here. Also, a video of the presentation has been posted to YouTube by the Santa Cruz Sentinel:

Dr. Michelle Rodriguez Reports on First 100 Days as PVUSD Superintendent

December 13, 2016 by Seb Frey

In August 20216, The Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) hired a new superintendent of schools. Last week at the Aptos Chamber of Commerce meeting, the new superintendent, Dr. Michelle Rodriguez, reported on her first 100 days in the job. With her permission, the audio of her presentation was recorded and is available here to listen to or download.

At the outset of the 100 days, the plan was to “Listen, Learn, and Lead.” Indeed, during her first 100 days, she participated in 106 “learning sessions.” She detailed four top priorities for these first 100 days:

Build a Relationship with the Entire District as One Team
Listen to Multiple Perspectives of All Stakeholders
Lead through Shared Purpose and Vision
Celebrate Early Accomplishments

If that sounds a bit nebulous, listen to the audio recording below and get a feel for the direction she intends to take the district:

Listen to the Presentation

Download audio file…

In her presentation to the Chamber, Dr. Rodriguez signaled that the Aptos schools will receive more attention than perhaps they have had in the past. She pledged to treat all schools in the system individually, with no one-size-fits-all philosophy. She also noted that both the incoming President and Vice President of the PVUSD Board of Trustees hail from Aptos.

Dr. Rodriguez stated that the district intends to focus on “the whole child,” having added social-emotional counselors and infused Visual and Performing Arts back at the schools. She is looking forward to all schools once again having robust art and music education. To set the district on a firmer financial footing, she is looking to hire a full-time grant writer with a goal of raising millions of additional dollars per year. Given the fact that 78% of PVUSD students live in poverty, it is likely there’s ample grant money to be found.

Dr. Rodriguez appears to offer a very hands-on approach. She is very active on Twitter, and from her feed, she does appear very much to be in the trenches and not locked up in an ivory tower. She has a commitment to openness: for example, all PVUSD board meetings are now streamed live and archived on the Internet.

Fantastic collaborative visit at WCSA filled w/students effectively using technology coupled w/collaboration to meet learning intentions pic.twitter.com/BTC8xNWjyR

— Michelle Rodriguez (@mlrod32) December 13, 2016

So far, the new Superintendent appears to be off to a good start. But it’s early days yet, and many Aptos parents, teachers, and students will be looking forward to concrete and visible improvements in our local elementary, junior, and high schools. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please reach out to the Superintendent directly at 831-786-2135 or via email at superintendent@pvusd.net

See also: Santa Cruz Sentinel article

New Aptos Village Groundbreaking Moves Ahead

December 9, 2015 by Seb Frey

Aptos Village Site Map Phase 1, Courtesy Barry Swenson Builder

The Santa Cruz county Board of Supervisors held a meeting late yesterday afternoon to vote on approval of the final Aptos Village map. Yesterday’s meeting was reportedly well attended by vocal and spirited opponents of the plan, but nevertheless, the board of supervisors did unanimously vote approval of the final map, as had been widely anticipated. The Aptos Village Redevelopment project is moving forward.

A meeting was held on Wednesday morning at Cantine Wine Pub in the Aptos Village Square shopping center, to update local merchants on the plans for construction. Presenters included Mary Gourlay from Barry Swenson Builder, Jack Sohriakoff (a senior traffic engineer with Santa Cruz County Department of Public Works), and Patrick Mulhearn, aide to Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend. An audio copy of the conversation is embedded here for those who would like to hear about some of the construction details that were shared at today’s meeting.

Audio Recording of the Merchant’s Meeting

Download audio file…

Barry Swenson Builder now plans to actually break ground on the project within the next several weeks – before the end of the year. Phase 1 will include erecting security fencing, building the pads where the historic Hihn Apple Barn will be moved, and cutting the interior roads for Aptos Village. While there will be several phases of construction, both by Barry Swenson Builder and the Santa Cruz county department of Public Works, it is expected that the new Aptos Village will begin to receive its first occupants within the next two years.

A Chat with the Owner of Flats Bistro

June 5, 2015 by Seb Frey

Jeanne Harrison of Flats Bistro and Cafe Rio

Seb Frey with Aptos Community News ambled down to the new Flats Bistro in Aptos to have a chat with the owner, Jeanne Harrison. We wanted to talk about Jeanne’s new venture, and she shared quite a bit.

We talked about their newest menu item: breakfast pizza ($14). According to Jeanne, It’s like having sourdough toast with either bacon or sausage, an egg done over-easy, some spinach and a little bit of cheese.

Most people order the breakfast pizza in the morning, but you can get it any time of day; it’s been a very popular menu item. The breakfast pizza crust has a very nice flavor, it’s super thin and crunchy. Their crust uses a 100 year old starter for the sourdough, and that could be the reason the crust in their pizzas is extra tasty.

Listen to the Discussion

Download audio file…

Their 60 inch pizza oven was made by Mugnaini, a renown pizza oven maker based in Watsonville. The oven runs 650-700 degrees, and in an oven this hot, it’s really difficult to make some specialty crusts. They tried to make a cauliflower crust but it just fell apart in the oven.

Flats Bistro is proving to be fertile ground for Jeanne’s culinary experimentation. For example, she says she’d never really made pizza before she got the idea for Flats Bistro. On the day we visited, she had just added something new to the display case: stuffed Portobello mushrooms with garlic, onion, gorgonzola cheese and a breaded topping. Every morning they have bacon and egg croissants for $5. On Saturdays and Sundays they do biscuits and gravy, and also offer ham and egg sandwiches with that.

They are working on a gluten free pizza crust, but so far they have been unsuccessful. She has tried 5-6 gluten-free crusts and they “taste like cardboard.” If anyone knows of a great gluten-free pizza crust recipe, she’d love to have it!

They make all the food and pastries right next door at Cafe Rio, starting at 5 or 6 AM. All the cookies, cakes, desserts, and salads are made on site. But they have no plans for breakfast burritos because, Jeanne says, they love their neighbors, and don’t want to take anything away from Pixie Deli which has been selling breakfast burritos for years. They don’t deliver yet and don’t offer catering, but this is something they may look at doing in the future.

The bistro has been open for only two months, but already they are enjoying incredible success and a growing clientele. They’ve been doing an Instagram campaign to promote the bistro, and the campaign ends today, June 5. Just tag a photo with #FlatsBistroAptos showing one of their coffee cups for a chance to win a Flats Bistro hoodie.

One for the road! #flatsbistroaptos #aptos #coffee

A photo posted by Sebastian Frey (@sebfrey) on May 29, 2015 at 9:40am PDT

#FlatsBistroAptos on Instagram

Aptos Village Design Changes Unanimously Approved

May 5, 2015 by Seb Frey

Aptos Village Approved — Aptos Village Design Changes Approved

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved the changes to the Aptos Village design requested by the developer, Barry Swenson Builder. The project initially won approval in 2012 after a decade in the planning process, but that approval granted the builder some flexibility in the final design. The approval today from the Board of Supervisors should allow the project to move forward with the requested modifications.

The meeting was well attended, despite starting at 9 AM on a weekday. Dozens of members of the community got up to speak, with proponents and opponents roughly evenly divided. Most of those opposed appeared to be the members of our community which will be most adversely affected by the construction and increased congestion in the village – that is, those living up Cathedral Drive, Trout Gulch Road, and Valencia Road.

Audio Recording of the Supervisor’s Meeting

Download audio file…

The portion of the meeting which dealt with Aptos Village lasted over an hour and a half, and ended with little debate among the supervisors before they unanimously approved the changes. It seemed as though their support was a foregone conclusion, and there was substantial but muted commentary from those in attendance that their voices had not been heard, or at least not given due consideration.

At the end of the discussion and before the vote, Supervisors Zach Friend, John Leopold and Bruce McPherson did make some remarks. Supervisor Friend spoke to both the process by which the project was approved, and the need for a project like this. Many in attendance today who opposed to the project expressed a sentiment that the project was being pushed on the community with little input. Supervisor Friend addressed this head on, and seemed genuinely to feel as though the local government had in fact sought substantial community involvement and feedback.

Supervisor Leopold remarked that the government should be committed to a good public process, and that a “ten year project” with over 20 meetings meets that requirement. He went on to say he understands the community’s concerns about the density of the project. He mentioned specifically the Sustainable Santa Cruz County plan, which calls for greater density within the urban services line (the area served by public water and sewer) along the Soquel Drive corridor. By concentrating development within this area (in which Aptos Village is located), we can keep more parts of our county rural. Perhaps counter-intuitively, this kind of denser development is in fact more sustainable than the kind of sprawl found in so many suburban communities in many parts of the state and country. According to Leopold, from an environmental point of view, the Aptos Village is in many ways a model for future development within the county.

Supervisor McPherson mentioned that one of the main concerns from Santa Cruz county residents is the lack of affordable housing in the community, and that more housing must be built. He went on to say that the Aptos Village project will provide additional, much-needed housing, and that the new Aptos Village is a very environmentally sound project.

Aptos Village Meeting on April 22

April 23, 2015 by Seb Frey

The Aptos Village Meeting on April 22 was held at the Rio Sands Hotel by the Rio del Mar Beach. It was standing room only, with the room full to its limit, an estimated 150 people. The meeting was headed by 2nd District Supervisor Zach Friend and Mary Gourlay with Barry Swenson Builder. Extensive information was provided by Ron Duncan and Bruce Jaffe from the Soquel Creek Water District, and also Jack Sohriakoff, a senior traffic engineer with the county Public Works department.

At the beginning of the meeting, attendees were asked to write their questions down on cards, so they could be asked in an orderly and efficient fashion. Nevertheless, remarks by Friend, Gourlay and the other speakers would be peppered with spicy questions from the crowd throughout the evening.

Audio Recording of the Aptos Village Meeting on April 22

Download audio file…

The meeting opened with remarks from Supervisor Friend, who was quick to point out that the purpose of the meeting was not to discuss approval of the Aptos Village project, as it’s an “entitled project.” It has already gone through the entire approval process and was approved in 2012.

This meeting was intended as a way to receive public input on some modifications to the initially approved design, which the builder has submitted to the county for approval. Also, the meeting was designed to be a way to publicly discuss what will happen during construction, what will those impacts be, and how the county can communicate to make people’s lives in the area “less miserable” during construction. Also open for discussion were the water, traffic, and public safety impacts of the project.

Video from Aptos Village Meeting

Supervisor Friend explained that when the county initially approved the project, it allowed the builder some room to change a few things around within approved parameters. The county supervisors will be meeting to consider approval of the builder’s proposed “design modifications” at its meeting on May 5th, 2015, and members of the public are certainly welcome to attend.

After opening remarks from Supervisor Friend, Mary Gourlay went over a project map and explained what each building is. Considerable time was spent discussing the “design modifications” made to the project since it was initially approved.

Slides from the Presentation – Barry Swenson Builder

Slides from Barry Swenson Builder — Barry Swenson Builder has made a copy of the slides from their presentation available in a PDF document. You can download the developer’s slides from their web site here.

After the opening remarks by Friend and Gourlay, Supervisor Friend read through the questions that had been collected from the crowd. Many of the questions reflected the community’s concerns around the drought and the project’s water usage, as well as the impacts on traffic – both during construction and forever more. Other questions involved parking, affordable housing, site drainage and runoff, and more.

Supervisor Friend brought the meeting to an end a few minutes before 8:00 PM, but he and the other speakers remained after the meeting to answer questions from those who stayed late. More meetings are expected to be held in the future as the project progresses.

See also:

Photo Gallery of Aptos Village Meeting

The Rio Sands Hotel played host to the meeting

Aptos Village Community Meeting on April 22, 2015

Aptos Village Update for Merchants

April 8, 2015 by Seb Frey

There was a meeting today at the Cantine Wine Pub, with the purpose of giving an Aptos Village update for merchants in the Aptos Village area. The meeting was well attended; about fifty people showed up to learn how the project may affect their businesses. The meeting was organized by Del Crawford of Mulberry Gallery, and updates on the project were given by Supervisor Zach Friend, Mary Gourlay from Barry Swenson Builder, John Prestly, the Director of Public Works for Santa Cruz County, and Jack Sohriakoff, a senior traffic engineer also with the county Public Works department.

Audio Recording of the Aptos Village Merchants Meeting

Download audio file…

Supervisor Friend was careful to note that the Aptos Village redevelopment project has already been approved by the County Board of Supervisors, and that this project is moving forward. Indeed, Barry Swenson Builder indicated that they intend to break ground on the project “this fall,” beginning with moving the historic Hihn Apple Barn to the center of the new village and construction of a concrete pad for it and grading along Granite Way.

Some time was spent discussing the fact that there have been a few small changes made to the plan, which were allowed under the scope of the approval previously granted by the Board of Supervisors. However, this small change has triggered an appeal by some concerned citizens. Supervisor Friend indicated he did not foresee this in any way stopping the project, but may cause some delay. For this reason, it is not known precisely when the project will officially break ground.

Barry Swenson Builder has launched a new web site, TheAptosVillage.com, which will serve to update the Aptos community and the greater public about the project’s developments.

Another meeting has been scheduled for April 22nd, from 6 PM to 8 PM, at the Rio Sands hotel. This meeting is intended for the public at large, and all are invited to attend. The public will be updated on the Aptos Village project and community feedback and input will be welcome.

At least for the initial phase of the project, the work done by Barry Swenson Builder is not expected to have much impact on traffic flow into, out of, or within Aptos Village, as their equipment and materials will be on site and not spill over into the public streets. However, Santa Cruz County will be doing some road work projects, slated to begin in January, and this will likely have considerable impact on traffic for several months while the work is in progress. These projects include adding of traffic lights, sidwealks, and roadway improvements.

It was noted that there will be no sidewalk between Soquel Drive and the railroad tracks. This was apparently part of the initial plan, as the vision of Aptos Village is one of a very walkable community. The sidewalk had to be cut because of Federal rules regarding proximity of sidewalks to railroad tracks. This may have the unfortunate effect of splitting Aptos village instead of creating an integrated whole on both sides of Soquel Drive. This is another example of how the presence of an active rail line running through our community compromises the vision for a walkable, sustainable Aptos Village and indeed the whole of Santa Cruz county.

The New Aptos Village

Sheriff Hart, Supervisor Friend Address Seacliff Residents

March 11, 2015 by Seb Frey

Last night at the Mediterranean Bar in Seacliff, newly elected sheriff Jim Hart and 2nd District Supervisor Zach Friend addressed a meeting of the Seacliff Improvement Association.

Members of the public who attended had a lot of questions, and Sheriff Hart and Supervisor Friend provided a great amount of detail on a wide ranging set of topics. The meeting lasted about an hour, and if you would like to hear the full extent of the comments from Jim Hart and Zach Friend, you can listen to the recording here:

Audio Recording of Jim Hart, Zach Friend

Download audio file…

Summary of Topics Discussed

Sheriff Hart touched on a number of items:

New Burglary suppression program: a deputy will come and walk around exterior of home, talk about weak points, beef up security
New Elementary school program to talk about stranger danger and school safety
Sheriff is doing clean up of homeless encampments in Aptos
Reported that crime is down in Aptos in the past 45 days
The department has 15 people studying at the police academy to increase deputies on the streets
Establishing a new “Sobering Center” to handle those detained for public drunkenness with a $2.1 million federal grant

Supervisor Zach Friend updated the public on the following:

County has re-funded County Parks Department to become a stand-alone department again
Seacliff Village Park: they will break ground on that in two months
McGregor Drive was completely repaved this year
Seacliff Village Undergrounding of utility poles is going forward, it is budgeted for this spring
New Broadband Policy will bring high-speed Internet to Aptos and Santa Cruz residents via fiber optic backbone “in the next 18 months”
Mar Vista Pedestrian Overcrossing is still scheduled for construction in 2017, but the project does not yet have approval from CalTrans.
Aptos Village Redevelopment is moving forward, and they are expecting Barry Swenson Builder (BSB) to apply for permits “soon” but have not yet given a date for that. BSB is creating a web site with information on the project for the public.
Rancho del Mar Redevelopment: No news on this one, the county has not heard anything from the new owners of the shopping center.
Santa Cruz Rail Trail: no news on this either, they are still waiting for the results of the Passenger Rail Study which the RTC plans to release in April. There is no word on what the passenger rail study might reveal as regards the feasibility of passenger rail service, however building out the trail segments will require private funding as there will be no public funds available for this any time soon.

Seacliff Neighbors Toast Jim Hart

Starting 2015 On the Right Foot in Aptos

December 31, 2014 by Seb Frey

Happy New Year 2015 — Planning to make 2015 a very Happy New Year

I’ve been working on Aptos Community News for over a year now, in part because I want to help make Aptos an even better place tomorrow than it is today. And in that spirit, I plan on starting 2015 on the right foot in Aptos. I’m going to improve our community starting with me, which is the only thing I am 100% in control of.

The good news is, I won’t be alone in this. Thousands of folks in the community are looking back on 2014, and looking forward to 2015 and thinking about what they can do better in the new year. I have a very long list of ways that I can personally improve, but as I get older, one thing that becomes increasingly important is maintaining my health.

And that’s why my eyes opened wider when I saw that the good folks at Fleet Feet Sports in Aptos are organizing Tons of Fun 2015, which is a community-based health and weight loss challenge. When striving towards any goal, it’s often more effective not to go it alone, and to at least have some kind of accountability partner…and maybe meet some like-minded, health-conscious Aptosians to boot.

I spoke with Tina Coillot who is one of the owners of Fleet Feet Sports, and put up a recording of our conversation on the Real Santa Cruz Podcasat. You can listen to the interview here:

Interview with Tina Coillot of Fleet Feet Sports

Download audio file…

It’s refreshing to talk to someone who truly has a passion for what they do – and I think you can really get a sense of that from my interview with Tina. I get the feeling that she really enjoys being part of our community and making the folks who live here healthier – and happier.

The interview is around 40 minutes long, so you might want to just subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or Stitcher and listen to it in your car, on your morning walk, at the gym, or whatever.

In the interview, we also talked about their “Couch to 5K” program – which I hadn’t heard about before we started talking. It sounds like just the ticket for me – someone who has never, ever ran (since high school anyway, and then only barely). I would love to be able to run a whole five thousand meters – so this is something I’m going to sign up for as well. In for a penny, in for a pound!

Happy New Year, Aptos! I love you. See you in 2015!

Friends of the Aptos Library Seek Community Support

December 6, 2014 by Seb Frey

There’s a new Aptos chapter of the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries. The new group, Friends of the Aptos Library, advocates for the Aptos library and supports children’s literacy programs, book and media purchases, concerts, author talks, community reading programs, technical and facilities upgrades, and more. The new chapter joins four existing chapters in Boulder Creek, Felton, La Selva Beach and Scotts Valley.

The Friends of Aptos Library chapter first met in October and has met twice more since then, with over 30 people expressing interest in working with the group. The chapter formed in response to the need to provide additional support for the Aptos branch, which is one of the most-used libraries in Santa Cruz county.

Annette D’Adamo, the first board president for Friends of the Aptos Library and a 20-year Seacliff resident, is quoted as saying:

We’re interested in learning more about the needs of our community, which will influence what the vision is for Friends of Aptos Library.

Annette sat down at the Aptos Library for a brief interview, to talk about the new group, and how the community can get involved. A recording of the interview is available here:

Interview with Annette D’Adamo

Download audio file…

In the interview, a number of topics were addressed, including the bond measure on the ballot for 2015 to update, enhance, and modernize a number of libraries in the Santa Cruz system, including especially the Aptos branch.

If you are interested in joining the Friends of the Aptos Library (they’re looking for board members), volunteering, advocating for the bond measure, or in making a donation, please contact them via email at friendsoftheaptoslibrary@gmail.com. The group normally meets the first Thursday of every month at 7:00 PM in the community room at the Aptos Public Library. The next meeting of the group though is the 2nd Thursday of January, because the 1st is New Year’s Day. If you’re interested, please come to the meeting on January 8th 2015 at the Aptos Library.

See also: