government

County Supervisor Candidates Forum to be held in Aptos

January 8, 2020 by Seb Frey

Come out and join your community at Cabrillo College on Wednesday, January 29th from 6:30-8:30pm to hear from candidates running for Santa Cruz County Supervisor. This will be your chance to ask and hear from them directly about the issues that matter most to our community.

All candidates running for County Supervisor in the 1st, 2nd, and 5th Districts are invited to attend and offer their perspective about how we can make Santa Cruz County a better place to live and work.

The forum will be moderated by Aptos resident and man-about-town Steve Bennet, the Santa Cruz Sentinel Advertising Director. Each candidate will be given the opportunity to make a brief opening statement before being asked about the most important issues facing our community. These include homelessness and housing, transportation and traffic, environmental protection, and the County’s budget. Members of the audience will also be given the chance to submit questions via 3×5 cards, which will be curated by the moderator.

This event is free and open for all to attend, and parking will be available on site at Cabrillo College. You do not need to RSVP to attend, but you are invited to register so they organizers can plan for seating. Use this link to register.

This is a great opportunity to hear from candidates who, if elected, will be able to positively impact the direction of our county. There is little disagreement in the community that we face many and growing challenges, very few of which are being successfully managed by the current Board of Supervisors. Your vote counts, and participating in our democracy by attending this event is something you can do to lend your will toward making a positive change.

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Community Housing Meeting at Temple Beth-El

March 4, 2015 by Seb Frey

California Housing and Community Development

A Community Housing Meeting at Temple Beth-El in Aptos is to be held on Thursday, March 12, and two other locations in the coming weeks. The Santa Cruz County Housing Advisory Commission is holding community discussions about updates to the Santa Cruz County Housing Element, as required every several years by California law.

The reason for these meetings is to talk about programs and policies that could address issues that affect the cost, type, location, and availability of housing to serve the variety of needs of the people of Santa Cruz County.

There are three meetings scheduled to take place, the first of which is today:

Wednesday, March 4th, 3:30 – 5:00 pm
Simpkins Family Swim Center, Community Room A
979 7th Ave, Santa Cruz
Thursday March 12th , 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Temple Beth El Community Room
3055 Porter Gulch Road, Aptos
Monday, March 16th, 6:30 – 8:00pm
Watsonville Civic Plaza Community Room
250 Main Street, Watsonville

Many Aptos residents are concerned with housing development, especially affordable housing throughout our community and in particular projects such as the Aptos Village redevelopment. Anyone in the community who shares these concerns is encouraged to come and give input at these very important meetings which will shape our community for years to come.

Planning Commission Recommends SADA Delay

November 12, 2014 by Seb Frey

At the end of a lengthy two and a half hour meeting today, the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission voted to delay any approval of enhanced vacation rental restrictions in what they are calling the the Seacliff-Aptos Designated Area (“SADA”).

The council meeting today was well attended by the public, and a number of citizens got up to speak about the proposed changes to the vacation rental ordinance, particularly in respect to SADA. There were some representatives from the Live Oak area to speak of the success the LODA (Live Oak Designated Area) restrictions in that community. Many of those who spoke against the SADA restrictions were from the professional real estate business community, but virtually all of the concerned parties who actually own property in the SADA area were opposed.

There was broad support on the commission for the proposed changes to the vacation rental ordinance that were not particular to the SADA. However, there was a feeling from some on the commission that not enough time had been allowed to receive input from the community regarding the special SADA restrictions, and that the current proposed legislation establishing the SADA vacation rental restrictions should have some changes before it could be approved by the planning commission – or perhaps scrapped all together.

A full recording of today’s meeting is available online:

Recording of 11/12/14 Planning Commission Meeting

What does today’s vote mean? In the words of Kathy Previsich, the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission’s Planning Director:

The version of the ordinance that will be presented to the board of supervisors will be a version that does not talk about a Seacliff-Aptos Designated Area. The present approach will continue to apply in the Seacliff-Aptos Designated Area. We wouldn’t even have the words “SADA” in there. The current regulations as modified by the other tweaks to the ordinance with regards to contact information or any of those other tweaks. That would go to the board of supervisors for action and onto the coastal commission for its consideration relative to …. so early in 2015 staff will do further analysis, read through all your testimony and letters and propose some alternate approaches which could include not having any special regulations for SADA or having the SADA map be different to carve out areas that are very concentrated already with vacation rentals and potentially to establish some streets that would be a higher percentage rather than 20, could be 50%, we’ll have a variety of approaches and basically talk about those through community workshops and receive your feedback on which approach might work in the Seacliff-Aptos area, sort of like what we did when we first adopted the vacation rental ordinance, we got a lot of feedback, we continue to make adjustments and refinements to reflect all the feedback we got and get to a consensus, compromise approach. But, based on experience we’ll want to make some tweaks, and one of those tweaks may be an extension of the live oak approach to the Seacliff-Aptos area but we’ll continue that dialog.

It should be noted that this is merely the recommendation to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, and the debate will be taken up by the Board of Supervisors at their next meeting on December 16. The Board may not agree with the planning commission’s recommendation. The board will have to agree that they want planning staff to continue to work with the community on the issue.

Concerned citizens are encouraged to continue to monitor the situation and be in touch with their representative on the Board of Supervisors, and should plan to attend the Board of Supervisors meeting on December 16. As always, keep reading Aptos Community News for the latest information.

Pictures from the Meeting

Aptos Vacation Rental Vote on November 12

November 7, 2014 by Seb Frey

The Santa Cruz County planning commission is meeting for a final Aptos vacation rental vote on November 12. The meeting agenda is posted on the county web site. The meeting starts at 9:00 AM, and is to be held in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, Room 525 in the County Government Center at 701 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz (aka the Courthouse).

The county is proposing to bring vacation rental restrictions to the coastal, suburban areas of Aptos (i.e. Seacliff and Seascape, and Rio del Mar), similar to those currently imposed in the “Live Oak Designated Area” (LODA). This move has the support of many area residents, but not surprisingly, many are also opposed, in particular those in the real estate industry. Paul and Robert Bailey of Bailey Properties have sent a letter to affected owners, and have written a detailed response to the county’s proposed ordinance, both of which are worth taking a few moments to read.

You can also read the complete details of the proposed ordinance here.

Whatever your position on the vacation rental ordinance, this is an issue which many people care deeply about, and concerned citizens are encouraged to attend the meeting on November 12 if at all possible. Those unable to attend but would like to make their voices heard are encouraged to contact the office of Supervisor Zach Friend:

701 Ocean Street, Room 500
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 454-2200 (phone)
Email: zach.friend@co.santa-cruz.ca.us

Supervisor Friend pushes Aptos Broadband

December 9, 2013 by Seb Frey

The Silicon Valley Business Journal recently published a great article about the efforts of Aptos resident and Supervisor Zach Friend to improve the quality of Internet broadband to Santa Cruz county.

The article quotes Supervisor Friend as saying “Our available residential internet access is one step above a joke,” referring to his home in Aptos, which as residents know offers few options for Internet connectivity.

Check out Supervisor Zach Friend on Facebook and at the County Supervisor’s web site.