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Podcast features Guests from Aptos

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The Bay to Bay Podcast shines a spotlight on life in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay region of California. Produced by local REALTOR Sebastian “Seb” Frey, this groundbreaking podcast features guests who hail primarily from the area. Guests on the show share information about matters affecting those of us who live in or visit he area.

Recently, two guests from Aptos appeared on the podcast. The first was Kristina Campbell, a local real estate appraiser and also Aptos resident. Kristina answered all manner of questions about real estate appraisal, and cited many examples of appraisal work in local Aptos neighborhoods. Anyone thinking of buying, re-financing, or selling a home in Aptos would do well to listen to this informative episode.

In the most recent episode of the podcast, Aptos archaeologist Dustin McKenzie of the Cabrillo College anthropology department talked about local archaeology. How long have humans lived in our area? Where did they come from? What was their culture like? Where can we go to see traces of the people who lived in California in ancient times? Anyone interested in our area’s history will find this to be an interesting and entertaining episode to listen to.

What’s a podcast? A podcast is like a radio show, only it doesn’t broadcast over the air. Rather, the audio from each podcast is stored on the Internet and is typically downloaded or streamed to a device such as an iPod (hence the name, Podcast), iPhone, tablet, or other mobile device. Many people enjoy podcasts as they commute to or from work, at the gym, or around the house. There are thousands of podcasts available on every imaginable topic. They can easily be found in on-line directories, such as the iTunes Store, Stitcher Radio, and the Google Play.

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Sheriff Hart, Supervisor Friend Address Seacliff Residents

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Seacliff Neighbors Toast Jim Hart
Seacliff Neighbors Toast Jim Hart

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

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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

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!

Seb Signature

Friends of the Aptos Library Seek Community Support

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Aptos Public Library
Aptos Public Library

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

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:

Planning Commission Recommends SADA Delay

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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