The Barry Swenson Builders Planned Development

"Current Santa Cruz County 2nd District Supervisor Ellen Pirie claims that plans in her district - The Seacliff Village Plan, the Corralitos Valley Community Plan and the Aptos Village Plan - are derived from each community. But this is not true. All three plans receive support from organizations outside their respective communities and are fueled by the Santa Cruz County Planning Department and other government agencies. Some neighborhood residents are recruited to join newly forming planning committees, and there may be valid issues that need to be addressed, but selective community presence in name and/or participation is designed to garner the appearance of broad community support for a plan that has been predetermined - and not fully revealed".

 

Community Plans = Sustainable Scams

Read more from Joanne Nathan as she offers a peek behind the scenes of some Community Plans in Santa Cruz County, California, exposing their real purpose - to take away personal choice and usher in a new form of governance.

 

 

County Supervisor Ellen Pirie recently released the sketch below, depicting the Aptos Village Plan (proposed high-density housing in rose shading). In it, one can see very dense housing mixed with commercial development right at the edge of the railroad tracks. Limited street parking can be seen, but there don't seem to be garages on any of the structures, keeping with the Smart Growth derision of "snout houses". What about the Cars! If you add 400 bedrooms, then you are adding at least 300 cars to an area with a single lane in either direction. Potential gridlock at peak times. To date no final Traffic Study has been made public.

The planning department and Ellen Pirie have had detailed information that has not been made available through their internet sites. Here are two key pieces of information that show the density that is being planned. The only way we got this information was to speak to the Santa Cruz County planner assigned to the Aptos Village Development - Steven Guiney PLN950@co.santa-cruz.ca.us . The information was available in print form only and had to be scanned to make it into a pdf. Why are the details not made publice through the internet? To date all we have is a sketch. What are the paramenters? What zoning and variances are being changed to facilitate this density? Ask Steve PLN950@co.santa-cruz.ca.us

The Aptos Village Plan utilizes an evaluation of Market and Financial Feasiblity Study performed by Keyser Marston and Associates of San Francisco www.keysermarston.com. There is very good demographic information for the Aptos area in this document. The document describes in detail the profit potential achievable by maximizing the concentration of housing. The Aptos Village development has the potential to easily exceed over $50 Million dollars of property sales. Office Space, that would enable businesses to provide local jobs with no commute is discredited. Commercial Office space does not have the return on investment compared to Condos, Townhouses and Apartment Buildings.

Aptos Village Plan Charette Summary Report is a document that shows the level of density that could be coming our way unless we get proactive. Look at the number of residential units, parking places and minimal common space for each of the proposals. If we get enough of us involved we could buy a parcel in the Village and turn it into a really cool common place for gatherings.

Look at this depiction of the Village and imagine where 300-400 people will go when they step out of their Condo, Townhouse or Apartment. Where is the heart of the village? Don't you think the common space (which is dwarfed by two 3 story apartment buildings) allocated should be greater than an 80 by 100 square foot area.