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In This Issue...
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Youth Centers, Moving Sheriff's Office to Live Oak Meet with Audience Approval
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Driving Impaired: The Costs & Consequences
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Crowd Shows Support for RDA Plan
By Linda Fridy
Residents of Soquel and Live Oak continued to show interest in how Santa Cruz County will spend millions of redevelopment dollars by packing the multipurpose room at Live Oak Elementary in a special off-site meeting on Nov. 10.
The county supervisors, serving as the redevelopment agency's directors, brought the process to the people, holding their five-year plan approval meeting within the project area for the first time. It paid off with standing-room-only attendance by a predominantly supportive crowd.
In the past decade, the redevelopment agency established in the late '80s has helped fund a library and swim center for Live Oak, business district improvements for Soquel and countless miles of road work, curbs and gutters.
The most recent plan adoption caps a six-month outreach process that included multiple community workshops in both the spring and fall. Although the plan does not prioritize or specifically budget for projects, it forms the framework for the next five years' appropriations.
Redevelopment agencies serve specific areas to bring infrastructure and services comparable to neighboring communities – in the case of Santa Cruz County within the unincorporated areas of Live Oak and Soquel. RDAs retain a portion of local property taxes to fund projects, locally ranging from new sidewalks to buildings.
Every five years the agency must approve a new plan.
Sheriff's Office May Relocate
Two elements of the 2010-2014 proposal that received considerable community support are key pieces of the plan: increased safety and youth activities.
Safety concerns are reflected in a plan to move the County Sheriff's Office from its current home at the county building near downtown Santa Cruz to Live Oak.
Agency Director Betsey Lynberg noted that many of the calls to which the department responds come from the redevelopment project area.
Live Oak currently has a sheriff's substation, but moving the department headquarters would increase the presence of law enforcement and reduce response times, she noted. Sheriff Phil Wowak also supports the plan.
Giving area youth a safe place to call their own was another cornerstone of community discussion.
RDA staff and First District Supervisor John Leopold held special meetings with youth, including those involved in the Boys and Girls Club and Core.
About a dozen young people spoke to the directors, thanking them for the opportunity to weigh in and advocating for larger spaces to play basketball, listen to music and meet in a safe environment.
Currently, the Boys and Girls Club operates in Mid-County from a portable on the campus of Shoreline Middle School and Core has a corner of Santa Cruz Skate Shop on 41st Avenue.
"We need to offer more than a portable classroom on a school site," said Lynberg to wide applause. Leopold noted that while adults asked for a single central location for youth activities, the middle and high school students wanted a variety of locations.
Boosting the Economy
The agency has already begun discussions on economic development with information sessions at county board meetings.
The RDA plan calls for supporting businesses in the area by offering small business assistance, improving facades and signage, and identifying ways to retain, expand and attract business to the project area.
Several speakers requested a health clinic within the project area, which is also included in the plan. However, RDA funds can only be used to construct facilities or improve capital projects. The county's cash-strapped public health services would have to find the money to operate a clinic.
Lynberg said staff has identified possible sites for projects such as a hotel, additional retail space and light industrial uses.
Doug Kaplan, a frequent critic of redevelopment projects, spoke against using any of the agency's money to support private developers.
"We don't need any more Rispin Mansion fiascos in the county," he said, referring to the recently abandoned decade-long effort by Capitola's RDA to partner in a boutique hotel project along Soquel Creek.
An Opportunity in Soquel
The RDA is discussing the purchase of Central Fire's Soquel station, located in the middle of Soquel Village – and in the creek floodplain, making it unavailable during storms with the threat of flooding.
The fire district is looking for a new station location.
The RDA already purchased the former Heart of Soquel Mobile Home Park located behind the Soquel post office. The vision for that land is to increase parking as was done in other areas of the Village.
The creekside portion could be used to create a linear park and trail along Soquel Creek that would connect to the pedestrian bridge from Main Street to Soquel Elementary.
The agency will also continue its work on road improvements and park projects.
The plan identifies 25 sidewalk, bike lane and drainage sites.
Nine parks are in varying stages of development. Existing facilities such as Floral Park and Anna Jean Cummings will get new features, while Chanticleer park in Live Oak and the Farm in Soquel are in the development stage.
The county has until 2027 to complete all its projects in the redevelopment area, mostly with borrowed money. The county has until 2037 to pay them off by collecting an additional share of the local property taxes usually collected by the state.
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