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Park Could Displace Affordable Housing Proposed for Aptos’ Par 3
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Park Could Displace Affordable Housing Proposed for Aptos’ Par 3
By Michael Thomas
In May, the storm clouds of controversy looming over a 211-home development in Aptos suddenly parted when the project’s developer withdrew, citing too much risk in the County’s arduous permitting and rezoning processes. Now the first rumblings of a new storm over the future of Aptos’ former Par 3 golf course are beginning.
County Supervisor Ellen Pirie has thrown her support behind an emerging effort to preserve the 13.5 acres of land alongside Highway 1 as a park. The concept is in its infancy, but Pirie met with constituents on Sept. 28 to discuss the possibilities.
The most likely way to purchase the property would be through a voter-approved parcel tax.
Currently, developer Brad Bowman has a longstanding option to purchase the property. Bowman has been in discussions with South County Housing to develop a project with some amount of affordable housing. The property is also on a list of properties that the County has proposed rezoning to meet state affordable housing mandates.
Pirie Wants Land off Affordable Housing List
In July, Planning Director Tom Burns assembled a list of properties totaling 115 acres. He is expected to narrow that list down to the 22 acres needed to meet the state mandate and present the list at a board of supervisors meeting in October. Par 3 is one of the largest properties being considered for rezoning.
“I’m proposing that we take it off the housing element list and put it on the backburner to give the people an opportunity to buy it,” Pirie said. “We would have to raise the money. It would probably have to be some kind of ballot measure as was done for Seacliff Park.”
Such measures require two-thirds voter approval to pass, and Seacliff’s effort failed by about 40 votes.
The idea of a park at Par 3 has neighbors and opponents of past development plans cautiously enthused.
“It’s a wonderful idea that the Par 3 could be left open for recreation,” said neighbor Suzanne Shynne.
She thinks the County could raise money to maintain the land by operating a golf course there again.
“A golf course would bring in less traffic than, say, soccer games,” Shynne said. “I think that would be appealing to the County if there was an enterprise and that paid for the ongoing maintenance.”
Aptos Chamber of Commerce President John Hibble said the chamber’s Visitor Center still gets inquiries about the long-defunct golf course.
“There are a lot of people that come in…and say ‘What happened to the Par 3? I taught my kids to play golf there,’” Hibble said. “It has been a really important source of open space. The idea to keep it that way seems like intelligent planning.”
Housing Advocates Disappointed
A group of local church and community groups called COPA supported the abandoned housing proposal for Par 3. They’ve been advocating for a new project on the land to provide much needed housing stock for low to moderate income County residents.
COPA spokesman Andrew Goldenkrantz said Pirie’s latest move was a big disappointment.
“Any family who does not earn the $120,000 per year needed to afford a median priced home here should be supporting affordable housing every time there is an opportunity,” Goldenkrantz suggests.
COPA hopes that South County Housing will come in and build affordable housing on part of the property while leaving a large portion for a neighborhood park.
“We need a better solution than the one [Pirie] is proposing,” Goldenkrantz said. “So far, she has not brought forward any viable alternative site that would be suitable for affordable housing.”
Supervisor Jan Beautz believes that geographic balance is needed if the County is going to be forced to rezone properties for affordable housing.
“There has to be some fair share between all the districts,” Beautz said.
Pirie agrees.
“It’s got to be spread around the County and a piece of that should come from Aptos,” she said.
Poor Clares Property Eyed for Housing
The latest draft of the County’s seven-year housing plan was released on Sept. 12. It identifies a new property to be considered for affordable housing zoning: the former Poor Clares property near State Park Drive. It’s owned by Dominican Santa Cruz Hospital. The property was formerly a convent and is presently leased to a church. Hibble thinks that at least as far as traffic is concerned, the Poor Clares property could be a better bet.
Shynne thinks that putting an affordable housing project in another Aptos neighborhood would likely frustrate another group of neighbors. If that happens, it could be hard to win support for a bond to buy Par 3.
“If we are just shifting the housing problem from one area to another, that could shift the vote,” Shynne pointed out.
Seacliff’s park bond measure seemed poised for success. But resident and former Mercury News editor Phil Trounstine began a vocal campaign against it and is generally credited with the parcel tax’s defeat. Seacliff’s $2.2 million ballot measure also would have added $98 a year to property tax bills for the small community.
For Par 3, according to Pirie, “It could be a much larger area of people who would use that park so it would be a wider group that might pay for it.”
John Beran, a Par 3 development opponent, admitted there are limits to what even the neighbors would be willing to pay.
“I would support it, but not for $100 a year,” Beran said.
Opportunity Missed?
Goldenkrantz believes the County would be missing a big opportunity to develop housing at Par 3. He believes there is “a ready seller and buyer.”
Grant Wrathall Jr., a resident of Aptos since 1947, owns half the property with his brother, though they have signed over project development rights to Bowman. How much would voters have to authorize to buy his land? Bowman calls the property “very valuable” one moment and the next moment complains that “it’s practically worthless.”
“The property’s not worth anything unless you can do something with it,” Wrathall said. If the County rezoned the land for affordable housing, he thinks that would be a step up from its current status.
“In this County, it’s kind of like living under a communist government,” said Wrathall, who grew up hunting in the Aptos woods but now lives mostly in Alaska. He says that a few years after he and his brother bought half the golf course in 1983, the County quietly rezoned it from residential to open space/recreational. He claims notification from the County went to the wrong address, so they didn’t know it was open space until a residential developer offered to buy it.
“Based on the zoning, the whole golf course is worth about $6 million,” Wrathall said. “The property is going to be developed someday, whether we do it or not.”
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