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In This Issue...
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Opinions
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Par 3 Property: A Park?
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Par 3 Property: A Park?
By County Supervisor Ellen Pirie
Although it hasn’t been a golf course for years, it will always be the “Par 3” property for many of us. This 13-acre piece of land is where many locals learned to play golf, where seniors played during the week, and where parents and grandparents taught their kids to play. Because of this long history in the community, there is an enormous reservoir of fondness for the land.
I would like the community to have a chance to return the property to recreational use, if that’s what the community wants. But, let me step through the many challenges that must be addressed to make that happen.
Par 3: Park V. Housing
The Par 3 property, located between Highway 1 and Soquel Drive in Aptos, is zoned for parks, recreation and open space (PR). Many years ago the property was zoned for residential use and, in spite of the current PR zoning, is seen as a possible location for high density housing.
Until recently, a developer, Standard Pacific Homes, had a proposal before the County to re-zone the property and build 212 housing units. Of those 212 units, approximately 86 were to be “affordable.” I had hoped that the developer and the community would be able to come to agreement about the size of the development, the design of the housing and resolve the environmental issues caused by the project.
Unfortunately, the developer’s concessions to the community’s concerns were minimal and many in the community rejected the notion of giving up open space for the proposed housing project. Standard Pacific realized that things were not going well and withdrew its application with the County. Therefore, the Par 3 property remains zoned for parks, recreation and open space.
The Challenges of Affordable Housing
With the median price for a home in Santa Cruz County in the mid-$700,000 range, there is little need to debate the need for affordable housing. Many of us are either struggling financially to live here or know someone who is. Many of us are realizing that our children will not be able to afford to buy a home here.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors is very supportive of affordable housing and has helped many affordable projects get off the ground while I have been in office. I’m proud of our record. We don’t just say we want to help people stay here; we have been instrumental in producing 525 units of affordable housing in the past six years. In fact, between 2000 and 2005, 40 percent of the permits issued for homes were for affordable or second units.
Unfortunately, the state, in the form of the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), takes a very different approach to affordable housing. They believe that if you force communities to build high density housing, the housing will be affordable. They object to any affordability restrictions, wanting instead to rely on the rule of supply and demand to make the development affordable.
The reality in Santa Cruz County is that density will not automatically bring affordability. There is simply no way Santa Cruz County can build its way out of a housing crisis.
Santa Cruz County’s Housing Element
The state has decided that Santa Cruz County has failed to meet its obligation to adopt a “Housing Element” that satisfies state law. The state’s position is that Santa Cruz County has failed to include provisions in its Housing Element that will result in housing that is specifically affordable to low-income residents. The County was also sued by California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) to enforce the state law on Housing Elements.
In a recent decision in that court case, the County was ordered to “provide” capacity for an additional 440 housing units by re-zoning 22 acres of land requiring 20 housing units per acre. In a form of bureaucratic mania that I will never fully understand, the mere re-zonings alone (not the actual construction) will satisfy the state that there is now sufficient housing for our lower income residents.
As part of the ruling, the County will be prohibited from requiring an environmental review of any proposed housing project on those 22 acres, once they have been re-zoned.
The County will do what it is required to do under state law, even though many believe that it is not the best way to provide housing for our residents. In order to ensure that at least some of the housing created in response to these re-zonings is affordable, the County will require that 40 percent of the new housing on these parcels be affordable.
Take It Off!
If you have been wondering whether I would ever get back to the subject of the Par 3 property, here it is. I mentioned previously that the County has to come up with a list of the properties that are proposed to be re-zoned to comply with state law and the court order. Par 3 is presently on that list. I suggest that we take it off.
During Standard Pacific’s effort to build on the Par 3 property, many people exp-ressed support for keeping the property as a recreational asset for the community. One comes to expect opposition to a project from some neighbors. But in this case there was broad-based, heartfelt concern that the community would be losing a treasure that could not be replaced.
There is no question that we are going to have denser housing developments in Santa Cruz County in the future. There are many reasons for that besides state law â€" population increases, land costs, agricultural protection policies, etc.
Dense housing is much more tolerable if there is room to run, to play, to lie on the grass nearby. Cities that have stayed livable in spite of high density housing have made sure to keep parks and open spaces for residents.
In recognition of the community’s fondness for Par 3, as well as the serious traffic and environmental concerns that became apparent during the recent effort to develop it, I will be asking the board of supervisors to take Par 3 off the list for re-zoning in order to give the community the opportunity to purchase the property for a future park.
The public purchase and preservation of the Par 3 property is possible, but it will take a lot of people willing to work for it and willing to reach into their pockets. It will not come cheap; it will not be easy.
The County can help in many ways but does not have the money to buy it. If this is something that you support, you’ll need to step forward, let the board of supervisors know and stay involved to make it happen.
Taking Par 3 off the list will not eliminate the County’s obligation to re-zone 22 acres. We will still need to find those acres within the County’s unincorporated but urbanized areas. We will do everything within our power to ensure that projects built will be good places to live and not detrimental to the community.
If you support preserving Par 3, you should come to the board meetings where the board will decide which properties to re-zone. If you wish to be notified about board meetings on this subject, you can call 831-454-2200 or email my office (bds020@co.santa-cruz.ca.us) and we will add you to the Par 3 mailing list.
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