Protect Frederick Street Park and Neighborhood!

Protect Frederick Street Park and Neighborhood! Community left out again!

Come to the Public Hearing

THURSDAY, September 21, 2006 at 7 p.m.
(first substantive item on theagenda)
City Council Chambers
(809 Center Street)

If you enjoy Frederick Street Park, live in the area or care about public space in Santa Cruz, you're a stakeholder in a proposed development that would fundamentally alter the park and neighborhood. But did the City get word out to you? If not, you're like thousands of people who would be surprised to hear that the Planning Commission will take public comment tomorrow on this high-density, out-of-character proposal that would permanently change our park and community.

Developers are moving forward with a plan for 170 Frederick St., current site of Kingdom Hall, to build an extremely high density 16-unit project. There would be four townhouses lining the street, four three-story houses bordering the park and six accessory dwellings on this small parcel.

City excludes stakeholders.
The City provided hearing notices only to homes within 300 ft. of
the site (and some say they didn't receive them). Small signs were placed on Kingdom Hall. Nothing was posted in or in view of the park. But all stakeholders deserve to be able to participate!

The only way to get real information about the plan is by going to
City Hall. Little is available on the Web. But all stakeholders should have easy access to information needed for meaningful participation!

Apparently City staffers are pushing the highest-density design,
allowing major zoning rule exceptions on lot sizes, setbacks and building heights. No wonder they aren't eager for real public involvement.

The City recently held a dog-leash policy input meeting in the park and more than 60 people attended.

Real participation would allow airing of other options, like
affordable housing and park expansion.

--> The Planning Commission should defer judgment until there is real public participation!

Protect our park!

Frederick Street Park is a treasure of the east side, serving people all over the city and beyond.

The massive structures will hem in the park, obscure views of Arana Gulch and make it feel small.

Building in accordance with the zoning rules would result in fewer,
lower-profile buildings.

Two heritage trees would be destroyed. Responsible development of the site would provide new trees to screen the houses from the park, as is at least partially the case on the south side.

--> The Commission should only approve a plan that minimizes the impacts on our wonderful park!

Protect our neighborhood!

Responsible development must respect the character of the
neighborhood. This plan extends high density development north of the park, violating the letter and spirit of the area's zoning. Even the condo developments south of and across from the park have smaller frontages.

Frederick Street has already absorbed its share of high-density
development, with hundreds of units at the south end which have turned our neighborhood street into a dangerous speedway.

High density, in-fill development should be created to create
affordable housing, not more expensive homes and rentals for those with high incomes. The accessible housing project slated for north Frederick is a good example of responsible high-density in-fill.

Any development on the site should be coupled with traffic calming measures to make our street safe and peaceful for the community. The City has been unresponsive to repeated traffic-calming requests.

--> The Planning Commission should only approve a plan that meets the needs of our neighborhood!

Come to the Planning Commission hearing!

Send your email address to spitzer [at] cruzio.com to join a Friends of the Park effort!

Join Seabright Neighbors!
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/seabrightneighbors)

___

Skip Spitzer
Santa Cruz, California
spitzer -o- cruzio -o- com