Santa Cruz Changes 71 - Mitigation Measures for Parking Structures

Until we kick the individual-motor-vehicle habit, large unattractive parking structures will remain part of urban landscapes. 

However, Santa Cruz and Watsonville have recognized that those blank concrete facades can become canvases for artists. 

A new mosaic mural now adorns the River Street facade of "Public Parking Lot 10" (aka River-Front parking garage) in Santa Cruz - seen in the image at right (courtesy of Kevin Painchaud and Lookout Santa Cruz).

Meanwhile, in Watsonville a similar project (left) has been proceeding in stages. Mosaic artist Kathleen Crocetti contributed her mosaic skills to both projects, partnering with artists Maha Taitano (Santa Cruz) and Juan R. Fuentes (Watsonville).

Fellow change-trackers will remember that Crocetti did the mosaic tile work on the 2020 China Bridge dragon sculpture, and has previously contributed decorative mosaic tile to the Water Street and Soquel Avenue bridges.

Santa Cruz Changes 67 - South of Laurel (again)

Since the 1970s, Santa Cruz has repeatedly tried to stimulate private redevelopment of the downtown between Laurel Street and the beach. The main tool available to the city for that purpose is zoning regulations. 

Past zoning changes - allowing more height and density - have resulted in the several projects now under construction north of Laurel Street. 

The map at right shows the area now under study. Note: One project has already been approved (construction not started) within this outline - at 130 Center Street (see Santa Cruz Changes 54).

The city website describes the next phase:

"The City of Santa Cruz is embarking on a planning study to consider future redevelopment of the area south of Laurel Street. City objectives include: 
1. Providing additional affordable and market-rate housing in the downtown,
2. Creating public amenities like parks, public plazas, or better pedestrian infrastructure,
3. Improving the connection to the San Lorenzo River and beach areas,
4. Creating new economic opportunities for local businesses and workers,
5. Coordinate with the Santa Cruz Warriors to construct a new permanent arena." 

The most controversial aspect of city proposals to emerge so far is a much taller height limit than anywhere else in the city. Descriptions include "15 and 17-story towers". For comparison, none of the buildings now under construction are more than 7 stories.

A couple of public meetings on this plan were held in late 2022, and an online community survey was announced on August 7 (link to the English-language version here). Response is requested by Sep. 1.

Update Mar. 1, 2024: The city has revised its height limit change down to 12 stories. Meanwhile, residents opposed to the height limit change qualified Measure M for the March 5, 2024 ballot. 

On March 1, a story by Max Chun of Lookout Santa Cruz reports that the Golden State Warriors organization has looked at development feasibility and concluded that buildings taller than the existing Palomar (85 feet; 7-8 stories) do not pencil out for the south-of-Laurel area. 

Santa Cruz Changes 66 - When the Levee Breaks

The title of my favorite Led Zeppelin song (yes, I'm old) leads in to a discussion of something we never think much about - until they break: the flood-protection levees lining the lower stretches of the San Lorenzo River and Pajaro River. 

This past January we saw the Pajaro levee fail on the Monterey County side, flooding the town named for the river - Pajaro. Investigation of the causes pointed to, among other things, a failure to maintain the levee.

Santa Cruz took notice of that failure, and is also facing the need to re-certify the ability of the San Lorenzo levees to protect nearby residents from similar failures. That need led to the odd sight users of the Riverwalk have noticed: numerous small puddles of concrete grout scattered along the levee top.

The photo above-right is from a good article published recently by Lookout Santa Cruz. It explains that the purpose of the grouting is to fill ground squirrel burrows that reduce the structural integrity and water-retaining ability of the levees, which are really nothing more than two long piles of rocks. The article goes on to look at contractor errors in distinguishing rodent burrows from native-plant restoration diggings, but that's another story.

Local history buffs will know that the levees (along with the concrete Branciforte Creek channel) were designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) in response to the major flooding of December 1955. Part of the deal was that ACE would maintain the levees at first, gradually handing over responsibilities to the city/county. As the Lookout article explains:

The city took over management of the levee from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in July 2020 following the completion of the levee construction, which began in 1955. The management changeover started a three-year clock, which runs out this month, for the city to get accreditation for the levee from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). If received, this would allow residents living near the river to maintain their discounted flood insurance.

Another thing highlighted in the Lookout article is how the local nonprofit Coastal Watershed Council has been very active in all matters relating to the health of the San Lorenzo River. Two thumbs up to Executive Director Laurie Egan, CWC staff, and the many volunteers who assist in these efforts. 

Santa Cruz Changes 65 - 190 West Cliff

This big multi-use project got design approval from the city way back in 2019. That approval was appealed to the Coastal Commission, which is finally going to hear the appeal this month. 

The site has been, for many years, the Dream Inn parking lot. In this design, the hotel parking will remain, but underground.

The rendering above-right is a view from across West Cliff Drive, at the Dream Inn entrance. The central space is a recessed courtyard, surrounded by retail/public uses. Above the street level on this side are apartments. The top-floor units will each have a private rooftop deck.

The view at left is another rendering by the project architect, looking toward the Dream Inn tower from Bay Street. The brown fence at left is the one surrounding the existing mobile home park. 

As can be seen in the rendering, the new buildings are separated from existing ones by a wide driveway with entrances on both streets, similar to the existing parking lot design. 

Also in this rendering, the existing condos can be seen on the right side of Bay Street. I don't know if the city plans to do away with the existing metered street parking there, which is not shown in this rendering.

While it's not hard to imagine a project design that would be more appealing to existing residents, it's also hard to argue that this project won't be better looking than the existing parking lot. Of course, a blessing by the Coastal Commission doesn't tell us when/if this will actually be built; or, if it is, whether it will look anything like these renderings. We'll have to watch what happens in coming years. 

Santa Cruz Changes 64 - Electrifying!

Santa Cruz is probably in the "early adopter" category when it comes to reducing fossil fuel use, and the changes are visible all over town. The City of Santa Cruz parking lot has been generating electricity since 2002 with its solar carports (right).

Last year, the Trader Joe's parking lot got a row of electric vehicle charging stations (left), joining a number of other locations.

And this week saw a "ribbon cutting" on the return of an electric bikeshare program. The new white bikes don't stand out like the red ones did a few years ago, but the city promises that the new system will correct the problems that doomed the red bikes.

More changes: internal-combustion Metro buses are gradually being replaced with natural-gas and electric models. As electric vehicle technology continues to improve, I expect electric power to replace natural gas.

p.s. Cabrillo (or whatever its new name will be) College is just finishing up a huge parking-lot solar installation.

 

Santa Cruz Changes 63 - Parklets permanence?

There were many Santa Cruz adaptations to the recently-ended COVID-19 restrictions on indoor gatherings. Probably the most visible of those were the "parklets" - outdoor dining areas added to restaurants during the time when indoor dining was prohibited. 

Located mostly in the downtown-core Pacific Avenue-Cedar Street area, most were simply extensions onto and across sidewalks directly in front, similar to already-existing outdoor seating areas like the one at Walnut Avenue Cafe. 

One of my favorites was behind El Palomar (seen in the 2021 photo above), which took advantage of the semi-hidden wide paved area of Frazier Lewis Lane to put up its parklet, accessible from the kitchen's rear service entrance.

As business operating conditions mostly revert to pre-pandemic indoor dining norms, some restaurants - including El Palomar - have shut down the outdoor areas. A number of others have not, however (like those shown in the PacAve StreetView image at left).

The city has been working on a plan to create standards and fees giving those eateries the option to keep their outdoor tables. Lookout Santa Cruz published an article outlining how that might work, and talking with a few restaurant owners about the challenges they face. Applications for the permanent permits are due by the end of June, so we'll soon know how many of the parklets will become a permanent part of the downtown scene. 

Santa Cruz Changes 62 - Front Street demo begins

It's been over two years since I first wrote about the mixed-use project at 418-508 Front Street, demolition of the existing buildings is under way. 

Beginnings:

1. New construction-area-enclosure fencing is in place surrounding the site (view from the Riverwalk side top-right).
2. Abatement is underway at 428 Front - where University Copy was (middle-right). This specialized crew is probably needed to remove and dispose of asbestos.
3. In the same parking lot, two big crawlers have started to pull down the walls at 504 Front - directly across from the end of Cathcart Street (below). The left photo is from Sunday, and on the right is Monday. Take a last look at the colorful wall mural.

Until recently, this Front Street parking lot had been used as a storage and staging area for the big project now under construction across Front Street (bounded on two other sides by Laurel Street and Pacific Ave.) The fourth side of that project abuts a separate project called Pacific Station South, which is also now under construction. Both buildings have now, I believe, reached their final heights. Here's a look (below) at progress on those two - a view from the Riverwalk across the Sherwin Williams/Community Credit Union parking lot (which will not be part of the 418-508 Front project, but would be included in the proposed Cruz Hotel project at the Laurel Street end of the same Front Street block. Final design of this project has not yet been reviewed by the City.

Santa Cruz Changes 61: Westside turns toward UCSC

The far west side area of Santa Cruz bounded by Hwy 1, Swift Street, Delaware Ave. and Shaffer Road used to be primarily a light-industrial area, anchored by the Wrigley chewing gum factory, which opened in 1955 (the photo at right appeared in Bratton Online). Wrigley put the building up for sale in 1996, and it is now home to a variety of small businesses and organizations.

UCSC began to increase its presence on the Westside with establishment of the Long Marine Lab in 1978. The adjacent Seymour Marine Discovery Center opened in 2000, adding a public-facing aspect to the academic research facility.

In the 1980s and 90s, a number of Silicon Valley companies, including Intel and Silicon Systems, built manufacturing/testing facilities along Delaware Avenue. After 2000, Intel moved out, and the large Silicon Systems campus was acquired by UCSC to become home to the Genomics Institute in 2020.  

As the UCSC Westside presence increases, private business in the area has turned its attention toward the university community. New food/drink establishments have made the area a dining destination. A couple of new hotels are situated to tap into UCSC visitor traffic. A Fairfield Inn (left) popped up in 2017 on a former Mission Street empty lot, next door to Pacific Intercollegiate School. In 2020, a multi-story Hampton Inn replaced the older 1-story Sunset Inn motel at the corner of Hwy 1 and Swift. 

Residential development has also increased. The 300-unit Pacific Shores apartment complex on Shaffer Road (the far-western city limits) opened in the early 2000s. A large residential project slated for an empty parcel on Delaware Ave. has received city approval, but construction has not yet begun.

The rail line bisecting the area originally offered freight service to businesses such as Wrigley. A lack of customers, however, made that service unprofitable in this area, replaced by trucking businesses better suited to lesser volumes of freight. When Santa Cruz County acquired the railroad right-of-way in the early 2000s, new recreational possibilities were created. 

Development of the Coastal Rail Trail is now complete from California Street to Davenport. The photo above-right shows the rail trail at Natural Bridges Drive, with the former Wrigley's building in the background. 

Santa Cruz Changes 60: 111 Errett Circle

The center of the "Circles" neighborhood that author John Chase called "that marvelous planning disaster" has contained church facilities since its creation in 1889. The photo above shows the original "tabernacle" built in 1890 by the church-affiliated group the created the subdivision. No other structures are visible, so the tabernacle was apparently the first construction in the new neighborhood. A second church (below), which is unused but still standing in April 2023, was built in 1959.

* John L. Chase, The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), 242-243.

The 130-year history of church use changed in 2020. The church had sold the parcel to a group of mostly-local individuals, and their rezoning/subdivision applications were approved by the City Council. Two alternative subdivision plans were approved for the rezoned circular parcel. One plan creates 12 single-family-residential lots and a central "common space". Plan 2 (site/landscape plan below) has 10 SFR lots, the same central common space, and a condo/ADU cluster. A demolition/grading permit application is under review, so a demolition date is yet to be determined.

Santa Cruz Changes 59: West Cliff Drive 2023

The Pacific Ocean eats away relentlessly at the Santa Cruz shoreline, but this winter's changes are more noticeable than any we've seen for decades, especially along West Cliff Drive. A one-block section of the street remains closed completely between Woodrow Avenue and David Way, because of damage to the bridge over the Bethany Curve creek. 

From Woodrow to Columbia Street, traffic is restricted to one-way westbound (the inland lane) because of erosion damage at several spots - especially the one shown in the photo above, near Columbia. The City plans to try out a permanent one-way arrangement, at least until repairs can be made.

Of course, coastal erosion along this route is nothing new. However, attempts to install a "permanent"  West Cliff Drive mean that the periodic move inland requires a lot more time and work.