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. 

Santa Cruz Changes 58: Downtown library/housing/parking

Following the November 2022 defeat of a referendum seeking to stop this city-proposed project, the Planning Commission (whose composition also changed after the November elections) seemed poised to move ahead with approval of the latest version of the project at its Feb. 23 meeting. The agenda packet includes this staff description of the project:

"The project proposes demolition of both the existing City surface parking lot at 119 Lincoln Street and the commercial building currently occupied by Toadal Fitness at 113 Lincoln Street, and encompasses construction of a new, approximately 273,194 square-foot, eight-story building integrating a three story, approximately 38,069 square-foot City library featuring two floors double heighted with elevated ceilings; three story parking garage with capacity of 243 parking spaces; five story, 100% affordable housing component comprising 124 residential units; three story, approximately 9,598 square-foot commercial tenant space; one story, approximately 1,231 square-foot. childcare facility and adjoining 674 square-foot outdoor play area; open-air roof deck; new landscaping, and associated improvements to the subject site and surrounding public right-of-way.  Development would span the entire block of Cedar Street between Lincoln and Cathcart streets."

An informative article by Christopher Neely in Lookout Santa Cruz gives a good summary of how we got here. The article includes a pair of elevation renderings showing the block-long building from both north and south along Cedar Street. Since its original conception by Public Works as simply another multi-level parking structure, the project morphed in 2019 to include a relocated main library. After receiving public input, the concept expanded again to include rental housing and other facilities. The latest iteration has expanded in size even further, to include the Toadal Fitness building site that faces Lincoln Street (the existing north-south alley remains). 

Objections to displacement of the Farmers Market that uses the existing surface parking lot have been addressed with a city proposal to create a permanent Farmers Market site on Front Street (a conceptual rendering is included in the agenda packet). Those plans are still at a very preliminary stage, but if carried forward will merit a separate post at some future date. 

Santa Cruz Changes 57: más paseos, por favor

Previous posts have called attention to a number of individual development projects now taking shape in downtown Santa Cruz. Several of them include one of my favorite wish-list features: wide pedestrian-only walkways between streets, and/or between Front Street and the Riverwalk. These "paseos" will make downtown much more pedestrian friendly and connected. Santa Barbara has a number of paseos providing pedestrian access from its main commercial street (State) to parallel streets. Carmel also has paseos.  

A recent article by Lili Belli in Lookout Santa Cruz, titled "Paseos to the future?", describes how three Riverwalk-adjacent projects along Front Street will create up to ten new restaurant spaces facing the river, connected to Front Street via steps on three wide new paseos. Excerpted above from that article is an artist's rendering of the paseo that will align with the end of Cathcart Street.

None of those projects have yet broken ground, however, so the first paseo we'll see - maybe before the end of 2023 - will be the one connecting Center and Cedar Streets along the south side of the 530 Center Street project that is now under construction. That paseo will connect the other end of Cathcart Street to Center Street. The rendering below, included in post 50, looks at the project from Cathcart, across Cedar Street. The paseo can be seen to the left of the building with the "Retail" signage. Previously, that walk was possible - through a parking lot.

   

Santa Cruz Changes 56: 126 Eucalyptus Ave

This project is proposed for the former Gateway School property, behind the St. Joseph Shrine property on W. Cliff Drive, with vehicle entry from Pelton Avenue. All on-site parking is accessed from the entry driveway.

The city planning description includes: "...demolish two existing school buildings (approx. 28,417 square feet) and construct a 76 unit (including 15 full dwelling units) senior housing facility..." (city webpage here)

The developer's renderings make it look up-scale, which would fit in with that neighborhood. 

Santa Cruz Changes 55: 119 Coral Street

The top image is a conceptual rendering of the finished project. Below it is a current view of the site. Both views are from where Highway 1 crosses the RR tracks. Below the images is an excerpt from a description included on the City of Santa Cruz project page. Plans, more renderings, and other info can be found there.