2016 – Village on the Move!

By Noel Smith

The biggest on-going story of 2016 for Aptos revolved around the Aptos Village Project. In January Keith Henderson of Barry Swenson Builder was named construction manager reporting to project manager Mary Gourlay.

In February we reported on the planned street and parking layout for the development which includes the new streets of Aptos Village Way, which bisects the new village from east to west connecting Aptos Creek Road to Trout Gulch Road, and Parade Street that leads from Soquel Drive to the Village Green and the now-relocated Apple Barn which will house the New Leaf Market.

A lawsuit brought against the project by a local citizens group “We Are Aptos” which said the county approval of the Aptos Village plan was illegal, was eventually thrown out of court. Other hurdles overcome were approval of the railroad crossing for Parade Street, strengthening and moving the Apple Barn to its new location by the planned Village Square, and contracting for the new infrastructure of roads and signaled intersections in the village. 2017 should see lots of construction activity in the village.

Other News

• In February a community tradition, the Aptos Memorial Wall at the west end of Seacliff State Park, was lost when its owner suddenly removed the many plaques and memorials that covered the wall.
• Changes at the Rancho Del Mar Shopping Center are on hold, as the new owners seem content to keep the status quo since the closing of the Aptos Twin Theater in 2016.
• After a small wait of about 30 years, the Polo Grounds County Park finally has permanent restrooms and a new concession stand thanks to Supervisor Zach Friend, County Parks Director Jeff Gaffney, Parks Commissioner Kate Minott, the Cabrillo Host Lions, and contractor Jay Johnson.
• The iconic cement ship at Seacliff State Beach is seemingly disintegrating at a faster rate as the ocean’s waves relentlessly break against the landmark.
• Finally, the Aptos Times is celebrating its 25th year of documenting the news, events and the people of Aptos. We couldn’t imagine a better place to live, or work, or learn, or worship than our community.

Looking forward to 2017…

The Aptos Library will finally have the funding to be enlarged, updated and improved due to the passage of Measure “S” – the Community Facilities District library bond that passed June of 2016.

Measure “D,” the County Transportation Sales Tax that passed in November of 2016, will provide much needed funding to local governments, including the county, for repairing and improving local highways, streets and roads, for public transportation, and to move forward with planning and implementation of the rail/trail.

Finally, the Aptos Times has been honored to provide its readers informative columns each month from County Supervisor Zach Friend; the Soquel Creek Water District by Melanie Mow Schumacher, the Aptos La Selva Fire District by Mike Conrad and now Ryan Peters, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District by Jeff Ursino, and about our community’s history by Kevin Newhouse.

We look with great anticipation to 2017 and to the many stories we will be bringing you in the Aptos Times.

Happy New Year!