By Zach Friend, County Supervisor 2nd District
What was the public process?
Between 2001 and 2010 the County held community meetings to use public input to establish the scope of the project and the kinds of uses that would be promoted as part of the Aptos Village Plan. After this process the Board of Supervisors approved the Aptos Village Plan that set forth design and use standards to specify what a new Aptos town center would look like (I’ve included a link at the end of this article for you to see the Plan).
Following the adoption of the Plan in 2010, the County and Barry Swenson Builders began a second outreach process (with numerous community meetings) to refine the goals of the Aptos Village Plan and to incorporate community wants and concerns into a proposed design. The Planning Commission, the Historic Resources Commission, and the Board of Supervisors reviewed the initial development materials in public meetings. The Board of Supervisors ultimately approved the project plans in 2012.
What will the Project Contain?
The Aptos Village project will have small shops, restaurants, new housing, a community village green and neighborhood park. The Village design calls for tree-lined streets with wide sidewalks to make it pedestrian-friendly and with multiple walking connection points to Soquel and Trout Gulch. Currently, New Leaf Market is scheduled to anchor the Village with a store in the historic apple barn building. Building heights will be no higher than the current Bayview Hotel and the current upper lot free parking will be increased for visitors that use Nisene Marks Park.
What about Water?
Valid concerns have been raised about water and the new project. The Soquel Creek Water District (SQWD) determines water hookups. The SQWD held public meetings in 2013 and 2014 regarding water hookups for the Village. As part of Soquel Creek Water District’s approval for the Aptos Village Project they required the following elements be included: pervious pavement, bioswales, rain gardens, the establishment of a new well for the SQWD’s use, offsetting the development’s water use by 160%, and replacing low-efficiency water appliances throughout the District’s jurisdiction. This is part of the SQWD’s Water Demand Offset (WDO) Program.
According to the SQWD website, the WDO program “was implemented in 2003 to allow development to continue, conserve water and to not further impact the over-drafted groundwater basin. The WDO Policy requires …development projects to offset 1.6 times the amount of water the project is projected to use so that there is a ‘net positive impact’ on the District’s water supply.” Overall, the developer replaced over 550 inefficient water fixtures within the district including the installation of low-flow and no-water urinals and toilets at Cabrillo College.
What about Traffic?
There is no doubt that with the traffic can be challenging in Aptos. Traffic studies were conducted and traffic engineers determined that adding synchronized signalization between Trout Gulch and State Park Drive would improve traffic flow over current and projected conditions. However, even with signalization the reality of the narrowness of the Aptos Creek Bridge and the road width under the trestle will mean that even with these improvements traffic will still be a challenge.
More Information
I hope this helped provide some additional information about the project. We will be holding a community meeting with representatives from Barry Swenson Builders, the County and Soquel Creek Water District to share more information and answer additional questions. The meeting is April 22 from 6-8 pm at the Rio Sands Hotel, 116 Aptos Beach Dr. in Aptos and you are welcome to attend.
Here is the link to the Village Plan: www.sccoplanning.com/Portals/2/County/Planning/env/Aptos_Village_Plan.pdf In addition, the project now has a website created by the developer: theaptosvillage.com
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As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to call at 454-2200.