Aviza Residential Change Goes to Scotts Valley City Council

By Jondi Gumz

A request to change the zoning for the Aviza manufacturing site to medium-high residential, allowing housing, will be considered by the Scotts Valley City Council at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 17.

The 43-acre property at 440 Kings Village Road and 467 Bean Creek Road is one of the largest in the city and once was a workplace for 800 people. It was designated a Superfund site due to a 1984 chemical spill when Watkins-Johnson operated there, prompting cleanup for industrial use, but not residential use.

The owner is Joe Appenrodt, who has 35 years of experience in commercial real estate and played a role in the mixed-use Aptos Village development.

The developer has not submitted a plan for the property at 440 Kings Village Road, but the draft environmental impact report focused on a proposed project of 84 housing units along with alternatives for 52 units, 108 units and 240 units.

Some 62 people sent in comments on the environmental report, most of them opposed to dense housing at that location, citing concerns about traffic congestion. One letter of support came from Affordable Housing Now, a local advocacy group.

Dozens of residents signed petitions asking the city to do something about the traffic detouring onto Kings Village Road and Bluebonnet Lane, to bypass traffic on Mount Hermon Road. Many live in the townhome complexes built on Bluebonnet Lane as Aviza’s industrial use waned.

Ilo Nelson, who lives on Bluebonnet Lane, said the environmental review didn’t address this cut-through traffic. While Bluebonnet Lane is listed as an emergency exit for an Aviza housing development, Nelson predicted the housing development would dramatically increase traffic on Kings Village and Bluebonnet Lane, based on what people already do.

The Planning Commission reviewed the proposed change on June 13, Aug. 8 and Nov. 14 in 2019 and recommended adopting a development agreement to make 15 percent of the housing affordable and to pay the city $2 million for community benefit projects chosen by the city.

A public hearing will take place before the council vote. Due to COVID-19, the meeting will be on Zoom. To join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85000838612.

Residents can comment on the Aviza item by using the *9 “raise your hand” feature.