Scotts Valley Council Says No to Aviza Zone Change

By Jondi Gumz

On Wednesday night, the Scotts Valley City Council said no to a request to change the land-use designation for the 43-acre Aviza Superfund site from industrial to residential.

The decision, which came at 11:30 p.m. after guest appearances by U.S. Environmental Protection agency officials and three-and-a-half hours of review and discussion, was unanimous. The meeting took place on Zoom because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Architect Sal Caruso, representing developers Joe Appenrodt of Aptos and Jeff Major of Capitola, pitched the change as one that would give the community up to 84 much-needed homes, set aside 22.5 acres of Sandhills habitat for endangered plants and insects, provide the financially strapped city with $2 million, eliminate what has been the biggest water user in Scotts Valley, and clean the soil covered by concrete slabs ━ soil contaminated by trichloroethylene, which has been linked to Parkinson’s and shown to cause non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma ━ to residential standards, which are higher than industrial standards.

The developers also offered to make 15 percent of the homes affordable to people with moderate income ━ which is not required by the city at this location.

The traffic analysis, comparing 84 homes and 168 cars with 50 percent occupancy of the 213,000 square feet of industrial space, concluded the impacts could be mitigated except for an unavoidable five-second delay at the Mount Hermon/ La Madrona Road/ Highway 17 intersection.

Usually developers submit a proposal specifically for the property but in this case, the developers wanted the certainty of changes to the Aviza zoning and general plan to come first, and that was a big stumbling block.

Reed’s Concerns

“We’re being asked to change the zoning without a project,” said Councilman Jim Reed. “It feels like we have the cart before the horse.”

He felt the same way about the cleanup. The developers hadn’t proposed any specific remedies because that would come later – EPA officials said they would seek community input and it would take up to four years for them to determine the remedy.

Appenrodt bought the property in 2013, after two big industrial operators left: Watkins-Johnson, which at the peak had two or three shifts employing 800 people and the owner when the chemical spill occurred, followed by Aviza, which was bought up by a Japanese company.

Once California’s housing shortage led to record prices, State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, took up the cause pushing bills to force localities statewide to allow apartment complexes up to 85 feet tall – 10 stories, according to Reed — near transit centers. That was blocked. Then he proposed mid-rise apartments by public transit, but couldn’t get the votes. His latest proposal is to eliminate single-family zoning statewide.

A 2019 law, designed to encourage more housing, prohibits cities from changing properties designated for housing back to industrial, which would mean Scotts Valley would have to say no if the residential development did not come to fruition and a new business offering jobs wanted to relocate there.

“The approach these bills take is so heavy-handed,” Reed said. “The only defense we have … is to not make the decision to rezone.”

Safety was another concern for him.

“You need to have more than one way out,” he said.

As for the $2 million the developers offered ━ and Caruso offered Wednesday to add donations to Scotts Valley High School Falcon Club and the city’s Fourth of July fireworks celebration ━ Reed said it was not a significant factor.

“No amount of money would justify a bad land-use decision,” he said.

Councilman Jack Dilles cited uncertainty about what would be proposed on the Aviza site.

“A lot of unknowns,” he said. “If I could see the project, I might go there … I encourage the developer to come back with an actual project.”

Councilwoman Donna Lind said, “My concern has been not having a development plan ━ no cleanup plan.”

Councilman Derek Timm counted up the 27 speakers as evenly split but he could see the developers didn’t have three votes on their side.

EPA Questions

Timm had asked Brian Milton, a remedial project manager with EPA: “Would you want the cap to remain or would you want it cleaned up to a higher standard?”

Milton responded, “That’s a difficult question … It’s not our decision to make. It’s up to the local jurisdiction … I don’t know what the remedy is, it hasn’t been submitted. It’s difficult for me to say which is the bigger risk without knowing what they are proposing.”

Mayor Randy Johnson questioned a resident’s description of the $2 million as a “bribe,” saying the money could be used for roadwork or to benefit kids.

To those raising traffic concerns, he said the fear of gridlock around the new 1440 Multiversity complex never came to pass.

But he too advised the developers to come up with something tangible for the Aviza project.

“A project like this brought under the regular protocol would have a better chance,” he said.

Timm suggested certifying the environmental impact report, a 450-page document by Kimley-Horn & Associates evaluating the impacts.

A vote on the report, which had undergone review for a year, will be taken at the council’s next meeting.

Resident Input

Neighbors were split about changing the zoning of the Aviza site.

“We are in strong support of the zoning change,” said Carolee Curtis, president of Montevalle, a 55-and-up mobile-home community on 14 acres adjacent to the industrial property.

Evan Siroky, who lives at the Hidden Oaks complex on Mount Hermon Road, wanted to see even more housing than the developers proposed. He said he had seen a Superfund site in Ruston, Washington, where a giant smelter operated, cleaned up for waterfront condos and a farmers market.

Ryan Fontana, a 2007 Scotts Valley High graduate who is co-owner of Malone’s Grille, also spoke in favor, saying he was thinking about the future.

Barbara Neill, Thira Wallwork and Corey Ward, parents who live on Green Valley Road, voiced health concerns.

Neill said her son was diagnosed with Parkinson’s three years ago.

“Several people in this neighborhood have all come down with Parkinson’s,” she said, asking residents to email her at scottsvalleybarb@gmail.com.

Wallwork, who has four sons, said she was concerned about toxins.

“This is scary for me, the only superfund site in the county and you want to build on it,” said Corey Ward, a father of two. “I’m all for more housing, this is the worst place to do it,”

Jennifer Wade and Elizabeth Anderson, moms who live in Skypark, voiced concerns about digging up contaminated soil.

“How can you guarantee no harm?” Wade asked. “This is a huge, huge risk.”

The full 900+ page meeting notes can be found at www.scottsvalley.org/AgendaCenter