Valley News Update: March 2018

Progress of Scotts Valley Town Center Project

In 2007, the Scotts Valley City Council approved the Scotts Valley Town Center Specific Plan (TCSP). The plan encompasses approximately 58 acres from Mt. Hermon Road northward to Blue Bonnet Lane, and between Kings Village Road and Skypark Drive. The City of Santa Cruz owns approximately 8 acres located in the center of the project area while the City of Scotts Valley currently owns approximately 6 acres surrounding the Santa Cruz parcels.

Town Center’s first attempt at development was with Stanbery Development, which entered into an exclusive agreement for the Town Center between 2007 and 2010 right in the middle of the economic recession.

Then in 2012 the Pleasanton-based Property Development Centers LLC, considered building the Town Center and relocated Safeway to the other side of Mt. Hermon Road in the Scotts Valley Shopping Center.

In 2016 the city entered into an agreement with Foothill Partners, a San Jose developer couldn’t come to an agreement concerning the sale price of the City of Santa Cruz’s 8-acre parcel the former Sky Park Airport.

On Wed, Feb. 21 two developers made a Town Center presentation before the city council, however Councilman Randy Johnson was absent so the council will try to make a decision at its March 7 meeting.

The two developers under consideration are:

• Palisades Builders, Inc., in cooperation with land use consultant Owen Lawlor, Douglas Ross Construction (DRC) and Palisade Builders (PBI), have been active in the greater San Francisco area since the 1980s building over 15,000 units of commercial, retail, historic building renovation projects, hotels and housing.
• Braddock and Logan in cooperation with Corbett Wright, Principal at CW Land Consultants, Inc., Braddock and Logan and its affiliates are a diversified real estate development and management company operating in the San Francisco Bay area since 1947 developing, managing and building residential, retail and commercial facilities in communities throughout the greater Bay Area.

For the report and drawings of each candidate’s vision go to: https://tinyurl.com/y83djnba

New Scotts Valley High School Principal Announced

Tuesday, Feb 27 the announcement of Michael Hanson as the next Principal for SVHS was made at the Scotts Valley Unified School District board meeting. Hanson has worked at SVHS since 2006 as and taught in the International Baccalaureate Program and held the position of Science Department Chair. Hanson has been the Vice Principal since 2013 and has been the Administrator in Charge at SVHS during this school year.

SVUSD Superintendent Tanya Krause made her recommendation to the Board that Mr. Hanson would be the best candidate for SVHS principal.

Hanson will officially assume his new role as principal of SVHS on July 1.

New CEO at Central California Alliance for Health

Stephanie Sonnenshine succeeds Alan McKay as Alliance health plan CEO in Scotts Valley. Alan McKay served for 22 years As CEO of this nonprofit health plan and today, the Central California Alliance for Health is a $1.1 billion organization serving 349,000 Medi-Cal recipients in three counties with 525 employees and nearly 8,000 medical providers.

Current membership is 68,000 people in Santa Cruz County, 156,000 in Monterey County and 126,000 in Merced County with 47 percent children up to age 18. Members include seniors, persons with disabilities, low-income mothers and their children, pregnant women, home care workers caring for elderly and disabled, low-income childless adults.

Recognition: Quality awards from state Department of Health Care Services, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016.