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Seacliff May Finally Get a Park
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Seacliff May Finally Get a Park
By Debbie Friedman
After years of working for a park in Seacliff and a losing ballot measure, it appears that the community will finally have a park, though one not as big as park supporters had envisioned.
For the most part, Seacliff residents have been in agreement that they want a park. However, last May, a proposal to purchase a three-acre parcel on the corner of Sea Ridge and McGregor Drive, near the entrance to Seacliff State Beach, came before voters in the form of Measure V.
Voters needed to approve a $98 addition to their annual property tax bill for the next 30 years to purchase the land for the proposed park. The measure required two-thirds approval and lost by 4 percent.
The property was zoned for visitor accommodation, but County Supervisor Ellen Pirie knew that the majority of the community still wanted a park on the site and a proposal for a hotel would be met with opposition.
Joined by neighborhood representatives and County officials, Pirie approached South County Housing (SCH), a non-profit developer of affordable housing, to explore alternatives to property owner Vim Kumar’s plans to move forward and build a hotel on the three-acre site. After successful negotiations, SCH Project Planner Karen Sauders was pleased to announce that they had entered a contract to purchase the property from Kumar.
“It is in everyone’s interest to get a park on the site,” Saunders said. SCH envisions building approximately 15 to 20 affordable, for-sale townhomes on the property.
The County of Santa Cruz would purchase the remaining 1.25-acre parcel from SCH for a park.
Park Downsized to 1.25 Acres
Pirie admits she would prefer a larger park, but new parks are difficult to afford.
“I’m happy and delighted that Seacliff residents will get a park. They have been working to get a park for over five years,” she added.
Harry Vaughn served on the Seacliff Needs a Park committee as a Board Member and served as President of the Seacliff Improvement Association in 2003.
“We figure this is pretty much our only hope for a park,” Vaughn said. “We would have loved the whole three acres, but given Measure V failed by 4 percent this is probably our last hope. We support Supervisor Pirie on this issue.”
On Jan. 24, the Board of Supervisors is expected to approve Supervisor Pirie’s request to direct the Planning Department to make general plan, local coastal plan and zoning changes that would allow for residential and recreational land use designations on the property.
If the project works out as planned, the County would purchase the land from
SCH. Money to purchase the land includes $250,000 in State Park Bond funds that had previously been set aside for the original Seacliff park proposal. An additional $250,000 in State Park Bond funding has been designated for the current purchase proposal. Residents in the area will not be taxed an additional assessment.
“I hope we would be designing the park within the year,” Pirie said.
Barry Samuel, Director of County Parks, is confident that a nice park can be built on the smaller parcel. He plans to solicit community input to create a Master Plan that will reflect the type of park the neighborhood wants.
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