Write now to Iet the Santa Cruz City Council know you want a smaller size building at 831 Water St for safety reasons. The Santa Cruz City Council will review the 831 Water St. proposed SB35 project on October 12. Your letters become vitally important to request a lower density project that does not use the downhill slant as entrance into the project. 
We need 1000 emails sent to citycouncil@cityofsantacruz.com and Nathan Nguyen Transportation Manager nnguyen@cityofsantacruz.com Tell them the importance of having a traffic study performed at 7:45 am, 3:00 pm, and 5:00 pm on weekdays to have an accurate traffic report.

Here are more points you can write in your emails:
1. The driveway entrance is located in a very dangerous location for bicycle riders, pedestrians, and the backup of cars onto two busy streets.
2. Santa Cruz has met all of its RHNA requirements except for 133 units for very low-income units. Nearby towns have not come close to meeting their requirements in any category. See: https://santacruzlocal.org/2021/09/03/state-aims-to-triple-housing-production-in-santa-cruz-monterey-counties/  

3. The project asks for 140 units on less than an acre. It is zoned for 55 units per acre. The developer needs to be reasonable. He will receive Section 8 money meaning he will receive full rent for all of the units. 
4. The heights of the buildings are too high for a hilltop location which will cast shade onto nearby homes.
5. Dangerous water intrusion to the area will cause problems for nearby structures.
6.  Affordable housing which is for very low income is what is needed. This project does not enable Santa Cruz to meet the 133 very-low-income units needed to meet the RHNA requirement.
7. Safety concerns for bike riders, pedestrians, and the backup of cars getting into the project.

8. This development currently has the affordable units segregated from the market-rate units in a separate building. The state requirement for SB 35 developments is to have affordable units distributed throughout the development and the city of Santa Cruz requires the affordable units to be dispersed throughout the development (Inclusionary Ordinance and Density Bonus Ordinance). 
9. Truly affordable housing is a very good idea but not at the expense of the health and safety of many in our community due to the location of the driveway which will cause a dangerous backup of cars, and mold in nearby houses caused by lack of sunshine.

10. Affordable housing with grants to help developers to defray costs is needed not market-rate small 340 to 420 sq feet small units. More money has been allocated from the state for other buildings with better designs to be built with public funds. There is no reason for this poorly designed building to be built.
Some letters have been received by the city council and Nathan Nguyen. Thank you for writing. Please write again. We need many, many more letters written by Oct 9. Please write now. Your letters make a difference. Even if you have written before, the city council is holding a new meeting and the time to write is now. 

You can modify the above email which is more effective. Thank you.

Here are the emails to use. 

Write: citycouncil@cityofsantacruz.com

and nnguyen@cityofsantacruz.com

Thank you for caring about Santa Cruz and having buildings in Santa Cruz that will not cause danger to its citizens and visitors.