Write the City Council to express your reasons why the proposed 831 Water St. building should continue to be denied. Here are some reasons you can list in your email to the Santa Cruz City Council.
Writing before 5 pm Mon., Nov 22 is important.
The denial based on segregation was important and backed by 3 separate areas of law/legislation:
Local Santa Cruz Ordinances and Objective Standards preventing segregation
Inclusionary Ordinance
Density Bonus Ordinance
State Laws against segregation
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act
California Unruh Civil Rights Act
AB 491 which is not a new law. Instead it "clarifies" existing law.
Federal Laws against segregation
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The Federal Fair Housing Act
The Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The denial based on the application not containing the specific information on the affordability levels and the placement in the development was backed by our Density Bonus Ordinance.
And the denial based on proximity to a slope was backed by our municipal code requirements that are in place for slopes specifically for public safety. (For such a large development, this slope regulation should be carefully adhered to especially due to the location of the driveway through a bike lane where young children walk through from two nearby schools.)
These are important standards for our town. An SB 35 application can only be denied if the project does not meet the City of Santa Cruz's objective standards. The above are part of the City of Santa Cruz's objective standards which the project does not meet.
According to SB 35, a town, city or county must establish a “by-right” multifamily residential development process. If a project complies with the objective design standards — as well as all zoning and other related requirements the project must be approved. This project does not comply with the City of Santa Cruz's objective standards and should be denied.
Each point in the City of Santa Cruz's city council motion protected the equity, public health, and public safety of the Santa Cruz Community. We are proud that our City Council is carefully protecting the community with these considerations.
Please use these emails when you write the Santa Cruz City Council:
Mayor Donna Meyers dmeyers@cityofsantacruz.com
Sonja Brunner sbrunner@cityofsantacruz.com
Sandy Brown sbrown@cityofsantacruz.com
Justin Cummings jcummings@cityofsantacruz.com
Renee Golder rgolder@cityofsantacruz.com
Shebrah Kalantari-Johnson skalantari-johnson@cityofsantacruz.com
Martine Watkins mwatkins@cityofsantacruz.com
Thank you immensely for your work on this.