Tell City Council - Vote "NO" on Unlimited Density
Agenda Item 26 - Tuesday, March 22, 2022, Probably Around 1:45 PM
The FDU Ordinance ("Flexible Density Unit") is nowhere else in the country. This is the single most impactful decision for future development in Santa Cruz. It would remove limits for housing unit density for newly proposed developments. Most of the City Council doesn't understand the magnitude of what they might be passing. The 831 Water Street development would be dwarfed by the size, mass, height, and population density of projects which could be passed with this new ordinance.
Tell City Council to Vote NO on Agenda Item 26 (FDU - "Flexible Density Units")
(Mission, Water, Soquel, Ocean) would no longer be required to include commercial. We could lose our neighborhood community businesses as land can be sold and changes made.
This allows a higher "density bonus" - higher buildings, with more demand on water, parking, traffic, and other aspects of our limited resources and infrastructure. (Possibly 10 story buildings.)
There would be NO density limits for huge developments along our main streets, Mission, Water, Ocean, Soquel, Pacific Ave., River, Front, Cedar, Center, and Beach St.
This is just too drastic of a change. State law says the city cannot down zone so no turning back.
Please Act Now
Show the City Council that we do care about waiting to see what post covid building plans are proposed from the new state law and not pass this high-density measure. Do you want more developers coming from New York to build which has already occurred in Santa Cruz?
IMPORTANT PLEASE EMAIL TODAY See below for sample email.
Santa Cruz City Council <citycouncil@cityofsantacruz.com>,
Sonja Brunner <sbrunner@cityofsantacruz.com>,
Martine Watkins <mwatkins@cityofsantacruz.com>,
Justin Cummings <jcummings@cityofsantacruz.com>,
Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson <skalantari-johnson@cityofsantacruz.com>,
Sandy Brown <sbrown@cityofsantacruz.com>.
Donna Meyers <dmeyers@cityofsantacruz.com>,
Renee Golder <rgolder@cityofsantacruz.com>
Speak Up During Council's Meeting Tuesday - Agenda Item #26. Our best chance is to show up on zoom and phone and let the Council know that they should not adopt this FDU proposal.
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/94684401344
Call in option: See instructions on the agenda, for dialing-in here: https://ecm.cityofsantacruz.com/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=1867&doctype=3
Sample Email
Dear Mayor Brunner and Council Members,
Please vote NO on the FDU Ordinance, Agenda Item 26, March 22, 2022. We have no idea how all of the new state housing laws will affect our local development. It is not a time to pass something like the FDU proposal. We are just getting out of COVID. We need to understand what projects will be proposed with the huge amount of density we allow. Having these FDUs - not having a density limit - is not wise in the context of the new state laws with new ones coming.
The current State Density Bonus Law allows developments to go up to twice the height limit in our local zoning, and 50-80% increase in density,
Please retain the small amount of density control we have and don't pass this FDU Ordinance... the only one of its kind in the country.
We believe that our City Council will make the right decision and wait to see how the new state housing laws play out in our community, before enacting the FDU Ordinance. This is of huge importance to our town.
Thank you,
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