City Council voted unanimously last night to send its Draft Ocean Street Area Plan for an environmental review. The decision came amid some confusion, however, with Mayor Ryan Coonerty pointing to differences between Council members and residents as to what the plan actually entails. He would like to see greater involvement by the local population, which will be directly affected by the plan, and called for a series of workshops between residents and city officials to hammer out the final details.
City Council voted unanimously last night to send its Draft Ocean Street Area Plan for an environmental review. The decision came amid some confusion, however, with Mayor Ryan Coonerty pointing to differences between Council members and residents as to what the plan actually entails. He would like to see greater involvement by the local population, which will be directly affected by the plan, and called for a series of workshops between residents and city officials to hammer out the final details.
Key issues to be determined are building heights, which the plan hopes to limit to four stories, a new hotel and conference center and parking. Local residents worry about how these buildings will back into their neighborhoods, and transform what is an essentially residential area into a service area for the public buildings.
As part of its master plan for Santa Cruz, City Council also approved three reimbursements of $100,000 each for hotels more than 10 years old to renovate their facades to make them more appealing to tourists. The exact hotels to benefit from the reimbursement—which would only come if the hotel in question spent $200,000 on interior improvements—have yet to be determined. Money for the project comes from the Redevelopment fund, which is still being eyed by the state to cover the budget deficit.
Coonerty believes that the renovations will draw more tourists to these hotels, but critics point out that the tourism industry has been slow in Santa Cruz because of the recession. The economy and the proliferation of new hotels such as the Marriott Courtyard, Fairfield Inn and Hyatt Place have caused owners of older hotels to reconsider whether investment in their facades is worthwhile at this time. Read more at Santa Cruz Sentinel.
