| Constituent
Meetings |
Supervisor
Leopold
meets with constituents each Wednesday at various locations
in the
First District:
Wednesday, Dec 8
5:30-6:30
People's Coffee
1200
17th Ave
Wednesday,
Dec 15
5:30-6:30
Loma
Prieta Community Center
23800
Summit Road in Los Gatos
Will
include Alex Leman, volunteer Loma Prieta
Fire
Wednesday,
Dec 22 Cancelled
due to holidays
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Other
Important Meetings
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Live
Oak Neighbors
Tuesday, Dec 14
7 pm
Supervisor Leopold will review the past year and talk about
what's coming for 2011
Live Oak Grange
1900 17th Ave.
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| Contact John |
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454-2200
701 Ocean
Street
Santa Cruz, CA
95060
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| Local Emergency
Response |
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I
have received several emails and calls from constituents expressing
concerns about how our Sheriff's Department
responded
to recent episodes in our community.
Most
people have probably heard or read about the story of the prisoner
who escaped from Dominican Hospital on November 29th. This kind of
chaos is not something that people should have to experience. I
want to assure you that Sheriff Wowak and County staff are working
very hard to make certain that procedures are put in place so that
this type of incident never occurs again.
And
we are all extremely grateful that Debra Collins was found alive
and is recovering.
If
you have comments to share, please contact Sheriff Wowak by
clicking here.
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| Updates |
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Thanks to the dedicated work of the Soquel
Neighbors Alliance, Evelyn Bernstein (Arts Commission) and Steve
Kennedy (First District staff), the utility boxes in Soquel are
getting a makeover.
The Utility Box Program is
starting in the First District with a pilot project in
Soquel.
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In His Own Words
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John
was recently on KION News talking about the impacts of a proposed
census designation which would merge Santa Cruz, Watsonville and
Salinas into one metropolitan area. Such a change would cost our
County millions in funding. Listen to John in this short clip.
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Santa Cruz County:
A World Surfing Reserve
It is no secret that
Santa Cruz County has a long history of surfing and enjoys some of
the best surf breaks in the world. Surfing is a significant part of
our local culture and home to many nationally acclaimed
surfers.
In recognition of the
extraordinary local surf breaks, the coastline from Natural Bridges
to 41st Avenue has been nominated as a World Surfing
Reserve. To endorse this effort, Supervisor Neal Coonerty and I
have requested that our Board adopt a resolution in support of the
establishment of a World Surfing Reserve in Santa Cruz
County.
World Surfing
Reserves (WSR) is an innovative coastal initiative operated by the
Save the Waves Coalition. WSR
pro-actively identifies, designates and preserves outstanding
waves, surf zones and their surrounding environments around the
world. The California Coastal Commission endorsed this designation
in Janaury, 2010. You can read their staff report here. The first
World Surfing Reserve was established in Malibu in October, 2010.
The program serves as a global model for preserving wave breaks by
recognizing their positive environmental, social, cultural and
economic benefits.
The designation of a
World Surfing Reserve in Santa Cruz County would highlight our
area's great surf breaks and increase the visibility of our
community as an ecological tourist destination. You can see a copy
of the Board letter and resolution here.
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County
Fire Team Works Effectively
County Fire Services, located in the rural
communities of Santa Cruz County, represent an effective team
comprised of volunteer fire companies and CAL-FIRE. Funding for
CAL-FIRE is provided by the State and the County of Santa Cruz;
local residents pay 40% of the costs, while the State pays the
other 60% through a unique arrangement the County negotiated many
years ago. On December 15th Alex Leman, Chief of the
Loma Prieta Volunteer Fire Company, and I will be talking about how
local emergency services are funded, what that funding pays for,
and what the future holds for fire service in our area. Please join
us for a lively discussion at the Loma Prieta Community Center at
5:30 pm (details about the meeting location are in this
email). To find out more about Santa Cruz County Fire
please click here.
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Commission
Report: Fish & Game Advisory Commission
 The Fish and Game Advisory Commission
advises the Board of Supervisors on matters of fish and game,
wildlife, natural habitats and the environment. The supervisor of
each County district appoints two district residents to serve on
the Commission. The local chief California Fish and Game
warden meets regularly with the
Commission to keep it informed about current issues. Kristen
Kittleson from Environmental Health Services, currently coordinates
the work of the Commission. The public is welcome to attend all
Commission meetings. Formerly the Commission met eleven months of
the year though this year it is meeting only four times. One of the
important tasks of the Commission is yearly evaluation of grant
proposals. The funds for the grants accrue from Fish and Game code
violations. This year at its December meeting, the Commission
selected twelve projects to receive $16,800 in grant funds. The
excellent proposals ranged from the creation of wildlife videos to
youth educational programs to funding of a trout and salmon
hatchery. These selected projects will go to the Board of
Supervisors for approval. Grantees will be expected to report to
the Commission on the progress of their projects.
Lois
Robin is a District 1 resident active in environmental issues
including the Sierra Club's Pajaro River Advisory
Committee.
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Vacation Rental Ordinance
Update
In the process of a considering a vacation rental
ordinance, the county Planning Commission held two well-attended
hearings on this issue in November. The commission has not yet
voted to recommend a version of the ordinance, but based on the
discussions at these meetings the Planning Commission's version
will likely land somewhere between the original version developed
by the Planning Department and the stripped-down version
recommended by the Housing Advisory Commission.
It appears that the Planning Commission will
recommend that all vacation rentals countywide be required to
register and pay transient occupancy tax, specify a local person to
contact in case of problems, provide signage with this information,
and pay the cost of Sheriff's visits.
In addition, since coastal Live Oak is where most
of the vacation rental neighborhood issues have occurred, the
Planning Commission may favor additional regulation in this area.
The staff report to the Planning Commission indicates that in the
coastal area of Live Oak, currently about 12-13% of the houses are
vacation rentals. The commission may recommend some kind of density
limitation on the number of vacation rentals, both for the area as
a whole and on individual blocks. Additional possible restrictions
in Live Oak include sufficient parking onsite (allowing for 2
vehicles parked on-street) and a restriction on the number of
occupants to 2 per bedroom plus 2 additional, with children under
12 not counted in the total.
The commission did not support any limitations on
length of stay, so previous recommendations such as a minimum 7-day
stay or a maximum of one rental per 7-day period will not be
included.
Due to a last minute legal challenge brought by a
lawyer hired by three out-of-town vacation rental owners, the
environmental review process for the ordinance will need to be
extended. The draft ordinance is scheduled to come back to the
Planning Commission for a final vote on February 23, 2011. The
draft then returns to the Board of Supervisors and will need
approval from the Coastal Commission. Stay tuned for updates and
scheduled public hearings.
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