Quick Take
A massive builder’s remedy project proposed at 3500 Paul Sweet Rd. in Live Oak would rise 82 feet beside Dominican Oaks retirement community, putting hundreds of elderly residents at risk, writes Virginia Lieb, who lives in the complex. State law allows counties like Santa Cruz County to deny such projects when they pose unmitigable threats to health and safety – and this one, she believes, does. She fears the recent approval of a project at 841 Capitola Rd. suggests local officials are backing down under the threat of lawsuits from developers like Workbench. Approving unsafe housing isn’t housing justice — it’s a failure of leadership that puts vulnerable residents in harm’s way, she writes.
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All over California, new housing projects are bypassing local building codes because of a state law known as “builder’s remedy.” One of the most egregious of these projects is right here in Santa Cruz County.
It’s a six-story, 82-foot, 105-unit apartment project at 3500 Paul Sweet Rd. in Live Oak that will occupy every square inch of a half-acre parcel and will be jammed next to the neighboring senior retirement community Dominican Oaks, where I and over 225 vulnerable, elderly residents live.
Although builder’s remedy gives developers wide latitude in skirting local laws, municipalities such as Santa Cruz County can legally deny or condition builder’s remedy projects under either of two specific circumstances outlined in state law. The first is if the housing project poses an unmitigable, adverse impact on public health or safety. The second is if the denial or condition is required to meet state or federal law, and there is no feasible method to comply without making the development unaffordable.
For the past year, I and other residents of Dominican Oaks, with support from our neighbor Dominican Hospital, have built a case for denying approval of this project. Our opposition group has presented county supervisors and planning commission members with dozens of legitimate, unmitigable adverse risks this project poses to public health and safety and the many federal and state laws it violates.
We were dismayed on Feb. 10, when Santa Cruz County supervisors voted to approve a project at 841 Capitola Rd. I believe the supervisors approved the project not because there weren’t compelling reasons to deny it, but because the developer, Workbench, hinted it might sue the county if supervisors denied the project.
Worried about the potential of a costly legal battle, the supervisors caved and approved. This is shameful behavior on the part of public officials who should be protecting the health and safety of their constituents.
Although the case against 3500 Paul Sweet Rd. is vastly stronger than the case against 841 Capitola Rd., we have serious concerns that the county planning commissioners could approve the 3500 Paul Sweet project because of the same fear of being sued. Workbench sued the City of Santa Cruz and has threatened legal action against other local government entities if its projects are denied or restricted.
Therefore, to bolster our case even more, we have hired experts and commissioned studies that show the quantifiable dangers this project will have on the health and safety of Santa Cruz County residents and businesses, along with the numerous violations of state and federal laws. These reports are specifically focused on five elements.
The first is fire/life safety for seniors at Dominican Oaks. This covers crucial areas such as collapse zones, hose pulls, fire truck accessibility and comprehensive evacuation strategies for the complex.
The second is traffic and parking. We have hired consultants to analyze the impact on local congestion and access, especially imperative for emergency vehicle movement. The third is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): We want an independent environmental impact analysis, including sensitive receptors.
Fourth, we are concerned about civil engineering and are looking for a focused review of infrastructure capacity. Finally, we’re getting a Federal Aviation Administration assessment of any aviation-related impacts.
Here are just some of the risks and violations that will result if the 3500 Paul Sweet Rd. project is built.
The 82-foot height of this project far exceeds the FAA requirements for the height of buildings near the Dominican Hospital heliport. The height of this project is limited to 33 feet (three stories).
There are many severe evacuation and firefighting dangers. Because the proposed building will take up the entire half-acre property, this project has no fire access lane. The only legal place fire equipment can be positioned is on Paul Sweet Road, blocking traffic in both directions and leaving the sides and back of the building inaccessible for firefighting. Because the proposed building is just inches away from Dominican Oaks, fire can quickly spread from the apartment building and engulf Dominican Oaks.
To maintain current safety standards and insurance coverage, our insurance company will require us to spend over $7.3 million in fire mitigation measures to protect our facility from a fire at 3500 Paul Sweet Rd.
The 3500 project is in an area that lacks adequate water or sewage infrastructure to serve the new, high-density population, creating an immediate health hazard.
The 3500 Paul Sweet Rd. project violates Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by endangering disabled seniors in a retirement facility. Seniors are protected under federal disability and housing laws, and a builder’s actions creating dangerous conditions violate these laws. If a builder’s actions, such as construction next door, create hazardous conditions that disproportionately endanger seniors with disabilities by blocking accessible routes or creating excessive noise/vibration/airborne dust and pollution that affects health conditions, this could be considered a failure to make reasonable accommodations under the ADA and Federal Housing Administration rules.
The planning commission does not yet have a date to reconvene for a decision on the fate of the 3500 Paul Sweet Rd. project. We expect it to be scheduled in March or April.
We are asking the public to join our fight against this ill-conceived apartment building. Please write or call the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and members of the planning commission and ask them to vote no on this project.
Virginia W. Lieb is a resident of Dominican Oaks retirement community.