Our sympathies should rest on the side of the neighbors challenging the Food Bin housing project in Santa Cruz. It’s fair to question Workbench’s trustworthiness.

We in the Seabright neighborhood have our own history of conflict with Workbench. We can provide our own example of why they can’t be trusted. Our story, in brief:

We opposed their three-story triplex project on Pennsylvania Avenue in 2020. Like the Food Bin challenge, we appealed it all the way to the city council.

In their presentation to the council on Feb. 9, 2021, Workbench highlighted its efforts to provide affordable “family housing” with this project – a deed restriction would designate one of the new three-bedroom apartments as an affordable unit.

In the end, councilmembers expressed sympathy with our complaints about the appearance and size of the proposed structure. But, citing the new state laws, they concluded that they had to support the permit approval anyway. Two of them, Justin Cummings and Renee Golder, specifically thanked Workbench for the inclusion of the affordable three-bedroom unit.

A few months later, Workbench quietly returned to the city planning department with a “plan revision.” These last-minute submissions from builders are not vetted at public hearings, and their approvals are not subject to any appeal. In short, no one would have been the wiser until years later when the project was completed – except this time, a suspicious neighbor checking with the city departments uncovered the mischief.

Workbench was attempting to renege. The revision proposed to eliminate the affordable deed restriction on the three-bedroom unit. Instead, a small accessory dwelling unit (ADU) was added by converting one of the garages into a studio apartment. This little unit was to become the required affordable housing.

In the Food Bin conflict, Workbench brought newly revised plans to the hearing. The Laurel Street and Cleveland Avenue-area neighbors rightly objected, and the council sent the project back to the planning commission. The neighborhood must stay vigilant. If and when the city council relents and approves this project, it would be prudent to check daily with the planning department to ensure that Workbench does not try to sneak through another “plan revision.”

The Workbench people need to learn that credibility is a precious commodity.  Once you lose it, it’s hard to win it back.

Alan Speidel

Seabright