A group of residents has filed a lawsuit against Santa Cruz County over a proposed development at 841 Capitola Rd., while local architecture firm Workbench is going to court over another of its projects, at 3500 Paul Sweet Rd.
3500 Paul Sweet Road
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Dominican Oaks: When fear of lawsuits trumps public and senior safety, Santa Cruz County loses
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.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I live at Dominican Oaks – I’m alarmed by the Workbench high-rise proposed next to us
Live Oak resident Virginia Lieb is alarmed about a proposed six-story builder’s remedy project planned for 3500 Paul Sweet Rd. She says the development would overwhelm the narrow dead-end street that serves as the only evacuation route for the Dominican Oaks senior community and others.
