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Santa Cruz County, CA | November 4, 2008 Election |
My Key IssuesBy Frank Z. KertaiCandidate for Council Member; City of Scotts Valley | |
This information is provided by the candidate |
The key issues for Scotts Valley are: Smart Growth, Public Safety, the Environment and Open Governance.Smart Growth "Smart Growth" is a key issue of my campaign. These principles are what make Scotts Valley such a wonderful place to live, work and play. The values of these principles are imbued in the long standing Scotts Valley Land Use Plans. These include such concepts as: 1) large commercial development should be in down town, 2) new development should be compatible with existing development and 3) mixed use projects are recommended. These concepts are the result of many lifetimes of experience about the best approach to development. The current and future city councils would do well for the city by adhering to these principles. I am in favor of the Town Center as it represents a good mixed use project and appropriate development of downtown. The Town Center proposes new construction that represents a 50% increase in retail space. As we bring this additional retail space online, we must protect the local business that is already here. The proposed Target project would add another 25% of commercial retail space in a one-stop, single destination format at the edge of town. I don't believe our local economy can absorb this much additional retail space over the next few years without adversely affecting existing local businesses. In addition, I believe the Target project, as proposed, would have a net negative economic impact on both the local economy and the local city government. "Smart Growth" also means making sure that the appropriate infrastructure is in place to support and mitigate impacts from development. Development of both the Town Center and the Target would result in unacceptable traffic impacts on the main through routes of Scotts Valley. Our infrastructure can support the Town Center with appropriate mitigations. It cannot also support the standalone big-box retail store at the Southern Gateway Entrance to Scotts Valley.
Public Safety
Environment
The Town Center Specific Plan EIR specifically says that this project, combined with those that are proposed or currently under construction throughout the city, could require more water than is currently available to the City given the limited amount of water resources. We need to make sure that the implementation of various water conservation efforts and use of recycled water will reduce overall demand significantly enough to offset this additional demand before all of these projects are built. Part of what makes Scotts Valley such a wonderful place to live is the local environment. Policies which help conserve local open space encourage the preservation of local flora, fauna and the vistas which help give our community its unique character.
Open Governance
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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 25, 2008 23:43
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