A group is planning on filing a complaint with the California Attorney Generals Office against Watsonville and Santa Cruz for advancing a housing development that they claim will create an environmental risk for future residents and be a major liability for the City.
The Watsonville Committee Against Toxics will file the documents with Rob Bontas’ office within the next few days. According to Lisa DuPont, a member of the committee, their complaint will state that the approval of Hillcrest Estate, a long-delayed, residential development of 144 units off Ohlone Parkway, by the jurisdiction is not in compliance with several mandates under the Environmental Justice in Local Land Use Planning Act. It also claims that the developer allowed 20,000 cubic yards (roughly) of contaminated soil to be buried in a cement-capped hole on the 13-acre property.
A 2021 reportCalifornia Sunshine Development LLC contracted a consultant to determine that the soil over the site of the former vehicle junkyard contained various amounts of lead and arsenic as well as other fuel-based contaminants. Some of these toxins were detected at levels that exceeded all environmental and government standards.
The Watsonville City Council approved the development agreement for the project on Tuesday night. This will allow Sunshine Development, subject to final approval by the county Department of Environmental Health, to move forward with the project through five phases.
The agreement will allow the developer 29 homes to be sold off in waves over the next four years. It will also hand over the responsibility of maintaining and maintaining the pit to the homeowners through a new homeowners association. This is a move critics fear could lead to a seven-figure cost for future residents if the pit fails or the contaminants spread to nearby sloughs or sicken them.
Jimmy Dutra and Rebecca Garcia, members of the Council, voted against this development agreement.
The council’s rejection on Tuesday would have not stopped the project, which has been a problem for elected leaders since its inception in 2018. It would have meant that homes could not have been sold in waves throughout the construction.
Over the past five decades, the development has experienced heavy challenges. Neighbors concerned about the increase in traffic are pushing back, Had difficulty securing fundingIt was previously known as Sunshine Vista. The project managers were also changed multiple times.
It was first approved by council in 2018. Two-year extension in 2020.
Last year, the development team presented a major change in the soil remediation plan to the council. Instead of hauling away the top 2 feet of soil, the developer suggested that the developer remove only the top 6 inches of soil and then bury the remaining 18 in the cement-sealed hole.
The council approved the plan with a vote of 4-3.
The developer maintains that the project wouldn’t be financially viable without this concession. He also claims that the plan meets all county health requirements and soil requirements. Capping is an EPA-recognized practiceAccording to the site plan, action will be taken to remedy properties. No homes or fields will be built above the pita road, and a basketball court on top of it will be built.
Neighborhoods and environmental groups have claimed that the city approved the creation a toxic waste dump. They also claim that the pit and its retaining walls, which separate the soil from the sloughs and homes, are likely to collapse in an earthquake.
On Tuesday, around a dozen people spoke out against the project to the council. DuPont and others were speaking out against the development for their first time. Others saw the meeting only as the latest chapter in a long-running fight.
Noriko Ragsac is one of many Sea View Ranch residents who have spoken out against the development several times in the past five years. She first raised concerns over increased traffic and the loss green space if the project was approved. Ragsac, along with other Sea View Ranch neighbors, insist that the issue is not about housing being built.
Ragsac declared after the meeting that we want housing. We want the project to be constructed, but we want it to be safe.
The majority of the council stated that they trust county’s judgment regarding the remediation plan. Watsonville was in desperate need of new homes and this was the latest ploy by neighbors to stop development.
Eduardo Montesino (Councilman) said that they don’t want people to move into the area where the development is taking places. Even if the conditions are perfect, they’ll still find other ways to say no.
Francisco Paco Estrada, a councilman, stated that Watsonville was a community of haves as well as have-nots. This highlights the divide between homeowners who can afford a house and those who struggle to purchase one due to the current skyrocketing prices. Many of the latter are people of color. He also asked attendees to visit the California Department of Toxic Substances ControlVisit the agency’s website to view a map of sites that have been remediated. This includes Santa Cruz’s Tannery Arts Center, which was once a leather tanning plant.
Building housing here is already difficult enough. This false dichotomy, that we must choose between safety or housing, is absurd, he stated. The year 2022. I believe technology has advanced sufficiently to enable both housing and healthcare.
Vanessa Quiroz-Carter was not present at the council’s approval of the new soil plan last January. She stated that this was due to restrictions on outward development imposed by a Watsonville urban limit line approved in 2002. Limits that a group tries to extend through 2040 during the November electionThat the council must take action on infill housing projects as soon as they are presented to them.
If we are asked to provide housing and are told to build within our housing limits and this is what we have, then Im going be to say we must use what’s available within our lines.
