SEACLIFF — For five years a group of Seacliff residents has lobbied and pleaded with just about anyone who would listen in an attempt to buy and build a park in the seaside enclave.
The only thing standing in their way now are neighbors who don’t want to pay the $98-per-year tax that would fund buying property on a corner lot at McGregor Drive and Sea Ridge Road for a park.
Ballots will be mailed Monday to roughly 2,000 voters in that area who will be asked to tax themselves for the next 30 years. The mail-in ballots are due back to the county elections office by May 3.
Proponents argue that the cost is just 27 cents a day and worth the money.
Opponents say the area is filled with scenic beauty and already has nearby state parks land.
"Seacliff doesn’t need a park; Seacliff is a park," said opponent Phil Trounstine. (In addition to being a Seacliff resident, Trounstine is also a veteran political reporter and editor.) "For people to argue that children growing up in Seacliff are deprived seems to me to be ludicrous."
The area has the popular Seacliff State Beach and Nisene Marks State Park nearby, but that doesn’t always fit the bill for parents with young kids, said park supporter Rick Stoker.
"You put a 2-year-old in the sand, they start crying," Stoker said. "For young children, they need a lawn and play structures."
| Park supporters argue that a park would increase property values to an amount that would outweigh the tax. |
That burden falls on homeowners, because businesses are not assessed, opponents argue.
Moreover, there is no money at this point to build or maintain a park, they note.
An additional $800,000 would be needed to build the park and an estimated $50,000 to $60,000 would be needed to maintain it, according to a county analysis.
"The county doesn’t have the money to do that, at least not now," Trounstine said.
The property is one of the few undeveloped pieces of land in the neighborhood. During the late 1990s the land was considered for a 31,000-square-foot, nine-store development that would have included a New Leaf Market.
Now, a church and a 39-unit affordable housing complex are slated to be built in the remainder of the 9-acre parcel.
Silicon Valley Hotels, headed by president Vim Kumar, owns the land. Kumar’s agent, Fred Antaki, said there are no definite plans should the tax fail, but the owner will need to do something with the property, and a hotel is a possibility.
Under county zoning, the land is categorized as "visitor accommodations," which allows for construction of hotels, conference centers along with tent and vehicle campgrounds.
The price of the land is $1.8 million, a discount from the $2.3 million Antaki said was the appraised value.
"He has waited five years and given them every opportunity short of giving it to them," Antaki said. "He’s discounted it significantly."
The Board of Supervisors has set aside $250,000 in state park bond money to aid the effort.
The vote requires a two-thirds majority to pass.
Contact Brian Seals at bseals@santacruzsentinel.com.
