top
Santa Cruz IMC
Santa Cruz IMC
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Shout Out Against the OVO [Oversized Vehicle Ordinance]

Date:
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Time:
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Event Type:
Meeting
Organizer/Author:
City of Santa Cruz (posted by Norse)
Email:
Phone:
8314234833
Location Details:
ZOOMED Meeting with the Zoning Administrator 10 AM 1-12

PRIOR TO THE MEETING:
You may comment online at: http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/za during the open comment period starting 5pm on 12/31/21 through 12pm on 1/4/22 or
send an email to cityplan [at] cityofsantacruz.com (if you wish to include attachments)

DURING THE MEETING: We recommend you call in at the start of the meeting, 10 AM. If you wish to speak on any item, both computer and phone audio will be available when it is your turn to speak.
Click on Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81634465483
Or, Call any of the numbers below. If one is busy, try the next one. 1-833-548-0276 (Toll Free)
1-833-548-0282 (Toll Free) 1-669-900-9128
1-346-248-7799 1-646-558-8656

Enter the webinar ID number: 816 3446 5483

When prompted for a Participant ID, press #
Press *9 on your telephone or raise your hand through the Zoom app when you wish to speak.
It will be your turn to speak when the Clerk unmutes you. You will hear an announcement that you have been unmuted.
You will need to press “unmute” or *6 to unmute yourself if it does not automatically unmute you when it is your turn.
The Clerk will notify you of your final 30-seconds of time.
You may hang up once you have commented on your item of interest or be muted to stay on the line and listen to the remaining meeting.
If you wish to speak on another item, two things may occur:

If the number of callers waiting exceeds capacity, you will be disconnected and you will need to call back closer to when the item you wish to comment on will be heard or
You will be placed back in the queue and you should press *9 to “raise your hand” when you wish to comment on a new item.

For background, see

"A Sneak Play Past the Community and Coastal Commission...Again" at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2022/01/03/18847069.php

"Execution Delayed But Not Reversed: OVO Up for Rubberstamping 1-12" at https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2022/01/08/18847199.php

AUDIO of much of the 1-5 Zoning Administrator hearing: https://www1.huffsantacruz.org/lost/1%20FRSC%201-9-22.mp3
Added to the calendar on Sun, Jan 9, 2022 12:23PM
§Talking Back to Local Bigotry Enablers
by Robert Norse (rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com)
CITING THE HISTORICAL RECORD
The Zoning Administrator's ruling, considering her remarks last week, is likely a done deal. Still it's appropriate, possibly helpful, and certainly educational to bring to her attention and that of the compliant Local Coastal Board staff, the actual Coastal Commission remarks from the 2016 hearing.

At that hearing, the Commission rejected Assistant City Manager Scott Collins, Councilmember Richelle Niroyan, and the Coastal Commission's staff's attempt to rubberstamp their OVO ordinance.

The current City staff's presentation to the Zoning Administrator ignores the requirements itemized by the Commission in its 11-1 slapdown of Niroyan's law.

ACTUAL VIDEO OF THE 2016 COASTAL COMMISSION HEARING
The Commission's 2016 hearing is available on video archive at https://cal-span.org/unipage/?site=cal-span&owner=CCC&date=2016-08-10 4 hours and 19 minutes into the video file.

Their 2016 strong rather caustic rejection of boulevard bigotry begins at 4 hours and 36 minutes into the file and lasts for about 20 minutes as Collins and Niroyan scramble to explain the lack of specifics about rv parking space and "crime" problems.

ALLIES ON THE COASTAL COMMISSION
The Commission (other than the Chair) challenged and rejected as inadedquate City claims of future adequate parking space for RV's and a heavy focus on scary bad waste disposal (without stats of any criminal actions).

Some of the strongest supporters of coastal access as well as decriminalizing poverty (judging from their remarks in 2016) are still on the Commission:--Martha McClure, Effie Turnball-Sanders, and Carole Groom. I encourage folks to check out their remarks. Cite them when writing to the Zoning Administrator, or in appeals to the Planning Commission, the City Council, or the full Coastal Commission.

LOCAL NEWS MEDIA COVERING THE CASE
Tip of the hat to Julie Schaul for dredging up some of contemporary news stories from the Sentinel and the Good Times where the Commissioner's remarks are also noted:

https://goodtimes.sc/santa-cruz-news/coastal-commission-ejects-city-councilmember-strikes-rv-ban/

https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2022/01/06/new-santa-cruz-law-banning-overnight-rv-parking-inches-forward

FORCE THE BIGOT-BACKERS TO FACE THE FACTS
For more than five years, the Santa Cruz gentrifiers have avoided bringing the issue back to the Coastal Commission--for the obvious reason that there is no more significant RV storage and "crime" problem than there was then. Indeed, there is a health emergency which should militate for appreciation of vehicular housing as a safety measure.

I encourage those speaking before the Zoning Administrator on Wednesday or slipping in written material before Tuesday noon (the new deadline), require the Zoning Administrator to answer the concerns of the Commission before sending it ahead with flying colors.

Comments (Hide Comments)
by Jessica York (posted by Norse) (rnorse3 [at] hotmail.com)
Overnight RV parking ban inches ahead

By Jessica A. York
jyork [at] santacruzsentinel.com

SANTACRUZ; The city’s new large vehicle overnight parking ban all but passed its latest hurdle on the road toward implementation this week.

After hearing comments from three speakers and written correspondence from a handful of people Wednesday, city Zoning Administrator Samantha Haschert approved a coastal and design permit on what has otherwise been a contentious public debate. This week’s approval was one of several steps needed before city officials are able to enforce the new limited parking hours and to implement a pending new safeparking program citywide.

The permit approval retroactively was delayed a week, however, after a community member pointed out that the city had published an incorrect link to the online meeting in one location. The discussion, along with other agenda items from the meeting, will undergo a second public hearing during a special meeting Wednesday.

Members of the public are able to appeal the city permit approval directly to the California

Coastal Commission, a step that was taken after the Santa Cruz City Council in 2015 approved a previous iteration of the recreational vehicle ban.

In August 2016, the Coastal Commission opted not to throw out the appeal, filed at the time by activist Robert Norse. The commission sided with Norse’s concerns that the parking ban targeted homeless people and restricted coastal access, with members calling for the city to provide more complete plans for alternative parking options. Instead, the nullified ordinance was kept on the books, unenforceable, until the recent council vote to revamp the law. Norse, threatening to appeal the permits’ approval during Wednesday’s meeting, once again said he believed the ordinance did not meet the requirements of the local coastal development plan.

According to Haschert, the Coastal Commission’s 10-day appeal period opens once the agency receives a final permit approval from the city. First, the city will need to hold its next meeting, approve the permit and then wait another 10 days — to Jan. 24, a period during which a community member may appeal the permit to the city Planning Commission or City Council, both bodies that already green-lighted the ordinance.

RN Note: I understand it was Linda Hatcher who acted as Hearing officer.
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$140.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network