Santa Cruz Indymedia : http://santacruz.indymedia.org
News :: [none]
California CoastWatcher on Santa Cruz City Council
Author
- SCCity Council SUCKS!
Date Created
- 27 Mar 2004
Date Edited
- 27 Mar 2004 04:56:11 PM
License
This work is in the public domain
“The Council should be crawling all over ourselves, begging to make this project work,� said Santa Cruz City Councilman Mike Rotkin, as Santa Cruz City Councilmembers crawled all over themselves in support of a proposal by the owners of the Coast Santa Cruz Hotel (formerly The Dream Inn) for a significant expansion. The existing hotel sits on top of the public beach adjacent to West Cliff Drive. The proposal is to knock down the existing hotel, with 163-rooms, and replace it with a new 268-room facility.
Double Shot Stick in the Eye. The Santa Cruz City Council, not willing to allow nature to stand in the way of fun, voted 7-0 to override their own Planning Commission to approve on the 150-ft tall thrill ride otherwise known as Double Shot.
Double Shot Stick in the Eye. The Santa Cruz City Council, not willing to allow nature to stand in the way of fun, voted 7-0 to override their own Planning Commission to approve on the 150-ft tall thrill ride otherwise known as Double Shot.
---------------------------------
California CoastWatcher Newsletter
California CoastWatcher
March 2004
[2 items]
----------------
“The Council should be crawling all over ourselves, begging to make this project work.� -Santa Cruz City Councilman Mike Rotkin, spoken as Santa Cruz City Councilmembers crawled all over themselves in support of a proposal by the owners of the Coast Santa Cruz Hotel (formerly The Dream Inn) for a significant expansion. The existing hotel sits on top of the public beach adjacent
to West Cliff Drive (see photo at www.cacoast.org/6604). The proposal is to knock down the existing hotel, with 163-rooms, and replace it with a new 268-room facility. Instead of moving off the beach, the new hotel would also be located on top of the beach, and a new convention center would be constructed across the street, complete with a glass-lined, 48-ft wide “sky bridge� over West Cliff Drive connecting the two buildings. Incredibly, the City Council is so excited by the prospect of a new higher end high-end resort that they have already given the hotel owners $33,000 for studies and are offering to chip in between $9-17 million additional dollars of City taxpayer funds to enrich the hotel owners’ efforts. As quoted in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 10, 2004. See also, www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/March/06/local/stories/01local.htm
-----------
Double Shot Stick in the Eye. The Santa Cruz City Council, not willing to allow nature to stand in the way of fun, voted 7-0 to override their
own Planning Commission to approve on the 150-ft tall thrill ride otherwise known as Double Shot. The ride is proposed for the Santa Cruz
Boardwalk, and will loom over San Lorenzo lagoon, which serves now as important bird and fisheries habitat. The local newspaper cannot understand why anyone would care about the birds and is urging the Coastal Commission not to stand in the way of amusement progress. www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/March/23/edit/stories/01edit.htm
Mark Massara, Director
Sierra Club Coastal Program
mark.massara (at) sierraclub.org
California CoastWatcher is a monthly Internet publication dedicated to covering proceedings of the California Coastal Commission and news
regarding protection and loss of coastal resources in California. CoastWatcher is a publication of the Sierra Club’s California Coastal Program and may not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Sierra Club or Sierra Club groups or chapters.
California CoastWatcher Newsletter
California CoastWatcher
March 2004
[2 items]
----------------
“The Council should be crawling all over ourselves, begging to make this project work.� -Santa Cruz City Councilman Mike Rotkin, spoken as Santa Cruz City Councilmembers crawled all over themselves in support of a proposal by the owners of the Coast Santa Cruz Hotel (formerly The Dream Inn) for a significant expansion. The existing hotel sits on top of the public beach adjacent
to West Cliff Drive (see photo at www.cacoast.org/6604). The proposal is to knock down the existing hotel, with 163-rooms, and replace it with a new 268-room facility. Instead of moving off the beach, the new hotel would also be located on top of the beach, and a new convention center would be constructed across the street, complete with a glass-lined, 48-ft wide “sky bridge� over West Cliff Drive connecting the two buildings. Incredibly, the City Council is so excited by the prospect of a new higher end high-end resort that they have already given the hotel owners $33,000 for studies and are offering to chip in between $9-17 million additional dollars of City taxpayer funds to enrich the hotel owners’ efforts. As quoted in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 10, 2004. See also, www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/March/06/local/stories/01local.htm
-----------
Double Shot Stick in the Eye. The Santa Cruz City Council, not willing to allow nature to stand in the way of fun, voted 7-0 to override their
own Planning Commission to approve on the 150-ft tall thrill ride otherwise known as Double Shot. The ride is proposed for the Santa Cruz
Boardwalk, and will loom over San Lorenzo lagoon, which serves now as important bird and fisheries habitat. The local newspaper cannot understand why anyone would care about the birds and is urging the Coastal Commission not to stand in the way of amusement progress. www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/March/23/edit/stories/01edit.htm
Mark Massara, Director
Sierra Club Coastal Program
mark.massara (at) sierraclub.org
California CoastWatcher is a monthly Internet publication dedicated to covering proceedings of the California Coastal Commission and news
regarding protection and loss of coastal resources in California. CoastWatcher is a publication of the Sierra Club’s California Coastal Program and may not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Sierra Club or Sierra Club groups or chapters.
New Comments are disabled, please visit Indybay.org/SantaCruz
Calendar
No events for this day.
Search
Topics
- Alternative Media
- Animal Rights
- Arts & Culture
- Civil & Human Rights
- Education & Youth
- Environment & Food
- Gender & Sexuality
- Globalization & Capitalism
- Government & Elections
- Health & Drugs
- Labor & Economics
- Media Criticism
- Peace & War
- Police State
- Poverty & Urban Development
- Resistance & Tactics
- Sister Cities
- Technology
- Transportation
- Womyn
Information
Views
Media Centers
- worcester
- western mass
- vermont
- urbana-champaign
- tennessee
- tampa bay
- seattle
- sarasota
- santa cruz, ca
- santa barbara
- san francisco bay area
- san francisco
- san diego
- saint louis
- rogue valley
- rochester
- richmond
- portland
- pittsburgh
- philadelphia
- oklahoma
- nyc
- north texas
- north carolina
- new orleans
- new mexico
- new jersey
- new hampshire
- minneapolis/st. paul
- milwaukee
- michigan
- miami
- maine
- madison
- la
- kansas city
- hudson mohawk
- houston
- hawaii
- dc
- columbus
- colorado
- cleveland
- chicago
- charlottesville
- buffalo
- boston
- binghamton
- big muddy
- baltimore
- austin indymedia
- austin
- atlanta
- asheville
- arkansas
- arizona
- valencia
- united kingdom
- ukraine
- toulouse
- toscana
- torun
- switzerland
- sverige
- scotland
- sardegna
- russia
- romania
- roma
- portugal
- poland
- piemonte
- patras
- paris/ÃŽle-de-france
- oost-vlaanderen
- nottingham
- norway
- northern england
- nice
- netherlands
- napoli
- nantes
- marseille
- malta
- madrid
- london
- lombardia
- linksunten
- lille
- liguria
- liege
- la plana
- italy
- istanbul
- ireland
- hungary
- grenoble
- germany
- galiza
- euskal herria
- estrecho / madiaq
- emilia-romagna
- cyprus
- croatia
- calabria
- bulgaria
- brussels
- bristol
- belgrade
- belgium
- belarus
- barcelona
- austria
- athens
- armenia
- antwerpen
- andorra
- alacant
- abruzzo
Account Login
This site made manifest by dadaIMC software
Comments
Re: California CoastWatcher on Santa Cruz City Council
But just think of all the money the new hotel will bring in they say. Hey, we're all too busy spending our wads from the Gateway Shopping Center bonanza to care!
Re: California CoastWatcher on Santa Cruz City Council
Re: California CoastWatcher on Santa Cruz City Council
Re: California CoastWatcher on Santa Cruz City Council
Use a different thread
Comments on Israel and Palestine are fine, but keep them in the appropriate threads.
For example, Brian Avery Speaks In Santa Cruz
Public money, private gain
If the owner wants to replace this eyesore, let the owner pay. If this private project can't be accomplished with private money, it isn't economically viable. There's no compelling public benefit (e.g. low-income housing) and so there should be no public money.
Council's idea of manipulating the hotel market to create a conference-based economy is nuts. To have conferences you need lots of large hotels. I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to building some new hotels, but I know that my city council members and my neighbors have a bad record when it comes to letting things be built. A conference-based economy revolves around minimum wage jobs, so it is not "economic development" anyway.
As for public-private partnerships, there's always a loophole. In Pittsburgh, where I attended university, two heavily subsidized department stores are walking right now.
A Lazarus (Macys) store was built with $50 million of public funds and $20 million of private funds. The public money included an $18 million loan. Federated Department Stores doesn't have to pay it back, because sales have been too low! Federated is closing the store after just 5 years. [ See "Lease lets Lazarus leave...", www.post-gazette.com/neigh_city/20030904lazarus0904p1.asp ]
A Lord and Taylor store was opened with the help of an $12 million public loan. May Company doesn't have to pay it back, again because sales have been too low. May Company is closing the store after just 3 years. [ See "Taxpayers may find they cosigned...", www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/pittsburgh/s_147313.html ]
Elsewhere on Indymedia I am endorsing a private development (affordable apartments at 250 Cardiff Place). Assuming that zoning, environmental, and other regulations are followed, private development is great -- if done with private money.
P.S.: What is wrong with the Boardwalk ride? What did the Planning Department (non-political), as opposed to the Planning Commission (political), say? Should city government really be spending its time on such a silly issue?
Re: California CoastWatcher on Santa Cruz City Council
Refocusing on the issue, it seems to me that there are two approximately separable questions:
1. Should a new, larger hotel be built on this site?
2. Should it be in part subsidized by the taxpayers?
I fully agree that (2) is outrageous. As a taxpayer I would much rather see money being spent on the decrepid schools, the collapsing infrastructure, and affordable housing for people who really need it, not trustafarian UCSC students driving around in Lexus SUVs.
As for (1) it isn't so clear. The current hotel is an expensive dump (I stayed there 6 years ago and it was pretty bad then) and really should be either fixed up or demolished. Personally I would prefer open space our housing for the homeless, but realistically, we need to maintain something of a tax base in this town. A well-designed hotel that is less of an eye-sore could actually be an asset. The public should not pay one penny to subsidize this, however.
Re: California CoastWatcher on Santa Cruz City Council