Bay City News
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors failed to advance final design plans for two segments of a regional bicycle trail at its regular meeting Tuesday, jeopardizing a $67.6 million state grant for the decade-old project.
The board split 2-2 in its vote on segments 10 and 11 of the rail trail, which together run from 17th Avenue to State Park Drive. Supervisor Zach Friend recused himself because of a conflict of interest -- he lives within 500 feet of the train tracks along which the trail will be built, he said. Supervisors Bruce McPherson and Manu Koenig voted no.
Board members then approved the environmental impact report for the segments as a standalone measure, with the hopes that the pared-down vote would be enough to satisfy the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, or SCCRTC, which is managing the project, and Caltrans, which is providing funding based on progressing the project and proving local funding.
A plan to develop a 32-mile bike path and rail line from north Santa Cruz County to Monterey County was approved by voters in 2014. It is funded in part by Measure D, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2016. Final design decisions will be made by the SCCRTC, but the Board of Supervisors must approve several aspects of the proposed projects, like environmental reviews and negotiating rights-of-way, before the commission can consider them.
A grant from Caltrans is dependent on moving the project forward by 2026, and requests for the funding must be made by this summer showing the plan is progressing. But disputes over the path's design remained unresolved after a presentation Tuesday by Rob Tidmore, a project manager with the county's Department of Public Works.
The board was choosing between two options for the trail segments running through Capitola, one dubbed the "ultimate trail configuration" that would have a bike path laid next to the existing rail line. The other involves removing the tracks and laying a bike path in their place, then re-installing the tracks later in the way of the first configuration. That was termed an "interim trail" option.
The project is part of the greater Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail, which will create a 50-mile network of trails in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.
Tidmore told the board that approving the environmental impact report and finalizing design were necessary to request the funding from the Regional Transportation Commission. He also said the project would be $28 million short, even with the state grant.
"It's critical the project keeps moving forward," he said.
But board members balked at several aspects of the plan, including potential impacts on nearby residents and how many trees were necessary to remove.
The main points of contention on Tuesday among the board and public commenters were tree removal, the type of bike trail that would be constructed, and how wide the trail would be in certain places.
"This is really an alarming amount of environmental damage," said Supervisor Manu Koenig, citing the projected at 800-1,000 trees that would be removed. He said the proposal was antithetical to the county's climate goals and general plan.
Critically, residents of Castle Mobile Estates and Blue & Gold Star Mobile Home Park said the impact on their homes would be significant, despite the finding by county staff that it would be minimal. Multiple residents spoke during the public comment period urging the board to reconsider placing the trail next to the train tracks at all, which could impact the property lines on which their homes sit.
Maria Reimuller, a resident of Castle Mobile Estates, urged the board to reconsider the impacts of the ultimate trail configuration on the parks, which she said would result in a range of burdens and extra costs.
"The ripple effect will also increase the rents in the park affected to cover the cost the park owners will bear. The cost will be ongoing and passed along to all residents, not just on the corridor, who will pay the price of losing affordable housing and likely be forced to move as well as they attempt to age in place," Reimuller said.
A resident of Blue & Gold Star Mobile Home Park said she was losing her backyard and a shed, and was at risk of having to move altogether depending on the width of the trail.
But despite the funding shortfall and lack of clarity on final design, Supervisor Justin Cummings urged the board to move forward so as not to lose the state grant.
"We will be putting to waste a lot of past funding that's been used on this project. It will jeopardize our ability to get future funding. And I think that's a real concern when it comes to equity because what that means is we will have here in North County segments that are completed and it's going to jeopardize the potential to have segments in South County for residents down there," Cummings said.
Board members ultimately voted 3-1 to approve the EIR and make several requests for more information from staff, with the hopes that it would be enough to signify progress to the California Transportation Commission, which will meet again in late June and could decide not to provide the grant. Cummings said he thought the pared-down vote was putting the project at risk and voted no.
Tidmore cautioned that the direction to staff would not leave enough time to request the grant funding by June and was unsure if an extension could be granted.
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