ARTICLE
As we witnessed last Thursday night June 16, the Golden State Warriors waltzed to their fourth NBA Championship in Boston beating the Celtics in Game 6. The glow of victory is ever so sweet for this team where they went from the worst team in the league to NBA Champions. On Monday in San Francisco the Warriors celebrated with a parade down Market Street to a crowd of thousands, some say tens of thousands of fans enjoying the festive celebration. Winning is a contagious thing yet so very difficult to achieve in professional sports. While listening to the Warrior superstars, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green you could see the glow on their faces but underneath all the shine and happiness lay the truth about the hard work, injuries, the pandemic and ‘dog days’ practices over the past two yer it took to climb back to the top of the NBA Mountain. When asked what is your most important memory of the past two years fighting through two major injuries? Thompson replied, “It was the dog days working out in Santa Cruz against the G League Warriors where they beat me down.” It is very apparent that the relationship between our Santa Cruz Warriors and the Golden State Warriors is more like a family than a subsidiary of the “parent company.” So why am I starting off this eNews article talking about the NBA and the Champion Golden State Warriors? It is pretty simple. While many residents of Santa Cruz County like to live in a separate world from the greater San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, the feeling of unity and connection through a sports franchise brings us closer together. A decade ago, the Golden State Warriors made a bet on the future of their North Dakota development league team by working with the City of Santa Cruz, the Seaside Company and community leaders to establish the Santa Cruz Warriors at their new home at Kaiser Permanente Arena. There were many doubters who said that Santa Cruz was a laid back surf town and not a place for a minor league basketball team. Well, fast forward from 2013 to today and recall the 2015 D League Champions (the same year that the Golden State Warriors won their first NBA title since 1975). Over the past decade, the Santa Cruz Warriors have become an institution in our beach community — not only for their high energy basketball teams, but more importantly about being a community partner through so many programs for our youth, our non-profit organizations, their environmental stewardship of clean-up days at the beach, along the San Lorenzo River, and too many activities and events that the Warriors support. What does not go unnoticed is the financial contributions that the SeaDubs bring to town during game night and other hosted events at the KP Arena. Basketball fans of all ages come to downtown Santa Cruz, enjoy a pre-game meal at one of the downtown restaurants and after game cocktails to celebrate a Warriors’ win or even a loss. The entertainment is not just the four quarters of high quality basketball, it is also the intangible activities during a timeout and halftime where the Warriors staff create innovative ways to bring the fans into the game with half court shots for $1000 to on court kid activities that parents and fans laugh and enjoy. The Santa Cruz Chamber’s mission is to promote economic vitality that creates jobs and produces financial benefit for our city and the county. We all know that the two economic engines of our county are Agriculture and Tourism from attractions like the Boardwalk, Roaring Camp, Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz Mountain wineries and a growing list of breweries and brewpubs and our beaches and Santa Cruz Mountains that attract summertime visitors to our coastal community. There is an ongoing discussion about the future of Santa Cruz and how the city addresses the state’s mandated housing requirements — known as Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) where in the next eight years (2023-2031) the city must create over 3000 housing units. In a recent city council meeting on June 14, the city staff submitted a report — The Downtown Plan Expansion and Preferred Development Scenario for Study under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Chamber supports the city staff report allowing the downtown to accommodate more housing and create a vibrant business district where a permanent home for the Santa Cruz Warriors can be built. The primary issue for the Chamber is expanding the downtown so our community incorporates the connectivity of our downtown from the San Lorenzo River to the beach. The selected project boundary extends the Downtown Plan south from Laurel Street to the intersection of Pacific Avenue and Center Street, down both sides of Pacific Avenue, and east to the San Lorenzo River levee. Santa Cruz will face the huge task of meeting the state’s housing requirements under the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA). There is no question that developing more housing opportunities downtown is key to meeting the state’s housing requirements. The expansion area represents a rare opportunity to plan for a significant amount of new housing in a location that is among the most sustainable sites in the region to grow based on its proximity to jobs, amenities, recreation, and transportation options. Connecting the downtown to the beach area has long been a vision of Santa Cruz community leaders dating back to the 1920s. The City Council approved the city staff report. Here are a few amendments to the report: > A minimum of 1600 housing units; > Maximum heights not to exceed one taller building of 175 feet and not to exceed 150 feet on remaining, with each height being inclusive of anticipated height increases associated with a 50% density bonus and with the taller building elements comprising only a portion of shorter podium building forms; > An option for auto circulation includes the permanent closure of Spruce Street east of Pacific Avenue; > The creation of new civic space in the closed Spruce Street right of way; > Enhanced pedestrian connections between the Downtown and the beach; > Options for the location of a permanent arena facility for the Santa Cruz Warriors, with a preferred location being on the south side of Spruce Street between Pacific Avenue and Front Street. Now the work begins pulling together the reporting documents, the architectural design plans, streetscape and street modifications, open space and environmental documentation to address CEQA. Of course, this is Santa Cruz so we know that the discussion will require extensive public outreach and gather additional community input. Stay tuned.
As we witnessed last Thursday night June 16, the Golden State Warriors waltzed to their fourth NBA Championship in Boston beating the Celtics in Game 6. The glow of victory is ever so sweet for this team where they went from the worst team in the league to NBA Champions. On Monday in San Francisco the Warriors celebrated with a parade down Market Street to a crowd of thousands, some say tens of thousands of fans enjoying the festive celebration. Winning is a contagious thing yet so very difficult to achieve in professional sports. While listening to the Warrior superstars, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green you could see the glow on their faces but underneath all the shine and happiness lay the truth about the hard work, injuries, the pandemic and ‘dog days’ practices over the past two yer it took to climb back to the top of the NBA Mountain. When asked what is your most important memory of the past two years fighting through two major injuries? Thompson replied, “It was the dog days working out in Santa Cruz against the G League Warriors where they beat me down.”
It is very apparent that the relationship between our Santa Cruz Warriors and the Golden State Warriors is more like a family than a subsidiary of the “parent company.” So why am I starting off this eNews article talking about the NBA and the Champion Golden State Warriors? It is pretty simple. While many residents of Santa Cruz County like to live in a separate world from the greater San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, the feeling of unity and connection through a sports franchise brings us closer together.
A decade ago, the Golden State Warriors made a bet on the future of their North Dakota development league team by working with the City of Santa Cruz, the Seaside Company and community leaders to establish the Santa Cruz Warriors at their new home at Kaiser Permanente Arena. There were many doubters who said that Santa Cruz was a laid back surf town and not a place for a minor league basketball team. Well, fast forward from 2013 to today and recall the 2015 D League Champions (the same year that the Golden State Warriors won their first NBA title since 1975). Over the past decade, the Santa Cruz Warriors have become an institution in our beach community — not only for their high energy basketball teams, but more importantly about being a community partner through so many programs for our youth, our non-profit organizations, their environmental stewardship of clean-up days at the beach, along the San Lorenzo River, and too many activities and events that the Warriors support.
What does not go unnoticed is the financial contributions that the SeaDubs bring to town during game night and other hosted events at the KP Arena. Basketball fans of all ages come to downtown Santa Cruz, enjoy a pre-game meal at one of the downtown restaurants and after game cocktails to celebrate a Warriors’ win or even a loss. The entertainment is not just the four quarters of high quality basketball, it is also the intangible activities during a timeout and halftime where the Warriors staff create innovative ways to bring the fans into the game with half court shots for $1000 to on court kid activities that parents and fans laugh and enjoy.
The Santa Cruz Chamber’s mission is to promote economic vitality that creates jobs and produces financial benefit for our city and the county. We all know that the two economic engines of our county are Agriculture and Tourism from attractions like the Boardwalk, Roaring Camp, Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz Mountain wineries and a growing list of breweries and brewpubs and our beaches and Santa Cruz Mountains that attract summertime visitors to our coastal community.
There is an ongoing discussion about the future of Santa Cruz and how the city addresses the state’s mandated housing requirements — known as Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) where in the next eight years (2023-2031) the city must create over 3000 housing units. In a recent city council meeting on June 14, the city staff submitted a report — The Downtown Plan Expansion and Preferred Development Scenario for Study under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The Chamber supports the city staff report allowing the downtown to accommodate more housing and create a vibrant business district where a permanent home for the Santa Cruz Warriors can be built. The primary issue for the Chamber is expanding the downtown so our community incorporates the connectivity of our downtown from the San Lorenzo River to the beach. The selected project boundary extends the Downtown Plan south from Laurel Street to the intersection of Pacific Avenue and Center Street, down both sides of Pacific Avenue, and east to the San Lorenzo River levee.
Santa Cruz will face the huge task of meeting the state’s housing requirements under the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA). There is no question that developing more housing opportunities downtown is key to meeting the state’s housing requirements. The expansion area represents a rare opportunity to plan for a significant amount of new housing in a location that is among the most sustainable sites in the region to grow based on its proximity to jobs, amenities, recreation, and transportation options. Connecting the downtown to the beach area has long been a vision of Santa Cruz community leaders dating back to the 1920s. The City Council approved the city staff report.
Here are a few amendments to the report:
Now the work begins pulling together the reporting documents, the architectural design plans, streetscape and street modifications, open space and environmental documentation to address CEQA. Of course, this is Santa Cruz so we know that the discussion will require extensive public outreach and gather additional community input. Stay tuned.