West Cliff projects, long-term vision considered – Santa Cruz Sentinel

With the long-term vision for West Cliff Drive still cloudy, the city of Santa Cruz held a community meeting to help shed some light on what the public is seeking for the roadway into the future. (Aric Sleeper / Santa Cruz Sentinel)

SANTA CRUZ — About a dozen stabilization and repair projects for West Cliff Drive were outlined and considered by the public at a virtual community meeting Tuesday evening alongside community members’ vision for the damaged coastal arterial 50 years into the future.

The public input gathered at the community discussion will be considered and included in the city’s roadmap document, still under construction, called “Resilent West Cliff, Accessible to All,” which defines West Cliff as the area between Natural Bridges State Park and Lighthouse Point. The community conversation was led by Assistant City Manager Laura Schmidt.

“I have the privilege of leading the city’s innovative project team for West Cliff and that includes you, the community, our staff, funders and our consulting partner Farallon Strategies,” said Schmidt. “The city of Santa Cruz is committed to actively involving residents and stakeholders in our decision-making processes and we really believe that collaboration and engagement are vital in creating a vibrant and inclusive city for everyone.”

The public review of the West Cliff Drive roadmap’s short-term priority projects and long-term vision came from the direction of the Santa Cruz City Council in late May, where a presentation and update was given by Michael Mccormick of Farallon Strategies, who the city hired to compile the roadmap document.

Mccormick presented information at the community meeting Wednesday about the numerous projects considered to repair and re-armor the coastline and also calm the new traffic patterns associated with the damaged roadway that have become a nuisance for the city’s Westside residents. One of the primary topics outlined in the draft document is the ever-changing nature of the coastline.

“We do live on a dynamic coast,” said Mccormick. “Some of the narrative that’s in the draft document is really about identifying opportunities to grow with the coast and work with the coast, including how do we recover better from future storms, and how do we manage this coast more proactively so that we’re getting ahead of some of the challenges.”

The aspects of the “dynamic coast” portion of the draft document examine the recovery process after a storm event or other natural disaster, ongoing coastal management, building economic resilience, multimodal transportation, recreational space and governmental planning processes.

“Planning processes are complicated,” said Mccormick. “We’re not working in a vacuum where we are only responding to the environmental conditions on the coast. We also have planning processes that tie into the state and federal regulatory environment like the approval that’s required from many projects on the coast by the Coastal Commission.”

With numerous planning documents involved with the ultimate fate of the coastal roadway, such as the West Cliff Drive Adaptation and Management Plan, Mccormick said that the Resilient West Cliff draft is meant to create a single document that will bring them all together.

“Part of the intent of the roadmap is not necessarily to create a new planning document,” said Mccormick. “But to really weave the existing planning documents together through a single narrative to bring forward this long-term vision for West Cliff.”

Approximately 30 community members were broken into four groups and asked to mark their two highest priority projects out of a dozen projects associated with the repair and recovery of West Cliff Drive that will happen in the short and long term, and all of which are described in the draft document.

Among the projects considered by community members was the impacted Bethany Curve bridge and culvert, which may need to be demolished in the coming months to make way for an infill wall, calming traffic measures, the one-way pilot program, and the survey of the sea cave on the west side of Lighthouse Point.

Mccormick pointed out that the sea cave does not reach below the lighthouse currently, and the lighthouse will not have to move anytime in the near future.

“The articles that may have come out on the Lighthouse Point may have been a little premature about talking about relocating the lighthouse,” said Mccormick in reference to an article published on the website Lookout Santa Cruz. “The project that the city has in place is about monitoring the thickness of the sea cave, which doesn’t go under the lighthouse. It’s adjacent to the lighthouse.”

When participants were asked about their vision for West Cliff 50 years from now, many community members envisioned a roadway and pedestrian path that is similar to today. Some pointed out that technical innovations such as flying cars could radically change the way the roadway is used. Others went in a more dystopian direction, envisioning a West Cliff so damaged by extreme weather events that the road has been closed entirely and all the homes along it are abandoned.

“This becomes the foundation of putting that vision together for 50 years out,” said Schmidt. “Your oxygen will not have been used in vain tonight. We will take what you’ve given us and input it into the overall process.”

An in-person meeting was also held at the London Nelson Community Center Wednesday evening with the same information and survey questions. The feedback provided will be incorporated into the draft document, which should be completed and ready to present to the City Council in August. The 50-year vision for West Cliff should be completed by the end of December.

For West Cliff updates or to provide feedback about the draft document, visit cityofsantacruz.com.