The comment period for the Santa Cruz County Economic Vitality Strategy was lengthened thanks to our own Business Association, but it is ending on August 15. So if you want to comment you need to do so now.

This strategy is currently in draft form and will be revised and then finalized by our board of supervisors. The current draft over looks many issues in the San Lorenzo Valley, and on the whole doesn’t seem to have many plans at all for the economic needs of our valley.

Current Draft – Santa Cruz County Economic Vitality Strategy (110 pages)
http://www.sccoplanning.com/Portals/2/County/Planning/economicdev/Draft%20Economic%20Vitality%20Strategy.pdf
The text of this document is not searchable, making it difficult to find information with out reading the entire document. Page 3 of the document does mention San Lorenzo Valley and the valley is mentioned throughout the report but in very general terms. Also individual towns in our valley are not really mentioned.

Background Report – Santa Cruz County Economic Vitality Strategy (86 pages)
http://www.sccoplanning.com/Portals/2/County/Planning/economicdev/Ec%20Vitality%20Trends%20Report%209-30-13.pdf
If you notice on page 3 under “Local Economic Development Initiatives” San Lorenzo Valley is not even mentioned. Our valley is mentioned on pages 13, 63, 65, and 74.
Ben Lomond is mentioned on pages 14 and 52.
Boulder Creek is mentioned on pages 14, 52, 53, 65, and 66.
Brookdale is mentioned on pages 52 and 53.
Felton is mentioned on pages 14, 52, and 53.

Public Comment – You can leave public comment at the link below or email your comments direct to Kathy.previsich@santacruzcounty.us
http://www.sccoplanning.com/PlanningHome/EconomicDevelopment/EconomicVitalityStrategy/OpenTownHall.aspx#peak_democracy

Petition done by our Business Association gathered 146 signatures and brings up many issues with this report. They include sewer systems needed for downtown areas, high-speed internet, road maintenance, parking, tourism / hospitality, public safety, and branding issues. See link to their petition for details about their concerns.
http://www.change.org/petitions/supervisor-bruce-mcpherson-our-response-to-the-santa-cruz-county-evs-report?share_id=fAbXvliTeV&utm_campaign=friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=permissions_dialog_false

Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin wrote an article in last months paper about this petition along with Bruce McPherson’s responses to it. There might still be some copies of the paper in town.

So if you have an opinion about this email it to Kathy.previsich@santacruzcounty.us by August 15 and make your voice heard.