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CONVERSION OF PACKING SHED TO RESORT DENIED In July 1999 the California Coastal Commission wrestled with a proposal from the Odwalla juice company founders. They wanted to convert a Brussels sprout packing shed to 10 overnight bed and breakfast units, a day spa, main office, caretakers unit, restaurant, greenhouse, office space, two retail shops, micro-juicery, warehouse, and residential dwelling in a discarded boat on the property (no joke here). It would have been a real hodgepodge of uses accommodated by way of a bizarre zoning category called "special use" which appears to allow any type of development conceivable (and undermines the very premise of orderly consistent planning guidelines). The project (which takes a 13,127 sq. ft. packing shed and seeks to enlarge it to a 22,918 mixed-use commercial operation) required a sprawling parking lot across an open space bluff top. The project site -- the tiny town (population 200) of Davenport -- located approximately 10 miles north of Santa Cruz, is a spectacular bluff top and a historical community gathering place and whale-watching destination. The project would be the first and only commercial retail development west of scenic Highway 1 between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, a distance of nearly 50 miles. When the Commission met in July it struggled with the size and scope of the project, and with conversion of the bluff to a parking lot. In the interim it was assumed that the project would be revised, hopefully to fit within the legal requirement that any development is "consistent with existing community character." Instead the same massive project was returned to the Commission. The only significant change was that the bluff parking lot would be recessed five feet - dug into the bluff and complete with retaining walls - creating a concrete bowl affect both highly visible and obnoxious. The commission raised issues of consistency with the existing community character, the bluff-top parking plan, the viewshed, retaining walls, the need for variances to accommodate the project, and the fact that the project would expand beyond the existing footprint of development on the site. In the end the vote was 8-3 to deny the permit. 2002 Update: The following year the Commission unanimously approved a project at the site that would result in a smaller development to occur within the footprint of the existing agricultural shed, thus preserving coastal views, the bluff-top whale-watching meadow and the small-town character of Davenport. The project, however, has not been built and the property is currently for sale for approximately $12 million dollars. And that's a lot of Brussels sprouts! Up to Top |
