Chapter 16.22
IMPACT MITIGATION – UNIVERSITY GROWTH
Sections:
16.22.010 TITLE.
The title of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be “An Ordinance to Promote Sustainable Growth in Santa Cruz by Opposing the Negative Impacts of Proposed University Growth.”
(Ord. 2008-19 § 1 (part), 2008).
16.22.020 PURPOSES.
The purposes of this chapter are as follows:
1. To express the concerns of the citizens of the city of Santa Cruz about the massive and continuing growth proposed by the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).
2. To assure the city takes whatever actions are within its legal power to avoid the significant adverse effects of university growth, particularly on the housing market, traffic congestion, and water supply.
3. To assure that city services which serve to facilitate university growth are provided only after the university pays the full costs of constructing and operating such services.
4. To confirm that extension of city public services outside the city limits will not be undertaken without the approval of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).
(Ord. 2008-19 § 1 (part), 2008).
16.22.030 FINDINGS.
It is hereby found and determined as follows:
1. Importance of UCSC. UCSC is a vital part of the Santa Cruz community and provides substantial economic, social, cultural, and intellectual benefits to the community at large.
2. Growth Under 1988 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) Has Been Excessive. The 1988 LRDP provided for an enrollment increase of four thousand five hundred students, and this increase has caused massive problems for the community, particularly in the areas of traffic congestion, housing costs, and neighborhood livability.
3. 1988 LRDP Housing Mitigation Not Carried Out. The 1988 LRDP contained goals to the effect that the university would house seventy percent of the undergraduate student body, fifty percent of the graduate students, twenty-five percent of the faculty, and twenty-five percent of the staff newly attracted to Santa Cruz. However, the university in 2003-2004 provided housing for less than fifty percent of the undergraduates, about fifteen percent of the graduate students, and approximately twenty-four percent of the faculty and eighteen percent of staff recruited from outside the county of Santa Cruz.
4. Housing Crisis Has Intensified. Housing prices in Santa Cruz are among the highest in the nation. While only one of many factors, university growth and the failure of the university to implement the housing goals in the 1988 LRDP contribute to this crisis.
5. 2005 LRDP Proposes Significant UCSC Growth. According to the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the university’s 2020 LRDP, the LRDP provides for a four thousand five hundred student increase, for a total student population of nineteen thousand five hundred. Faculty and staff would increase by one thousand three hundred forty over the number of employees in 2003-2004. In total, the increase by 2020 of the campus population would be five thousand six hundred ninety people, bringing the total campus population to twenty-five thousand three hundred twenty-five, almost half of the city’s current population.
6. Numerous Significant Unavoidable Impacts from UCSC Growth. According to the 2005 LRDP EIR, UCSC growth would result in ten significant, unavoidable environmental impacts despite the measures included to reduce those impacts, including impacts in the areas of air quality, cultural resources, hydrology and water quality, and noise.
7. Traffic Impacts of Proposed UCSC Growth. The 2005 LRDP EIR traffic analysis findings included the fact that “campus growth under the 2005 LRDP would cause unacceptable levels of service at ten off-campus intersections” and these cumulative impacts were significant and unavoidable.
8. Housing Impacts of Proposed UCSC Growth. The 2005 LRDP EIR found that “development under the 2005 LRDP would directly induce substantial population growth in the study area by accommodating increased enrollment and additional employment” and that this impact was significant and unavoidable.
9. Public Service and Safety Limitations. The proposed university growth, by increasing demand for public services without providing compensating revenues, will severely tax the city’s ability to provide adequate police and fire services as well as other necessary public services such as road maintenance, parks, and child care.
10. UCSC Growth Threatens Community Quality of Life. The proposed UCSC growth, by seriously increasing traffic and parking congestion, deepening the housing crisis, placing pressure on city services, and making it increasingly difficult for families and workers to live in the city, will cause the quality of life throughout the city to significantly decline.
11. UCSC Housing Commitment Inadequate. According to the proposed LRDP’s EIR, the university intends to provide housing for about fifty percent of its undergraduates, twenty-five percent of its graduate students, twenty-five percent of its faculty, and three percent of its staff. This represents a significant reduction in the student housing goals contained in the 1988 LRDP and will worsen the housing crisis in the city of Santa Cruz. Moreover, since student housing is unsubsidized and the university has added a number of administrative costs to the housing fees, the on-campus housing costs are unaffordable to many students, resulting in greater student demand for housing in the community, thereby causing an inflationary effect on community rent levels.
12. Limited Water Supply. In normal rain years, the city has a limited supply of water available to serve future growth. The 2005 LRDP EIR found that, as a result of the proposed enrollment growth, in conjunction with other anticipated city growth, the city’s remaining supply would be inadequate and it would need to expand its water supply capacity even during normal rain years. In drought years the current water supply serving the city is inadequate to meet existing demand.
13. Emergency Access. The streets leading to the university are so congested that lack of access during emergencies constitutes a public danger. Proposed university growth will significantly worsen this danger.
14. Federal and State Environmental Protection Laws. Past university growth has resulted in potential violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. Proposed growth will result in additional threats, both on and off campus, to habitats of rare and endangered species and Clean Water Act discharge requirements.
(Ord. 2008-19 § 1 (part), 2008).
16.22.040 IMPLEMENTATION.
1. Policies. It is hereby determined that in order to minimize the problems caused by previous UCSC growth, to seek to prevent additional adverse growth impacts, and to assure the public health, safety, and welfare, the following policies shall guide the city of Santa Cruz in its relationship with UCSC:
a. Growth Limit. It shall be the policy of the city of Santa Cruz, based on the impacts of previous and proposed UCSC growth on the city’s streets, public services, and housing prices, to oppose the four thousand five hundred student enrollment increase contained in the 2005 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), or any other enrollment increase that might be proposed in connection with the final approval of the LRDP, unless all significant impacts are fully mitigated.
b. Extension of City Services. It shall be the policy of the city not to extend city water and sewer services to the university beyond the existing city limits without the prior approval of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), which is required by state law for all amendments and extensions of service outside a jurisdiction’s boundaries.
c. Costs of University Growth. It shall be the policy of the city of Santa Cruz that the university shall pay the full costs of mitigating the impacts of past and future growth, and the city shall not provide any additional services until its anticipated costs for providing these services to the university are first fully paid to the city by the university. In particular, the university shall pay the full costs of construction and operation for any expansion of the city’s water supply to serve future university growth.
2. Council Actions. In order to carry out the policies contained in this chapter, the city council is directed to take the following actions:
a. Cooperation with UCSC. The city council shall continue to cooperate with the university in attempting to carry out the policies of this chapter including, but not limited to, the careful implementation of the August 2008 comprehensive settlement agreement between the university and the city. Should such cooperative efforts fail, the city council shall take any and all actions available to it in order to ensure that the policies are fully implemented.
b. Participation in Growth Decisions. The city council shall take whatever actions are necessary, available and legally feasible to require the full mitigation of all adverse impacts of UCSC growth on the Santa Cruz community, particularly in the areas of housing, traffic, and the provision of public services, such as water and schools.
c. Provision of Services. The city council shall not approve the expansion of services to the university outside of the city limits without the prior approval of LAFCO. In addition, the city shall only provide additional facilities required by university growth after the university pays its fair share of the cost of these facilities in the manner specified by the August 2008 comprehensive settlement agreement between the university and the city. In addition, the city council shall not approve the provision of services to the university needed for additional growth until the mitigation measures related to those services have been fully implemented. For purposes of this requirement, a mitigation measure will be considered to have been fully implemented when the city council, after a public hearing, finds on the basis of evidence presented to the city council at or before the public hearing that the university has carried out all of the mitigation measures, as set forth in the approved mitigation monitoring plan for the LRDP and, as applicable, in the comprehensive settlement agreement between the university and the city, necessary to reduce impacts related to the provision of services to less than significant levels, or has provided adequate, enforceable assurances that said mitigation measures will be fully implemented as university growth called for by the LRDP occurs over the life of the LRDP.
d. Compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The city council shall undertake all necessary actions to ensure that all growth-related decisions of the university are carried out in full compliance with the provisions of the CEQA. This includes initiating legal action, if necessary.
(Ord. 2008-19 § 1 (part), 2008).
16.22.050 ENFORCEMENT.
The city council shall have sole authority to enforce this chapter.
(Ord. 2008-19 § 1 (part), 2008).