Mardi Wormhoudt, Third District Supervisor
Dear Members of the Board, We write to express a growing sense of concern on the part of many residents of Bonny Doon regarding developments at the Santa Cruz Biotechnology property at the bottom of Back Ranch Road. A chain of alarming occurrences has been speedily accumulating there that we suspect has ramifications for the broader community. Uppermost in people’s minds is the lab animal project, an activity that appears to be fundamentally incompatible with County zoning regulations. As we have long understood it, only specifically listed uses are permitted on land zoned C-A in the County. Furthermore,procedure does exist for resolving the issue of questionable uses that includes a public hearing before the Planning Commission. This has certainly not happened, yet the lab animals and lab equipment are there and the work is going on. We therefore feel a thoroughly researched determination regarding the appropriateness of Santa Cruz Biotechnology’s business there should be made before the business goes into full swing. A second main issue that we feel requires clarification is the extent to which the County can reasonably process and rule upon the intricacies of a biotechnical research business vis-à-vis presumably agricultural land use. There is no history of such activities here, and the issues are very complex. Culturing synthetic substances in the bloodstreams of animals, however benign it might be presented, establishes a precedent for great risks and, it can be simply said, does not constitute fundamental agriculture in any sense generally known here or elsewhere. SCB has taken strong measures to eliminate conventional agriculture (e.g., cattle and strawberries) from its vicinity. Another significant consideration is that this company has charged into many aspects of its busy commercial life here on the North Coast without observing numerous legal regulations by which others abide. To wit: red-tagged building projects, installation of animals without the requisite notification or process, trespassing on neighbors’ property to unload animals, threats to close by fiat a road used for generations by neighbors uphill. It is not unheard of for certain parties to simply do what they want to do and then pay double fees later. We understand that SCB made inquiry about a year ago about C-A land use and was advised by the Planning Department that such use was not allowed under Zoning Ordinances. The financial stakes in this kind of operation are enormous. Furthermore, what we know about its complexities and risks is likely dwarfed by what we don’t know. For this reason, it must be approached cautiously and thoroughly before the facility is in full operation. Yet it is already in operation. Such an unusual operation suggests to us that the County should perhaps be taking a more assertive role in determining what’s going on and why it is going forward without proper public knowledge and definition of parameters. Thus far it seems to have fallen almost entirely upon the shoulders of the neighbors to deal with this very serious situation. While it is in their proverbial backyard, this is a clear challenge to allowable and accepted land use that promises to impact the entire North Coast very significantly. Shouldn’t the County instead be leading the way here? We encourage the Board of Supervisors to initiate a very prompt and thorough investigation and consider reining in (if not freezing) the breakneck development there until a process of public input is established and a substantial determination is made. Thank you for your kind consideration.
Sincerely,
Paul Hostetter
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The Rural Bonny Doon Association Keeping Bonny Doon rural and natural - since 1957 102 Sunlit Lane Bonny Doon, California 95060 To the County Planning Commission - Since its inception in 1957, the Rural Bonny Doon Association has been concerned with land-use policy that controls and guides development, specifically within its planning area. In keeping with its mission goal to keep Bonny Doon rural and natural, it has consistently supported the establishment and observation of intelligent land-use policies as reflected by local sentiment and sensibilities and within the County code. The issue the RBDA wishes to address today is land use policy as defined in the County General Plan, and our concern that Santa Cruz Biotechnology has conspired to force a very far-reaching redefinition of agriculture for the entire County in order to achieve its own immediate objectives. More importantly, we wish to caution against the potential consequences if they are successful. We fear that the attainment of SCBT’s objectives will likely set the stage for a chain of conversions from agriculture to businesses like SCBT that may, at least initially, have outward appearances of being agricultural operations but are in fact ambitious hi-tech manufacturing concerns that happen to incorporate the use of farm animals Biotechnology is a burgeoning business, with enormous potential for growth and diversification. Its proponents see it as a business without limits. How can anyone know what is in store even six months after SCBT has been handed the destiny of the North Coast? Four hundred goats today, twelve hundred next week, perhaps a few thousand more exotic animals later for another project. Anything can happen - once the people of this county have relinquished control via the planning process. One of biotechnology’s largest concerns is security. The current animals are each worth an enormous amount of money for the market value of the blood components that are harvested from them. Patrol dogs, 24-hour surveillance and strong fences will be necessary to protect pastured animals from coyotes, feral dogs and mountain lions - measures that have never been necessary for the strawberries, sprouts and cattle out there. Is this still agriculture? We feel this is not agriculture in any commonly held sense. We feel it is the very tip of a significant and complex large-scale business that manufactures and processes chemicals and drugs, not food or fiber. We feel that the precedent of allowing SCBT’s interpretation of existing agricultural zoning will incontrovertibly alter the way land is valued and used, not just on the North Coast, but elsewhere. We ask the Planning Commission and the County to take a deep and unhurried look at the enormous implications of reinterpreting the old definition of agricultural land use, especially on this particularly rare and precious portion of the county. We ask the County to initiate a meticulous investigation into the biotechnology business and its appropriateness anywhere in the County. It is time to consider an entirely new set of ordinances to guide these kinds of activities. We further ask the County to initiate a thorough public process as part of this inquiry and the decisions that result from it. Both symbolically and practically, the North Coast matters too much to too many people to sanction one group to simply deliver it to a persistent and well-heeled corporate interest. Once it has been given away, it is irretrievably lost.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Paul Hostetter
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The Rural Bonny Doon Association Keeping Bonny Doon rural and natural - since 1957 102 Sunlit Lane Bonny Doon, California 95060 TO: The Board of Supervisors, Santa Cruz County
Dear Supervisors: At the Supervisor’s public hearing on 3 September, Supervisor Keeley solicited Mr. Stephenson’s assistance in aiding the County Planning staff to draft new code regulations to cover biotechnological activities in the county. We strongly urge the Supervisors to ensure that any such motion they might approve will guarantee a balanced effort to draft these guidelines. To this end, we propose that any such endeavor include a committee to work with County Planning staff made up of non-county employees that includes experts in the fields of agriculture, land use, environmental ethics and the status of other commercial biotechnological facilities as they are currently being run and permitted elsewhere in the country. We hope you will take this into account when you make recommendations for budgeting planning staff time. Thanks very much for your attention to this very important matter.
Sincerely,
Paul Hostetter
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Keeping Bonny Doon rural and natural - since 1957 102 Sunlit Lane Bonny Doon, California 95060 TO: The Board of Supervisors, Santa Cruz County Dear Supervisors: The Rural Bonny Doon Association is greatly concerned about reports of serious violations involving land use in Bonny Doon, and a perceived failure of the county to effectively enforce existing law. We are troubled by reports that Santa Cruz Biotechnology has violated existing County ordinance, building regulations and grading regulations. In light of the sheer number and nature of code violations attributed to the Stephensons and Santa Cruz Biotechnology on property along Back Ranch Road in Bonny Doon, the Rural Bonny Doon Association requests that the County act immediately to investigate the problems and have Santa Cruz Biotechnology correct any and all violations that have already occurred. Further, the county should conduct a regular program of inspection and enforcement to prevent any more problems from occurring on this project. It is incumbent on the County of Santa Cruz to rigorously uphold the letter and the spirit of the laws already on the books. The Executive Board of the RBDA strongly recommends to the Board of Supervisors that they completely freeze all further development activity on this property until all violations have been addressed and the process of developing new regulations and adequately interpreting existing regulations is complete. This is especially urgent considering the reports that Santa Cruz Biotechnology has now leased and extended its operations to additional row crop acreage adjacent to its own. The RBDA considers the process of formulating regulations for the biotechnology industry and large-scale laboratory animal projects in this county to be correct and wise. Sincerely,
Paul Hostetter
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The Rural Bonny Doon Association
Dear Fred Keeley - Having mistakenly understood for some time that the issue of Santa Cruz Biotechnology’s appeal on their laboratory animal project on the North Coast was on the Supervisor’s agenda for the 27th instead of the 20th, I find myself rather hastily contacting you at the last minute to reiterate some of the concerns that have been brought both to the Supervisors and to the Planning Commission, to wit: We feel this is not agriculture in any commonly held sense. We feel it is the very tip of a significant and complex large-scale business that promises to completely displace real agriculture. Every single farmer on the coast between the city limits and San Mateo County has agreed to this in a petition presented to the Planning Commission. If the development of products to be used in pharmaceutical research classify as CA-zoned agriculture, under current County ordinances all aspects of that business can be conducted without permits and with virtually no regulation by local governmental agencies or further input from citizens. The consequences will be enormous. Today’s simple and seemingly benign operation holds the promise of unencumbered expansion to other less-welcome types of animal research and land uses, with no regulation possible. As the Planning Commission unanimously agreed, the County must learn a great deal about the intricacies of biotechnical research business and must furthermore develop guidelines, via county code, to regulate those activities. There is no history of such activities here, and the issues are very complex. We ask you and the other Supervisors to heed the counsel of your Planning Commission representatives 1) to take a long, hard and unhurried look at the momentous potential implications of reinterpreting the definition of agricultural land use, 2) to deny the appeal of the Planning Commission decision and 3) to direct staff to draft a new section in County Code to regulate these unprecedented activities. The North Coast matters too much to too many people to allow it to be simply delivered to a persistent and well-heeled corporate interest. Once it has been given away, it is irretrievably lost. Thanks for your consideration. Sincerely,
Corresponding Secretary
Same letter as above
The Rural Bonny Doon Association
15 August 1996 Dear Ms Beautz - Having mistakenly understood for some time that the issue of Santa Cruz Biotechnology’s appeal on their laboratory animal project on the North Coast was on the Supervisor’s agenda for the 27th instead of the 20th, I find myself rather hastily contacting you at the last minute to reiterate some of the concerns that have been brought both to the Supervisors and to the Planning Commission, to wit: We feel this is not agriculture in any commonly held sense. We feel it is the very tip of a significant and complex large-scale business that promises to completely displace real agriculture. Every single farmer on the coast between the city limits and San Mateo County has agreed to this in a petition presented to the Planning Commission. If the development of products to be used in pharmaceutical research classify as CA-zoned agriculture, under current County ordinances all aspects of that business can be conducted without permits and with virtually no regulation by local governmental agencies or further input from citizens. The consequences will be enormous. Today’s simple and seemingly benign operation holds the promise of unencumbered expansion to other less-welcome types of animal research and land uses, with no regulation possible. As the Planning Commission unanimously agreed, the County must learn a great deal about the intricacies of biotechnical research business and must furthermore develop guidelines, via county code, to regulate those activities. There is no history of such activities here, and the issues are very complex. We ask you and the other Supervisors to heed the counsel of your Planning Commission representatives 1) to take a long, hard and unhurried look at the momentous potential implications of reinterpreting the definition of agricultural land use, 2) to deny the appeal of the Planning Commission decision and 3) to direct staff to draft a new section in County Code to regulate these unprecedented activities. The North Coast matters too much to too many people to allow it to be simply delivered to a persistent and well-heeled corporate interest. Once it has been given away, it is irretrievably lost. Thanks for your consideration. Sincerely,
Corresponding Secretary
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The Rural Bonny Doon Association Keeping Bonny Doon rural and natural - since 1957 102 Sunlit Lane Bonny Doon, California 95060
29 October 1996
Dear Members of the School Board: A group of Bonny Doon residents, at the request and with the encouragement of the RBDA, is currently assembling a proposal to improve school facilities. It seeks to organize a plan which would fit Park Dedication Fund funding criteria for projects in the Planning District that directly benefit the community at large. The Park Dedication Fund guidelines for allowed uses of these funds are rather strictly defined and are set out by the County Parks, Open Spaces and Cultural Services. The procedure for obtaining the funding requires that the school make a proposal and request the funding from the Board of Supervisors while assuring the County that the proposed improvements will in fact be done for the benefit of the entire community and will be used for facilities generally available to the community at large. The RBDA is motivated by an urge to see some real improvements that would enhance the facilities that are used, not just by the RBDA, but by the entire community. It has long been felt the school is the true community center and is most deserving of improvement of its infrastructure. Currently under active consideration for this proposal are: - lighting along the concrete path connecting the upper and lower campuses
Since the late 1980’s, the RBDA has attempted to facilitate an accepted use of these funds. Several proposals have been ventured and have failed to gain the approval of either the community at large or the powers-that-be downtown. Since the celebrated Community Center vote two years ago, the RBDA, along with Supervisor Wormhoudt, has been regularly encouraging proposals from community members on how best to use these fast-dwindling funds. We were recently successful in stemming a proposal to have them spent on a parking lot and related improvements down at Bonny Doon Beach, an idea most locals felt would not benefit the Bonny Doon community at all. The RBDA Executive Board realizes that the school board has its hands full at the moment. It has therefore resolved to gather and organize some proposals that have come from various community members. It is important to understand that the school board itself must officially and directly request funding from the Board of Supervisors when it has formulated a proposal. We simply offer to do some of the legwork of gathering the proposal for the trustees in advance. The RBDA is further motivated by its knowledge that the Park Dedication Funds are shrinking and if the funds are not claimed by the local community soon, they risk being absorbed by the countywide fund for other projects. The RBDA urges the participation, as far as is possible, of the school’s Board of Trustees and administration in the development of the current proposals. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Don Coyne at 459-4754 or Paul Hostetter at 427-1143. We look forward to hearing back from you soon. Sincerely, Paul Hostetter
CC: David Wiess, Principal/Superintendent of Bonny Doon School
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The Rural Bonny Doon Association Keeping Bonny Doon rural and natural - since 1957 102 Sunlit Lane Bonny Doon, California 95060 Dear Supervisor Wormhoudt - David Kossack of the San Andreas Land Trust came to an RBDA general meeting awhile back and made a presentation of his work, and has recently been in contact with our Board in search of support on a certain aspect of his project. He would like to acquire GIS coverages from the County of Santa Cruz. The geographic scope for information he is interested in obtaining is the Bonny Doon and North Coast Planning Areas. The map layers will contribute to San Andreas Land Conservancy’s GIS program for northern Santa Cruz County and assist their efforts to identify and study the native habitats of Ben Lomond Mountain. They intend to use these data for developing protection strategies, preparing maps and presentations as well as implementing restoration and management plans. The County’s Planning Department GIS Staff has already provided a list of map layers, but apparently the cost is steep. Our Executive Board resolved at its last meeting to write to you on behalf of the San Andreas Land Conservancy to see if the fees for these overlays could be mitigated or waived. We agree that the benefit that S.A.L.C.’s efforts promises to exceed what any cost recovery charge might provide the citizens of the County. I believe you have already received a letter from David Kossack detailing the coverages he needs to further this project. We hope that request might find favorable attention from your office. Cordially,
Paul Hostetter
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The Rural Bonny Doon Association Keeping Bonny Doon rural and natural - since 1957 102 Sunlit Lane Bonny Doon, California 95060
17 October 1996
Dear Sam Farr - As you may know, a biomedical research facility proposed by Santa Cruz Biotechnology on the north coast of Santa Cruz county has become a hot local issue. The company has endeavored to obscure the issue and trivialize local concerns by presenting this as a mere goat farm. However, as citizens have become increasingly more aware of the facts, they find that serious issues involving public health, proper land use planning and correct governmental process are at stake. It appears that in part because of political and economic pressure from outside the local community, this facility has been set on a fast track toward approval, without the normal process of public scrutiny. The RBDA feels that this issue is of a precedent-setting nature. It is a new type of industry for Santa Cruz county that requires a new type of governance. We are extremely concerned about the current developments and the lack of a public process that regulates expansion for this new type of industry in such close proximity to protected natural resources of Santa Cruz county. It has come to our attention that your office has expressed support for Santa Cruz Biotechnology without consulting the sentiments of citizens or local groups such as the RBDA that have a vested interest in a balanced, planned future for the north coast. If you have expressed such positive support for Santa Cruz Biotechnology, we and a great many voters here on the north coast would like to know why. In the hope of establishing a productive dialogue, we look forward to
your reply. Thanks very much.
Paul Hostetter
CC: Rusty Areias
The Rural Bonny Doon Association Keeping Bonny Doon rural and natural - since 1957 102 Sunlit Lane Bonny Doon, California 95060 U.S. Representative Tom Campbell
17 October 1996
Dear Tom Campbell - As you may know, a biomedical research facility proposed by Santa Cruz Biotechnology on the north coast of Santa Cruz county has become a hot local issue. The company has endeavored to obscure the issue and trivialize local concerns by presenting this as a mere goat farm. However, as citizens have become increasingly more aware of the facts, they find that serious issues involving public health, proper land use planning and correct governmental process are at stake. It appears that in part because of political and economic pressure from outside the local community, this facility has been set on a fast track toward approval, without the normal process of public scrutiny. The RBDA feels that this issue is of a precedent-setting nature. It is a new type of industry for Santa Cruz county that requires a new type of governance. We are extremely concerned about the current developments and the lack of a public process that regulates expansion for this new type of industry in such close proximity to protected natural resources of Santa Cruz county. It has come to our attention that your office has expressed support for Santa Cruz Biotechnology without consulting the sentiments of citizens or local groups such as the RBDA that have a vested interest in a balanced, planned future for the north coast. If you have expressed such positive support for Santa Cruz Biotechnology, we and a great many voters here on the north coast would like to know why. In the hope of establishing a productive dialogue, we look forward to
your reply. Thanks very much.
Paul Hostetter
CC: Rusty Areias
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