The City of Watsonville’s proposed annexation of almost 400 rural acres in the Buena Vista/Larkin Valley corridor to develop 2,250 new homes will bring urban sprawl to Buena Vista. Friends of Buena Vista believes that such development will destroy the existing delicate environmental ecosystem and wreck havoc on already-congested roads, crowded schools, and strained emergency services. In addition, such high-density development with no provision for expanding infrastructure is irresponsible out-of-control growth that defies even Action Pajaro Valley’s (APV) original growth strategy.

Friends of Buena Vista seeks to make the City of Watsonville
accountable to a transparent, democratic, and open planning process that includes the people who live in the proposed annexation area. FBV believes that the City of Watsonvillle's current approach to the proposed annexation and development of Buena Vista has ignored community input and resulted in out-of-control growth plans, which if implemented, will devastate the area’s open space and natural beauty.

The proposed concentration of new housing, and the influx of people and cars it will bring, will strain precarious natural and social resources. Water supplies, air quality, and plant and animal life—along with the existing, already-inadequate transportation, education, and emergency service infrastructure—will diminish.

Endangered Species and Sensitive Habitat (back to top)

Delicate animal and plant life will be destroyed. The annexation area’s habitat is home to several state and federally protected endangered species including the red-legged frog, the Santa Cruz long-toed salamander, and the Santa Cruz Tarplant. The area’s natural landscape is also home to abundant wildlife such as red-tailed hawks, deer, coyotes, owls, bobcats, and mountain lions.

Road Congestion and Air Pollution (back to top)

The annexation and development of Buena Vista will increase traffic congestion and air pollution. The proposed 2,250-unit housing development is projected to increase population in the local area by an additional average of 9,000 people and increase the number of vehicle trips per day on local roadways by over 23,000. Current roadways throughout the county, including Highway 1, are already overcrowded and cannot accommodate the existing traffic flow. An increase of this magnitude with no agreed-upon plan in place for improving traffic flow in the foreseeable future will have a significant negative impact on this existing problem that already plagues Santa Cruz County.

In the light of voter defeat of Measure J in November 2004, which would have imposed a (one half of one percent) sales tax to fund county transportation improvements, mainly the widening of Highway 1, is building a development that will add 23,000 vehicle trips per day to existing inadequate roads, plausible?

Environmental Impact Report (back to top)

n August 2005, the City of Watsonville issued a draft Environmental Impact Report (dEIR), detailing the impact of the proposed Buena Vista housing development.  After careful review of the document we found it to be deficient with respect to several very critical matters including, water resources, traffic impact, sensitive habitat and airport compatibility.  In October 2005, our attorney submitted a 23-page response to the dEIR.  Other groups, including the county of Santa Cruz and LAFCO also raised similar issues.  The City chose to ignore most of these comments, either dismissing them as regional issues for which they would not take responsibility, or by stating that the issues raised would be addressed at a later time as part of the Specific Plan. 

Join Friends of Buena Vista to help fight against and manage proposed out-of-control growth.

Stop the annexation of Buena Vista.