County supervisors OK rezoning of new Felton library site

At the May 22 meeting of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, the five supervisors unanimously voted to take a step toward securing land for a new library branch in Felton.
The proposed site for the library, adjacent to the post office on Gushee Street, is part of a parcel of land owned by the Verutti family. The Veruttis have a longstanding offer to split the parcel and donate a portion to the county for a library.
“That offer’s been in place for quite a while,” said 5th District Supervisor Mark Stone, who recommended the vote.
With the vote, the county agreed to begin rezoning the land and allow Santa Cruz Public Libraries to draw up a parcel map and prepare environmental studies.
The agreement does not cost the county any money. The library system must find funding for the building application fees and environmental studies that are needed before a library can be built.
Stone said that he thought the environmental and rezoning processes would be finished before the end of the year.
The idea, Stone said, was to have the property zoned and ready to build on, should the library system receive funds at a later date that would enable it to begin construction immediately.
“It’s something that we’ve been trying to make tangible progress on for a long time,” Stone said. “This is tangible progress.”