More changes needed for town center project — Angela Franklin

Dear editor,
I attended the Town Center Developer meeting last Thursday at 8 p.m. (Feb. 7). There was a pretty good turnout (I think about 50 people) for so late on a work evening. I do have to say the times were a little odd for a midweek meeting (1:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.). Nonetheless both meetings I heard had good turnout despite the minimal advertising and late notifications. The developer took some community input and applied to the updated drawings and I was happy to see that. The town green looks great and I was happy to hear an entertainment anchor is in the works. I feel though the developer needs to take another stab at the plan. There is still too much housing on the back side of the property with little green space. Skypark seems disconnected from the town center. There are many roads to nowhere that cause traffic to be filtered onto Blue Bonnet, Kings Village and Mt. Herman. Removing the pump track and dog park seem like a major fail since those two items would actually bring and keep people to the town center. Many seniors who live nearby use the dog park and the people who live in the Town Center with no back yard could use it. I understand the Town Center needs housing but housing doesn’t make the city money. So we need to find out where the bottom line is for the developer. Can they still work on lowering the housing number and give us more retail, keep the dog park and pump track? The next plan is being submitted in 45 days. I beg the City Council and do the right thing for our community. Make sure this is right for us as a city and community and don’t give in just to get a town center.
Angela Franklin, Scotts Valley