Planning for the two-day Scotts Valley Art, Wine & Beer Festival, scheduled for Aug. 16-17, was about to be derailed when discussions between the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce and the City got back on track with the help of Councilmember Steve Clark, who was elected to his first term in November.
“I’d actually say it’s a good thing where government worked,” said Danny Reber, executive director of the Chamber, in a telephone interview on Monday. “At the 11th hour today, we worked it out.”
The City has been seeking to preserve the health of Skypark, the large grass field used for a variety of community functions and sports, and which figures into the broader vision for a large mixed-use Town Center development.
In 2020, it was used to stage emergency vehicles for the CZU Lightning Complex Fire response, which caused significant damage.
Scotts Valley used around $120,000 of the $2.8 million it got in Covid-19 relief (American Rescue Plan Act) funds toward reconstructing the space, and accepted $106,645 in a settlement with the State of California related to Skypark damage during the wildfires (a fraction of what the it had demanded).
The repairs, which included improving the “purple pipe” recycled water irrigation system, largely rehabilitated the recreation surface.
But Scotts Valley’s infrastructure, including the field at Skypark, continues to show serious signs of strain.
Just weeks ago, the wastewater treatment plant, which processes the recycled water, reached max capacity during heavy rains, and staff had to come into the plant in the middle of the night to prevent a spill.
On Feb. 19, City Manager Mali LaGoe reported to Council that Scotts Valley had begun talks with Skypark users about how to mitigate damage.
“Our rec manager has reached out to many of the signature event planners for the season to start talking about how we can expand event use into the new Town Center area…and how we can use that as an opportunity to reduce the amount of wear and tear on the fields, so that when the soccer season and other community members want to use the grass, it’s a safe and nice place to be,” she said. “So, those conversations are going well. And we appreciate everybody’s flexibility and creativity. And are really excited about how that’s going to move forward this year.”
At the time, Reber wasn’t seeing things through such a rosy lens.
He said they were informed about restrictions for Skypark the week they were sending out applications to the more than 100 artists and vendors who take part in their Art, Wine & Beer Festival, which is known for its gallery of classic vehicles.
“What was hard for us was the timing,” he said. “They totally changed the policy and said no cars on the field—at all.”
In addition, he said they’ve been dealing with conflicting regulations from the county and the City around ground coverings for food vendors.
“The City said we’re not allowed to have it; the county said we have to have it,” he said.
While Skypark rental fees have increased, that wasn’t the issue, according to Reber. He said the group was much more worried about a plan to create a traffic access point to Skypark directly at Mount Hermon Road.
“That was stressing us out,” he said, of the proposed connection to one of the busiest routes in the region. “The Chamber doesn’t want to accept liability.”
One of the people who had the biggest role in negotiating an agreement was Clark. He learned all about the challenges at a Chamber economic development meeting.
“We’re looking at a new layout,” he said. “We’re trying to find that balance between preserving the fields for safe play and for youth sports for other activities. So, sometimes when we host a lot of events out on the grass, on the fields, it creates a lot of damage. It creates a lot of expense.”
Scotts Valley has been trying to “reimagine” the site, he added, in an interview after the Feb. 19 Council meeting.
“It causes us to start to activate the Town Center property,” he said, “As you look at it now it’s an empty airport…you can go fly your radio controlled airplanes in, and all that stuff, but what we want to do is to start to make that space look and feel like what we imagine, in terms of a Town Center property, and hosting events there—and showcasing that area,” he said. “The more we can start to migrate that direction, I think the better it will be. And I think it will generate excitement.”
Reber, who’s also the president of the Scotts Valley Water District board, agrees Skypark did become a bit of a “dust bowl” last year, but suggests that had more to do with the sprinkler system being out of commission for weeks on end than the festival.
They meticulously mark where sprinklers are located, and “happily” pay to cover damage if it occurs, he added.
Reber wasn’t feeling the new layout.
“It was not going to work,” he said, adding ultimately the City did “bend over backwards” to find a solution. “It’s a good story. Other towns wouldn’t have negotiated this.”
The matter came up at the Feb. 20 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. Reber did a walk-through of the site with City officials. (In the end, Scotts Valley was able to make sure of an area that had been City of Santa Cruz land, until Scotts Valley purchased it recently.)
And, the Chamber leader added, Clark helped push for a compromise.
“He was instrumental behind the scenes,” Reber said. “He was a conduit when it was kind of getting rough.”
