Proposed Felton bike park begins environmental study

On Saturday, January 23^rd, from 1:00–3:00 p.m., Mt.Hermon hosted an informational question and answer program at the Felton Community Hall. They showed a sophisticated slide show about their proposed plans for the property’s development called the Felton Meadow/Velocity Bike Park. The members of the community filled the meeting hall.
Felton Meadow is a 14.4 acre parcel that borders Graham Hill Road, the FeltonFaireShopping Center and Mount Hermon’s existing properties. Currently, Santa CruzCounty is conducting an Environmental Impact Report study to determine if there are any adverse environmental issues that could impact the community if the project were completed as planned. The EIR is supposed to be completed by late spring 2016. After its release, members of the public will have 45 days to study the document and respond with questions or challenges.
Some of the issues that were raised by members of the community were related to the water/drought issues; number of visitors coming from outside of the community that could impact traffic volume; erosion and other environmental topics.
To answer the question regarding water, Dale Pollock, Facilities Engineer, said that “the combined use of water would be equal to seven three bedroom homes.” This is equivalent to “2.3 acre meters/year,” said Pollock. It was explained that all of the irrigation water will be supplied by treated wastewater and an on-site well. The use of permeable materials and other construction materials and techniques will be employed to retain rain water and retard runoff.
Pollock stated that traffic density studies revealed that the increase of traffic would be less than 1 percent of what is currently experienced in our community.
When asked about when the park will be completed, Pollock reported that the build-out plan extended 8 to 10 years into the future.
For more information see: mounthermon.org/felton-meadow.