The 143,000-square-foot store is planned for La Madrona Drive next to the Hilton hotel and Silverwood Drive, the entrance to the Monte Fiore housing community.
Last week, the city of Scotts Valley released the required draft supplemental environmental impact report and an economic impact report detailing the Target project.
Each member of the Scotts Valley City Council has begun analyzing the comprehensive report.
“I think the council is going to be open to what the public has to say and at the same time will rely heavily on the EIR and rely heavily on the experts and put it all together and make a decision,” Councilman Dene Bustichi said.
A 45-day comment period began Sept. 18 and ends Nov. 4. Comments in writing can be sent to senior planner Taylor Bateman at tbateman@scottsvalley.org, or mailed to city of Scotts Valley, One Civic Center Drive, Scotts Valley 95066.
Fervent Target opponent Paul Bach, the head of the Responsible Local Development Political Action Committee, thinks the report seals the deal on the project being approved.
“It’s very clear that the City Council will approve this, and it will come down to a lawsuit,” Bach said.
Traffic
According to the traffic study performed by Fehr and Peers as found in the EIR, Target would generate 7,366 new car trips each day. However, the major impact would be felt at peak traffic times at specific intersections in the city.
*Between 4 and 6 p.m. weekdays at the intersection of Mt. Hermon Road and Scotts Valley Drive, the wait time at the stoplight would increase from 45.6 seconds to 49.8 seconds after a new turn lane is added on Mt. Hermon Road and Whispering Pines Drive is restriped.
*Between 4 and 6 p.m. weekdays at the intersection of Mt. Hermon Road, La Madrona Drive and the Highway 17 southbound off-ramp, the wait time would increase from 23.9 seconds to 31.7 seconds with a new turn lane on Mt. Hermon Road. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, the wait would increase from 20 seconds to 31.6 seconds.
*Residents of Altenitas Road would face significant waits to turn onto La Madrona Drive: an extra nine seconds on weekday mornings, 29 seconds during the evening and 88 seconds at midday Saturday. The increased wait times at Altenitas were deemed unavoidable.
*Five other intersections in Scotts Valley were analyzed in the report, and no others showed increases of more than three seconds. Even traffic off Highway 17 should see little change in wait time.
The study also looks at cumulative traffic by the year 2018 and finds that wait times will be significantly longer based on growth in the city at that time.
The study concluded that 57 percent of traffic would come from the communities west of the development through the San Lorenzo Valley, 30 percent from Santa Cruz via Highway 17 and 10 percent from Highway 17 southbound.
Parking
A 517-space parking lot was deemed sufficient, except during the winter holiday season. During December, before Christmas, the study concludes that there will be a 213-parking space shortage.
“Some shoppers would not be able to find a space on the site during the peak holiday shopping period,” according to the report.
Target must therefore prepare a parking plan for employees to park elsewhere during the holiday rush, which might require a temporary shuttle service or an agreement with nearby property owners.
Bicycle parking for 26 cycles was also suggested.
Biological resources
Plants, trees and animals were studied as part of the environmental review. The report concluded that while the development would reduce open space for plant and animal species in Scotts Valley, it would not result in a substantial reduction of open space or wildlife habitat.
Storm water runoff
About 10.5 acres of open land would be covered with concrete or other impervious surfaces if Target were built, which would increase the flow of storm water into drains. However, the review concludes that with mitigation using screens, grease separators and various other solutions, the level of pollution flowing into storm drains would be acceptable.
In terms of groundwater recharge, granite bedrock below the property already limits access to underground aquifers, making the loss of recharge capacity insignificant.
Fire protection and emergency services
Both Scotts Valley Police Department and Scotts Valley Fire Protection District indicated that they would be able to provide adequate coverage for the estimated 50 to 70 employees per shift at the Target store.
See the full environmental and economic reviews of Target’s proposal at www.scottsvalley.org.
So this may be you last stand. Push back or accept that Scotts Valley is almost out of open space and the two plots that are still open are both currently for sale. Say good bye to the Scotts Valley we all have known. We may soon be a mini San Jose. Think of all the sales tax leakage from not having a car dealership in Scotts Valley. Yikes!
The report fails to say how that fire station across the street will operate while there is a 40% shortage in parking spaces. Gridlock and fire emergency.
OVERDEVELOPMENT, GREED, TAXES, WAR ON THE POOR, ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION.
Hey Banner, your presumptions have been laid false. We will boycott your paper and advertisers if you continue to push this agenda and quickly support alternative papers, now or new.
It's only a matter of time before the backlash appears and those effected, from the school, to the higher taxes, to the crime, everyone who had anything to do with this will be remembered, and enshrined in the ruin of the community.
What do you want to be known for? How do you want to be remembered 1 minute past the spending of the last dollar you receive as MILLIONS and Tens of millions leave our community because hammer happy greed can't have decency or class.
Enabling a host of outsiders economically rape the community, and ruin the quality of life is the sure result.
tweet.
Well actually yes. I thought SV people liked small town rural life. And it sounds like a lot of other people had the same idea. I guess I was wrong. I had no idea you planned on replacing all the fields and meadows with shopping centers and high density housing. It was beyond my wildest dreams that anyone would want to destroy such a cute town. Especially someone who calls themselves "love scotts valley". So what, and termites love wood.
"That would mean that you moved here in the 80's.........why would I say that???"
It doesn't matter if someone moved here 30 years ago or 30 days. School pickup lines should not be extending out into public roads. But I guess that's perfectly normal in your vision of Scotts Valley.
City council doing a great job of what? Destroying Scotts Valley's quality of life? Certainly not protecting it. It sounds like it's not possible to overdevelop SV to you.
No, we should stop overdeveloping our town to the point of ruining it. Enough is enough and too much is too much. All the school pickup lines extend out into public roads now and block them and a lot of the left turn lanes are overflowing too and not long enough. I guess I'm strange to thing there's something wrong with that. We had a good thing here in SV and now you're ruining it. Our quality of life is degrading and some people just don't care. Just listen to a book on tape while you sit in traffic or leave earlier and everything is fine. The answers are just so easy aren't they.
Read todays article at:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Target-penalized-for-toys-apf-881637485.html?x=0
Target penalized for toys with lead paint
Target will pay $600,000 civil penalty for importing and selling toys with lead paint
By Natasha T. Metzler, Associated Press Writer
On Thursday October 1, 2009, 10:16 am EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Target Corp. has agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty for importing and selling a variety of toys with high levels of lead paint on the surface.
The lead content of some of the toys' surface coatings were higher than is legally allowed by the 1978 lead paint ban, according to government safety officials.
Lead is toxic if ingested by young children.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission alleged that Target knowingly imported and sold the illegal Chinese-made toys between May 2006 and August 2007.
Target recalled more than 500,000 Kool Toyz play sets, Anima Bamboo Collection games, and Happy Giddy gardening tools and Sunny Patch chairs for lead paint violations between November 2006 and September 2007.
The company did not take the proper steps to ensure none of the toys it imported and sold contained lead paint, according to CPSC.
As part of the settlement, Target denies that it knowingly broke the law.
The agency says the Target settlement makes fiscal year 2009 a record for both number of civil penalties, 39, and dollar value of fines imposed, approximately $9.8 million.
"This penalty should remind importers and retailers that they have always had the same obligation to meet the strict lead limits as the manufacturers," CPSC Chair Inez Tenenbaum said in a statement.
As I went down Bean Creek I also noticed the pickup line at the middle school extending out into Bean Creek blocking it. More pickup traffic coming east on Bean creek also sits and waits to get in the line blocking that side of the road too. I had to turn around and go another way.
I'm sure we can all go on and on about the horrible traffic in SV. We should not have to plan our lives around it and it's getting to the point where it's bad anytime of day. I can't imagine it any worse.
Santa Cruz Sentinel August 20, 2008 http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=78905&storySection=Local&fromSearch=true&searchTerms=
Woops there goes $150k in tax revenue for the City.
http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/mobile.jsp?title=product_detail&asin=B002EIZQB4
This is reason enough for me to plow down the most pristine meadow on earth if need be.
Any questions?
Exactly. Most SV residents have to commute the hill because there's no good paying jobs here. We can just shop at the Targets there on the way home. SV doesn't need the Target. The city council just wants the tax revenue.
"Anymore sprawl of Scotts Valley has to be stopped before we become Milpitas and run out of water."
We're already out of water. I can't wash my car.
Oh bullcrap.