A new development project has been proposed at the intersection of West Cliff and Bay. Ensemble, the commercial real estate company that has owned the Dream Inn since 2006, has proposed this project directly across from the hotel.

Ensemble developers want to build a large mixed-use complex for residential and commercial use. Local residents opposing the housing project have formed a group called “Save Santa Cruz Westside,” and remain outspoken about the dangers this type of proposal poses to Santa Cruz’s already-congested Westside.

To better understand this project, I spoke with Tyson Sales, a lead developer from Ensemble working on the Dream Inn project. I'll also be sharing some previously recorded interview footage from Bruce Batton’s weekly show, Universal Grapevine, which airs Tuesdays from 7pm to 8pm on KZSC.

Bruce interviewed Julie Phillips and George Lewis, two community leaders that remains outspoken about the development project. Let's hear from George Lewis about the project itself:

"They're proposing 89 condos- only 10 of them designated affordable- 4-story buildings with a 5th level that will have decks and other amenities in places rising as high as 56 feet. They also want to build a 2-story underground parking structure for- total parking will be 421 spaces- about 359 underground and about 62 above ground. And of course this will be in the big lot across the street from the Dream Inn, so very close to the ocean and the cliffs."

Let's also hear what Tyson has to say about the details of the development.

"This project should be somewhat of a demonstration for how development can be done in a responsible manner. The people that are gonna wanna live here care about sustainability, so if we're gonna service our ultimate customers well we need to really do a good job."

So let's hear from Tyson about the objectives of the plan.

"The project's geared around three big ideas. One is mixed-income housing and that low-income units being a part of the project and supplied on site and being at a deeper level of affordability than what's required locally. The second big idea is the environmental sustainability, and the third is community amenities."

Julie Phillips- community leader from "Save Santa Cruz Westside"- is not convinced. Let's hear some of those concerns.

"That's considered one of the core intersections. It's the gateway to the Westside. And if you've ever-we're there so we see it quite often- but there's days when there's just traffic jams. Have you seen that? (Bruce: of course, of course) And this kind of increased traffic with pedestrians and more cars and bicycles, it's gonna be crazy. They're talking about maybe putting a light in."

Dream Inn developers remain adamant that sustainability is at the core of their plan.

"Sustainability is very important. It's more than just being about a checklist. The project is located in such a visible and important, highly-visited place by locals, by tourists."

Dream Inn developers and proponents of "Save Santa Cruz Westside agree that this community corridor is something special.

"It's so spectacular- I mean the Westside- look at all the people that go out there to surf, to walk, to go to the ocean."

Dream Inn developers are confident that their proposal will actually help the traffic congestion problem.

"We recognize that the corner of Cliff and Bay is a challenge and a poor level of service right now. It backs up- we all know the challenges of getting through that intersection on a busy weekend and it's been identified in the city's general plan and the city's capital improvement plan for upgrades in the 2019 to the 2022 time period and there's even dollars in the city's budget allocated to improve that intersection. So, whether or not this project happens, hopefully something's going to happen to improve that intersection in the near future anyway. But the project has an opportunity to make better infrastructure than would happen otherwise. So we've commissioned- I think at this point probably half a dozen separate traffic analyses working with the public works department to analyze different variations of intersection improvements to improve the intersection. And some of them would be- are possible with the project that are not possible without the project because they require dedication of some land from our project. The project can also fund transportation dollars that can lead to a better fix. The other piece is the bike land and pedestrian safety. Unfortunately, there's been pedestrians badly injured and someone was killed by a drunk driver a couple years ago in the crosswalk in front of the Dream Inn. And we have power poles that are in a narrow sidewalk, so we have segways and baby strollers going into the bike land. And tremendous pedestrian volume, cause West Cliff trail is this local treasure and both visitors and locals are walking that trail everyday."

Julie and George agree that traffic congestion is an issue that must be addressed.

"We've seen times at the intersection when the first-responders have had to go up on the sidewalk to get around cause it gets gridlocked. So literally, it gets gridlocked and if you have an emergency first-responders may not be able to get through."

Dream Inn developers are confident that their proposal will actually help the traffic congestion problem.

"Emergency vehicles get through downtown San Francisco and in theory, the improvements should be able to improve response times because currently emergency vehicles and all vehicles are slowed down by the one-by-one-by-one- nature of an unregulated stop sign. Versus, they're looking at both roundabout- kind of a small roundabout alternative that has a low center crossing so emergency vehicles can drive over it- or signalization which emergency vehicles have overrides. So either one of those solutions would be better for emergency vehicles on a backed up summer day, than what's there right now."

While there are a lot of kinks to work out, Tyson explains the process and where the project is going.

"So we're going through the technical studies right now, then there'll another community meeting. Then after that- at some point in time- we would be scheduled for planning commission. And then if the project is approved by planning commission it will be required to go to city council. And then if it's approved by city council it's in the coastal appeal zone, so it will go to coastal commission if it's appealed by any of the opponents- which it probably will- so there's a long path ahead."

So people on both sides agree that there's more work to be done in terms of the Dream Inn development project.

(Bruce) "Tell us how can the public get involved here? I mean, how can they help you out? Do you have meetings? Can people go to something?"

(Julie) "I think by going to the website and learning about it, to signing the petition. They can volunteer and get involved with us, spread the word on Facebook, and they also need to contact their elected officials."

(Bruce) "Ah that's important."

(Julie) "The city council is so critical on this."

Ensemble remains adamant that they are putting the needs of Santa Cruz County residents and locals first.

"People say we're from Long Beach and we're not locals- and it's true I don't live in Santa Cruz- but I do spend enough time to not just care about the city, but economically the hotel is a member of the community. It's always a challenge to deal with high emotions and valid concerns. We're working very hard to try to design a good project that hopefully, when it's built someday, will be warmly received. We believe that this project could be a very special part of Santa Cruz."

So while the Dream Inn development project isn't gonna happen overnight, there are many perspectives to take into account and many more discussions to be had.