By Laura Marcus, Leslie Conner and Jan M. Lindenthal
This spring, non-profit partners Dientes Community Dental Care, Santa Cruz Community Health (SCCH), and MidPen Housing will break ground on a 3.6-acre health and housing hub in the heart of Live Oak. This state-of-the-art campus will include a 20,000 square foot primary care center, an 11-chair dental clinic, and 57 new affordable homes. It will serve up to 10,000 people a year.
Even before the pandemic, access to health care and affordable housing was an urgent need in Live Oak, where up to 26% of students experience homelessness, thousands of adults have no doctor, and 75% of adults on Medi-Cal don’t have a dentist. Now, as we live through a health crisis unlike anything in our lifetimes — one that, in California, has been exacerbated by overcrowded living conditions due to a lack of affordable housing — we understand that quality health care and safe, affordable housing is quite literally a matter of life and death. Dental care is equally essential; a study released this month reported that people with gum disease are nine times more likely to die of COVID-19, not to mention the pain and joblessness associated with untreated dental disease.
A recent Guest Commentary in the Sentinel reviewed the history of the environmental contamination discovered as we performed due diligence on this site. We are responding here to the authors’ call for transparency. We hope that a clear accounting of our mitigation plan will instill public confidence in the safety of this important project, which aims to equitably improve health and well-being for all people, affordably house individuals, and families, stimulate the economy through new jobs and spending, and cultivate community through a central plaza and community garden.
In 2017, Dientes, SCCH, and MidPen were jointly selected by Santa Cruz County to develop the site at 1500 Capitola Road, at former Redevelopment Agency land. Out of an abundance of caution, the partners commissioned extra environmental testing beyond what was required due to concerns about a former gas station located on the corner. In January 2020, this testing revealed elevated levels of PCE (tetrachloroethylene) in the soil vapor on a portion of the property, likely resulting from a former dry-cleaner operating on an adjacent parcel. Working closely with the county, the partners immediately notified the Central Coast Regional Water Board, the governmental agency tasked with overseeing clean-up of development sites. This type of contamination is harmful if trapped inside buildings and is, unfortunately, common across the United States, particularly with infill development sites adjacent to former light industrial or commercial properties, such as this one.
Since exposure is only a health issue for indoor air quality, the development partners worked with experts to design the most protective Vapor Intrusion Mitigation System (VIMS), and received formal approval of the design by the Water Board. The VIMS system is a sub-slab depressurization system (SSDS), which has a double-layered vapor barrier beneath each foundation, preventing vapors from entering the building. SSDS is the most common type of mitigation system and is preferred by the Water Board because it provides maximum protection and simplifies regular monitoring. The VIMS system at 1500 Capitola Road will be monitored by the Water Board for at least 30 years, giving the development partners and clients, staff, and residents assurance that the buildings meet health and safety standards, now and far into the future.
As health care providers and affordable housing developers, our mission is to heal, and to house. Collectively, our agencies have provided 124 years of service to the Santa Cruz community. We value evidence-based solutions to serious community issues. With state-of-the-art medical and dental facilities, affordable housing, and an environmental mitigation system as outlined above, we are confident that the development of 1500 Capitola Road will successfully address two of the most significant social issues of our time for generations to come, bringing the promise of health and homes to the heart of Live Oak.
Laura Marcus is CEO of Dientes Community Dental Care. Leslie Conner is CEO of Santa Cruz Community Health. Jan M. Lindenthal is Chief Real Estate Officer of MidPen Housing.
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Guest Commentary | Non-profit development to meet urgent health and housing needs - Santa Cruz Sentinel
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