A decade from now, Downtown Santa Cruz will be drastically different from the Downtown that we experience today. In my mind there are two distinct scenarios I don’t believe our future lies somewhere in the middle, but that we are at a critical fork in the road and our path forward will be determined by the decisions we make now.

It is a fundamental question of investment; who invests, what kind of investment, and, the most important question of our generation: For who? There will be private investment either way. We are seeing it already at levels that we haven’t in a generation. The market will ensure that private investment will continue as long as it is feasible. Public investment, however, is another story. That takes leadership, courage, vision and determination. It also takes an informed and supportive public. Important development projects that provide public benefit are substantially more difficult to manifest than development projects with a goal of providing profit.

The proposed mixed use library project, for example, could be the greatest public benefit project for Downtown of which any of us have had the opportunity to be a part. Having watched Downtown very closely for the past two decades, it is almost impossible to imagine that Lot 4, or “The Farmers’ Market lot” as it’s known to most, will not be developed by someone, at some point in the next decade. The only question is who will develop it and for what service.

Today we face a singular opportunity to create a new library as a centerpiece to our Downtown. As a student of cities, and particularly of downtowns, I can not emphasize enough the role a good library plays in a healthy city. It is a matter of equity, of sustainability, of public safety, of economics and of community building. A public library both supports and reflects the community. The social infrastructure that a well designed and well programmed library provides a community is vitally important, especially considering the challenges that lie ahead. Our Downtown Branch Library can not currently provide the value that a community like Santa Cruz deserves.

Beyond the library itself, the proposed project provides many additional opportunities for public benefit. Private investment will build market rate housing and it will benefit the Downtown, to a point. The Library Mixed-use project has the opportunity to provide a very significant amount of affordable housing in our Downtown, both on site and in its ability to provide unbundled parking for additional nearby units. Again, providing affordable housing (public) is dramatically more difficult that providing market rate housing (private).

The project also calls for new parking, in addition to replacing the loss of parking from the many surface lots that will be developed in the years to come. Despite what some opponents of the project are saying the additional parking is based on very real data and expectations of increases in demand as new development brings more people Downtown. If we don’t build as much new parking as has proposed, it may not be terrible, but if we do not build some new parking, it will, contribute greatly to the end of many of our small independent retailers. Ironically, the segment of the Downtown business community that will be impacted most negatively by the loss of parking is the one which most defines the character and independence for which we pledge our support.

The (documented) need to replace and add parking, coupled with the best practice of consolidating parking into structures, allowing for more efficient and ecologically sound use of surface lots provides yet another opportunity for great public benefit. The proposed combined use of the library, parking and other uses was not born out of any sneaky agenda as some have suggested. It is smart and efficient planning and financially responsible.

At the end of the day, these are decisions that will be made by a few elected officials. I do hope there is the courage to choose public benefit and not wait for private investment to determine and drive the future of Downtown Santa Cruz.

Chip is the former director of the Santa Cruz Downtown Association.