Council to consider Enterprise move
Large turnout is expected to urge Gaza cease-fire resolution
WATSONVILLE >>
Having already been approved for a special use permit and design review permit, the construction of a new Enterprise Rent-A-Car business on a vacant parcel at 1926 Freedom Blvd. will go before the Watsonville City Council Tuesday.
The council will be considering General Plan and zoning map amendments to allow Enterprise to move from its current location at the corner of Main Street and Pacifica Boulevard to a lot that stretches from Freedom Boulevard to Quinn Avenue. It is located between Vista Verde Early Education Center and Crystal Laundromat as well as residential housing. The site had previously been occupied by a mobile home and RV sales lot, but it has been vacant since December 2006.
According to a staff report by Community Development Director Suzi Merriam, the parcel was determined to have dual zoning when the Minor Land Division Committee approved a boundary line adjustment in 2006. The portion facing Quinn was zoned for single-family residential and the portion facing Freedom was zoned as “Thoroughfare Commercial.”
In 2007, the committee approved a minor land division to divide a 41,077 square foot commercial parcel. Extensions of the minor land division were approved each year starting in 2009 until its expiration in 2014 because no action had been taken on the entitlements, Merriam wrote.
Other businesses had been considered for the parcel, including a car wash, dollar store and imaging center, but none came to be. In 2023, staff included a pre-application review letter for a new Enterprise car and truck rental lot.
The St. Louis-based rental agency has more than 9,500 locations in approximately 100 countries and territories, more than
250 of which are located at airports. The company currently has a small branch in Watsonville.
The project would modify the site to accommodate a car and truck rental lot and would be accessed through a driveway from Freedom Boulevard. It would feature 19 parking spaces, one of which would be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, for customers and an additional 24 for rental vehicles. It would also include a 213-square foot trash enclosure, 578 square foot carport, landscaping and a stormwater bio retention area.
The project was presented to the Airport Advisory Committee in April and was approved for special use and design review permits by the Planning Commission Dec. 5.
One hurdle the project will need to cross is a new land use designation. Merriam wrote that car and truck rental businesses are not principally or conditionally permitted uses in the single-family residential zoning district, so a General Plan land use map amendment and zoning map amendment would be required to change the zoning of the rear portion to “General Commercial and Thoroughfare Commercial to allow the entire parcel to operate as a car and truck rental business.
Staff is recommending the council approve both amendments.
In other business, the council will consider scheduling agenda items for future council meetings regarding the city's policy on bicycle lanes in streets and concerns with campers located near or around schools.
One item not on the agenda is a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. At the Dec. 12 council meeting, many speakers urged the council to call for a special meeting to adopt such a resolution, following similar pledges approved in cities such as Richmond, Oakland and Hollister. Save for a comment by Mayor Vanessa Qurioz Carter indicating support, the council did not address or vote on this item. A Jan. 2 Instagram post by Palestine Solidarity Central Coast urged residents to once again “pack the Council Chambers” and call for the city to adopt a cease-fire resolution at its Tuesday meeting. A rally in front of the library on the bottom floor of the Civic Plaza has also been scheduled for 4 p.m.
The calls for a cease-fire continue to grow following the Israeli Defense Forces' airstrikes against Gaza in retaliation for Hamas' surprise attacks against Israel Oct. 7, a conflict that has left thousands of casualties on both sides. Since the council's Dec. 12 meeting, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a cease-fire resolution. However, the Santa Cruz City Council voted 5-2 to reject such a resolution, instead opting to issue a resolution calling for peace in the Middle East.
The council will meet publicly at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on the top floor of the Watsonville City Council Chambers, 275 Main St. A 4:30 p.m. closed session to discuss legal matters will precede the public meeting.