Here is a short video showing some of the sweet pastimes with Srila Govinda Maharaj here at the Seva Ashram in Soquel, especially his scooter rides up Via Govinda! Watch the Video…
Archive for Development Plans
With only a few days left in our fundraising campaign, we have so far received over $65,000 in donations! All of us at the Seva Ashram feel humbled and so grateful to all of you who have helped make this a reality. Read Newsletter…
What is Sukriti? How do we get it? Eternal fortune or nitya-sukriti, is gained by devotional service to the Supreme Lord under the guidance of saintly persons. To learn more, please Watch the video…
Here is a short report with only 50 days left in our campaign to raise $100,000 by the appearance day anniversary of Srila Govinda Maharaj on December 8th, 2014 for the Seva Ashram development project.
Another successful kids camp has come and gone. Under the affectionate guidance of Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj and with Braja Mohini didi facilitating the event everything went smoothly. Here is the last installment of pictures from the four day festival at the Ashram commencing on the Grand Appearance Day Festival of Lord Balaram. We are looking forward to another kids camp festival next summer.
Here are more pictures from the annual kids camp held each summer at the Seva Ashram. This past summer Braja Mohini didi, along with the help of many devotees, facilitated the camp.
Our goal to raise $100,000 by Srila Govinda Maharaj’s appearance day on December 8, 2014 is progressing steadily. Every donation that we have received is very much appreciated. Thank you! Here a short update on the project. Read Newsletter…
At Seva Ashram the spiritual education of our children is important to us. Just like the flowers in our garden can become spiritual flowers when offered to the Lord, so also our children can become spiritual children when we see them in relation to Krishna’s service. But how will they develop that service connection? For some answers, watch the video…
This past summer we had another auspicious gathering of vaisnava families coming to the Ashram for the annual kids camp. Braja Mohini Devi Dasi graciously facilitated the four day camp festivities. Of course many devotees stepped up to offer their knowledge and expertise for the benefit of all the children (and adults!) involved. All of this was possible under the affectionate guidance of our beloved Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj. A huge thank you to all who participated!
We are very grateful to everyone who has helped so far with our fund raising program. Our goal is to raise $100,000 between now and the appearance day anniversary of Srila Govinda Maharaj on December 8th, 2014. Read Newsletter…
Read an inspirational story of how one devotee at the Seva Ashram was able to overcome incredible difficulties with the help of the devotees and their affectionate association. Read Article…
On this very special day of the divine advent of Srimati Radharani in 1993, by the will of Srila Govinda Maharaj, we received the deed to the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Seva Ashram property here in Soquel California. So today we are beginning our fund raising program with the goal to raise $100,000 in 100 days in order to finish the plans and get the county government’s permission for our development and construction plans for the Seva Ashram in Santa Cruz (Soquel) California. Read Newsletter…
For the past month we have been working with the County of Santa Cruz to define how our proposed use of our property can be accommodated under their rules. The county’s term for their land use determination is called a “matrix”. According to the Santa Cruz County Building Code, the purpose of the matrix system is to “provide a consistent methodology for the determination of the development potential of rural land based on available services, environmental and site constraints and resource proportion factors”. The county analyzes various factors on our property and assigns them a numerical value which then determines the extent of development that is allowed.
The matrix report only assesses the development potential of our land. The decision to approve or deny our specific plan is done when we submit our application for a discretionary use permit, which we should be able to do later this year. It is important the matrix supports our proposed use, but it does not guarantee approval.
In May 2000 we hired the county to prepare a rural density matrix report for our property. Then in February 2005 we had the county review and update their initial report. (You can view those reports here.) The result of these reports is that the county has assigned a matrix calculation for our property of 3.7 matrix units. (A normal single family residence is 1 matrix unit.) The county then requested us to submit a proposal on how we would use the matrix units for our proposed development project.
We submitted our plan to the county (see below). Finally, after many meetings, plan revisions, emails and phone calls, the county accepted our proposal! Even though this approval is only for the proposed use, it is an important step in our approval process.
Here is our proposal that was approved:
| Limited Temporary Occupancy – day use only 10,950 user days per matrix unit 1.0 Matrix Unit |
|
| Days per Year |
# of People per day |
User Days | |
| Sunday Service | 52 | 100 | 5,200 |
| Religious Holy Days | 10 | 100 | 1,000 |
| Daily Services | 300 | 10 | 3,000 |
| Other | 1,750 | ||
| Total User Days | 10,950 |
| Limited Temporary Occupancy 3,650 user days per matrix unit 1.7 Matrix Unit (1.7 x 3,650 = 6,205) |
|
| Days per Year |
# of People per day |
User Days | |
| Residents | 365 | 10 | 3,650 |
| Guests | 170 | 15 | 2,550 |
| Other | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Total User Days | 6,205 |
| Permanent Residential Units 1 kitchen & 5 permanent residents per matrix unit 1.0 Matrix Unit |
| Days per Year |
# of People per day |
User Days | |
| Permanent Residents | 365 | 5 | 1,825 |