`What is happening to Santa Cruz?'

What is happening to Santa Cruz?

Hundreds of Santa Cruzans ask that regularly: What is all this proposed development around town, downtown, South of Laurel (SoLa)? Why are tall buildings proposed for many major streets throughout town?

The answer is simple: Governor Newsom and the California Legislature have passed laws that require communities to grow without much regard for what local folks think.

State government is reaching into local land use rules because, for decades, many coastal California communities worked hard to control their growth. Because of the arrival of the University of California at Santa Cruz, the emergence of the Silicon Valley as the world's most powerful economic engine, and the overall growth of California to over 40 million residents, Santa Cruz city and county voters approved growth management laws in the 1980s.

Those citizen initiatives did a good job of managing growth but failed to approve hundreds (even thousands) of new rental and ownership homes that were needed to keep up with population growth. The penalty for doing very little was the loss of Community Development Block Grants from the State of California. Many communities were willing to forego those funds in order to keep their local land-use authority.

Now, California government has assumed a great deal of authority over development in neighborhoods everywhere. The consequences of failure to comply on the part of cities is loss of virtually all land use jurisdiction to the State.

For the City of Santa Cruz that means that we must accommodate nearly 4,000 new housing units, ranging from market rate to extremely low income. The penalty for not planning for 4,000 new units is that the state of California will step in and allow that much development wherever they want and as tall as they want.

So, what is the best way to grow our community and retain as much “Santa Cruz Character” as possible?

Santa Cruz plans to increase the density and building height in our core downtown urban area. This is what is called Smart Growth: Greater density, a mix of incomes, retail and commercial businesses, increased entertainment opportunities, public transit, and a new multi-purpose arena.

Last year, Santa Cruz was looking at 17- and 20-story buildings, a concept that concerned some. This year, at the City Council's first meeting, we adopted much lower maximum building heights and much more required affordable housing downtown.

By putting more than 40% of the required growth in our downtown, we can see a lighter touch from development on neighborhoods. This is the Downtown Expansion Plan, and you are invited to participate.

Housing affordability is also on many people's minds. Many worry about whether their children can stay in town when they grow up. Others say they are concerned about service workers, teachers, and others who struggle to live and work in Santa Cruz.

That is why the City Council Ad Hoc Budget and Revenue Committee (Councilmember Newsome, Councilmember Brown, and myself) will host three evening drafting sessions for the public to write an affordable workforce housing fund for the March 2024 ballot. This fund would address a variety of housing challenges: workforce housing, low and very low income housing, permanent supportive housing, and, perhaps others.

I hope you'll join us for the first meeting this Thursday, May 17th, at 5:30 p.m. in the Police Department Community Room.

... We must accommodate nearly 4,000 new housing units ...