Santa Cruz Changes 146: A New Neighbor for Dominican Oaks

This week, the Santa Cruz County Planning Commission (agenda here) is expected to approve an application to replace a single-family residence at 3500 Paul Sweet Road with a 6-story apartment building. 

There's a link in the agenda to the Planning Dept. Staff report, which includes the developer's plan set.

Three sides of the parcel not fronting on the road are abutted by the Dominican Oaks retirement community. The image above right is a rendering submitted by the developer. Below is a similar view of the property, as seen today from Paul Sweet Road.

Santa Cruz Changes 145: 2025 retrospective

 As with every other recent year, 2025 has seen a lot of changes in Santa Cruz - despite the slowdown noted in Changes 135. First, some updates to stories from Changes 130, a mid-year report, and other progress:

* The senior housing project at 126 Eucalyptus Avenue is closed in, installing windows and roofing. 
* The new Santa Cruz downtown library construction is underway, and the downtown farmers market  seems to be doing fine at its new location (Changes 127).
* Work continues on the Murray Street bridge seismic retrofit. In November, the city considered but abandoned a proposal to build a temporary rail/trail bypass on the railroad trestle.
* The city ban on gas-powered leaf blowers (Changes 131) has noticeably reduced noise in my Westside neighborhood.
* The Capitola Avenue bridge rebuild over Hwy. 1 is not yet open, but close.
* Work on the  Mar Vista Drive walk/bike bridge over Hwy. 1 in Aptos is underway.
* Work on the mixed-use project at 831 Water Street (Changes 108) is underway, and a similar project in the 900 block received city approval.
* Work continues on the  UCSC "East Meadow" housing (Changes 95).
* The Cabrillo/UCSC student housing collaboration (Changes 139) was scheduled to break ground in September, but I haven't been out there to confirm that. 
* Two downtown mixed-use projects are nearing completion: Pacific Station North (which includes the Transit Center replacement), and "River Row" on Front Street.
* Repairs of 2023 storm damage to West Cliff Drive were completed, and the road entirely reopened.

New Changes in the second half of the year.

* A developer proposes to replace the building housing The Catalyst music venue with a new mixed-use structure similar to others in the area (Changes 142).
* A new proposal aims to replace the Neptune Apartments on lower Pacific Avenue with another tall mixed-use building.  
* The developer of the big mixed-use project at 908 Ocean Street has backed out.
* In November, the city considered but abandoned a proposal to build a temporary rail/trail bypass on the railroad trestle.
* New openings: the "Whale Bridge", a new New Leaf, a new La Bahia.

 

 

Santa Cruz Changes 144: Changes in Scotts Valley

Compared to Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley changes have come at a much slower pace in the last few years. For example, it wasn't until September of this year that the city's first "affordable" housing project broke ground, near City Hall on Scotts Valley Drive.

The other main road in the L-shaped city is Mt. Hermon Road. A major change there has been the redevelopment of the old Skypark airport, which closed in 1983. The land is now mostly a city park.

Nextdoor to Skypark on Mt. Hermon Road is the King's Village shopping center. The city's Town Center plan, which has been kicking around since 2008, is a modest re-imagining of the shopping center area that includes adding housing. A more-ambitious example of this kind of effort might be the transformation of Aptos Village that has been underway for many years.

The Scotts Valley website has a page devoted to the Town Center plan. 

Santa Cruz Changes 143: Rail Trail changes strategy

The Santa Cruz County Rail Trail inches toward completion in the city of Santa Cruz, while trying to cope with route problems and rising construction estimates for later segments.

Back in 2022, I noted the start of construction on the segment from California Street to Pacific Avenue. That segment opened this year, and you can now ride or walk next to the railroad tracks from the western city limits to the Boardwalk. Once you cross the San Lorenzo River, however, things get more complicated. 

Narrow rights-of-way, narrow/outdated bridges, and mobile home encroachments in Live Oak have ballooned cost estimates, causing the Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission (SCCTC) to rethink its previous commitment to the "ultimate" trail design used in the segments completed so far - which calls for a trail separate from and adjacent to untouched railroad tracks. 

At its most recent meeting, the SCCTC narrowly voted to switch to the "interim" trail design favored by staff. The intention is to find a middle way between the expensive "ultimate" design and the "rail banking" alternative favored by supervisor Koenig. We'll see how this turns out - stay tuned!

Santa Cruz Changes 142: The Once and Future Catalyst

As iconic (and still existing) Santa Cruz institutions go, it would be hard to top The Catalyst. In 1974, Randall Kane converted the former bowling alley into a music venue that became the premier popular music venue in Santa Cruz. 

Way back in 2021, I noted in this blog that a building permit had been issued for a condo-conversion rebuild of the narrow L-shaped building that abuts The Catalyst on the north, but construction never began. Several events since then have changed the picture. The death of Catalyst owner Randall Kane left his heirs with both the property and the business. They leased the business to a third party, then put the property up for sale in July of this year. 

What happened next is unclear, but now a new development proposal has been submitted. It combines and expands the previous condo project with replacing the building currently housing The Catalyst. At this point, the plans propose to continue the music venue business in a ground-floor space about the same size and shape as now. 

The rendering at right above is from the developers plan set, and shows the corner of Pacific and Cathcart. The 1-story building on the corner is Old School Shoes, with its familiar mural extending along Cathcart to the right. That property is not included in the redevelopment proposal.

Here's the City webpage info. No public meeting has yet been scheduled:

Project Description

Project Size: Large Development Project 

City of Santa Cruz Project Number: CP25-0133

Addresses: 1009, 1011, 1015 Pacific Avenue

SB330 and Preapplication Review to demolish nonresidential buildings, combine three lots into one, and construct a 7-story mixed-use building located in the CBD (Central Business District) zone district and in the Pacific Avenue Retail District and Cedar Street Village Corridor of the Downtown Plan.   

Santa Cruz Changes 141: The Future of Capitola Mall

Since the state began pushing cities and counties toward building more housing, one location discussed as a possible Santa Cruz County housing location is Capitola Mall. A conceptual design including 637 residential units was presented to the city council in 2019, and the city is now making its first moves to allow housing there. 

The Capitola Planning Commission will hold a Special Meeting Wednesday, November 19 [2025] at 5:00 pm at City Council Chambers, 420 Capitola Avenue in Capitola. Click HERE for the agenda. Agenda items include:

Capitola Mall Properties - Amendments to Capitola Municipal Code Title 17: Zoning Code and the General Plan Land Use Element for Capitola Mall properties located between Clares Street, 41st Avenue and Capitola Road. The proposed amendments implement the 6th Cycle Housing Element of the General Plan to facilitate residential development on Capitola Mall. The Zoning Code is part of the City’s Local Coastal Program (LCP) and amendments require certification by the California Coastal Commission before taking effect in the Coastal Zone.

This will be worth watching over the next months and years.

Santa Cruz Changes 140 - Builder's Remedy update

 

Changes 124 reported back in March on a multi-family housing project proposal for 841 Capitola Road. The image at right is a current view of that address, currently a large lot with a single house. 

As noted then of the new proposal, "The building size and shape are familiar, but one factor makes this proposal different from most others we've looked at here: it intends to employ a provision in state housing law called the 'Builder's Remedy'."

More info on the proposed project and the Builder's Remedy (SB  can be found in that earlier post. Meanwhile, the proposal has been making its way through the County approval process, and a formal application is up for approval by the Planning Commission. The staff report notes that the proposal "Requires approval of a Site Development Permit pursuant to SB 330 and Builder’s Remedy (Gov Code §65589.5) and Density Bonus pursuant to Government Code Section 65915." The report goes on to recommend to the Commission: 1) "Determine that the proposal is statutorily exempt from further Environmental Review under the California Environmental Quality Act." and 2) "Approval of Application 241371, based on the attached findings and conditions."

Meeting info:

Meeting Date/Time:

Wednesday, October 22, 2025, 9:30 AM

Location:
Basement Community Room
County Government Center
701 Ocean Street, Room 020
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Remote participation options available:

• To participate in public comment via Zoom Webinar, click on this link:                                                                                                                                                       https://santacruzcounty-us.zoomgov.com/j/1617916904
• To participate in public comment by telephone or to listen to the meeting, call:
  (669) 254-5252; Webinar ID: 161 791 6904.

Santa Cruz Changes 139: Cabrillo-UCSC student housing

In a first for this county, Cabrillo College is partnering with UCSC to plan and build student housing on the Cabrillo campus in Aptos. 

The site is adjacent to the outfield fences of the Cabrillo softball/baseball fields. In the aerial photo at right, a bit of Highway 1 can be seen in the lower left corner.

According to a Lookout Santa Cruz article, the project is scheduled to break ground on Sep. 29. The story reports: "Slated to open in fall 2027 with 624 beds — 60%reserved for Cabrillo students — the complex will also feature a child care center, wellness resources and priority housing for low-income and housing-insecure students." 

Santa Cruz Changes 138: two public meetings this week

 

The rendering above is from a Santa Cruz Sentinel article. Below is an aerial image from the architect's proposal plan set, showing existing conditions at the site. Frederick Street is on the left, running top to bottom in the image. Soquel Avenue runs left to right across the top.

Below is info copied from the City's project page. The planned Monday meeting is the first time the public will have an opportunity to see presentation of this proposal, and presumably also to ask questions:

On Wednesday, the County Planning Commission will consider an affordable housing proposal on  Thurber Lane at Soquel Drive. The agenda is here (Item 8).

  

 

Santa Cruz Changes 137: Highway 1 update

A July 30 ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the official opening of the "whale bridge" to pedestrians and bicyclists crossing Highway 1 at Chanticleer Avenue. The bridge completed the first of three phases in CalTrans current plans for the heavily-used freeway. 

During its construction, the usefulness of the bridge suffered two successive blows: first, Kaiser Permanente pulled out of its planned large healthcare development on Soquel Avenue (Hwy 1 frontage road), near the southern end of the new bridge. The main goal of the bridge was to provide a direct walk/bike connection from the new Kaiser facilities to related Dominican/Sutter facilities to the north of the bridge. 

The county reacted to the loss of expected healthcare-related bridge traffic by putting off planned walk/bike improvements to Chanticleer Avenue north of the bridge - most of the street lacks any such non-vehicular amenities (not even sidewalks). It remains to be seen whether future developments will remove the "bridge to nowhere" status. 

The active work sites now move a bit farther east in phase 2 (the eventual phase 3 end point is at Freedom Boulevard). Reconstruction of the Capitola Avenue overpass is scheduled to be completed in November. The narrow old bridge had skinny sidewalks and no bike lanes, so the new wider version will be an improvement.

The Capitola Avenue overpass lies between two interchanges. The westernmost, at Bay Avenue/Porter Street, serves Soquel to the north and Capitola to the south. The next interchange to the east is at Park Avenue, heavily used for access to Cabrillo College. SCCRTC announced that Park Avenue on/off ramps that have been closed for improvements are scheduled to reopen on September 3 (a bit ahead of schedule!). 

In the same announcement, closure of the Bay/Porter interchange was to be the next day, September 4. An update, however, says the closure will be delayed indefinitely, until further notice. No reason was given in the brief update, so we'll watch for news about that.